Ruger will make it right.....
Don't worry. Don't panic.
It is weird for a Ruger revolver to have a
problem.....they have made basically the same thing all their life.
Now that it is rubbing when it's empty, it may well be a timing
or a cylinder fit issue.
I have 5,6,7, and 8 shot Ruger revolvers.
The 8 shot being a Blackhawk, which is the next frame size up
from what you have. I thought of the timing before I bought it.
so many holes.....but it is slick and smooth.
I too wondered about the new Single-Ten, before the Single-Nine
came out....how they could get the timing properly indexed on
a cylinder and frame that small....with all them holes.
But Ruger makes excellent revolvers.
I thought at first the problem was the cartridge was sticking out
of the rear of the cylinder and rubbing on the frame as it entered during rotation.
If you remove the cylinder, stand it on it's face on your desk, and drop live
rounds in it, do they all seat properly into the cylinder?
Don't worry. Ruger will make it right.
Every manufacturer has some degree of repair issue.
I had to send a brand new $800 S&W .22lr back just
this past June for repair of four obvious problems.
The problem with guns or cars.......
once you buy it, it is yours.
They won't [usually] replace one if it has defects when new,
which I think is wrong.....they just repair it.
When Ruger gets yours fixed.....and they will.....
that revolver will be around and last far beyond
your life, and well past the time your daughter gives it to her kids.
I have more Rugers than anything else, some from the very early '60's
and they are as good as new functionally.
Godspeed on the repair.