Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American

firearm manufacturing The following list of modern armament manufacturers presents major companies producing modern weapons and munitions for military, paramilitary, government agency and civilian use. The companies are listed by their full name followed by the short ...

company based in

Southport, Connecticut Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,710. Settle ...

, with production facilities also in

Newport, New Hampshire Newport is a town in and the county seat of Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. It is west-northwest of Concord, the state capital. The population of Newport was 6,299 at the 2020 census. A covered bridge is in the northwest. The ar ...

; Mayodan, North Carolina; and

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...

. The company was founded in 1949 by

Alexander McCormick Sturm Alexander McCormick Sturm (June 23, 1923 – November 16, 1951) was an American artist, author, and entrepreneur who co-founded in 1949 the American firearms maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. Sturm provided the start-up money and designed the Germanic h ...

and

William B. Ruger William Batterman Ruger (June 21, 1916 – July 6, 2002) was an American firearms designer and entrepreneur, who partnered with Alexander McCormick Sturm to establish Sturm, Ruger & Co., Sturm, Ruger & Company in 1949. Their first product was ...

, and has been publicly traded since 1969. Ruger produces

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

, semi-automatic, and

single-shot rifle Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

s, and single- and double-action

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

s. According to the

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

statistics for 2015, Ruger is currently America's largest firearm manufacturer, as well as the second largest pistol and revolver manufacturer (behind

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

) and rifle manufacturer (behind

Remington Remington may refer to: Organizations * Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer * Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer * Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products * Remington College, American c ...

) in the United States.

History

Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by

and

in 1949 in a small rented machine shop in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Just prior to their partnership, Bill Ruger had successfully duplicated two Japanese "baby" Nambu pistols in his garage, from a captured Nambu that he acquired from a returning Marine, at the close of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When it came to designing their first semi-auto

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

, Ruger decided to incorporate the looks of the German 9mm Luger and the American

Colt Woodsman The Colt Woodsman is a semi-automatic sporting pistol manufactured by the U.S.Colt's Manufacturing Company from 1915 to 1977. It was designed by John Moses Browning. The frame design changed over time, in three distinct series: series one being 1 ...

into their first commercially produced

.22 caliber .22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). Cartridges in this caliber include the very widely used .22 Long Rifle and .223 Remington / 5.56×45mm NATO. .22 inch is also a popular ...

pistol (see

Ruger Standard The Ruger Standard Model is a rimfire semi-automatic pistol introduced in 1949 as the first product manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., and was the founding member of a product line of .22 Long Rifle cartridge handguns, including its later itera ...

), which became so successful that it launched the entire company. 1970 Ruger Sports Tourer in yellow, front left (Lime Rock)

Ruger is a dominant manufacturer in the

.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...

rimfire

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

market in the U.S., due primarily to the sales of its

Ruger 10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

semiautomatic rifle. The 10/22 is very popular due to its reputation for being relatively inexpensive and of high quality. As a result, a wealth of after-market accessories and parts were made available for it, which has further increased its popularity. The availability and variety of after-market parts makes it possible to build a 10/22 using only these parts; most of which are marketed to target shooters and hunters. Ruger similarly dominates the .22 rimfire

market with the

Ruger MK IV The Ruger Standard Model is a rimfire semi-automatic pistol introduced in 1949 as the first product manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., and was the founding member of a product line of .22 Long Rifle cartridge handguns, including its later ite ...

, a descendant of the Ruger Standard pistol. Like the 10/22, the Mark Series is supported with a wide variety of after-market accessories. The 22/45 is similar to the Ruger Standard family of pistols but features a different grip angle, that of the Colt 1911 (as opposed to that of a Luger utilized in the Ruger Standard). Ruger is also renowned for the production of high-quality revolvers, such as the GP100 and Redhawk lines. They also have some presence in the semi-auto pistol market, with the SR1911 and SR lines of handguns. From 1949 through 2004, Ruger manufactured over 20 million

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s. The company is headquartered in Southport, Connecticut, and maintains manufacturing facilities in

, and Mayodan, North Carolina. Ruger's subsidiaries are Ruger Precision Metals LLC in

Earth City, Missouri Earth City is an unincorporated community located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, along Interstate 70, near the Missouri River. It is bounded by the city of Bridgeton on the east and north, the city of Maryland Heights to the sout ...

, Pine Tree Castings in Newport, New Hampshire, and Ruger Sportswear & Accessories in Mayodan, North Carolina. Ruger's Pine Tree Castings division makes ferrous,

ductile Ductility is a mechanical property commonly described as a material's amenability to drawing (e.g. into wire). In materials science, ductility is defined by the degree to which a material can sustain plastic deformation under tensile stres ...

iron, and commercial

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

castings. Ruger had a division known as Ruger Golf, making steel and titanium castings for

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...

s made by a number of different brands. Sturm, Ruger stock has been publicly traded since 1969 and became a

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

company in 1990 (NYSE:RGR). After Alex Sturm's death in 1951, William B. Ruger continued to direct the company until his death in 2002. In September 2020, the company bought the

Marlin Firearms Marlin Firearms Co. is an American manufacturer of semi-automatic, lever-action, and bolt-action rifles. In the past, the company, now based in Madison, North Carolina, and formerly based in North Haven, Connecticut, made shotguns, derringe ...

company from bankrupt

Remington Outdoor Company Remington Outdoor Company (ROC) was an American firearms manufacturer and holding company. The company had notable brands under its umbrella, such as Bushmaster, DPMS, Remington and Marlin. History On August 15, 2017, James Marcotuli announced ...

Statistics

Ruger was ranked the number one U.S.

firearms manufacturer The following list of modern armament manufacturers presents major companies producing modern weapons and munitions for military, paramilitary, government agency and civilian use. The companies are listed by their full name followed by the short ...

from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, Ruger manufactured 1,114,687 firearms, as their promotion, the "Million Gun Challenge to Benefit the NRA", played a significant role in the company maintaining its top U.S. manufacturer status. The company has set a new goal of 2 million firearms produced per year. From 2009 to 2012, Ruger was the top-seller of

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

Products

Ruger breaks down its products into nine categories: *

bolt-action rifle Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

s *

autoloading rifle A self-loading rifle or autoloading rifle is a rifle with an action using a portion of the energy of each cartridge fired to load another cartridge. Self-loading pistols are similar, but intended to be held and fired by a single hand, while rifles ...

s *

lever-action rifle The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms Lever-action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger g ...

s *

s * centerfire pistols * rimfire pistols *

double-action revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ro ...

s *

single-action revolver A trigger is a mechanism (engineering), mechanism that actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting ...

Rifles

Bolt-action rifles

* Hawkeye M77 * Gunsite Scout Rifle * Model 77/22 * American Rifle * American Rimfire *

Ruger Precision Rifle The Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR) is a bolt-action rifle introduced by Sturm, Ruger & Co. on 17 July 2015. Models The RPR was originally announced in the following calibers and configurations: * .308 Win. with 1:10 twist, barrel, weighing * 6 ...

* Ruger Precision Rimfire

Autoloading rifles

* Model 44 (discontinued) *

10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

* 10/17 (discontinued) * SR-22 *

Mini-14 The Mini-14 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Introduced in 1973, it is based on the M14 rifle and is essentially a scaled-down version chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. It is made in a number of variants, inc ...

* Mini Thirty *

XGI XGI Technology Inc. () is based upon the old graphics division of Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) spun off as a separate company, and the graphics assets of Trident Microsystems. It existed from 2003 to 2010. History Founded in June 2003 and h ...

(not produced: development halted) * Police Carbine (discontinued) * Ruger PC Carbine * Deerfield Carbine (discontinued) * AR-556 * SR-556 (discontinued) * SR-762 (discontinued)

Lever-action rifles

* Model 96 (96/44, 96/22 and 96/17 discontinued)

Single-shot rifles

* No. 1 * No. 3 (discontinued)

Shotguns

Gold Label Gold Typhoon Group is a Chinese entertainment company. Gold Label was founded in 2004 in Hong Kong, launched with the support of EMI, and acquired EMI Music Taiwan / EMI Music China (Typhoon Records) in 2008, reforming to Gold Typhoon. On 1 Jan ...

(discontinued) * Red Label (discontinued)

Submachine guns

* MP9 (discontinued)

Handguns

Centerfire pistols

* Hawkeye (discontinued) * P-Series (discontinued) * SR-Series (discontinued) * American Pistol * Security-9 *

Ruger MAX-9 Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and Presco ...

* SR1911 * LCP * LCP II * LCP Max * LC9 * LC380 * LC9s * Ruger-5.7

Rimfire pistols

68-577-B Pistol, Cal 22, US, Ruger MK1 (7516155658)

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

(MK I) (discontinued) * MK II (discontinued) * MK III / 22/45 (discontinued) * MK IV * SR22 * 22 Charger

Double-action revolvers

* Security-Six/Service-Six/Speed-Six (discontinued) * SP101 * GP100 * Redhawk *

Super Redhawk The Super Redhawk is a line of double-action magnum revolvers made by Sturm, Ruger beginning in 1987, when Ruger started making weapons using larger, more powerful cartridges such as .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, and .480 Ruger.Taffin, John (2002) '' ...

* Super Redhawk Alaskan * LCR

Single-action revolvers

* Bearcat * Single-Six *

Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus uru ...

* Super Blackhawk *

Vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...

* Wrangler * Old Army (discontinued)

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Ruger and Co. Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Firearm manufacturers of the United States Military in Connecticut Manufacturing companies established in 1949