Ruger Bad Warranty Expierience
 

Back in December 2016 I posted a thread looking to find out if anyone new how I could put my hands on a Ruger Compact SS 308 LH.
I had contacted Ruger directly and the referred me to their 2 Canadian distributors. Neither of which would bring me in one because the SKU wasn’t on their lists.
I provided the SKU number to them and said that I would prepay for it at an Edmonton gun shop of their choosing. Still the answer was NO. Did I mention this wasn’t for me. Now back to the forum thread, within 15 minutes I received I received several replies, contact Clay at Prophet River Arms. I did and Clay managed to order the only one in existence at the time.
5-6 weeks later. The rifle arrives and we clean it up, put rings and a new scope on it. Off we go to the back forty to sight it in. The rifle was getting progressively worse with each shot. We stopped and re-cleaned the gun that evening. Next Day more of the same. Upon inspection it appeared that the muzzle had some rough jagged edges, if you spun your finger in it the ridges felt as though you could cut your finger.
Snapshots Canadian Warranty Depot for Ruger I contacted Clay at Prophet River and he said send it to me and I will get it to Snapshots (Canadian Ruger Warranty Depot) for you, so I did. Snapshots received it April 4th.
After a month of emails asking about any progress
I received an email
June 6th saying the gun had been taken to the range and the accuracy was questionable so a new barrel was ordered for it.
June 7th I received some helpful hints on how to sight in a Ruger American. Snapshots will retest the firearm after tightening some loose action screws while waiting for the barrel. It was noted that the muzzle condition was par for what they are used to seeing on these guns. Did I mention that this gun wasn’t for me and it represents a sizable investment for the owner.
June 10th I received notice that a couple of more rounds were tried and that the results were poor so would stop testing and wait for the new barrel. June 12 receive an email saying the rear ring of the scope was loose and it would have to be tested again, **** happens no big deal except I told my friend the testing was done.
July 18th Hooray the new barrel is in and the rifle will be shipped any day. This message was relayed to me by Clay at Prophet River base on what he was told.
August 8th email says tried the rifle again with same results, waiting for new barrel. Really!!!!!!
August 9th a big shipment of barrels is coming in hopefully that ones in there.
August 28th still no update I as Clay to give them a nudge.
August 31 Prophet River offers to send a RH gun to steal the barrel off of.
September 20th Snapshots was told that Ruger’s NEW FACILITY just got their paper work in order to be able to ship goods. Things SHOULD not WILL BE moving in a few weeks.
This whole experience has put a bad taste in my mouth for Ruger. Prophet River has gone above and beyond. Snapshots have also put in much more effort than was needed, they are guilty of poor communication but had Ruger sent the barrel right away this would be done. Did I mention this wasn’t for me. This is only a few of the emails in that time period. I am not holding my breath waiting for the outcome.

I feel your frustration over this.
However an understanding of what it actually takes for a US company to do a one of a kind shipment of an ITAR regulated item, that isn't normally shipped would simply blow your mind. It's bureaucracy at its best.
I'm not taking Ruger's side one bit, but perhaps making a phone call(not an email) to somebody with Ruger stateside might bring you true resolve.

I refuse to use ruger products because of bad warranty experience. Got a no.1 in the cabinet still only because its sentimental rest got sent down the road

Snapshot is beyond useless.

I didnt want to quote names lol but exactly ^^^^

Sounds like you just needed a recrown maybe? Stuff like this is gonna be a common issues as every maker is fighting a race to the bottom with these value brand rifles. Discontinuing the 77/22 and hard to find a new 77 centerfire on a shelf.

I have a 10/22 that I returned to Cabelas as I couldn't get it sighted in with open sights at 25yrds. Looked at 5 more and picked one, it was bit better but not much.
I fired 50rds and haven't touched it since, I'll probably just shim one side of the barrel instead of sending it back. Common problem with some lots of receivers, probably from same line.

Ruger products in general
 

I was a ruger fan in the past and I have some good ones. I recommended a 10 22 to a young fellow at my shop for his first gun. I have 2 older ones and they are awesome. The one he bought has terrible fit and finish not to mention that the front sight keeps falling out. My friend that bought the LH Compact is very small, left handed and on a limited budget. The compact seemed like a nice fit. Again it was one my recommendation to bring in this gun. I hadn't had any experience with Snapshots before and i was giving them the benefit of a doubt.

I had a compact in 223 for a short while. When it came to me it shot okay, but not great. I touched up the crown, lightly relieved the barrel channel, added a timney, and skim bedded the action. It turned into a laser.

I can only hope it comes back then i can try a few things if the new barrel doesn't do it.

I feel your frustration but think of it this way; If it was Remington they would tell you 5" at 100 yards is "within tolerances" and send you the gun back. At least Ruger is trying to make it right for you, even if it is taking a hell of a long time.

I have bought a few Ruger model 77s in LH the last few years, all of them have shot lights out. Two in 375 Ruger will shoot 1/2-3/4" 3 shot groups with no work to them. Personally, I do not care for the Scout model as I find it very heavy, and an 18" barrel is just plain ineffective on a 308. You might want to get him to try the model 77 in LH. My bet is it will fit him better, weigh less, be better balanced and the 22" barrel will perform far better. He can resell the scout when he finally gets it back.

welcome to canada where everything gun related takes 500X longer and is given 500X less attention

My experience too . They answered my first email , never replied to any further emails , and apparently never answer phones . I gave up on snapshots and just bought upgraded volquartsen part online.

Communication problem
 

I never had any kind of contact with snapshots until Prophet River called them

Ruger Warranty
 

I had a very satisfactory experience with snapshots.
A couple years back I had a Mark 1 pistol with the long tapered target barrel. It developed a crack about 2" long length-wise in the barrel. Sent it to Snapshots but no replacement barrels were available (long retired model) so they offered a new Mark 3 target model.
Which I accepted.
At most a month all told.

Its good to hear something positive.I'm sure it was Ruger that offered the replacement not Snapshots. As I stated if Ruger would send them a barrel we would be done.

Update
 

No new updates, I'm not holding my breath.

Ive dealt with snapshots recently for hex action screws vs the flat head that came on a hawkeye. They were great to deal with but communication was limited. Hopefully your barrel Arrives soon

Shocking
 

Another week of nothing

Have you tried sending a note to the CEO thru the Ruger website ?

If so did you receive any response ?

357

More frustration
 

I may have to try that, I asked Prophet River if they had heard anything yesterday. Got a response this morning. Another couple weeks says Snap Shots.
That appears to be there standard answer.

it's rampid
 

Winchester is just as bad. Had a Win 70 Classic new shipped with about 4 " of lands missing just ahead of the chamber.Fought with them for 8 months until they agreed to send it Stateside.Then waited another 4 months and got it back with the same crappy barrel full of chatter marks.Stupid response was ....well it meets our accuracy standards.I asked what are they .......no response.Lucky I found another new take off barrel in the same caliber and had it installed.Idiots.My son just got a second T3 from Cabelas ......the first was dropped on concrete at the factory or store and had a badly damaged crown.Replaced in 2 weeks now that's better..........Harold

Lack of communication
 

Still nothing, its almost laughable now.

Have you actually spoken with Snapshots directly?

Snapshots
 

I had a few emails from them and I Spoke to a Paul once. They were the ones that said it was on the way, twice.

We emailed them , yet again, yesterday. Same answer. :(

a good experience with Snapshots
 

I thought a different perspective might be useful. I bought a Ruger MK III pistol, long story short after one trip to the range the bolt stop was bent even though everything seemed to work fine. I called Snapshots and they said to send it in. I put it in the mail and forgot about it, four weeks later it was back in hand. I sympathise with the OP but it seems that Snapshots was okay in my situation. Best of luck with a resolution.

Prophet River
 

I feel your frustration.

Thank you for writing this... at least people are able to see that Prophet River really does leave no stone unturned in looking after their customers.

Hopefully their is a resolve soon.

Pass the Buck time, email from Ruger Service
 

We apologize for the delay of your repair. We received the order for your barrel (rifle serial number 693-8----) from Location Snap Shots at the end of September. They had a mixup with their orders and missed sending it to us. We are in the process of applying for a new export license for your barrel. The US State Dept requires an export license based on the specific model and caliber of a major firearm part such as a barrel. We expect to have an approved license in 2-3 weeks. I will keep you updated by email. If you have questions in the meantime, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Karla Engelstad
Ruger Export Dept

2 more weeks
 

No update from Ruger Service yet.

Wow, this thread would make me steer clear of Rugger. Already keep away from Remington. But it seems that a lot of these gun manufacturers have some sort of issue. Mass production and poor engineering. Browning can't figure out that the scope mount screws need to be longer than to catch three threads and Sako makes their overpriced scope bases with screws that are like solder soft.