| Part Henry Ford, part Sam Colt, part Enzo
Ferrari -- but 100 percent his own man -- and an All-American original,
William B. Ruger has made a resounding success in modern times, in an
industry many thought was dying. He started in 1949 as an underdog who was
told "it can't be done." Today, his line of firearms stands supreme, and
his factories are the model for contemporary business entrepreneurship and
enlightened manufacturing techniques.
From a meager $50,000 investment and the
partnership of his friend Alexander Sturm (son-in-law of Alice Roosevelt
Longworth), Sturm, Ruger & Co. mushroomed into an industrial powerhouse
that made more than 600,000 firearms in 1994, outsells all competitors,
and boasts the broadest client base of any armsmaker in history -- guns
for hunting and target shooting, for collecting, self-defense, law
enforcement, and the armed forces. These are original designs made with
time-honored style but using space-age technology.
This book is the story of William B.
Ruger's unflinching dedication to traditional yet innovative design and to
manufacturing excellence, with products sold at a reasonable price for a
broad-ranging clientele from the youthful plinker to the mature African
safari devotee, from the ordinary citizen to the president of the United
States.
Forbes magazine termed Bill Ruger
"crusty and unflappable," and no one in the contemporary firearms field is
more deserving of the axiom "a legend in his own time."
This richly illustrated, beautifully
presented work joins R. L. Wilon's other firearms classics: Colt:
An American Legend, Winchester: An American Legend, The Peacemakers,
and Steel Canvas -- a library of books that comprise an unsurpassed
tribute to the art and craftsmanship, history, mechanics, performance, and
romance unique to fine guns.
Lavish in every way, Ruger is the official
history of William B. Ruger of Sturm, Ruger & Co., and of Ruger firearms.
This volume features more than 185 color and over 100 black-and-white
illustrations, with appendixes, index, and -- for the first time --
serial-number tables for all models by years of manufacture.
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| R. L. Wilson is a freelance consultant and
author in the broad fields of firearms and engraving. His career began
with intern positions at the Royal Armouries, H.M. Tower of London, the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Wadsworth Atheneum, where he was
appointed curator of firearms at the age of twenty-three. He has served as
president of
the Armor and Arms Club of New York (est. 1921) and has served on the
advisory board or as consultant on arms-related subjects to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the United States Historical Society, the
United States Society of Arms and Armour, Colt Mfg. Co. Inc., and the Gene
Autry Western Heritage Museum. His is also consultant on American arms to
Christie's, the international auction house, and several private
collectors. Born in Minnesota, Wilson
is the son, grandson, and nephew of Presbyterian ministers. He is the author of thirty books and over two hundred
articles on firearms and their embellishment.
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