50 Years Of Ruger Genius

Guns Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Clair Rees

In the lofty realm of American firearms designers, Bill Ruger walks among the giants.

When Bill Ruger's Standard Model pistol appeared in 1949, I badly wanted one. I was prepared to mow lawns all summer to earn its $37.50 price. My widowed mother put her foot down. Earlier, I'd picked cherries to buy a bolt-action .22, but she wouldn't allow her pre-teenage son to own a handgun.

The stylish Ruger fired my imagination. It had the same effect on thousands of others who saw those early ads. The strikingly handsome guns sold at a highly reasonable price and received glowing reports.

Word quickly spread that Ruger's new pistol was the .22 to have. I finally acquired a blued Mark II with a bull barrel. I've owned this pistol for years and continue to use it with great satisfaction. A marvel of design and engineering, it's one of the most accurate and reliable handguns I own. Today, Ruger's .22 auto pistol is offered in no fewer than 18 distinct variations.

The Man Behind The Guns

William Batterman Ruger, the man behind the Standard Model pistol, had worked as a gun designer at the U.S. government's Springfield Armory. He later designed a machine gun that the Auto Ordnance Corporation purchased, and worked as a production engineer for that company during World War II.

After the war, he formed a new business with the eventual goal of producing sporting firearms. While working on new gun designs, Ruger also did subcontract manufacturing for other companies and developed a line of carpentry tools. The business failed in 1948, just as Ruger was perfecting the design of his new rimfire pistol.

Ruger soon went into partnership with his friend Alexander Sturm, forming Sturm, Ruger and Company. Sturm was a graduate of the Yale Art School and an avid firearms enthusiast. He provided the financial backing for the new enterprise.

A writer as well as artist, Sturm wrote some early ads for the new company and designed the now-famous Ruger trademark. Tragically, he became seriously ill and died in the fall of 1951, just two years after the company was founded. The Sturm, Ruger "red eagle" trademark he created was permanently changed to black in mourning.

This year the Red Eagle has been resurrected for the 50th Anniversary commemorative model M4-50. The blued-steel 50th Anniversary Model is machined to the same contour as the original Ruger pistol.

In The Master's Footsteps

Spurred by the success of the Standard Model Pistol, Ruger began designing new guns at a pace unmatched since the days of John M. Browning. Ruger mirrored Browning's genius, creating a wide variety of innovative firearms -- rifles, handguns and shotguns alike.

Like Browning, Ruger developed guns that were rugged, accurate and reliable. He made wide use of manufacturing efficiencies, keeping prices within reach of the average shooter. In 1953, Ruger began producing handgun components through precision investment casting. These castings replaced the rough forgings that required extra finishing.

Ruger instinctively understands the buying public, often flying in the face of conventional gunmaking wisdom. As other manufacturers relegated single-action revolvers to the grave, Ruger introduced the Single-Six .22 in 1953. Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and other TV westerns helped create a demand for single-action sixguns, and Ruger was happy to fill that demand.

Close on the heels of the rimfire Single-Six, he introduced the .357 Mag. Blackhawk in 1955 followed by a .44 Mag. version a year later. These immediate successes were followed by the diminutive Bearcat .22 in 1958 and the big Super Blackhawk in 1959. A .22 Magnum Single-Six appeared that same year.

Almost single-handedly, Ruger revived shooter interest in western-style sixguns that required manual cocking before each shot. Lured by Ruger's success, other manufacturers soon reboarded the single-action bandwagon. Single-action revolvers owe their current popularity -- if not their continued survival -- to Bill Ruger's foresight

Classics In The Making

After Ruger unveiled the .44 Mag. Super Blackhawk, he introduced a brand-new carbine chambered for the same cartridge. Originally dubbed the "Deerstalker," the autoloading magnum carbine was the first in what was to become an extensive lineup of Ruger rifles.

The Deerstalker moniker was soon abandoned because Ithaca was marketing a slug-shooting shotgun with the same name. Some 250,000 .44 Mag. Ruger Carbines were produced before the model was discontinued in 1985.

I used one of these slick-shooting little rifles (it was just over a yard in length and weighed just 5 3/4 lbs.) for a couple of years with real satisfaction. I never encountered the feeding problems some shooters later reported. I'd like to see the Ruger Carbine revived (as the Bearcat recently was), although I'm told manufacturing costs peculiar to the design make this unlikely.

The 10/22 appeared in 1964. Closely resembling a downsized .44 Mag. Ruger Carbine, the 10/22 autoloader was a real home run. It soon became one of the most popular rimfire rifles ever made. The Ruger 10/22 remains the best-selling rimfire auto rifle on the market today, 35 years after its introduction. It has spawned an entire industry of aftermarket barrels, stocks and other accessories designed specifically for the little .22.