After handling several small carry-oriented pistols, Mrs. Occam gravitated towards Ruger's new(ish) Max-9. She likes my P365, but has a hard time with the mag release shy of seriously altering her grip. She shoots the G43 and the Hellcat well, but wanted something with a safety for when ... she wants a safety. The Ruger is a hair larger in some dimensions, but is a lot more rounded off in places where the others are less so. The Max-9 just suits her. Done!
So we brought it out and put a hundred rounds through it, and experienced (in her hands, but not mine) the slide locking back on not-empty mags ... about 3 times per 12-round mag. Not acceptable! Did some homework, and it appears there were some shipped with an issue causing this problem, but not enough to go through the full drama of a recall.
Called Ruger customer service, and had a very attentive, helpful chat with a lady in Prescott who knew of the issue, and said she'd take care of it immediately. Before we were off the call, I had an email with a printable FedEx label. Boxed it up minus the accessories as asked, and took it to a FedEx office (she found it for me) that accepts hazardous shipments up 'til 8:00 that evening. The lady at the FedEx counter takes the box from me, and I said, "I'm supposed to tell you there's a firearm in this box." Her eyes go wide and she says "Oh lawdy Jesus!" and then lets out a big laugh and tells me it's her fifth one that day, and she'll get me taken care of.
The box was in Ruger's Prescott facility in two days, and they kicked it back to us by two-day UPS the following day. Emails to us at every step of the way, and a reminder that someone over 21 was going to have to sign for the box at our door. I'd never shipped to a manufacturer before, and was kind of amazed that I didn't have to launder all of this through my LGS, and they'd just return it right to the house. Amazing (for me, anyway! BGOS strikes again!).
So there was the returned pistol back to us the same week, and ready to go out and be put through the ringer. They basically replaced everything that didn't have a serial number, just to bring it all up to current shipping Max-9 specs. Three hundred rounds of mixed ammo, and not a single problem of any kind. Mrs. Occam is happy, made lots of better and better groups, and is now test driving holsters in advance of her Wear & Carry permit, expected sometime in the next couple of weeks. So it's a shame we had to deal with a problem, but Ruger handled the matter with grace and stellar speed, and I'm reminded why I own so many of their firearms (and a fair number of shares of their stock).
So we brought it out and put a hundred rounds through it, and experienced (in her hands, but not mine) the slide locking back on not-empty mags ... about 3 times per 12-round mag. Not acceptable! Did some homework, and it appears there were some shipped with an issue causing this problem, but not enough to go through the full drama of a recall.
Called Ruger customer service, and had a very attentive, helpful chat with a lady in Prescott who knew of the issue, and said she'd take care of it immediately. Before we were off the call, I had an email with a printable FedEx label. Boxed it up minus the accessories as asked, and took it to a FedEx office (she found it for me) that accepts hazardous shipments up 'til 8:00 that evening. The lady at the FedEx counter takes the box from me, and I said, "I'm supposed to tell you there's a firearm in this box." Her eyes go wide and she says "Oh lawdy Jesus!" and then lets out a big laugh and tells me it's her fifth one that day, and she'll get me taken care of.
The box was in Ruger's Prescott facility in two days, and they kicked it back to us by two-day UPS the following day. Emails to us at every step of the way, and a reminder that someone over 21 was going to have to sign for the box at our door. I'd never shipped to a manufacturer before, and was kind of amazed that I didn't have to launder all of this through my LGS, and they'd just return it right to the house. Amazing (for me, anyway! BGOS strikes again!).
So there was the returned pistol back to us the same week, and ready to go out and be put through the ringer. They basically replaced everything that didn't have a serial number, just to bring it all up to current shipping Max-9 specs. Three hundred rounds of mixed ammo, and not a single problem of any kind. Mrs. Occam is happy, made lots of better and better groups, and is now test driving holsters in advance of her Wear & Carry permit, expected sometime in the next couple of weeks. So it's a shame we had to deal with a problem, but Ruger handled the matter with grace and stellar speed, and I'm reminded why I own so many of their firearms (and a fair number of shares of their stock).
