The story
Founded by William B. Ruger in 1949.1
Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 in a small rented machine shop in Southport, Connecticut.
Just before 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, at the close of World War II. When it came to designing the Company's first product, Bill Ruger designed a semi-auto pistol that incorporated the looks of the German 9mm Luger P08 and the American Colt Woodsman into their first commercially produced.22 caliber pistol (see Ruger Standard), which became so successful that it launched the entire company.
Ruger is a dominant manufacturer in the.22 LR rimfire rifle 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.
Ruger similarly dominates the.22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol market with the Ruger Mark IV, a descendant of the Ruger Standard pistol. Like the 10/22, the Mark Series is supported with a wide variety of aftermarket 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 and SR22 lines of handguns.
From 1949 through 2004, Ruger manufactured over 20 million firearms. The company is headquartered in Southport, Connecticut, and maintains manufacturing facilities in Newport, New Hampshire; Prescott, Arizona; and Mayodan, North Carolina. 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 castings. Ruger had a division known as Ruger Golf, making steel and titanium castings for golf clubs made by several different brands in the 1990s.
Sturm, Ruger stock has been publicly traded since 1969 and became a New York Stock Exchange company in 1990 (NYSE:RGR). After Alex Sturm died in 1951, William B. Ruger continued to direct the company until he died in 2002.
In September 2020, the company bought the Marlin Firearms company from bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company. Just one year after the acquisition of Marlin, Ruger introduced the first Ruger-made Marlin lever-action rifle, the Model 1895 SBL.
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In 2024, Ruger celebrated their 75th anniversary.
From Wikipedia’s article on Sturm, Ruger & Co., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7