Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a firearm company based in Southport, Connecticut. They produce rifles, shotguns, pistols and are perhaps best known for their single and double action revolvers. Currently Sturm, Ruger & Co. is the fourth largest gun manufacturer in the United States.
Sturm, Ruger & Co. opened for business in 1949 with a meager $50,000 investment by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in a small rented machine shop.
Their first creation, the Ruger Standard, an automatic pistol shooting .22 Long Rifle rounds, was successful enough to launch the entire company. This success meant that Ruger has an almost exclusive monopoly on the .22 LR rimfire rifle market in the US. The popularity of the 10/22 semi-automatic rifle in particular has also increased Ruger's standing.
In the 1950s, spotting a hole in the market for single action revolvers, the Ruger Single Six and later Ruger Blackhawk were released. These guns, particularly the Blackhawk and its subsequent variants are well known for their classic look and use in Westerns and Cowboy Action Shooting.
Following Sturm's death in 1951, the company was owned exclusively by Ruger, until Ruger's death in 2002. From 1949 until 2004 Ruger had made over 20 million guns, with their firearms being used for hunting, target shooting, self-defense and law enforcement. Ruger guns are also highly collectible.
Apart from a single attempt at a submachine gun, the Ruger MP9, Sturm, Ruger & Co. have exclusively produced rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols and both single and double action revolvers:
Sturm, Ruger & Co. have received awards from the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence for:
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