Ruger Red Label

[button]

Always fancied one of these, anyone on here owned one? Good points, bad points, anything to look out for? If anyone can give any guidance it will be much appreciated 

Cheers

[NoBodyImportant]

I have always thought the Red label to be the best looking shotgun ever made.  Never owed one though.  A friend recently bought a Ruger gold label but I have had a chance to hit birds with it yet. 

[Konor]

I owned a 12 bore Ruger Red Label sporting clays model new from Ruger that they sent to replace a second hand one I had bought as I wrote to them saying that I was disappointed that the top ventilated rib at the join at the end of the chamber was higher on one side than the other. They had initially replaced and fitted a new set of barrels in Yorkshire but the fit was exceptionally tight and they decided to replace the whole gun. After sales service couldn’t be beaten but I found that both guns were too barrel heavy for me and moved on to a Beretta 3 inch chambered gun at a time when most 12 bore Berettas were standard 2 3/4 inch. I preferred the Beretta to shoot but agree that the Ruger was the nicer looking gun and heavy enough to soak up recoil of the 3 inch magnum loads I regularly used on the foreshore(Lead shot 1 7/8 Winchester load number 2s for geese) I sold the Ruger to a cousin for the cost of the initial second hand gun but he moved it on in favour of a 10 bore Remington semi auto. I wish now I’d held on to it but only for nostalgia reasons. If I was thinking of buying another I’d try the 20 bore it weighs around the 7lb mark and would hopefully balance better as you say they are lovely looking guns and strongly built and if they balanced like a 3inch chambered Beretta 687 they’d be my ideal 12 bore.

 

[enfieldspares]

Are they not a reinvention of the Remington 3200? Or was that something else Ruger made? AFAIR the early Red Label was all stainless steel? My own opinion is it isn't ideal for British live quarry shooting such as decoyed pigeon, driven game or flighting duck at dusk as it won;t open and clear the fired cases (and reload) as quickly as a side-by-side or a more conventional O/U?

The later one?

The current one?

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by enfieldspares

[Konor]

46 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

Are they not a reinvention of the Remington 3200? Or was that something else Ruger made? AFAIR the early Red Label was all stainless steel? My own opinion is it isn't ideal for British live quarry shooting such as decoyed pigeon, driven game or flighting duck at dusk as it won;t open and clear the fired cases (and reload) as quickly as a side-by-side or a more conventional O/U?

The later one?

The current one?

 

The 3200 had a sliding fastener like the older model 32 and the newer Kreighoff and I think it was chambered 23/4 ,though I am not certain. The field models ,which might have been 3 inch chambered, aren’t seen so frequently for sale as the trap or skeet ones.I had a skeet version briefly ,it had an unusual safety/barrel selector that pivoted from central (safe )to right or left to select the barrel to be fired if I remember correctly 

Just checked 3200 field model was 23/4 but they did produce a 3200 magnum 3inch model but only 900 between 1975 and 1977

The barrels of the Red label pivoted on the lower barrel so it had a shallow action with a gape akin to the beretta so no less suitable than a conventional beretta  o/u in that respect and in fact better than the conventional browning / miroku with its deeper action.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Konor
Addition

[Gunman]

Working with the then importer I had quite a bit of experience with these guns some 20 years ago so I am speaking historically and things may well have changed , but.

These are guns designed by Ruger for ease of production with mostly cast parts , they are not made to the same standards as continental or Japanese made guns and some of the ways they are put together seems very crude .

There was a problem with the bores at one point and how they passed proof in the UK was beyond me as I would not have dared submit guns with as many rivals and tool marks as some of these had .Side ribs held in place with screwed blocks between the tubes .

There was also a problem with ejection owning to the fact they were 3" American guns made for 3" american cartridges so were not happy with shorter cases with light rims .

OK they look not bad and handle quite well but no better or worse than any other mid range O/U .

[button]

Thanks all much appreciated 

Just hope the ittch disappears!

[Scully]

Have only ever seen a couple, one in 12 the other in 20. Have always liked the look of them and both came up bang on the button for me. 
I read up on them before I decided and discovered that as has been mentioned, ejecting European cartridges was a problem, so I didn’t bother. 
Neither are anything like the Remington 3200 in my opinion. 

[enfieldspares]

41 minutes ago, Scully said:

Neither are anything like the Remington 3200 in my opinion. 

I don't know why I have this 3200 idea in my mind. For I am certain I saw a reference to that and the Red Label in the same sentence. As you are right, as with others, there's no sliding latch. Maybe I am confusing it with another re-make of the 3200 by another US manufacturer? 

[Scully]

52 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I don't know why I have this 3200 idea in my mind. For I am certain I saw a reference to that and the Red Label in the same sentence. As you are right, as with others, there's no sliding latch. Maybe I am confusing it with another re-make of the 3200 by another US manufacturer? 

The 3200 was a sequel to the Remington 32, which was ultimately  taken on by Krieghoff if I recall, and the rest is history as they say. 

[Konor]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

The 3200 was a sequel to the Remington 32, which was ultimately  taken on by Krieghoff if I recall, and the rest is history as they say. 

As mentioned earlier