Give us your Ruger story - win a shirt!

[crb2]

My favorite Ruger story is about "The one that got away".
Thirty plus years ago when I was new at all of this, I got it my head that I had to have a Ruger Mk1 with a 5.5" Bull Barrel. It was also one of those times when you couldn't find one for "neither love or money".
I was hitting every place in the Tampa area and finally came across a used one at the Largo Feed Store. Though it was in great shape, but it had wood custom target grips on it for a right handed shooter and being a lefty that was the first strike against it.
The second strike was that it had some squared holes machined into the top of the barrel near the muzzle. Even worse it had some guys name along with the city and state engraved one the barrel that had been done by someone using one of those little handheld electric engravers. To top it off they wanted the then princely price of $125.00 for it and this was back when they cost a little less than $80.00 new! I remember handing the gun back to the clerk and telling him that no, I wasn't interested in the gun with some guys name scrawled on it.
I still have nightmares handing that little Mk1 with "Jim Clark, Sheveport Louisianna" hand engraved on the barrel back to the clerk...

[Chick McCall]

I have a Ruger Blackhawk that is a .45 convertible (.45 L.C. & .45 ACP).  A previous owner lavished alot of attention and money at it.  It has one of the nicest royal bluing that I have ever seen on a Ruger, this is on both cylinders.  The action is wonderful, and the barrel was professionally shortened from a longer length (probably either 6" or 7 1/2") to its current 5 1/2".

It shoots like a dream, and interestingly enough, it prints better with the ACP cylinder then the Long Colt.  I wouldn't trade this revolver for three other pieces!

[god45644]

My first experience with a revolver was with a Ruger.  I was a teen and had little exposure to guns at the time.  I always remembered my grandpa and my uncles going out and shooting their shotguns into the side of a levee along the Ohio River, when it was still legal to fire a gun in town (I believe these were reffered to as "the good ol' days").  Well, my grandfather died when I was still in my single digit years of age and would not have much more exposure to guns until later in life as a mid to late teenager.  The point being that although exposed to guns (my fondest memories of my grandfather being such), it was only for a short while and little of that exposure had been in the safe handling of a firearm (I was too young to shoot at the time).  My next exposure would come at the age of 16 or 17 and it involved  a Ruger revolver.  As a teen, of course, guns fascinated me.   Guns were not a priority to mom, though, who could barely make ends meet.  One day, the brother of an older friend came over to his house and brought his guns, OH JOY!  There was one gun in particular that I focused on, It was beautiful.  It was a Ruger double action revolver.  Stainless steel with a 6in barrel and six shots (I think). It was chambered for .44 magnum and I was in love.  I wanted to see how it fired (bad desicion).  Not knowing much about guns or guns safety, but simultaneously being fascinated by them, I pulled the trigger, repeatedly.  Thankfully, the gun was not loaded (I neglected to check before hand and wouldn't have known how to, to begin with). My friend's brother was supervising and immediately grabbed the gun and checked to verify it was not loaded.  THAT WAS MY FIRST LESSON IN GUN SAFETY.  I was embarrased but relieved at the same time.  Since that day, I now have a new respect for firearm safety.  Now an adult, I now own several guns.  I took a hunter education course (I was the only adult in the class that was not a parent of the children attending) and am adamant about my niece and nephew knowing how to SAFELY handle a gun.  I am now very meticulous about the safe handling of all my firearms and it was all thanks to that first lesson of gun safety with that Ruger double action revolver.  My next purchase is going to involve a concealable snub nosed revolver with laser sights.  I am currently looking at the short barrel Ruger SP101 that come with Crimson Trace Laser grips. I am also excited about taking conceal carry classes in the very near future (thanks to my wife for getting them for our anniversary).

[yozeek]

well being a fairly new shooter I went shooting with friends. little did I know the rivalry between them. 1 guy had a ruger no.1 in 45/70, hey do you want to try the ruger, young and eager to shoot heck yea. shouldered that bad boy and let her rip. wow scope hit me right in the eye. fond memory my first scope eye. not even sure if i hit the target a milk jug about 100yards away.after recovering he said with a chuckle you want to try it again. duh sure i do. more prepared i aimed and fired. nice dead on accurate and no scope eye i am starting to like this. he went back to the car while i shot my blackhawk in 41mag. he came back and said i have a few hotter loads you want to shoot again. heck yea big gun big bullet ok!!!! i shouldered that bad boy and realized no scope. i asked him about the scope and he said the hotter loads might hurt the scope. so open sights i ligned up on a junk car that was there, this is gonna be cool. when i pulled the trigger ouch hotter my butt that was no mercy painful. he was rolling around laughing well to my suprise different ruger my other friend not be outdone bought a ruger no1 in 458 win mag. after knowing this did i shoot it again you bet i did 10 rounds out of a 458 now thats a gun!!!! my shoulder took a week to recover. to this day i have fond memories of ruger no 1's. accurate beyond belief.

[flametamer64]

i will make this short and sweet.my very first gun was a ruger 10/22.i have many fond memories of this rifle.since then i have owned several ruger firearms, a 77/22,m77 30/06,super single six. at the top of my current wish list is the new 300 rcm.i know this will be a sweet rifle, just as all rugers are.

[Sponsor]

[PSM207]

My Ruger M77RS - 30.06 rifle will be 25 years old in May of '08.  I have used this gun all of these years for punching paper, drilling cans, and dropping North American whitetail.  Three years ago my brother borrowed this rifle and a full box of ammo to go deer hunting on the family farm.  One week later and 5 rounds less, he returned the rifle, stating the gun was off and he couldn't hit a thing with it.  I found my brother's statement odd, as this rifle shoots very very well.  My wife was present when the rifle was returned and commented on it's beauty.  It was then she decided to go hunting, and of course with the M77.  Now my wife is all of 5'3'', about 110 lbs soaking wet, and has never fired a large centerfire rifle.  I couldn't talk out of her decision, so I thought a test fire was definately in order.  We stepped out back, pick out a rock about 100 yards down the hollow, which she drilled with her first shot.  About an hour later, my wife, my brother, and brother-in-law returned to the farm to get in some hunt time before sunset.  I suggested a good spot for her to sit, wait, listen and look.  About 45 minutes into her first whitetail hunt I heard the distinct report of my 30.06.  Needless to say, she dropped her first deer with her second shot from this beloved firearm.  Boy, I didn't think she was ever going to let my brother live it down.  I own several Rugers, all of which are similar in age. Time has passed, but these firearms are truely timeless.  Oh yeh, a short time later my brother purchased an M77 Mark II in .308, which has performed well for him.

[Teresa Heilevang]

WOW~~~
 I am at Vegas Shot Show and this is the first time I have had a chance to ckeck in with all you.
 I am impressed at the amount of Rugar stories that have been put up in the last few days.. That is great!
I will pick some winners when I get home..which won''t be until the 9th.. But keep those stories coming, and I'll talk to you all later.

 

[DDMac]

Received my shirt today. Looked so darn good in it, my wife agreed to be seen in public with me again. Thank you, Mac.
ps. The winners need to work on Ruger shirt pictures to submit, what'cha think?

[zeitgeist72]

I have a Ruger SR9, the striker fired 9mm they released. I've been throwing all sorts of metal through this thing (Well over 10,000 rounds) and spend approximately an hour 3 days a week at the range. This is a superior pistol, and compared to my other Rugers as well as just about any other 9mm I've fired its THE most comfortable. I like the 17 round clips, light yet durable and stripping it down is a piece of cake. I use it more than I do guns worth five times as much, and can see how it could easily become a favored service pistol. I DO prefer the size and ease of concealment of smaller guns, it would be GREAT to have a version of this about the size of a PPK or a Bersa 380.

Looking forward to seeing what they have coming down the line!

[mjrodney]

Ok. Here's mine.

I'm on the line at our outdoor range with my 2x scoped 22/45 pistol.

On my left comes a stranger with a tricked out AR-15 Black Rifle.

He's anxious to show it off and he strikes up a conversation with me, showing me each and every accessory he's placed onto the rifle.

Then he wants to demonstrate how accurate it is by shooting a spent shotgun shell that someone threw on the berm 55 yards away.

He grabs a seat and throws his rifle over a sandbag. Bang, bang, bang, lots of bangs later, that shotgun shell remains untouched and as safe as a baby in a cradle.

He says something that I could not hear and stands back up.

"Lemme give it a try", I said, taking his seat and placing that 22/45 over the sandbag.

Pop! And the shotgun shell miraculously fiies upwards in a puff of dirt!

I simply stood up and gave him my best imitation of a Chesire Cat.

Do not ask me to do it again.

Some days the stars are all in alignment......hee....hee....