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 Mayodan is a town in Rockingham County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is a manufacturing site for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Bridgestone Aircraft Tire, and General Tobacco (ceased operations 2010). Washington Mills Company, later Tultex, o ...

; and Prescott, Arizona. The company was founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B. Ruger, 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-actio ...

, semi-automatic, and single-shot rifles,

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

s, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that has at least one gun barrel, barrel and uses a revolving cylinder (firearms), cylinder containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers (each holding a single ...

s. According to the ATF statistics for 2015, Ruger is currently America's largest firearm manufacturer, as well as the second largest pistol and revolver manufacturer (behind Smith & Wesson) and rifle manufacturer (behind Remington) in the United States.

History

Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 in a small rented machine shop in Southport,

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 (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. 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 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. 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, a ...

, Ruger decided to incorporate the looks of the German 9mm Luger and the American Colt Woodsman 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), which became so successful that it launched the entire company. 1970 Ruger Sports Tourer in yellow, front left (Lime Rock)

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 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 semi-automatic pistol market with the Ruger MK IV, 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 The Ruger SR1911 is a semi-automatic pistol modeled after the classic Colt M1911 pistol. Design Like the M1911, the Ruger 1911 is single action only. It also has features such as a beavertail grip safety Close-up shot of a safety of an M16A2 ...

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 Newport, New Hampshire, Prescott, Arizona, and

. Ruger's subsidiaries are Ruger Precision Metals LLC in Earth City, Missouri, Pine Tree Castings in Newport, New Hampshire, and Ruger Sportswear & Accessories in Mayodan, North Carolina. Ruger's Pine Tree Castings division makes ferrous, ductile 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 i ...

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 variet ...

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 liste ...

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, derring ...

company from bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company.

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 handguns.

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-actio ...

s * autoloading rifles * lever-action rifles * single-shot rifles *

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 r ...

s *

single-action revolver A trigger is a 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 devices such as a trap ...

Rifles

Bolt-action rifles

* Hawkeye M77 * Gunsite Scout Rifle * Model 77/22 * American Rifle * American Rimfire * Ruger Precision Rifle * 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 m ...

* 10/17 (discontinued) * SR-22 * Mini-14 * Mini Thirty * XGI (not produced: development halted) * Police Carbine (discontinued) *

Ruger PC Carbine The Ruger PC-9 Pistol Caliber Carbine is a blowback centerfire semi-automatic pistol-caliber carbine manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., designed as a companion to certain Ruger Pistol-Series semi-automatic pistols, using the same 9 mm Pa ...

* 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 ''No. 3'' () is a 1997 South Korean gangster comedy film starring Han Suk-kyu as the titular no. 3 man of a gang who's aspiring to rise up the ranks and become the leader of his own gang. It was writer-director Song Nung-han's feature direct ...

(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 *

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

Rimfire pistols

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

* Standard (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 * Super Redhawk Alaskan * LCR

Single-action revolvers

Bearcat The bearcat, also known as the binturong, is a viverrine mammal from Southeast Asia. Bearcat or bearkat may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Bearcats!'', a 1971 American TV series * '' The Bearcat'', a 1922 film starring Hoot Gibson * "Do the Be ...

* Single-Six * Blackhawk * Super Blackhawk * Vaquero * 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