I' m picking up my Ruger on Monday.
I don' t know how that Heritage Rough Rider got into such bad condition. My assumption is that it showed up in bad condition and the few rounds I put through it just made the flaws show up. I honestly don' t think I put more than 300 rounds of 22 lr through it and I know it never spit out more than 50 rounds of the 22 mag ammo. That is clearly not enough shooting to do damage to a decent gun. Heritage admitted that they had problems with their early models...which mine was. Even though $95 isn' t hat much to have it repaired, I' m reluctant to believe that it would stay in working condition.
My Ruger will prpbably help me in decide to turn the Rough Rider into an additional bench " hammer" .

8mm/06
BULLY!!

8mm/06 I think you made a smart move going with the Ruger instead of throwing good money after bad.Correct me if I' m wrong. You said Hertiage Arms knew there were problems with the earlier models.With that being said shouldn' t they make it right under a so called warranty?If not because of the their defects or flaws you get stuck. I don' t think so.I would get on the phone and talk to the president, owner or top dog at Hertiage.I would start off polite,if that doesn' t work you might mention how well the internet works to get news around the way you' ve been treated.I' m sure you' ll get it either repaired at N/C or get a replacement.You have nothing to lose but a little time.Whatever you decide good luck with your new Ruger. If you use the Heritage as another bench hammer make sure you have it unloaded first LOL.
Ruger Redhawk

Ruger-Redhawk,
I actually did have some long conversations with their folks. They told me if I had only sent it in earlier they would have covered everything no questions asked. I did know of one problem (22 mag not firing properly) within the one year limited waranty, but failed to send it in on time. I finally got around to it only recently.....some eight years after the problem....my ignorance and bad judgement for putting it off so long.
They even admitted that they could tell my gun hadn' t been abused or even fired a lot. Nevertheless they offered me the fix at $95 ---- take it or leave it.
I assured them that I couldn' t spend $95 to fix a gun I originally paid $76 for.
When you consider what it would cost me to have it fixed by a reputable smith that owed me no warranty the $95 is a good deal for what they said needed to be done.
However, as you state, they admitted to me that they discovered a few flaws in the earlier models and changed several desing features to correct the problems. Unfortunately I sat on my hands too long before speaking up. Live and learn.
I think once I begin firing the Ruger I' ll consider it a joke to even mess with the Heritage.