Mike the Musicologist fowarded me a tweet yesterday. I don’t want to embed it here, as I’d be giving free advertising to the people who tweeted it.
MtM and I spent some time trying to get confirmation of that tweet. I ended up reaching out to someone I know, who was aware of the situation but can’t talk about it. This person (who I trust and who has connections) forwarded me an article by Jim Shepherd from “Shooting News Weekly” which confirms what we’d been reading.
Summarizing: Ruger has “temporarily discontinued”/”suspended production” of a bunch of their product line:
Those suspensions include the “immediate” suspension of the Ruger LCR, Ruger SP101, GP100 and Bearcat handguns. According to the memo, all open distributor orders for these guns would be cancelled.
Also:
SR1911 (Ruger’s 1911 clone).
LC Carbine
PC Charger
PC Carbine
LC Charger
Redhawk
Super Redhawk
Blackhawk
Super Blackhawk
Single-Series revolvers
Vaquero
No. 1
77-Series rifles
Hawkeye
Ruger Precision
These products, the memo reads, will be placed on allocation. Open orders that haven’t been filled by the end of production will be cancelled.
I’m not sure if I should be sad about this. I’m still looking for a Number 1, but I already figured I’d have to find that on the used market. I have two and a half New Model Blackhawks, and I have my Single Six. I did get my Super Redhawk. And I have a Commander length SR1911. Enough of these guns have been produced that you should be able to find them on the used market, though used prices may see a bump.
And:
What’s not been widely distributed with these notices is the fact Ruger isn’t dumping these lines. They’ve paused lines before. Some, like the Ruger Precision Rifle were paused to allow for improvements. Others, like the Red Label shotgun, were paused for years before being reintroduced.
Speaking with Ruger officials, I was reminded — repeatedly — that they realized the importance of many of these products with distributors, retailers and consumers. That’s why they emphasized the moves should be viewed as a company responsibly managing the products’ evolution, not simply ending their history.
So some of these guns could be coming back after redesign and/or re-engineering. Or they could come back after Ruger moves and/or upgrades the production lines.
I have seen people blame this on the ongoing Ruger/Beretta…well, I don’t know what to call it. It isn’t a hostile takeover any longer. But Beretta has made a tender offer for up to 25% of Ruger’s stock. 25% isn’t a controlling interest, and I don’t think Beretta has a director on the board yet. I don’t think this is related, but I don’t feel comfortable asserting that as a certainty.
(I have not tendered my Ruger stock. The $44.80 Beretta is offering isn’t enough to overcome my desire to keep Ruger independent, and if I did tender my stock, I’d make a whole $5.40.)
I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2027. I expect to see some of these products reintroduced, and I expect to see people complaining about how the new versions aren’t as good as the old ones.
But it wouldn’t be a hobby if we didn’t have something to complain about.
Edited to add: American Rifleman story. I think this was published after my post went up. (Hattip: my brother.)