Ruger Issues Recall on Some “Ruger American” Pistols

Ruger is, no joke, one of the most-on-top-of-safety gun manufacturers out there. When other companies doubt and shrug off any issues, Ruger leads the pack with excellent customer service and a sheer willingness to take care of their customers.

We got wind today (yesterday actually, but I was on vacation) that Ruger issued a recall on some of their Ruger American pistols chambered in 9mm. We're told it's a very small amount of guns with the serial number prefixes “860” and “862” in all models, to include compact and full-size handguns.

We are also being told that this recall, what they're calling a “safety bulletin,” only affects 9mm pistols and not the .45 ACP models.

The problem, according to Ruger, is that premature wear on the locking surfaces can cause a crack in the slide, which, as you can guess, is not good. Ruger is willing to retrofit affected guns with the necessary parts to fix the problem wherever needed. Ruger has said that if your pistol shows signs of the premature wear, or any cracks, to have the retrofit done. This is how you inspect your gun:

The crack will be located just behind the ejection port if the problem goes on unnoticed for too long. As always, regular inspection of your firearms is necessary for proper function. Here is a picture of the cracked slide:

Ruger has asked that you do not send in the entire gun if you have one of the problematic pistols. Instead, the first step is to contact them. Once they've confirmed that you have one of these pistols, they will send you a box and shipping label so you can send the slide assembly and barrel back to them for inspection.

Whatever parts are needed at that point will be replaced by Ruger. They're saying that they don't anticipate most of the recalled pistols to need more than a barrel, but if they do need to replace your slide, too, your aftermarket sights should be switched over, if so equipped.

Here is how to check your gun's serial number, to find out if it is one of the affected pistols:

To learn more about this safety recall issued by Ruger on their 9mm Ruger American Pistol, you can check out their website and watch the video they put together. While there, you can input your serial number to see if you own one of these pistols, and then find out what the next steps are. Ruger says that they expect to only have the slide assembly and barrel for a total of less than one week per person and it's their goal to return your parts back to you as quickly as they can.