Give us your Ruger story - win a shirt!

[howlrwy]

Currently I only have four Rugers.  I have a .357 Blackhawk, a .44 Mag Super Blackhawk, a Mark III .22LR NRA special edition, and my favorite, the Bisley in .45 LC.  They're all great, though cleaning the MKIII can be a pain (others agree too, you need three hands and do it while standing on your head).  The Bisley was spot on from the first time at the range at 25 yards.  My wife also really enjoys shooting that gun.  Over the years I have owned many Rugers and none have ever given me a problem.

[WaltGraham]

I have a GP-100 and a Mini-14. Neither has ever failed to function. That's the story 

[Eric S]

My first exposure to the Sturm Ruger Company was in college.  One of the final courses all Business Majors were required to take was Business 405, which was a "cap stone" class that required the participants to work in teams, utilizing all of the knowledge we had learned in the previous 3.5 years of college to successfully complete an analysis of a company.  The textbook had a couple of dozen case studies in it and my team was assigned the Sturm Ruger Company.  One of the team members was an avid shooter and hunter, at the time I had minor interest in firearms and the rest of the team was not really keen on guns.  So it was a pretty typical college class (circa 1981)!

We set about learning all we could about the company.  Keep in mind this was before the internet, so the research was of the old fashioned kind - a lot of time in the library looking through financials records and periodicals to figure out what the company was about and how we could approach the assignement.  Since I was an enterprising college boy, I picked up the phone and called their corporate office.  The receptionist transferred my call to a Public Relations person who was not aware the company had been written up in a text book.  However he was very friendly and cooperative in answering my questions.

Our analysis of the company revealed a well run and financially strong company (again, this was 1981).  However, since we couldn't stand up in front of the class and spend an hour saying the company is running fine, our recommendation is to not change a thing, we decided the company should expand into other, non firearms, products.  If I recall correctly, we recommended the company spend some of its cash to buy another company that specializes in fishing gear.  We did name a company they should purchase, however I can't recall its name.  We ran the financials, created a five year projection of sales and profits of the combined companies and it sounded like a great idea at the time.  The end result was the team earned an 'A' on the project and the other teams commended us on a thorough and professional analysis and presentation.

I called the PR guy who had helped me and told him of our presentation.  He was supportive and appreciated my follow up.  He also commended us on our approach but said he didn't think the company would be expanding into the fishing pole business anytime soon.

The combination of the work we did as well as the support and cooperation of Sturm Ruger's representative made me a believer in the company.  As my interest in firearms evolved and I decided to purchase a pistol, Ruger was at the top of my list, with a P944 as my first handgun purchase.  I have purchased other manufacturer's firearms since, but have a number of Ruger's still on the list to buy in the near future - including a 10/22, Vaquero, Mark II or III and a Mini 14.

E

[kilopaparomeo]

Rugers have accompanied me through many of my best memories.  I've owned a few...Blackhawks and MkIIs and Vaqueros and Deerslayers...and lusted after others...namely Red Labels.  But the gun that holds a place deep in my heart is my .45 Colt Blackhawk.

My best friend of 32 years passed last year.  We met when we were 8 years old in Cub Scouts and played Little League together.  As John and I grew up together, we egged each other on to become shooters.  All through high school we stumbled through the sometimes confusing shooting world, learning as we went along but mostly trying to absorb everything every gun writer had to say.  Elmer Keith and Bill Jordan probably influenced us the most...as a result each of us bought Blackhawks.  John's was a 4-5/8" .41 Mag and mine a .45 Colt wearing a 7-1/2" barrel.  John liked to call my pistol a pipsqueak because it shot "that old man's cartridge" but through reloading and relying on the strength of the Ruger design, we made that old girl ROAR!  Most weekends were spent assembling loads and then testing them for accuracy (and often testing our young-ish hands for recoil).  I swear that if the EPA ever tested the hillside on my family's farm that we used as a berm, they would immediately declare it a Superfund site from the lead content.

During college, John and I took a fraternity chum to Tennesee to hunt wild boar.  Walt had his compound bow and John and I, of course, carried our Blackhawks.  Walt shot his boar from a tree stand...well at least the first arrow.  A quiver full later produced the requisite pork.  John's keen eyesight and natural shooting ability allowed him to harvest a 325 pounder on the run.  Me?  Didn't see a thing all morning.  So the guide suggested we get some lunch then take after the pigs on foot.

5 dogs led our charge (2 of them were new as the boars have a nasty habit of killing the dogs used in tracking them).  The guide and I heard them ahead and we bolted up a hillside after them.  As we crested the ridge, the boar saw us, charged, teeth popping...as my guide bravely scrambled up a low slung tree.

So there I was...alone, Blackhawk in hand and a rather perturbed boar barreling down on me.  Wyatt Earp would have been proud.  At 15 yards I had the big pistol up (I don't remember cocking it) and fired.  The bullet contacted just above the boar's left eye and sent the pig reeling back.  He jumped to his feet and proceeded to chase the dogs who had gathered to watch the show.  A finishing shot in the boiler room put the pig down.  The first shot coursed around the boar's hard head and travelled the length of this back, exiting near the rump...tough animals, wild boar.

John's gone now.  Whenever I pull the Blackhawk from the safe, I think of him.  The pistol's trigger is smooth and crisp...but not from a trigger job.  It has a feel that you can only get from shooting thousands of full house loads on Saturday afternoons out on the farm.  The bluing is worn and there's a scratch or two...but I'll never refinish it.  Those scars were put there when I tramped through the woods with my friend.

[Teresa Heilevang]

Wow!
I love these stories..
 Keep 'em comin'.

[Sponsor]

[DDMac]

Wow! Some genuine Kleenex moments. Great thread idea. Now, let me tell you about my Kel-Tec.....      Nevermind. Maybe in another hundred years or so.. Mac.

[gunman1911]

When I was 6 yeas old (46 years ago) my dad and uncles and aunts got me started in shooting with my dads .22 single six and my aunts bearcat(yea the original bearcat) and just had a blast with them! Then one day my uncle shows up with this single  action that was alot bigger than my dads .22. It was a .44 Magnum, and he asked my dad if he thought the boy could handle it, he just kinda laughed and said the maybe he should help, well,he put that big ol gun in my hands and told me to hang on real tight and pulled the hammer back and told me to wach the sights and pull the trigger . I did as iI was told  and the next thing I knew there was the biggest grin on my face that is still here today. Now I owen sevreal Rugers but my favaorte is my Super Redhawk that has over  250,000 rounds through it and recently I began to have some problems with opening and closing the clyinder. So I  talked to a nice lady at Ruger  about sending it in for repairs, I told her thatI had shot alot of reloads thru the gun and some were not of the mild variety( Dad told me to always be honest) and she told me to send it in. After about 2 weeks later my Super  Redhawk came back with a list of things repaired at no cost to me what so ever. They need to expand on thier commercials--- Ruger, Rugged,reliable and dependable,  WITH THE BEST SERVICE DEPARTMENT IN THE WORLD!!. Now I just got a MkII for my Great grandson to start shooting with when he turns six or seven, I know, I know he's just 18 months old but if the unfortunet  happens to me I want to leave him somthing that he can chiarish the rest of his life with no worrys. A Rugrer! or two or three or four five six.

[tnroadrunner]

Since I don't own a Ruger yet I can not give you a story.

[DDMac]

Own a Ruger and you own a genuine piece of American history. Mac.

[hodman]

Over the years I have owned countless Ruger 10-22’s of all shapes, sizes and colors from plinkers to tack drivers.  But the Ruger that will probably stay with me is the Ruger 22-45.  I acquired it about five years ago I sent it to John Norrell in Little Rock Arkansas and had a suppressor install.  Over the years I've taught all of my kids to shoot with it.   It’s been great, because you don't have to use ear protection.  So you can talk them through learning to shoot.  We would sit on the deck of our cabin and shoot marshmallows off tree stumps.  The gun always seems to be with us in because it's quiet and easy to shoot. The way that suppressor is installed most people can't tell that it's anything other than a bull barrel. The gun only begins to draw attention when it sounds like a pellet gun going off.  We live in the city limits, and for a while.  Last year I had a problem with raccoons breaking into the dog food.  Let us just say that I don't have a raccoon problem anymore and my neighbors never complained about noise.
Jon