When the pony meets the phoenix
He kinda has a steampunk thing going on…
Following up on Bye Bye Poverty Pony.
As noted in the comments on the OP, Anderson was sold to Sturm, Ruger & Co….
This follows the acquisition of Marlin Firearms in 2020 when Remington went into bankruptcy and was basically sold off in pieces. Ruger was already the number one manufacturer of firearms for the civilian market in America as noted in Dat’s A Lotta Gunz….
With the purchase of Anderson, Ruger adds the #8 manufacturer and is becoming quite a powerhouse. The press release gives vague hints of Ruger’s plans for the Anderson facility.
Ruger will not continue the Anderson Manufacturing brand or its firearms products. Instead, the Company will integrate the facility’s capabilities into its broader operations, with a focus on launching new products, expanding Ruger’s popular product lines and growing its established accessories business.
The good news is that this probably means most production employees at Anderson will be retained while HR functions and other non-productions jobs will go away.
This is a much better outcome than Anderson being purchased by some giant conglomerate or venture capital. Ruger is an American gun company and will continue to make firearms in Northern Kentucky (in Thomas Massie’s district I believe). I would expect to see some “bargain” priced ARs made by former Anderson employees under the Ruger phoenix label in the near future.
Very sad to hear, I’ve had been a customer for a number of years. My first AR lower build was and Anderson.
Always always always stupid decisions by management. With Remington the Walker fire control group. Management knew of the problem and did nothing beyond circling their wagons in complete silence. Bill Ruger will always be remembered for his support of the 1994 AWB and Smith and Wesson for the Hillary Hole
Glad to hear that most of the line employees will probably still have a job.
Just last night I was watching a movie called The Company Men, which came out in 2008. I had never heard of it before, and it did not do well at the box office. Nonetheless, I thought it was a pretty good movie, and it starred some big name actors such as Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Craig T Nelson, and Ben Affleck. The storyline was about a big corporate conglomerate that falls on hard times and subsequently fires thousands of line workers and even many of their mid to upper level management executives. Naturally, top management and the HR people didn’t fire themselves. They not only survived but also thrived during the downsizing due to the increase in value of their stock options.
And that is the way it almost always works in the real world. So it is somehow gratifying to see a situation like this one where the real workers keep their jobs, while HR and top management get the axe.
GT: I whole-heartedly agree with your last paragraph’s conclusion. The rank & file losing their livelihood is never good; now the Brass, on the other hand, that’s a whole ‘nother matter. Checked Roku’s free streaming channels mins ago; Company Men is now available on Plex network, w/ commercials, of course.
Hopefully Ruger will make an effort to stay to Anderson’s niche by maintaining production on lower priced, plain jane receivers. As someone stated, AR builders, especially newbies bought them things in droves in years gone by.
The single-income-household trad-dad and the neophyte hobbyist need serviceable defensive weapons as much as the aspiring door kickers need their DDV5’s.
You said pops needs, “serviceable defensive weapons ” and you are exactly and precisely correct.
I used to get flea market heaters when that’s all I could afford.
My favorite steampunk is Yankee commie Ape Lincoln as the Terminator!
Ruger and a few other companies have manufacturing in states which aren’t faggoty communist states. That’s a plus. So if those people get to stay in KY and work there under new management and it’s a good marriage, this will be great…. If….
Ruger seems committed, and to be on our side.