Give us your Ruger story - win a shirt!

[dgray64]

I bought my Ruger P95DC because I had never owned a Ruger and it fit my hand.  I took it to my range in the pasture many times along with other pistols and always ended up putting more rounds through it than the others since the trigger was so smooth and it was so accurate.  I put hundreds of rounds...well maybe thousands since I reload my own, clean it after every outing and had no issues...until.   One day I began getting failures to eject.  Couldn't figure it out.  This was my perfect pistol.  I cleaned it every time.  I took it apart again (easy to do on a Ruger) and looked at the ejector.  Hmmm.  I'd never used a tooth brush to clean one and this one had so much junk under it, that it was nearly invisible.  I cleaned it well with Hoppes and put it back together.  Wow!  It shot like new again.  Got to remember to clean EVERYTHING!  It's still the best, most accurate shooter I have! 

Dave

[Jerome from California]

When my wife-to-be first arrived in California, she had never touched, much less fired a gun in her life. She really didn't enjoy shooting my butchered Springfield 1911A1. Perhaps, it wasn't so wise to let a complete newbie to shoot .45. The last thing I wanted was for her to be completely turned-off to the shooting sport.  At that point, I decided to rent a plain-jane 10/22 carbine from the range. She really enjoyed herself and declared that she would to go shooting with me again in the future. She also said that she would want a gun just like she shot that afternoon.
A few months later, we were able to find a 10/22 International for her. She agreed with me that the Mannlicher stock gave the rifle a classy old-timey charm. We spent a lot of afternoons together shooting her rifle along with other guns we aquired through the years.
Yesterday, our nine-year old son shot a firearm for the first time in his young life. He shot his mama's 10/22 International, of course. He has had experience shooting because we had been practicing at our backyard shooting gallery with his Red Ryder BB gun. He was a little hesitant at first because he thought that shooting a real gun would be loud and that recoil would hurt him. I reassured him that he would enjoy it  and walked him to the firing line. I felt really proud when I saw the first 10 rounds punch paper into a decent little group. At the end of the shooting session, he said he enjoyed shooting and asked when he can have a real rifle of his own.
This afternoon we went to a local gunstore a found his rifle. My son is now a proud owner of a great little 10/22 Compact Rifle. The little rifle looks great because the shorter barrel and the scaled down stock looks just right when my son shoulders the gun.
To me, our Ruger 10/22's bring back fond memories of doing things together as a family and a hope that my son will start a new family of shooters of his own.
Hope this wasn't to weepy. thanks for letting me share.

[Teresa Heilevang]

This thread just rocks.. 
It is so fun to be able to "give away" something too.

 I have to leave for the city today, but will be back in time this evening to announce the winners.
Good luck to all and thank you everyone for sharing your stories. 

[pioneer]

     I bought my first Ruger, a stainless Mini-14," during the dark days of the Clinton "Assault Weapon" ban.  I was still a pistol prone police officer at the time and chose the Mini-14 because I wanted a rifle that could handle military ammo if it came to that, and one which had tactical applications.  A local Sheriff's Dept. carries them in their patrol cars and i saw that as a good endorsement.  Besides, it's a great looking rifle.  Over the years I've replaced the wood stock a couple of times, settling on a polymer tactical folding stock.  I acquired a few 20 & 30 round magazines, and added a muzzle compensator, but otherwise it is a stock rifle.

     After retirement from the police department in 2001, I found that I had more and more time on my hands, and got "into rifles."  I began to notice that when I took my Mini to a range, I was scoffed at and looked down upon by the "AR" snobs.  They believe that because they spent so much more for their "black" rifles, they were therefore much better than me and mine.  I have to admit, they were starting to get to me and I was considering buying an AR, so I could "join the club." 

     One day about a year or so ago, I found myself at the gun club, with no snobs around to annoy me.  After all those years, I finally decided to put the Mini on a bench rest and find out what it would really do.  Before that, most of my Mini shooting had been in the mountains, killing milk jugs and soda cans.  To my great pleasure, I found that my Mini-14 is capable of minute of angle groups at 50 & 75 yards.  After showing off thereafter, some of the snobs are beginning to rethink their arrogance.  

I'm going to keep my Mini-14!!!!!!

My other Ruger is a tack-driving 10/22.  I have to admit that it is not stock however.  For a few years I worked for Leupold and one of their master riflesmiths "tuned it up" for me.  I swear, I can hit mosquitos at 50 yards.  Honest! 

PS;  I'd like an XL please.

[Teresa Heilevang]

Just got home awhile ago.. The weather is nasty.. snow is really starting to come down and the highways were getting slick.

BUT!~~~
I am here and the names have been spinning around for the past few minutes .. round and round and round.....

And I suddenly decided..( because I can ) ...to pick 3 winners from Down Range this week.

And here they are!


Billstryker

Cookie62

Kilopaparomeo




**Send me...in a pm... your real name and address and your shirt size and I will get them off to you asap!**   

[Sponsor]

[Hazcat]

Congrats all!

[Marshal Halloway]

We have a similar thread going on the CasCity forum. An old Internet friend and fellow cowboy shooter wrote this one:

OK here is one that will knock yer socks off. Well, maybe.

It's about Ruger Old Army pistols. I have 3 pair and one pair happens to be stainless steel 5 1/2" barreled smoke throwing,
flame belching shooting irons that like the Energizer bunny, just keep going.
 
I take these wascally wascals whenever I travel to larger matches. Not long ago I shot the Gunfight Behind the Jersey Lilly with this pair of Old Armys. I showed up with clean as a whistle pistols and commenced to start in on main match. Shot six stages and then had a bite to eat. Then I shot the night BP shoot and that was four stages. I was tired, but the Ruger Old Armies never knew the difference.

The next morning I gave them a treat and gave them a little oil on the pins and hands. I then shot six more stages. That is eighty shots from each pistol and I am proud to say I had no pistol misses for the match. To me that is what it takes to shoot cap and ball and be in the running. Total reliability. No cap jams, no indexing issues, no fouling out, nothing. The ROAs can be shot right out of the box. Their nipples accept #10 caps and the hammer springs are totally reliable. That is what it takes. By the way, I should mention I was shooting true blackpowder and not a sub. However, I was shooting a big lubed El Paso Pete bullet and that provided the necessary lube to keep accuracy and performance the same the entire match. I gave the Old Armys a good cleaning upon getting home on Monday. They did their thing.

Just in case you think this is a load of road apples, it so happens that our own Marshal Halloway documented my shooting the night shoot and the final twelveth stage with his trusty video camera. That video can be seen here on CAS City. As for no maintenance, trust me, it is true.
 
That is the reason I shoot Ruger Old Army pistols. Not quite in a nutshell, but that is my story.
 


Howdy Doody
CasCity Forum

And the video Howdy Doody is referring to, is the one below. Howdy Doody makes me smile....

Cowboy Action Shooting makes me smile...

And the Down Range TV forum members make me smile....

Thanks for sharing your stories on this thread and elsewhere on the forum.

Marshal H.

[kilopaparomeo]

Thankee kindly.  PM inbound.

[fivefold]

This is my first post on DownRange, but I am pretty active on some other forums.  A short while ago somebody posted regarding Ruger accuracy and so here's the story.
This brings back a memory – some twenty-five years past – of when some friends and I went small game hunting after Christmas. We took our pistols along for some target practice down along the Youghigany river here in southwest Pennsylvania. It is not particularly a deep river and in the winter when the temperature drops below freezing it turns into a shamble of ice sculptures. While we were eating our lunch, I noticed one of the "sculptures" looked like Dumbo the elephant, complete with a dark area where the eye should be. We all got a good laugh and I commented that I could knock the "eye" out with my 44 Superblackhawk. The jibes started at that point as the distance was around 100 yards, and the betting insued...basically double-dirty-dog daring me to try. In all honesty, the pistol did the work, but when I squeezed the round off, the eye turned from black to white. I'll never forget that day. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory of hunting with some buddies. Have a good one

[Brazos John]

Well, it must be close to ten years ago, I was shooting my first Trailhead, at Gunsmoke, Texas, with the Texas Historical Shootist Society. That's Tequila's home club, near Columbus, Texas. You won't find a finer group of shootists.
Well, I had just gotten me a new Vaquero, in .357, stainless steel, with the white grips. Just like when I was a little gunhand. I had my Hartford in my holster, and had the Vaquero tucked in my belt. (Yes, I know, but this was back then). I was a Stage Marshal, which meant I worked a stage, making sure everyone shot it the same. As pay, the Marshals were treated to meals at the chuck wagon. This became a favored gathering place for Marshals, and there were always a few chewing the fat around the fire.
At the lunch break, I headed to the outhouse (y'all call this a portacan). Stepped inside, and as I went to make the necessary adjustments, time went into slow motion, as my Vaquero slipped from my fingers, and I watched it drop into the depths of well, you know where. After the initial shock wore off, I remembered the campfire tender had some long rebar hooks. I went to the campfire, and after trading greetings with the other Marshals, I asked to borrow a hook. I wouldn't tell them why, but as I walked to my Vaquero's resting place, there were plenty of hoots and hollers, as my amigos figured out my predicament. After retrieving my poor pistol, I took it to the campfire, where I was really harrassed. But despite the free laughs, they helped me with paper towels and alcohol (rubbing alcohol, for sanitizing. The other type was acquired after the firing line went cold).
Bob Baer (NRA Director - Texas) was helping at the campfire that day, and helped me clean up, but now, whenever he sees me, he retells the story to everyone that will listen, and he still gets plenty of laughs. Ol Griz (Bob) helped start THSS back when he was still young. Other infamous members are Tequila, and the Judge's bride, Kate.
Well, after Ol Griz tells the story, and the laughing dies down, the only thing I can say is, my Ruger still shoots clean.
See you down the trail,
Brazos John
SASS 33047
THSS 474
GAF 351
TSRA
NRA