Ruger gas, air or spring-operated guns

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Sep 25, 2026 · , sent to the company Sep 30, 2026 · , published by CPSC Oct 15, 2026

   The product, in the report: Airgun Ruger U-Force .22 caliber gas Piston break Barrell pellet rifle

   Was using ruger .22 Calibur airgun at my house to scare off a raccoon that was after my kittens and I put the pellet in and right as I was snapping the barrell back the barrel slammed shut n the gun discharged on its own without me pulling the trigger. The pellet flew across the yard and hit my neighbor’s house. If this had been 5 minutes earlier my son would have been standing in the line of fire. As we do use caution while shooting any kind of gun this could have been catastrophic!! It could have killed one of us. It could have went through a neighbors window and shot them, or caused damage I would have been made to pay for, luckily it did not do that. Although it did however cause minor damage that is the least of my worries. Other people has bought this exact gun and many will buy it again and if it has a defect like this it definitely should not be sold in stores and whoever has paid for one should get a full refund! I sent a “contact us”request email to the manufacturer which is UX Umarex Airgun, since it is still under warranty I literally have only had this for 4 months and have not shot it but probably 100 times during the 4 month period. There is no reason at all for this to have happened.

   Model

   2230198

   Serial number

   1725229955298667

   Bought from

   Walmart

   Bought

   May 23, 2026

   Where

   Bowling green, Kentucky: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 39, Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Ruger U-Force, made or sold by UMAREX USA INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

2. No one hurt

   Made Mar 5, 2018 · , sent to the company Jun 7, 2018 · , published by CPSC Jun 21, 2018

   The product, in the report: Ruger Air Hawk Pellet Gun made by Umarex USA, Inc.

   The pellet gun has two major safety issues. Once, it fired with the safety on. The bigger safety problem is when the butt of the gun hit a tree stump, it fired. Nobody’s finger was anywhere near the trigger.

   Model

   Air Hawk

   Serial number

   000060283

   Bought from

   Bif 5 Sporting Goods

   Bought

   Jul 5, 2009

   Where

   Merced, California: Farm/Ranch

   Who was involved

   Unknown

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand Ruger, made or sold by Sturm Ruger & Co Inc

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

3. No one hurt

   Made Mar 5, 2014 · , sent to the company Mar 12, 2014 · , published by CPSC Mar 27, 2014

   The product, in the report: Ruger Air Hawk Elite. Break barrel spring action .177 cal. air rifle.

   Please see Report No. 20110927-AF1FF-2147474909 Report Date 9/27/2011 I have the exact same issue with my Ruger Air Hawk Elite as in the attached Report. This is a spring action air rifle not considered a firearm. I have had it now approx. 3 years and it has had limited use .I have not even fired 500 pellets through this rifle and kit still wore out. I did not use it at all in 2013 due to the problem of it firing on its own. After searching the net looking for answers to fix this problem I came across this report. Since I know the rifle is out of warranty and Umarex would not honor any repairs I have decided to do the repairs myself. After reading the report mentioned it seems Umarex blames the consumer for any problems with the rifle anyway. However, this is still an unsafe product and Umarex should be called on it. They need to do a re-call to fix the soft metal “sear” so it does not wear so quickly. It is “cheap” Chinese machine work. I was lucky that no injury or damage was caused by the sudden discharge (with safety on). As mentioned I stopped using it last year and decided to make it a 2014 winter project looking into the repairs. After properly dismantling the rilfe (used a spring compression tool) I located the worn sear. I wonder now how many other people have had this issue and not reported it.

   Model

   Ruger Air Hawk Elite

   Serial number

   000021463

   Bought from

   County Stores

   Bought

   Jun 10, 2011, about then

   Where

   Merrimack, New Hampshire: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 68, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Ruger Air Hawk Elite, made or sold by UMAREX USA INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

4. No one hurt

   Made Sep 27, 2011 · , sent to the company Oct 5, 2011 · , published by CPSC Oct 20, 2011

   The product, in the report: Ruger Air Hawk Elite air rifle, 0.177 caliber spring piston pneumatic air rifle

   I received a Ruger Air Hawk Elite air rifle as a Christmas present about 3 years ago. After about one year of intermittent (not heavy) use, I tried to use it and it discharged by itself. I tried several times to load and use the air rifle and it discharged about 1/2 of the time without the trigger being pulled. This is a break barrel air rifle, which means the barrel must be cocked open to load the pellet and engage the spring for firing. One time the barrel swung up by itself and discharged, bending the barrel. If my finger had been in the way while loading the pellet, I am sure it would have caused severe damage. I called the company (Umarex) to report the problem and they said it was my fault for pulling the trigger while it was open, which I did not do, and that the warranty was void because of that. I have a hole in my wall and a hole in my rain gutter from it firing on its own. For about $50 return shipping, another fee to straighten the barrel and the cost of me shipping the air rifle to the company, they said they would straighten the barrel, so I decided to locate a local repair person. The gun has remained untouched for about 1.5 years as it was unsafe to use due to both the bent barrel and the firing on its own. I finally found a local repair person who fixed it. He said the spring that pushes the air was broken (I have the broken spring), the barrel was obviously bent, and the firing holding mechanism was a lousy design. According to what I was told, he said there is a small piece of metal that falls into place and it was worn and no longer holding the firing mechanism, which is why it fired on its own. He flipped this piece over to the non-worn side and placed it back in the gun, and also told me it was soft metal which will wear out again. This means at some time it will fire without the trigger being pulled, and I have no idea when. While researching the problem, I came across a review on Cabelas web site whereby another consumer reported the same problem. I again notified Umarex that I considered this gun unsafe, I was not the only experiencing these problems, and was told they could not cover expenses for someone else to fix the gun and were aware of no other problems. That is why I am contacting you in regards to this. Note this is not a firearm, as no gunpowder is used, so ATF does not handle it. Here is the website for Cabelas, or you can go to their website, search for Ruger Air Hawk Elite and read the reviews. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Ruger-Air-Hawk-Elite-Air-Rifle/742338.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Druger%2Bair%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=ruger+air&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products Again, I consider this gun unsafe as it fires on its own, it is one of the most powerful air rifles available and think it should be recalled. If their other guns have a similar design, they should also be recalled.

   Model

   Ruger Air Hawk Elite air rifle

   Serial number

   000016045

   Bought

   Oct 15, 2008, about then

   Where

   Aylett, Virginia: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand Ruger, made or sold by UMAREX USA INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources