Ruger is back on my mind and not in a good way.
Two things happened recently. First was an announcement that Ruger was discontinuing a handful of revolvers: the LCR, SP101, GP100 and Bearcat. Ok that isn’t a huge deal but then the same story also listed a bunch of firearm models that are “nearing suspension”:
- SR1911
- LC Carbine
- PC Charger
- PC Carbine
- LC Charger
- Redhawk
- Super Redhawk
- Blackhawk
- Super Blackhawk
- Single-Series revolvers
- Vaquero
- Ruger No. 1
- 77-Series rifles
- Hawkeye
- Ruger Precision Rifle
The Blackhawk and Redhawk really surprised me as the revolver market still seems pretty hot and they charge an arm and a leg for them. That doesn’t leave them with much….
For those keeping track at home, this leaves the company with the Mini-14 rifle line, Ruger 10/22s, the Ruger American series, and its Harrier series ARs produced in the former Anderson factory in Kentucky.
Pistols retained include the LCP series, the Security 380 and Security 9, the modular RXM, MAX-9, the Ruger 57, 22 Charger, and Mark IV rimfire line.
Its wheel gun catalog will shrink to just the rimfire Wrangler line and possibly the Super GP100, which the release didn’t specifically mention.
Times are tough in the gun industry because everyone has everything in stock and it is hard to get customers excited about the same offerings over and over. Then this:
Italian gun maker Beretta now owns 25% of Ruger. I mentioned this move back in April (My My My, How The Turntables…) and now it finally seems to have come to fruition. According to the Financial Times article Beretta has been gobbling up gun companies…
Today, the group boasts more than 50 companies and over 20 international brands, including the historic British shotgun maker Holland & Holland.
I didn’t realize they own Holland & Holland.
Despite being a Beretta owner and big fan, this seems like Ruger is heading towards being gobbled up by Beretta and I am not excited about that but consolidation is the name of the game in a market that is saturated in firearms. This has to be good news for Smith & Wesson if their main competitor in the wheelgun marketplace seems to be exiting that product line.
Seems like the normal big company gobbling up a competitor, keeping the good stuff and jettisoning the stuff that doesn’t sell. One of the gun sites I read said it best – if you ain’t buying them they aren’t going to make them.
I have friends with Redhawks and Blackhawks, they are nice guns, but that’s a big chunk of iron to be toting around. Some of the others, like the LC carbine, I have no use for. That said, I do have a Ruger AR. It’s a decent gun and the price was right.
That said, I find the Mini-30 compelling.