When last we heard from Ruger they had bought Anderson Manufacturing: Poverty Phoenix. The other day I saw that they were rolling out Anderson AR-15s with the Ruger label and charging more for them. Capitalism, amirite?!
Now…
Italian gunmaker Beretta accused of threatening ‘war’ in takeover row with US-based Ruger
Italian gunmaker Beretta has been accused of plotting to gobble up to 50% of America’s biggest firearms maker, Sturm Ruger & Co. — even allegedly threatening to “go to war” in a nasty months-long boardroom brawl, The Post has learned.
The Southport, Conn.-based Ruger dropped the bombshell claim in its annual proxy filing late Wednesday, warning its European rival that its power grab could be killed by Uncle Sam on national-security grounds.
Any potential acquisition by Italian Beretta would place a major US defense and firearms manufacturer with operations in three key battleground states — under foreign ownership.
According to Ruger’s account of a March 9 phone call, Beretta’s general manager, Robert Eckert, flat-out told CEO Todd Seyfert the Italians wanted to increase their stake to 25% immediately via a fresh share issuance — then grab another 25% later to take over half of the company at a price locked in advance.
(HT: The War on Guns)
I love Beretta. I own a number of Beretta firearms, shotguns and handguns. That doesn’t mean I want them to buy up America’s largest civilian firearms manufacturer.
Ruger’s acquisition of Anderson made some sense. Anderson ARs were in the same market space as a bunch of other lower cost ARs, most notably Palmetto State Armory, but PSA is constantly growing and innovating while Anderson pretty much kept churning out the same basic products year after year. Anderson tried to roll out a Gen 3 Glock clone but they did it well after Palmetto State already pounded the market with the Dagger and it didn’t seem to catch on.
You get rid of the back office staff because Ruger already has those people and (hopefully) keep the workers, change the laser etching from Anderson to Ruger and you are good to go.
Beretta buying Ruger? That is a different kettle of fish.
Companies innovate because of competition. A company like Glock that owns a huge percentage of not just the civilian handgun market but also law enforcement doesn’t innovate because they can keep churning out the same ugly but functional pistols for decades and keep selling them.
Most gun companies have to come up with new stuff to keep selling products. Ruger keeps churning out old standards like the 10/22 but even there they make a new variation it seems on a monthly basis. Not everything works of course. The Beretta APX is a great example, on paper it should be hugely successful but it just never caught on. I have several and they are great but they take a proprietary magazine and the mags are kind of expensive even though the pistol itself is not.
You might ask, why bother making yet another striker fired polymer framed 9mm when we already have Glock but I think that having other companies making their own variation is great for innovation and great for the consumer. The Smith & Wesson M&P Shield series are great pistols, should S&W not have bothered because we already have Glock*? Absolutely not.
Consolidation in moderation is just how business works but a huge foreign gun company buying a huge American gun company, in my opinion, just isn’t healthy for the industry as a whole. Some consolidation is to be expected, especially when gun sales are pretty slow as a whole right now and weaker companies can’t compete but Ruger isn’t a weak company.
Beretta, keep doing your thing but leave Ruger alone. I could see them buying an American AR manufacturer to get into that space, like Aero Precision maybe, but a flagship diversified gun manufacturer like Ruger is doing just fine on their own.
*Full disclosure, I don’t like Glocks and own exactly zero of their handguns.
Beretta makes excellent weapons but does the average Italian civilian have access to keep and bear them as I do? Until Europe sorts that little issue out our law should prevent any European company from having any controlling interest in an American company that could potentially affect citizens access to weapons domestically.
It wouldn’t be Beretta moving into a space, they would move the space into them. IE eliminate that market and replace the goods with your price point. Maybe H&K should get into the battle too.
I’d like to see another roller-delayed pistol like the old H&K P9S.
I own a PSA Dagger as my personal defense weapon. It was the best Glock 9 clone I could find at an affordable price point. Great little gun, BTW.
But the 9MM gun I have been coveting for decades is the original S&W Model 39. Unlike a Glock or any Glock clone, the 39 is in a word…..beautiful. It is sleek, sexy, and it fits my hand as if it was custom made for me personally. I fervently wish Smith & Wesson still made them. You can still find pre-owned ones here and there at gun shops and from individual sellers, but only at a price that is double or triple what I paid for the PSA Dagger.
Unrelated
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/victim-identified-shooting-spree-across-dekalb-county-that-killed-2-injured-1/GKZWGB4YLVCN7AAZUCULX2FJCE/
IMO Ruger’s branded AR-556 production was problematic. The only AR15 receiver I have ever had a problem with said Ruger on it. It was so out of spec not a single upper I owned would fit on it without pounding them together and then – no surprise – this caused f2f malfunctions. All of the parts involved were of high quality and exhibited no problems when used on other receivers. When the person I got this lower from in a trade tried to swap it out, same problem. He had purchased several, they were all close serial #s so maybe a bad batch idk but the problem replicated with all of HIS uppers so he sent them back. I refused to accept another one so I got something else instead.
I own an Anderson multi cal receiver that’s been through multiple setups and is now on my JAKL. Zero issues.
Apparently they are naming new KY production stuff “Harrier” and I don’t see anything about AR-556 on the Ruger website.
I’ve had 2 Beretta’s for more than 25 years, a 92FS and a 21 Bobcat.
Aren’t Beretta’s manufactured in Tennessee?
If so, what’s the problem?
Im filing this under not gonna happen. Ruger family and their beliefs and values wont allow it.
Yeah, I’m thinking no. And what was Ruger thinking not having protection against a hostile takeover?