Ruger recently discovered that all Mark IV™ pistols (including 22/45™ models) manufactured prior to June 1, 2017 have the potential to discharge unintentionally if the safety is not utilized correctly. In particular, if the trigger is pulled while the safety lever is midway between the “safe” and “fire” positions (that is, the safety is not fully engaged or fully disengaged), then the pistol may not fire when the trigger is pulled. However, if the trigger is released and the safety lever is then moved from the mid position to the “fire” position, the pistol may fire at that time. View Safety Bulletin PDF
I heard this joke many years ago: A Ruger firearm has two dates: Date of release and date of recall.
And I can joke since I am a full member now of the Ruger Family with several items in my possession.
My no-frills PC 9 with a loaner can.
Not exactly an unheard-of sort of problem.
Back in the early 90s, I encountered a couple of 80s-vintage pistols, from different manufacturers, that had this quirk: engage safety (I don’t recall whether this would happen with the safety fully engaged), squeeze trigger, release trigger, disengage safety, hammer drops.
Those, though, did have firing pin blocks, so the hammer would drop onto a locked firing pin if the trigger wasn’t pulled at the time. Still disconcerting, and if memory serves one of those pistols had a rather soft firing pin, and dropping the hammer on it while it was locked could raise a burr and cause Interesting malfunctions later on.
The Ruger Variant of this quirk sounds seriously dangerous.
Good thing mine is a Mark II. And my Blackhawk from the 50’s never had a problem either. No safety, no problem. Load 5 and hammer down on an empty.
Pff, amateurs.
Real operators don’t use the safety. *raises finger* THIS is my safety.
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Sorry, I could not resist.
My Standard Ruger (Mark 1 generation) that I bought well used in the sixties always had an issue with a worn safety. If you put the safety on and squeezed the trigger hard a couple of time, the safety would be forced to the “off” position and the hammer would drop. I never trusted the safety, and never really used the safety. Carried in a holster with the chamber empty. When I needed to pot Jack Rabbits, draw, rack the bolt and go to work. When the bunny was no longe alive, drop the mag, clear the chamber top off the mag, rinse and repeat. Never felt the need to get the safety repaired.