I wanted to HATE this… The Ruger Red Label 20ga
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- čas přidán 4. 01. 2023
- After listening to a podcast a few years ago debating the Red Label guns, I have kept my eyes open for one!
This one came up for sale at Holts Auctioneers - and I jumped at the opportunity to buy it and see what all the fuss was about.
My thanks to Greg at Orvis for the technical support on this one -
Enjoy
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The real Holy Grail Ruger Red Label is the stainless and plastic 12 gauge for waterfowling. It looks hideous, but it is the best ever double for that purpose. Try to find one and don't let it go.
My 1st and only O/U in 12ga. I bought it at a gun show on Mother's day when my wife was at work. She still likes telling people that it was her best Mother's day gift. I still love them both. Almost 40yrs
Ruger Red Label is a fabulous gun
I wish they sold for the price you paid, here in the US. I was a Ruger distributor for many years and when these came out my dealers couldn't keep them on the shelves. Affordable, American made, Ruger reliability.. While certainly not an English Best, just or more reliable. A few early blued frame first production Red Labels had some issues with the frame/receiver . Quickly solved. The single selective trigger is one of the most reliable ever made. I have a number of these in various gauges and configurations. I still have a first run production 20 bore as you show today that is still unfired and in the original box. I have another that has around 25,000 rounds through it and a 12 bore sporting model that has over 35,000 rounds through it. A 28 bore that has close to 10,000 rounds. The side ribs were designed to be removed if the shooter chose to. The stock wood was American black Walnut. Bill Ruger wanted this to be an American gun. I own a number of English and continental made guns and thoroughly enjoy shooting them. But I would not subject them to the abuse of foul weather and rough treatment.
One of the benefits of being a firearms distributor was I got to pick and chose from new items as they came in from the manufacturers. Enjoyed the video!
They stopped making them because it was costing too much and shortage of skilled workers to properly put these together. Not for a lack of demand.
Why was there a shortage of skilled workers? Ruger is still in business. Surely they must still employ people will skills?
English best are very reliable 🤷🏻♂️
When Ruger stopped it’s production of shotguns I was doing a part time gig at a good friends gun shop. Mostly because I was there all the time any way. When it was rumored that Ruger was going to cease production I called them and spoke to Bill Jr. he said that Ruger could not keep up with handgun manufacture and due to demand they were moving everyone to the handgun manufacture. Remember, Ruger is a relatively small company not like a GM or Ford. Yes, the prices were up but they still had demand. IMO what put the death blow to the shotgun manufacture at Ruger was introducing the S/S in 12ga. had they had the first run in 20 or 28 and possibly a combo 20/28 they would have been able to put just about any price on them. Just my humble opinion.
@@petercollingwood522 it was my understanding that they couldn’t turn a profit on the red label. It required too much hand finishing and skilled labor to sell at a reasonable price and still turn a decent profit.
IMO to this day is one of the best products ruger ever made.
Ruger has a reputation for over-building their guns be they pistols, rifles, or shotguns. Among Western Canadian farmers the Red Label was considered a high end gun.
Let's hope they can keep Trudeau's sticky little WEF mitts of them.
In western Kansas they were considered a high end shotgun. A friend of mine has the ruger gold label. Quite elegant side by side!
You have an older( possibly better ) red label, much better than most American o/u 's but very much a club of a gun
@@ddoherty5956 You got that right.
@@ddoherty5956 Raysist
My favorite Red Label is the 28 gauge. Also, the Gold Label was Ruger’s side by side model.
My very first O/U was a Ruger Red Label 12 gauge back in the 80s. I won my first skeet match and shot my first 25 with it. I sold it to buy my first Citori. I have fond memories of it, but if I'm honest with myself it was rather rough - but so were all of Ruger's guns back then. Thanks Johnny for a trip down memory lane. "It's a gun to shoot in a dark room." Great video as always.
I am an American and have owned a number of Ruger firearms. They will get the job done at a reasonable price. I've never owned a Red Label. Nowadays they are a bit pricey for my wallet and sell quickly on the used market. I enjoy your channel very much, keep up the good work. And I am glad you've got a gun from the colonies. We do know how to make them.
I love my rugers the barrels on my bolt actions came with match grade barrels like all their bolt actions with the exception of some of the budget models maybe but everyone says they shoot amazing just look a lil rough
My fellow 🇺🇸. Where Ruger really shines is revolvers. The cylinder walls are easily twice as heavy than a S&W. Very stout well built guns. They do make some crap tho like most manufacturers.
Oh what’s up Americans! Stay lethal and vote.
I grew up shooting clays with my grandpas Ruger Red Label. We eventually moved on to the Miroku Brownings, which I inherited when he passed. Congrats on the good find, enjoy it!
I have two red labels, a 20 and a 28. They are both from the 90's and are great guns. I hunt pheasants and quail with them and can't say enough good about them. Even is the fit and finish is not up to high end guns, they look and shoot great. Neither has ever failed in any way in the decades I have had them. Love your videos
A video about the differences about UK vs American hunting would be extremely interesting to me. I’ve always found it fascinating.
The Red Label comes from an era where durability and huntability were the primary concerns when building a shotgun for American market. The American road to gun reputation ruin is paved with guns that got a reputation for lacking durability and reliability and Ruger knew this very well. For the time, Ruger got everything right with the Red Label and I have enjoyed several of them.
I am a Ruger O/U devotee. All Silver Labels. Bought new over the yrs. 12 ga. S/S.
A beast = too heavy for me. A 20 ga. S/S fixed & 20 multi-choke. Two 28 ga.
multi-choke. I solely shoot skeet. Many straights w/the 20s & 28s. Amusing
to outshoot people on the skeet field w/their $10+K guns w/my lowly Rugers.
It's great seeing the differences in American shotgun culture and exposure vs the UK. Ruger Red Labels are still very common amongst the bird hunters I know in the US, they are heavy and durable guns built to meet the demands of the weekend warrior. You got that for a great price Johnny!
The average yank shoots overly heave loads at high velocity and kick like a mule due to the short stock and poor balance . That's why they shoot 8 to 12 shots per each bird .
@@georgesheffield1580 and shoot at wild birds that they're hunting themselves rather than having them driven right to them to be shot from directly overhead
@@georgesheffield1580 I’ll go 25 with you any day and you can bring your light Paparazzi 🤮(highly overpriced), Midas Gold (highly overpriced), etc etc.
I’ll bring my 1100 and go bird for bird.
Style points don’t break clays and it’s the rear sight (person on the gun) that gets the job done.
As Arnold said “Don’t be a girly man.”
@@chickenfishhybrid44 truth spoken.
I’ve never taken the time to ponder another man’s gun. It seems….creepy.
@@georgesheffield1580 Upload you shooting your AR's and I'll upload a video me shooting mine, and we can see who the better shot is!
American gunwriter John Barsness has one for which someone built a set of barrels chambered for the .30 U.S., aka .30/40 Krag. Since he’s hung onto it, it must be at least satisfactory, since he doesn’t suffer crap.
Great video, as per usual.
I can't speak for the early models such as you have here, but the later model Red Labels are a rock solid, reliable gun on the range or in the field. I've shot several over the years and my only gripe would be slightly barrel heavy, but not terrible.
As far as the price, bring it to the US and triple your money right now, you got a bargain. Please don't insult it with a comparison to a Bakel.
Have fun shooting it !
Compared to what ?
@@georgesheffield1580 Bakel is the nickname for Baikal, "cause they ain't worth even pronouncing right"
It's not a Purdey but then again you're not giving up the money for 2 houses to buy one.
And yes, Ruger isn't a name that's synonymous with fancy but it is a name that's synonymous with quality and rock solid reliability, their revolvers rival a Colt in every way shape and form and in some regards even surpass them, the people who'll get in a twist and argue about that until they're red in the face are people who have a pile of Colt's that are as tall as I am, really the only thing Colt's have over Ruger's is the mystique.
Ruger is on the cutting edge of metallurgy especially with Titanium, they actually make the Titanium heads for one of the premier golf club manufacturers, when they went looking for someone to fabricate those for them they wound up knocking on Ruger's door.
In my youth, I lusted for a Ruger Red Label 20 ga. A few years later I was able to afford one but was destressed to find that Ruger had changed the receiver from carbon to stainless steel. A used gun with a blued receiver showed up in a local shop and I bought it. The configuration was identical to yours and yes, it went straight in for screw-in chokes.
Over the past 40 years, I've used it for skeet shooting and have carried it thousands of miles bird hunting. The only time I've had any problem was when it would not re-cock after firing. I removed the stock and found a virtual rats nest that once removed/properly cleaned it worked again like brand new. Lesson learned!
Concerning the "loose" aspect of the gun, Bill Ruger did build the gun for the people but he also built it for himself. He was CEO but first he was an engineer and outlined/developed his requirements into the gun. Bill had a bad arm and most of the available
shotguns gave him problems opening and closing.
The block between the monobloc and the front soldered rib can be taken off to remove the "floating" mid rib if you find it to front heavy. Ruger knew that critics would bash the Red Label for its weight so by making it removable shooters had an option.
Please be kind! The more you shoot it the more you will realize she is a Lady and should be treated as such. There were only about 150,000 of them made. The blued versions only make up a small percentage of the total build. The blued guns are pretty highly sought after in the US.
Finally, if you call it a Baikal again you may find you are in for reprisal of a physical nature when you come back to the US. Just sayin'.
I like that you can separate looks from function! You realize it was made for a rough use, not a fine show piece!
Check the pricing on a Red Label 28 ga. The last one I seen sold on line sold for over $3k. My 12 ga RL was way to short LOP for me but my son took it home. That would be a perfect quail gun in the states over pointing dogs. Good buy.
Price of these things (at least the stainless/polymer one I looked over) has skyrocketed in US. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal.
Indeed prices are doing this on almost all things, are they not? Try ammunition prices, if you want to get depressed ( further ) .
@Leon Wilcox ammo prices are not even close to normal, at least in the US
@Leon Wilcox still not even close. I went to Walmart 2 days ago and a hundred round pack of standard 8 shot federal target shotgun shells was $34.
That used to be just under $20 less than 3 years ago
@@DaddyDaGuido bingo
@leonwilcox2737 when a 100 round 12 gauge 7 1/2 shot is less than $10 bucks, they'll be back to normal.
When Federal 150gr SP 30-06 is $5.99a box of 20, it'll be back to normal.
Have an old 20ga Ruger Red Label. I bought used in 1980, since then I learned it was a 77’ manufacture. It has the blued stainless receiver and was bored skeet and skeet. Shot many thousands of rounds of skeet with little problem. The receiver got full of debris and as a result the bottom barrel would hit light on the primer but when cleaned worked fine. Had the chambers tapered and choke tubes added in the early 90’s and haven’t looked back. Shot many hundreds of doves, creek wood ducks and early teal. All my kids have shot it a lot and I still use it regularly. The finish is showing some honest wear but all is good. Ruger’s have a mechanical trigger and are perfect for tubes. I also own the 12ga Sporting with 3 sets of tubes, a mid 80’s field 12ga that I added choke tubes too and a late 90’s 28ga. that is highly sought after but I will never part with. These guns are always complemented in the field, at the skeet field or sporting range. I didn’t intend to be a collector it just happened.
Hello John, a Gold Label Ruger is actually a side by side. I really enjoy your channel, Wayne
Johnny, now you need the quintessential American shotgun.
The Remington 1100.
I heard there's some British guy who used to shoot pretty well with one. 😉
My daily gun used to be a Beretta SP. - But i still remember my trips to the gun store when i was a student. I loved the stainless steel Ruger Red label. In Denmark The Ruger RL has always been more expensive than the Beretta. I now have 2 Ruger Red label. One for hunting and one skeet. I enjoy the way they function - The ruger opens compared to the Beretta - smoother. - I love that the second shot it is not enertia activated. - You can still buy a new "old" one for approx. GBP 2400,- 3000 GBP for a extra long one :)
This is the PERFECT candidate for a cheap to charming series! You haven't done a 20 bore, it's a well used, affordable gun, and COULD be something special with just a little love.
🤔
4:19 I’ve had my 12 bore with 30” barrels since I bought it new in 2014. I paid $1399 for it and it is a lot of fun. I mainly use it for skeet, sporting clays and 5-stand, but I do take it into the field for pheasant and chukkar, it has never let me down. I bought my wife a browning citori white lightning in 20-bore which is a much “nicer” gun, but
I love my red label and I think I’m going to go shoot clays this afternoon - thanks for the great video!
I’ve moved to Berettas, and continually searching and striving for better and better Berettas because, well…. Beretta. But having said that, my first over/under was a circa 1984 Ruger Red Label 12ga with the stainless receiver that I bought from a friend. The walnut was actually quite decent, it shot well (or at least, as well as I could manage at the time), and the overall aesthetic was reasonably refined (the unadorned stainless receiver added significantly to that). It was definitely NOT a bakel/bagel/by-call/Baikal lol. I’ve owned one of those as well, and it was pure Russian, when only the finest soft pine and pig iron will do! So let’s not compare Red Labels with Bakel/bicycle/Baikals, mmmm? 😅
The two little blocks under the fore end if you take the screws out you can remove the filets between the barrels!
Ruger is an absolutely fantastic company. I have a ruger pistol at my hip right now, and my first rifle was a ruger 10/22. As an American I have access to their entire catalog and I've yet to find a gun of theirs that doesn't work as intended. They're not a fancy company, but they're a reliable company. Everything ruger makes is built to outlive the purchaser, but it's built to do that in every environment, so it's not always as smooth as comparable guns, but it's going to run for the rest of eternity as long as you bother to take care of it. I've hunted alongside folks with these shotguns and they work in the deepest parts of America's back country with minimal maintenance
My father bought a red label for me in 20ga in 1981 I was 13 and have taken so many rabbit,quail,and pheasant with this over the years still my favorite
I bought my 12 ga Red Label in 89 because it was made in U.S.A. , it looked good, it was $800 and it was different. Most everyone I knew was shooting the Citori. It’s a classic in my mind.
I had two sporting students, over here in New Hapshire (USA), with 12 ga. Red Labels. Both had POI issues (regulation ) with deviation between barrels as much as 15 inches on paper, at around 30 yds.
Both immediately arrived to their following lessons with new artillery.
Thanks for sharing . . .
Glad you liked it. I inherited my 20 gauge Red label from my great uncle. From ducks in the Great Lakes as a boy to the rocky mountain grouse I hunt now it has been a outstanding gun. It's handy for ruffed grouse in thick woods and does well when it gets to replace my 12 gauge in the duck blind. Truly it's a working man's gun, it looks elegant at a glace but quickly you realize hard work is all it's known, and I've fried a lot grouse to show for its work.
14:45 really sums it all up. My father bought me a 20 gauge red label for my 16th birthday. Still my favorite shotgun. Mine has selective ejectors and interchangeable chokes. A fine shotgun.
These are hard to find in the US. Must be crazy hard to find anywhere else.
I’ve been partial to the gold label more than the red label.
Edit: Oh man. Party foul. The gold label wasn’t a better gun. It was the side by side. Silly.
But also a better gun.
They cost a lot more than 430 quid in the USA! I've owned one since 1983, virtually identical to the one you have. Blued, 20 bore, fixed skeet chokes. It was my favorite quail gun for decades! It is still tight as a drum and works perfectly. Beautiful gun...elegant in it's simplicity and lack of engraving. Also...no visible pins or screws. Mechanical triggers. Ruger has no "warranty" per se. But if anything ever goes wrong with any Ruger, send it back and they will fix it. Usually for free.
Top quality gun!
BTW I think it is the only O/U currently made in the USA.
Not a bad looking gun really. Sounds loose as hell when open but locks up nice by the looks of it and the beauty of it... It hits the spot when it needs to! Not bad furniture too. Would I have one? After this video... Too right, cheap cheerful and does the job. It's your favorite little mongrel dog that is a bit rough around the edges, smells in the wet but is a true friend that will never leave your side. Cheers J and the other J for a great 20 or so minutes of wonderful information. Am looking forward to the rest of the year watching you both bring joy in little segments through the weeks. Cheers guys!
The Ruger Number One is the most elegant rifle ever manufactured in North America, and very near the top worldwide.
Fun fact: Ruger briefly made all stainlees O/U shotguns, the only all stainless shotgun ever made. They command excellent prices as theyre extremely popular with sportfishing yacht owners for putting down sharks before being hauled aboard.
I have the same one multichoke in a brand new condition. I don't shoot it a lot but wen i do I can not miss. Its a great gun always makes me smile
I was raised in West Texas on ranches and farms in the 1960’s & 70’s. Dove Season opened September 1st and lasted for 60 days. No problem killing a limit in less than 30 min. Then we mined to hunting Bob White and Blue Quail. Then duck, goose, and pheasant season opened. The Ruger became very popular and held up well. The other popular O/U was the Browning which most were still from Belgium.
The advantage of Machine manufacturing over hand firing is interchangeability. If you break something, you can drop in the new part without hand fitting or the service of a gunsmith.
Ruger rifles, shotguns, and handguns work very well. Great video Johnny.
Ruger, IMHO, has never made a "junk" gun. However, my first sporting clays gun was a RRL in a "sporting" configuration. Within months I was experiencing ejection problems. IMHO, the gun would NOT have stood up to 10-20,000 rounds per year. I sold it and moved on. Having said this, I believe the little RRL in 20 gauge for a dove or quail gun would be a different story!
Ruger builds guns for the factory workers rather than the CEOs. They're not fancy, they're simply built strong and affordable.
The Ruger Red Label in 28 gauge straight stock is the hen of the line up
You are holding an American legend there Ruger Red label is a fine piece of craftsmanship for its age it holds up against others that are twice the price. If it is in original condition I think it's beautiful! Would absolutely love to have one. I own a Ruger number one and it was brilliantly designed in my opinion.
This was the first good shotgun I ever had after being raised on the Old 870 Wingmaster. First on 16, later on the 12. Because of the Red Label, i became interested in nice shotguns. I sold it to upgrade, but wish I still had it even though it had been shot loose and had rust prone chambers like all of them do.
I am gratified you realized bird hunting in the US is different as night and day from the UK and Europe. Truthfully beaters would be frowned upon here and most hunting parties here consist of just a couple of hunters.
Ruger Red Labels will never be accused of being elegant, but they are an absolute workhorse.
Don't need to be. Baikal is the same. Not pretty but it will shoot nomatter what you put it through
I have seen only one Ruger Red Label O/U in the skeet and sporting clays ranges in Southern California in 20 years. They must be popular as hunting guns.
They really just aren't popular and would never hold up to the volume for clays.
I have a 12 gauge Red Label that is still going strong! My son shoots clays with it now. It’s doesn’t compare to my CG but it still breaks em’.
These guns sell for between $700 and $3500 in the US, you got a steal at 430 pounds.
Hello!
If you think this is a ugly gun, you have to see my Ruger. It is a Ruger all weather Stainless Steel and composite, 12 bore, very similar in looks to the Black Diamond Cynergy Browning. I Just sent it back to Ruger yesterday to have it inspected and gone through. Ugly as sin! Heavy. But was made to shoot in the worst weather conditions. At the time, the All weather was the only Stainless Steel made in America. I shoot trap and skeet with it on occasion and will try sporting clays when it gets back from Ruger. They are beast guns for sure but have a loyal following and if you were to sell that gun in America, it will definitely bring double what you paid for it. The All weather I have runs close to two thousand and they have not been made in many years.
I plan on getting a Cynergy and putting the two of them together to show off!
I bought my Ruger Red Label 20ga in stainless in the 80's, had a matching Pachmayr Decelerator pad put on, and I could shoot Skeet and Trap with it all day. My son now uses it more than I do.
Never had a Ruger shotgun. Thier rifles and revolvers are fantastic though. Love my mini 14 and my sp101 and my M77/357.
I bought my 20ga Red Label in 1988 I think. It was for all the reasons they built it, it was the only over and under I could afford. I loved it and kilted a lot of pheasant with it. I was crushed when it was stolen out of my truck a few years later. I replaced it with a 686 20 ga that I still have. Sure the Beretta is a better gun in every way, but I still have a soft spot for the Red Label.
Very Interesting. I live in the US, and I desperately wanted a Red Label in the 1970's, for the price, and the "feel". I never obtained one, but my Brother in law did. He replaced it within a year with a Barretta, saying it was just never right... not broken, but just not "right". I wound up with a 20 ga. Sigarms Sig 5 - An orphan shotgun by Rizzini, which I just love. After a bit of stock work, it flies to my shoulder, and hits where I am looking. It will be the last gun I own as I enter my declining years.
You know you drove Sash crazy with that safety switch. 😂
🤣🤣🤣 we will know when Sasch has had enough when you can't hear Jonny over the earsplittingly loud rock music.
I've shot a few of them and they all seemed to do the job. That price though...... In the US a decent used one starts at $1,000 and goes up from there.
Rumors in the gun industry here say that Ruger is actually making moves to re-introduce the Red Label shotgun. I have a stainless 28 ga and it is one of the finest field guns I have ever used, if not fancy.
Now that is exciting!
The early model red label was blued, but most of the ones you see here in the states are stainless. Ruger had a trap model and a side-by-side red label as well. My dad surprised me with one on my 18th birthday. I'm 42 now and she's still going strong.
I used to work in a skeet shooting shop and we sold high in guns for a while like Purdys. But we were also a Ruger distributor and I don't ever remember having one of those there. The Brits were known for beautiful double barrels while Americans made a lot of side by side guns that were very functional.
My dad owned one in the 80-90’s and sold it when he needed cash bad. Got him one as a gift couple years ago and it’s still his favorite.
If I’m being picky I really don’t like how close the grip places my hand to the trigger, I really like a stretched finger to the trigger, probably because I started on a BPS and that’s just the way it was
Excellent review - very honest and informative. Thank you for creating such great content.
That was great fun , you should do more of those , nice to see you at my local ,, Don't let Craig get you into his gun room he'll cost you a fortune !
My dad has the 20b and the 12b he seems to like them and they work well cheers Johnny 👍
Thanks for the video, I have several o/u shotguns from Browning, Beretta and Ruger. All great guns but I prefer the Brownings and Rugers first. When Ruger was designing the red label it was to not have any outside fasteners and have a streamed line receiver and they succeeded in that. Red labels are currently running well above $1,000 especially in better condition. Yours has quite a bit of wear but is a great shooter grade gun.
My 1st was a 12 gauge with fixed skeet chokes. Second, is 12 gauge with 3 chokes. Love my Red Labels.
Very nice gun, solid built gun. My first O/U traded it for an Perazzi MT6. Wish I had then both back
What a great review of a gun I not hear about before.
Would like to see more content like this and it just a little different 👍
Very different approach to your editing as well
Nice one TGS .. that was great !
I have 12ga and 20ga your assessment it spot on not much to look at but it does what it's supposed to. I love mine but I retired them a few years ago and bought a 686
I purchased a Red Label 20 ga. new with five chokes, English stock, 3" magnum and 26" barrels for $995.00 US over thirty years ago and it still shoots just fine.
A Gun Shop Owner when asked what OU I should consider? he said :There really is this Great Shotgun made by Ruger called a Red Label. He added It's Plain, Strong and it will last You Forever! He added It is ALL I EVER USED.
Will last forever until it needs its hooks laser welding at a fairy prohibitive cost 😞
Your 20 bore is an early Ruger Red Label being it is of a fixed (Skeet/Skeet) choked barrel set. At the time only the 12 bore was done in a Brushed stainless receiver. I purchased a Ruger 20 bore in the first year they were offered in stainless with multichoke I never used but had a complete set of Briley X2 chokes added. I still own and shot it on a regular basis and its shots far better than I.
Honest Craigs Gun Reviews! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’ll admit he only gives solid reliable advice, and is happy to talk about anything gun related. I was surprised on his transparency when the topic of markup came up, definitely a fella I would trust 👌
@@robpowell9162 He is one of my favourite people but don't tell him that! 😀
You need to try the 28 guage, it is a graceful thing to shoot!
I do have to say a major bucket list of mine and my late father's was shooting sporting clays somewhere in the amazing English countryside. That would be epic.
Good price if it shoots, here in the US they sell for a lot more. I have one, I have only put 2-3 hundred shells through it, had to send it back to Ruger for repair. Mine now works well but parts are hard to find. Nice little shotgun though.
As a American, if it came down to it, I'd take a older Ruger over most other guns, I have a Ruger 1911 and P95 (handguns) and they just flat work, most Rugers won't win a beauty contest but my it's hard to not love their reliability especially at their price point, I hope one day to see a Red Label release again, for close to the price point but we'll see
I just picked up a gold label this summer and it was in incredibly perfect condition. I paid a little more than $500😆 always wanted one of these guns but could never afford one when I was raising my children I feel very thankful that I was able to find one in such incredible pristine condition and like yours it is a excellent shooter in 20 bore.
If you get the opportunity to try a later production model you would absolutely love it. I have two produced in the late 90s and they are terrific. None of the stated issues in this video exist in mine. They do feel heavy compared to my Beretta 686. In my mind the red labels are as good quality as anything out there. In nearly 25 years of service the only issue I ever have had was a crack in one of the stocks but Ruger replaced it and when it returned the new wood was much nicer than the original. Never a single malfunction and the have harvested a fair amount of game as well as many crates of clays.
Thank you for another interesting and very informative video. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for 2023. Hope you can add another visit to the US to attend more of our NSCA Sporting Clay competitions. Might I suggest the 2024 US Open at Northbrook Sports Club.
I remember these. I have only seen one here. Lovely gun.
Ruger make Good Rifles I’ve never seen a Ruger shotgun before though
I own Ruger Red Label shotguns / some Ruger hand guns / Ruger rifles. All are reliable. Ruger does great work with stainless steel. If you have any issue they fix it - in my experience - the one issue I had with a handgun - they fix it for free. I highly recommend Ruger firearms.
The first shotgun I ever purchased was a Red Label 20 gauge back in the mid 1980s, for $600 US. I didn’t care for it.
You Brits perfected double guns more than a century ago, and spoiled true aficionados forever.
Finally sold mine, always worked flawlessly, pointed nicely, and went up in value.
What more could you want.
The safety is also a barrel selector. Pushed to the left it fires the top barrel first. Pushed to the right it fires the bottom barrel first.
I remember these being sold about 20/25 years ago , those like yours in 20 bore , I think this affected sales , Ruger have never made a bad gun . Quality is on par with there rifles which had good sales in the UK
Perfect for steel shot particularly with skeet chokes!
I'd pay that much for a Ruger shotgun, especially in 20 bore ( or 'gauge' as we call it here in Canada ) I think you've bought a good 'un here.
I loved my Ruger Red Label 20 gauge, one of the guns that I regret selling years ago.
I have a Ruger American and i must say im really happy with what i got especialy at the price point.
I became a Ruger fan with that rifle.
this channel is all ways a good watch , well done , and a nice 20 bore as well .
Red label was my first clay shooting gun. Loved it and wish I still had it.
I was going to bid on this but the description put me off , can't mind why .
But I got a 20bore Beretta instead from the sale.
My friend had a stainless straight grip 20bore muti-choke , but his dad was a gun dealer and couldn't pass up a quid so sold his own sons gun 😂.
Oh Ruger were right at the cutting edge of investment casting and forging when these were built , they were doing things other manufacturers just couldn't at the time.
The description wasn’t complimentary 😂
My shotgun pro had an interesting commentary about the Red Label shotguns: "Bill Ruger did not know how to design a shotgun. The Red Label does not fit most shooters". I think he was referring to the more recent Red labels, and not the 70's vintage model you have.
The US made fine O/U's Remington made one, the 3200. Winchester made great pumps, the 1897 and Model 12 along with the Model 21 side by side. Parker made legendary side by sides even the the Dodge brothers of the Dodge Motor Company owned a pair of Parkers.
I have a 12 gauge steel receiver red label (not black) w/ black lever. I always liked at this gun as flipping open like a peanut butter sandwich, which is fine by me. 💯 reliable.
I have a 20ga. Red Label in stainless steel. I bought it new in 1989-ish. I shoot it better than any gun I've ever owned. More interestingly, the receiver and other large parts are made with a precision casting process that needs minimal finish work.
I have the 12, 20 ans 28 and love shooting them.
Some of the Ruger Red labels came with Auto ejectors and you had the ability to disconnect them don't want to check to see that might be where the wall was coming from the springs may have been removed.