Ruger & His Guns: A History Of The Man, The Company & Their Firearms

,

Contents Preface

Vll

I:

"We've Got to Learn Sometime": TheEducation ofWilliamB. Ruger, 1916-1949

II:

"A Clean Sheet of Paper": Ruger Creates aNew Pistol, Single-Action Revolvers, and TwoFactaries, 1949-1959

21

III:

"The Risks of Competition": On Safari in Africa and theNewportFactory, 1958-1967

57

N:

"Build Your Car ... House ... Rifle the Way You Want It": The Ruger Style, 1967-1972

97

V:

"Fundamentally Correct Classical Concepts": TheOldand theNew, 1972-1975

125

VI:

"A Unique Niche": AFullLineofProducts, 1975--1982

145

VII:

"Innovative Engineering, Traditional Craftsmanship," 1982-1987

177

VIII:

"To Suit Our Own Criteria": Prescott and theP-Series Pistols, 1987-1989

205

IX:

"The Basis of a Free Market Economy": RGRon theNew YorkStockExchange, 1989-1992

225

X:

"Preserving a Way of Life," 1992-1993

261

XI:

"Our Responsibility for the Future," 1994-1995

277

XII:

"That Was My Dream": Ruger Remembers

299

Appendixes Serial Numbers by Year for All Models Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., Firsts Glossary Table of Markings Selected Financial Information 1949-1993 Selected Statistical Information Year Ended December 31, 1994 Sturm, Ruger & Co. Board of Directors and Officers 1949-1994 Chronicle of Directors and Officers Number of Employees per Year 1949-1994 The Ruger Collectors' Association, Inc. Notes Bibliography Periodicals Acknowledgments Photographic Notes Index

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318 318 328 329 330 336 341 342 342 345 345 346 346 347 348 349 350

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''We've Got to Learn Sometime" The Education of William B. Ruger 1916-1949

orld W

War II was over. Bill Ruger, in the vanguard of the nascent American firearms industry, had left his wartime employer, Auto-Ordnance, and set up a small machine shop in Southport, Connecticut. It was something to do while he sorted out his future. Elegant and exquisite family heirloom pistols, the first

guns seen by Bill Ruger, with which he played pirates as

a boy. Made in Germany by Wolff & Hinrichs, and

signed in gold on top of the multi-groove rifled barrels. Snapshots from his youth and family: his grandfather Julius (at wheel of sports convertible), his parents, aunts Clara and Emma Batterman, his sister Betty, and other relatives, the Brooklyn

Stuyvesant

Avenue apartment

building and some of the other family residences. "I first went to Sunday school at a famous old brownstone Dutch Reformed Church at the corner of Flatbush and Albemarle Terrace." Ship model was an exhibit in one of Adolph's trials. Although in these snapshots his rid­ ing was for pleasure, Ruger remembers that in his youth, "There were still horses used for conveyance, de­ livery vehicles, and so forth. Once, on my bicycle, I skid­ ded on some horse manure!" Lower right shows Bill

"Auto-Ordnance was giving up the manufacture of machine guns in favor of the consumer products which were in great demand once the war ended, " re­ calls Ruger. "One of their first big postwar projects was an automatic changing record player. I went in and made a bid on producing some of the components, and I got a big order from them. " The Ruger Corporation, alll,500 square feet of it, was off and running. Almost. There was the small matter of the equipment to be overcome. Ruger had outfitted his shop with a variety of used machine tools, and when he and his handful of employees were ready to begin turning out their first job, they were in for a shock. "I started the milling machine and had to shut down immediately because the cutters were chattering and squealing terribly. We didn't know what the hell was the matter. Everything checked out. We tried it again-more squealing.

shooting, with his mother watching. In those days,

"Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong;

Brooklyn was a "marvelous environment, often com­

and a boy deprived of a father's care often devel­

pared to Paris. My mother's uncle, Henry Batterman, was on the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and he saw to it that all of the children were life members. My mother seemed to be always going to con­ certs and art exhibitions, sometimes with Betty and me in tow."

3

ops, if he escapes the perils of youth, an indepen­ dence and vigour of thought which may restore in after life the heavy loss of early days." -Winston Churchill, The River War

"This shop represented all my capital. I was broke, and I was thinking, 'I really don't need this. "' Bill Ruger, who was to become one of America's foremost industrialists, needed help. He went looking for it in Bridgeport, where an old­ time mechanic named Burt Barns was living. "He ran a beat-up looking little shop with auto­ matic screw machines in it. He was seventy-five years old in those days, I guess, and usually needed a shave." Ruger persuaded Barns to stop work and come to Southport. Barns walked around the machine, push­ ing here and pulling there, trying a number of moves as Ruger and his staff watched anxiously. ''Finally, he took a wrench, gave a couple of twists to a nut-one nut-and said, 'Okay, now try it, ' and it worked. "It was going at a slow speed, so I said, 'All right, let's try it a little higher, ' and the guys in the shop were sort of reluctant. They said, 'Yeah, this is great. But why risk damaging the cutters?' !-said, 'We've got to learn sometime. "' So they cranked it up. No problem. When Ruger said to keep pushing it higher, the men thought he was nuts and told him so. "I'll never forget the battle those guys put up; they just didn't want to take a chance, and I made them do it. That machine was really using some of its power by

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"A Clean Sheet of Paper" Ruger Creates a New Pistol, Single-Action Revolvers, and Two Factories 1949-1959

B

ill Ruger is addressing the Carl Eller School of Business, University of Arizona, in lhf late 1980s, giving his grandson Kurt's classmates

the benefit of a firsthand account of Sturm, Rugr>r & Company, Inc. In an age of junk bonds and astro­ nomical business debt, Ruger's company has an un­ broken history of no long-term debt whatsoPver. The class has already studied the company's casebook, pre-

Earlier years of the Southport factories: the "red barn" complex, and the main plant. Polaroid at

ujJjNr ltft a

rare depiction of the founder in office he used f(lr a f'cw years in the reel barn. At jar right, Ruger, Sr., watching as trademark sign lowered into position. Swrm, Ruger staiT

c.

1970, at

lojJ rmlrr: front

row

left to 1ight,

Chris

Cashavelly, lmre Kohut, comptroller Walter Berger, and Robert E. Dearden;

back

row

lefllo right, John

Polonetz,

Matthew De Mezzo, LaiTY Larson, Randle Gillespie, William B. Ruger, shop superimenclent Michael Hore­ lik, assembly department foreman Walt Sych, and mas­ ter toolmaker Rex King. Hunting knives short-lived program in 1960s; made from castings. Biii,Jr., with his father at jar fle; picture

ltfl, discussing a Farquharson single shot ri­ abovl' of Pete Kuhlhoff and Ruger, Sr., sitting

on Bentley running board. Engineer Harry Sefried on phone to right of nineteenth-cenlllry picLUre of "reel barn." Export manager Steve Vogel to left or "Ruger Team" recruiting advertisement, Walter Howe (with glasses) siuing in from of pinwheel of Rugers. Jack Behn and Eel Nolan by early NRA Show display, Little League team.

21

LO

lift of

1.1949 .22 Standard Pistol 2.1953 Single-Six ("Old Model") Revolver 3.1955 Blackhawk ("Old Model") Revolver 4.1958 Bearcat ("Old Model") Revolver 5.1959 Super Blackhawk ("Old Model") Revolver

pared by the Harvard Business School. The graduate students are transfixed by the stentorian voice and the distinctive Ruger-speak; extemporaneous, simple, straightforward, and no-nonsense-just like the founder-inventor-entrepreneur's guns: Our strategy was to carve out a niche, combining qualit.Y with low cost. Our company would be strong on expertise, service, uniqueness, simplicity, and strength of design; our marketing based on gut in­ stinct and keeping in touch with the consumer and the distributor/jobber/ dealer. Our advertising would be relatively minimal, there would be virtually no sales staff, and a top-thin management. Our advertising would emphasize safety and the responsible use of firearms, support the concepts of wildlife and habitat conservation, and training of new gun owners. We would counter the environmen­ tal issue with a head-on campaign rightfully equating the hunter with conservation. Our advertising and marketing goal would be to take more and more of the market share. A dedication and interest in your product is criti­ cal: It is a genuine interest in the product that counts. In this company, I feel like an artist, not merely a businessman. Business is the art of the possible, or let us say, avoiding the impossible. A basic law of busi­ ness: VVhen you borrow money, you have to pay it back. The best technique of manufacturing: Make the

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"The Risks of Competition" On Safari in Africa and the Newport Factory

1958-1967

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eorge andJoy Adamson, soon to be famous in America for their conservation work with lions and featured in the best-selling book and equally popular motion picture Born Free, are at home in Isiolo, Kenya, hosting Bill Ruger, riend George Rowbottom, and professional hunters Tony Henley and Glen Collar. The date is February 1958, and the hunting party is laking some time oj] in the midst of a six-week safari, relaxing rom the strenuous regime of stalking game, moving campsites, and deal­ ing with the tropical sun, heat, and humidity. They had already strrpped for a respite at actor William Holden's Mt. Kenya Safari Club, on the way to seeing the Adamsons. Ruger and Adamson, a forf

f

The Newport, New Hampshire, factory, from 1963 to date. At center, the main building in early years of devel­ opment; beneath, complex with most recent addition

6.1960 .44 Magnum Carbine 7.1963 Hawkeye Single-Shot Pistol 8.1964 10/22 Carbine 9.1966 No. 1 and No. 3 Single-Shot Rifles

mer professional hunter, became friends, and Ruger bought some of Adamson's sporting rifles. Another hunting party is there as well, and the two groups trade stories ranging from the African veldt to fresh news from New York. In the other safari group is a widely experienced hunter and champion marks­ man, destined to figure with increasing prominence in the fortunes of Sturm, Ruger & Co. The re­ doubtable Charles Askins, Jr., is on his first Kenya sa­ fari-and is now about to meet William B. Ruger. Askins remembers, as quoted from his autobiography, Unrepentant Sinner: In Isiolo was George Adamson and his Austrian wife , joy.They had captured a lioness, as a wee cub, and had named her Elsa.George was the game war­ den for the Northern Frontier and was a most pleasant person. He and [my hunter Tony Dyer] were quite friendly....While at the Adamson quar­

sketched in.To left of wax injection machine (lop right),

ters

20-year service guns being presented by Plant Manager

hunter was Glen Cottar, grandson of the famous

AJ Scribner and Stan Terhune, by then Pine Tree Cast­ ings Vice President. Controller and Vice President Erie Blanchard presents shotgun at left center. I. D. badges are of retired employees, as of December 1994. Bill Lett, Sr. (green jacket), on deer hunting trip, at bottom let f .

At

bollom center, George Hamilton and Stan Terhune, with some family members, enjoying the New Hampshire sunshine. Shotguns inscribed to President Caner and Vice President Mondale in January 1981, at bollom right, were manufactured in Newport.

57

[we met]

another safari party. The white

Bwana Cottar. Of more importance one of the clients was Bill Ruger. It was my first meeting with this remarkable man. Bill these days suffers from arthritis and his hunting is severely curtailed but this was 25 years ago and he was as hale and hearty as any man in the group.He had with him a person­ able cuss named Rowbottom. They were on a [45] day safari and were in camp about 30 miles from our camp site. Their successes

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"Build Your Car ... House ... Rifle the Way You Want It" The Ruger Style 1967-1972

B

ill and Mary Ruger are on their honeymoon, a grand tour of Europe, from May to A ugus/

1938. At peak rush hour, smack in the middle

of London s Piccadilly Circus, Bill spots a sleek, racy,

strikingly beautiful, obviously high�perfomw nre

tru:

It is light blue in color, with a gentleman ojmttlor at the wheel. Ruger weaves and dodges through the Jren-

zied traffic, reaches the car, peers down at the debonair

10.1968 M77 Bolt-Action Rifle 11.1970 Ruger Sports Tourer Car

12.1971 Ruger's enchantment with cars rivals his dedication to guns. Early influence evident from framed photograph of his father and party in immaculate new open touring car. Boyhood engine designs at first sports car, an MG, at

lop lift,

/own· right.

Ruger in his

which was l(>llowed by

Security-Six Double-Action Revolver

driver, and asks, "What kind of car is this?" "Its a Bugatti. "

The name, like an incantation, awakens a pas­ sion from Rugers childhood, one derived from his love of things which combine beauty and mechanical com­ plexity. As with the guns which have absorbed his at­ tention for- thP jJast sever-al yean, Ruger's deep inter-est in car-s is based on an appr-eciation of their- ar-tistr-y, craftsmanship, history, mechanics, per-formance, and romance. Although several year-s will pass before it finds an outlet in his aeative impulses, the memory of the Bugatti will be a par-tial impetus to the automotive

stream of high performance machines by .Jaguar, Fer­

equivalent of the Ruger Super- Blackhawk r-evolver:

rari, Bentley, Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, numerous American

The Ruger- Spor-ts Tour-er.

classics, and the Ruger Sports Tourer. The Ruger won its class on first entering of :vlt. Equinox llill Climb event. Old friend Luigi Chineui, Sr., (in crash helmet) and with associates at 1972 LeMans 2<1 I lour race (to

right

of early auto technical book). Formula I World

Champion Phil Hill and racer-commentator Sam Posey at same LeMans event

(town !tft).

Indianapolis 500 pit

"When I have a subject at hand, I study it pro­ foundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I have made is what people are pleased to call the

pass pin from time when Ruger considering purchase

'fruit of genius.' It is the fruit oflabor and

of Meyer-Drake company, manufacturers of the Offen­

thought."

hauser engine.

Bollom !tt f ,

with Renault used

to

honeymoon pictures, 1938, drive around continental Europe.

-Alexander Hamilton

At lop renin; Bill, .Jr., award-winning Cadillac coupe, on

display at Meadowbrook, Michigan, event; later won

again at Pebble Beach Concourse, 1994.

Not pictured,

Ruger, Sr., favorite contemporary passenger car, the BMW.

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Sturm, Ruger Diversifies With several models or pistols, revolvers, and ri­ fles in production-and

11101"('

in various stages or

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"Fundamentally Correct Classical Concepts" The Old and the New 1972-1975

very thing we did at Sturm, Ruger was new. During the time I was there, we did more jJTod­ uct development and released more new prod­ ucts than anyone else in the business. Everything we worked on was designed for ease of quality manufac­ turing and designed with investment casting in mind, to get the optimum use of that capability. There were also jJrojects for upgrading guns and updating them. Tt was Jun. I enjoyed it all the while I was there. I used to tell Larry Larson that I occasionally had dreams-nightmares, actually-that the old man had died and that he had hired a medium so he could tell me what he wanted from the other side! A very in­ teresting man to be around, and very interesting to talk to.

E

"Old model" Ruger Single-Six engraving samples, "old model" Super Blackhawk, and Old Army. Single-Six set engraved by Jerred in contrasting styles; numbers 5119 and 5105. Super Blackhawk by Denise Thirion, number 4806. The stainless steel Old Army percussion revolver engraved by Paul Lantuch. Three-screw frames of the cartridge revolvers were replaced in 1973 on the New Model revolvers by two-pin frames, and adoption of the revolutionary patented "transfer bar" safety system. An­ other Ruger first for single-action revolvers. Even the name "transfer bar" is a Ruger innovation, describing perfectly the function of a part that transfers the blow of the hammer to the firing pin only when the trigger is pulled.

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13.1972 Old Anny Blackpowder Revolver 14.1973 New Model Single-Six Single-Action Revolver 15.1973 New Model Blackhawk Single-Action Revolver 16.1973 New Model Super Blackhawk Single-Action Revolver

f miss Mr. Ruger terribly; he was an S. O.B. to work for, but he knew what he wanted. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Fortunately I have a pretty f er awhile I could read good mechanical mind, and at what he wanted almost without him having to say it. I still consider him a friend. I also miss the company on occasion, I really do. We engineers who worked there are like graduates of the "Ruger Engineering School, "and are very proud of it. -Roy Melcher

"We loved a great many things-birds and trees and books and all things beautiful, and horses and rifles and children and hard work and the joy of life." -Theodore Roosevelt,

An Autobiography

The Old Army Blackpowder Revolver: Harry Sefried Remembers Bill and I were both interested in antique blackpow­ der guns, and my own favorite was the Rogers & Spencer. Bill had several percussion revolvers in his collection, including the prettiest little Remington Pocket Model, on which he had styled the Ruger Bearcat. He said it would be nice to make a percussion revolver that was a really good shooter, and as close to indestructible that could be made, with all tl1e usual features. With the advances in our investment

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"A Unique Niche" A Full Line ofProducts 1975-1982

A

s we went along in our research and develojJ­ ment programs, it was evident that Bill was filling niches. In other words, the . 22 auto­ loading pistol, that first gun, was like Henry Ford's Model T It was mechanically unique, aesthetically pure, had a competitive price, and was a line-leader that started the ball rolling superbly. Then Bill filled another niche: people had the old Colt single-actions, but they didn't want to shoot them. So he brought out the Single-Six, and the com­ pany virtually had that market to itself Next was the larger caliber line of single-actions. They, too, were unique, and he brought them out before Colt revived their line in 1955. The .44 Magnum Carbine was another step in the niche direction-there was no light rifle in that cal­ iber for deer and other brush-hunting. The 10/22 Carbine and the No. 1 and No. 3 Rifles established two more niches. The former, an ultra-reliable ''plinker"; the latter, elegant rifles for the connoisseur. When he branched out into the M77 rifle, the com­ pany went up against the Model 70 Winchester and the Model 700 Remington, which were dominating that market. Ruger felt that the Model 70 had lost a great deal of its character by the illfated redesign in 1964. He cajJtured a niche with a top quality bolt­ action. The Security-Six double-action line was another 145

17.1975 Mini-14 Rifle

18.1977 Over-and-Under Shotgun

19.1979 Redhawk Double-Action Revolver

20.1980 The Titania-A Ruger­ Designed Yacht

21.1982 Mark II .22 Pistol 22.1982 Ranch Rifle

head-on collision, this time mainly with S & W and Colt. It was simpler, stronger, and more easily main­ tained. The Old Army immediately put us in the forefront of advanced, high tech, yet traditionally styled black­ powder percussion revolvers. Bill continued to fill those niches, and to a great extent the Mini-14 and the Over-and-Under Shotgun did it again. There was certainly nothing like the Mini-14, and the Remington 3200 had been discon­ tinued, so there were no American-made over-and­ under shotguns. Bill obviously had this thought of broadening the scope of Ruger product�� I don't really think that any­ one else had the vision or the capacity to share that thought or ambition. By 1982 we had a full line of single-action and double-action rimfire and centerfire revolvers, a solid line of'rifles in most calibers, updated the selfloading .22 target pistol and the original single-actions, cre­ ated the big Redhawk . 44 Magnum double-action, produced two shotguns, and had added the Ranch Rifle to the Mini-14 line. We were on the verge of get­ ting into the 9mm centerfire, double-action autoload­ ing pistols-which was a major step toward making Ruger an even more comprehensive market leader. Ruger was spread all over the place, and had achieved what no American gunmaker in history had

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"Innovative Engineering, Traditional Craftsmanship" 1982-1987

0

ur company is a prime example of an entre­

minute dimension or shape will not escape his eye.

preneur running a business his way, and

23.1982

And when he gets onto something, he stays on it

"Old Model" Single-Action Safety Conversion

product. OJ course, we've also got the edge on the corn­

making it work. Fortunately, guns are a con­

sumer product which evoke a true dedication, an emo­ tion. But increasingly Bill Ruger and the comjJany have had to deal with an anti-business attitude by government, the anti-gun and anti-hunting activists, a hostile media, a seemingly static or shrinking mar­ ket, andfewer places to use our products. Sometimes he will be looking at a model he intro­ duced years before, and he'll notice little details; he never forgets, since he has been so deeply involved all along. And he's just as proud of these guns today as he was the day each one was launched. Bill has that extraordinary, uncanny ability to know what a gun ought to be, and what it ought to look like. Unlikejohn Browning, who did not make or work from drawings, Bill's precision is partly due to his abilities on the drafting board. Even the most

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Pine Tree Castings, and Ruger ln­ vestmenL Casting business cards with a few of the several covers featuring Ruger firearms and technology. First Ruger Gun Digrst cover was the deluxe prototype Single­ Six, on 8th edition in 1954. Speed-Six commissioned by Bill Ruger; the gold inlaid dragon motif and monogram signature inspired by the art of Albrecht Dt:11·er. On other side of receiver, craftsman Alvin 'A'hite positioned the dragon's tail to encircle the serial number,

150-

01563. Revolver donated by Ruger to Buffalo Bill His­ torical Center's Winchester Arms Museum, for benefit auction by Christie's,July 5, 1984.

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24.1983

.357 Maximum Blackhawk Single-Action Revolver

25.1983

77/22 Bolt-Action Rifle 26.1985

GPl 00 Double-Action Revolver

27.1986 Super Redhawk Double­ Action Revolver with 30. 1988 SPlOl Double­ Action Revolver

28.1986 Bisley Single-Action Revolvers

relentlessly, and will not compromise on the final petition with our investment casting capability, which we utilize even in the design process-you can't de­ sign a practical mechanism unless you know that its components

are

manufacturable.

Like

Bill

says,

"Pretty pictures don't mean a thing. " -Jay Jarvis Manager, Engineering, Newport facility

"If you would see his monument, look around." -Epitaph of Christopher Wren, St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Engineering the Ruger Conversion Kit A major innovative step toward shooter safety was the 1982 announcement of the Ruger Conver­ sion Kit retrofit for "old model" single-actions. Dropping the patented New Model components into existing "old models" was impossible, since despite outward appearances, the guns are totally different mechanically.

But

after some hard

thinking and concentrated efforts, Ruger was able to engineer yet another, different, transfer bar safety mechanism that could be factory retro­ fitted into 1953-72 single-actions (and for which

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"To Suit Our Own Criteria" Prescott and the P-Series Pistols 1987-1989

0

ur renterji re self-loading pistol was undrr study for many years, but we wanted to makP tt to suzt our own cntena, not to nut sompone else's timPtablP. The US. tests wne bPing tum('(/ on and offfor ymrs, but about two years ago [ 1985] WP saiousZ'Y dPrid('(/ to go ahmd with the pistal's Ji nat dP­ sign anyway. If it came in time for the US. trials, that would bP good; if it didn't, we still felt that WP had thP best pistol of its type availablP and would find a ready markPt hne and Plsrwhne. And that's Pxactly what happenPd. -William B. Rugn; Sr.

29.1987 P-Series Pistols 41.1993 P93 Pistol 44.1994 P94 Pistol

"We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature, retracing the steps of the race; we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure." -Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"

A Factory in Arizona The Prescott facility was originally begun by Bill Ruger to occupy himself while spending part of his winters in the relatively mild, dry climate of Arizona, which was beneficial to his by-now se­ vere rheumatoid arthritis. He first hired W.

T.

"Bill" Atkinson, a renowned barrel maker and ri­ The Prescott factories; at

bot/om light, the original I 0,000

square foot building, later purchased by Ruger distribu­ tor, Davidson's. At let f rmler, present 205,000 square foot

facility. Ruger at

lojJ rt'nlerwith competitive shooter

and early ad,·oe
fame with Ruger pistols and accuracy program actively promote Ruger .22 pistols and the I 0/22 rifle. Vertical snapshot at lift with Jim McGarry, Stan Terhune, Bill Atkinson, and writer/commentator Grits Gresham, at early 1990s SHOT show. Current Board of Directors at bollom, let f Ia 1ight: Townsend Horner, Stan Terhune, :"\ils Anderson, William B. Ruger, Jr. and Sr. (laner next to

one of his Duesenbergs), Paul X. Kelley, .James E. Ser­ vice, Richard T Cunniff; not shown here, john M. Kingsley, .Jr. To 1ight of Board, Single-Six Ranch, corpo­ rate real estate investment and testing facility.

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fle and shotgun shooter, to set up a

10,000 square

foot operation which would produce the P-series centerfire pistol, already in development at New­ port and Southport. That tiny plant, conveniently located on the edge of the Prescott airport, grew to nearly ninety employees. The first year's production of slightly more than more than in

2,100 pistols in 1987 expanded to 30,500 in 1988, and to nearly 85,300

1989. In the spring of the latter year the plant 200,000 square foot fa­

moved into a mammoth

cility on the other side of the airport, the former site of U.S. Electrical Motors, a division of the Emerson Electric Company. The move was set up

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"The Basis of a Free Market Economy" RGR on the New York Stock Exchange 1989-1992 ou need to have a certain work ethic, or modus operandi, to be successful at Sturm, Ruger. Low-key management style happens to be to our taste. Some other company's managers may look flashier, but they do not have the same quality or pro­ ductivity, nor do any of the other product lines offer equal value. �verybody works here. A couple of people came here from larger companies, and lacked a certain willing­ ness to roll up their sleeves and do what had to be done. They didn't last long. Somebody said the Sturm, Ruger table of organiza­ tion looked like a rake, with Bill the handle, and everybody else the teeth. There are not a lot of Janey of flees or big staffs. This starts with Bill himself, who is the mainspring. This was never more dramatically brought home to me than in the spring of 1989, when we looked at purchasing the Colt Firearms Division of Colt Industries. On meeting at the Colt offices, we

Y

Specimen stock certificates, with documents and mem­ orabilia from Sturm, Ruger on Wall Street. Delegation of June 20, 1990-when Ruger stock was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange as "RGR"-at lower (positioned vertically) Gloria Biagioni and

right

with then-Company Secretary

(at right)

William B. Ruger, Jr., and

stock exchange and investment officials. Dinner in the wine cellar at the '21' Club celebrated the successful completion of a secondary offering of Ruger stock per­ sonally sold by Joanna Sturm and Bill Ruger, at $24 a share.

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31.1990 M77 Mark II Bolt-Action Rifle 32.1989 All-Weather 77/czt Bolt-Action Rifle 33.1990 77 /22 Magnum Bolt-Action Rifle 34.1991 Mini-Thirty Rifle 35.1992 Super Blackhawk Hunter S1ngle-Action Revolver 36.1992 22/45 Autoloading Pistols 37.1990-1992 Magnum and Express Bolt-Action Rifles 38.1992 Mark II Target Bolt-Action Rifle

found they had about five people to every one of our delegation, and they were on the verge of bankruptcy. In this firm the challenge is to be flexible enough to know the nuts and bolts, and to be able, for example, to make a presentation to a security analyst, and give the big picture. It's a challenge we've met, in special stock issues, injune 1990 andjuly 1993. The importanre of gun expertise, and the tremen­ dously widespread interest in firearms, was even brought home to us while on the "road show" with the stock issues. We often found that after presenting in­ formation on the company and why it was an out­ standing investment, questions from the interested investors and their agents would quickly turn to guns, like, "When are you going to bring out a 28 gauge?" -John M. Kingsley,Jr. Executive Vice President Sturm, Ruger and Company, Inc.

"There are forms which time adorns, not wears, and to which beauty obstinately clings." -Lord Byron (Bill Ruger is the source of this quotation but ac­ cording to him, it may be spuriously attributed to Byron; Ruger found this quotation engraved on a sterling silver plate that was screwed to the super­ charger housing of a 1929 4.5 liter Bentley auto­ mobile. Whatever its source, Ruger thought it

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"Preserving a Way of Life" 1992-1993

was a city boy that wanted to be a cowboy, or ex­ plore Africa or the North Pole....Really a pa­ thetic example of a child born in the wrong jJlace. " Ruger, however, found his right place in the Con­ necticut River Valley, known as Gun Valley for the once great arrnsmakers who used to thrive there.Rem­ ington and Winchester have now been sold off, and Colt's is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But Southpart, Conn. based Sturm, Ruger continues on, booking a handsome $15 million in profits, or $2.17 a sha-re, on [1991] revenues of$137 million.And with a jive­ year average return on equity of $19.2%, the com­ pany ranks 82nd on this year's [Forbes] Up & Comers list.... Steering clear of Saturday night specials and thin­ margined government deals, he has aimed his pieces at gun enthusiasts-hunters, target shooters and col­ lectors-who buy as much for esthetic as security rea­ sons. And while the company does sell to police departments, those deals are made on a city-by-city and state-by-state basis. Hence the company has never become reliant on a single contract.

I

The national championship Ruger Women's Sporting Clays Team, with their champion, Tom Ruger; as fea­ tured in the November 1991 issue of Town & Country.

From left, Barbara Schaefer, Parker Gentry, Nina Craig, Susie Clarke, and Denise Herman.

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39.1992

Sporting Clays Over-and-Under Shotgun

40.1993

Vaquero Single-Action Revolver

41. 1993 (see pp. 220-21) P93 Pistol

42.1993

New Bearcat Single-Action Revolver

Today, Sturm, Ruger depends upon collectors for its business as much as hunters. Issuing four or five new firearm varieties every year, Ruger is confident that customers will continue to buy to add to their col­ lections... . [Further} Ruger [has] a bit of cachet as a prestige firearm. Innovations in design and ballis­ tics help keep that image. . . . Over the past ten years Sturm, Ruger's stock price has more than quadrupled. .. . The company has also paid out almost $14 [million} warth of dividends over that period. Ruger ... believes shareholders have better use for the company's extra cash than he does. Along with his family, Ruger still owns 43% of Sturm, Ruger's shares, worth over$100 million.And Ruger recently named his 5 31ear old son, William Ruger, Jr., president of the company. Still, he insists he has no plans for stepping down. "Retire?" Ruger says with a laugh, "I've never done a goddam day 's work in my life." -Forbes, November 9, 1992, "The 200 Best Small Companies"

"If we did aJI the things we are capable of doing,

we would literaJly astonish ourselves." -Thomas Edison

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"Our Responsibility for the Future" 1994-1995

l has always surp·rised and saddened us how much time and effort has gone into both sides of the "gun control" debate. Accidents with firearms arP at an all-time low, and the violent crime rate of most segments of society is comparable to that of En­ gland, except for one demographic group--young, ur­ ban males. The curious thing is that most of them are not even legally Jmmitted to possess any gun, due to age, local law, prior convictions, drug history, and the lihP. We do not, legally cannot, and don't want to sell our products to this group, yet thr'ir almost total soci­ etal breal!down is blamed by somP upon law-abiding citizens many miles away who romjJly with the law and who choose to own firearms for lawful purjJoses. Over 99 percent of all firearms, including handguns, are never misused, but that s certainly not the imjJres­ sion conveyed by the contemporary media, which vio-

I NEW

,�· (

Cross-section of Sturm, Ruger memorabilia, with com­ pany advertising,

manuals,

and other

publications,

done in a consistently attractive, no-nonsense style, for­ mat, and content. Photographs at

top show Armorers'

School in session, an early 10-Year Club dinner, Ruger at bench with Mini-14 and speaking with Walter Berger, scenes from Pine Tree Castings, and law enforcement

use of the Mini-14. Red booklet at lower right gives Ruger's vision for the future of a responsible firearms industry in sometimes turbulent society.

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43.1994 77/22 Hornet Bolt-Action Rifle 44.1994 P94 Pistol (see pp. 222-23) 45.1994 MP9 Submachine Gun 46.1995 28 Gauge Over-and-Under Shotgun 47.1995 Woodside Over-and-Under Shotgun

lently depicts guns in prime time "entertainment" and later denounces them on the news. Mlhen people ash me questions lihe, "Mihal's wrong with a waiting period?" I reply, "It depends on who's doing the waiting. " You could require Bill Ruger to wait five years between gun purchases and you still have done exactly nothing to reduce violent crime; and, of course, the drug traders do no waiting at all. Mlhen people slate that "the only purpose of a gun is to kill people, " they are in effect calling the owners of guns "murderers"; and they wonder why so much pas­ sionate resislanre is offered against repressive gun laws by the average shooter! As seen in countless edito­ rials, cartoons, and TV shows, gun owners are the last remaining group that it is permissible to slander­ ously stereotype-the "rednech blaster. " Gun owners are sick to death of this. It amounts to a cultural clash, in which city dwellers (who rarely see guns used in other than an anti-personnel mntext), and the media (also located in the cities), seem to think that if only their less­ sophisticated country cousins will stop being so obsti­ nate and give up this "obsolete" right to own firearms, violent criminals in their cities will be disarmed. Sport shooting or admiring a collectible firearm is incon­ ceivable to this group. For their part, the suburban and rural firearms owners, the vast majority who fire billions of rounds annually without untoward harm

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"That Was My Dream": Ruger Remembers

Collage representing diversity of Ruger company, per­ sonal and industry associations;

top left,

May Ruger with

'To bear up under loss, to fight the bitterness of

lPfl,

defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over

Ruger old-timers Kirk Timm,Jack Behn, and Walt Sych, at trade show. Ruger-sponsored race driver .Johnny

anger, to smile when tears are close, to resist evil

Unser with Ruger and Tom Pew, at 1993 Loudon Indi­

love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to

daughter-in-law Mary, seated at Southport patio. At

abovP photograph

anapolis car race;

of Ruger and Stan

Terhune with Petersen Publishing founder Robert E.

men and base instincts, to hate hate and to love seek ever after the glory and the dream, to look

Petersen, Ken Ellioll, and Steve Ferber, founder of Ac­

up with unquenchable faith in something ever­

qua-Field Publications. Ruger with son Tom, candid moment at Southport office . Top center; company boat·d

and so be great."

of directors, 1993;

above photograph by

niece Cameron

more about to be, that is what any man can do, -Zane Grey

Brauns of the Rugers at final Christmas together, 1993.

Below,

Ruger, .Jr., to left of Tom Ruger and .Jim Car­

Ruger commemorative cartridges at left, custom made for 75th birthday.

Above cartridge box, Ruger with stock­

broker-gun collector John R. Woods, also at Cody party.

To left of box, SLUrm, Ruger poster celebrity and profes­ sional guide Kelly Glenn. To

left and bdow,

Kurt and Billy

Jean Vogel wedding portrait, the Sturm, Ruger facto­ ries; Ruger, Sr. and Jr., with Stephen Sanetti on sec­ ondary stock offering "road show" of spring,

1993.

Ruger with Prescott plant manager, Robert Swtler. Sanetti, Gloria Biagioni, Erie Blanchard, and .John Kingsley, .Jr., at lower right, with snapshot of Chickie

Ruger and daughter Adrienne. Black-and-white pic­ tures of the six grandchildren, at young age. .Jet-black cat Ruger's favorite, Checkers (on Douglas chair); yel­ low cat, Keto, the gifted vermin-hunter from Ruger's Southport home. Cartridges are all those for which Ruger firearms are chambered, represent broad range and uses of Ruger products.

299

"Never Worked a Day in My Life" At his age and station in life, Ruger could easily retire: surrounding himself with his collections of

Ruger and Kalashnikov discuss new Ruger 22/45 pistol.

michel, at 75th birthday party, Cody; limited edition

Howard Chappel, the famous archaeologist and historian of small boat construction, commented in the foreword to one of his landmark volumes that, of all the possessions recorded by civilized human beings, those that seem to be the most valued are guns and boats. And I think that 's true. -William B. Ruger, Sr.

paintings, sculpture, books, sport and vintage

e have manufactured over fourteen million firearms since 1949 and in the course of do­ ing that, I think we have acquired a real in­ sight into the reasons why jJeople buy guns and why guns appeal to people, aside from a purely utilitarian objective of self-defense or whatever. There's a much deeper significance and apjJeal to firearms, and you have only to look back to the collections of arms and armor in the great museums of the world to realize that this is a vast category of human creativity. The manufacture offirmrrns has a st-rong historical inter­ est and says a great deal about the nature of people's psyches or mentalities. WeajJons have always been the kind of possession which was valued above almost anything else-weapons of any sort, and, in our time, particularly firearms.

W

cars, firearms, and houses; relaxing with friends, family, and his myriad admirers. But "retirement" isn't in his vocabulary. And though he once re­ marked

to

Forbes magazine that he'd never

worked a day in his life, in fact, there are more Ruger projects in the works now than in his en­ tire career. At seventy-nine, his vision for his com­ pany-and for the future of the firearms industry on which he has left such an indelible mark over the past forty-six years-continues to be penetrat­ ing and incisive. In the twilight of a brilliant career, he is still the bold spokesman for his chosen field, taking on the press, testifying before Congressional committees

(having done

this

three

times),

preaching the Gospel of personal responsibility