The Ruger Gold Label was a side-by-side

double-barreled shotgun A double-barreled shotgun is a break-action shotgun with two parallel barrels, allowing two single shots to be fired in quick succession or simultaneously. Construction Modern double-barreled shotguns, often known as ''doubles'', are almost u ...

that was made by Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated, at their manufacturing facility in

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. It was designed to be similar to traditional English shotguns used for upland bird hunting and for

clay target Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to time ...

games such as

sporting clays Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting, often described as "golf with a shotgun" because a typical course includes from 10 to 15 different shooting stations laid out over natural terrain. For safety, the course size is often no smaller ...

Features

The Gold Label has a stainless steel receiver and blued

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

. The

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

and fore-end are made of AAA-grade American walnut. At 6½ pounds, the Gold Label is relatively lightweight for a double barreled shotgun. Equipped with a single

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, a barrel selector mechanism is used to choose whether the left or right barrel fires first. The second shot can be fired even if the first shot was a misfire and the shotgun has not

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

ed. The barrel selector is combined with the manual

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and is located at the top rear of the receiver, behind the top lever. Opening the

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

automatically engages the safety mechanism. Only produced in 12

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

, the

chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

are three inches in length, to accommodate either 2¾ inch or 3 inch shells. The Gold Label uses screw-in choke tubes that are steel shot compatible.

Models

There are two models of Gold Label. One has an American style pistol grip stock. The other has an English style straight grip stock. Both models have a splinter style fore-end. The Gold Label was produced from 2004 to 2006 and has not been produced since. While the shotgun was still pictured in Ruger's 2008 Catalog, it was listed as "current production sold out, anticipate availability in 2009." According to most reports, the Gold Label will not be produced again due to its high cost of manufacturing.

Awards

In 2002, the Gold Label was named Shotgun of the Year by ''Shooting Industry News''. In 2005, it won the "Golden Bullseye" Shotgun of the Year award from ''

American Rifleman ''American Rifleman'' is a United States-based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). It is the 33rd-most-widely-distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magazine. The magaz ...

'' magazine.

Notes

External links

Ruger Gold Label official websiteRuger Gold Label Instruction Manual
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Sturm, Ruger & Company Double-barreled shotguns of the United States