Ruger is one of the most popular and iconic brands of firearms manufacturers with a loyal following. Sturm, Ruger and Co. started in a small Connecticut town in 1949 by Alexander Sturm and William Ruger. The company quickly rose to prominence with the Ruger Standard, a .22 semi-automatic pistol that borrowed aesthetically from the popular Colt Woodsman .22, German WWII 9mm Lugers and Japanese Nambu pistols. There are updated versions of the same Ruger pistol sold today and the original was so popular that it helped cement the company. Today, Ruger leads all other brands in .22 sales, and their other firearms are highly regarded. Chances are, you already own at least one firearm from the company. If not, here are five Ruger firearms that you should seriously consider adding to your safe.
10/22
I’m not going to lie, I’ll be shocked if you don’t already own at least one 10/22. The semi-automatic, rotary-magazine fed .22 carbine was first introduced in 1964 and since then, there have been over 7 million of the standard version made and sold, and that’s not including the variants the company has produced. It is far and away, the most popular .22 ever produced. 10/22s are reliable and easily customizable, with a massive amount of aftermarket accessories available to make your own .22 dream rifle.
Why should you own a Ruger 10/22? I could go on about how they are a classic part of our traditions, or how customizable they are, but in all reality, there is one main reason to own a 10/22 – they’re just so much fun to shoot. These rifles are the plinker’s dream. I have some spinner targets that are calling my name. If you don’t own a 10/22, don’t wait. You owe it to yourself to have some shooting fun.
Mark IV
The Mark IV is the current edition of the original Standard .22 pistol that the company built its foundation upon. These pistols come in many variations and are still extremely popular with shooters everywhere. The previous variations of the pistol are still found at gun shops and through private sales, and these pistols are all perfect plinkers, great for target shooting, hunting and competition use. A newer variant, the 22/45 changes the grip angle and design to match that of a 1911, making those pistols a perfect, low recoil and cheaper-to-shoot practice gun for 1911 owners.
Why should you own a Ruger Mark IV? The reasons are much like those for owning a 10/22. These handguns are fun to shoot and are extremely reliable. Cleaning one can be a little intimidating, if you aren’t sure how to do so. Once you figure it out, it’s easy, though.
American Rifle
Ruger’s history with bolt-action hunting rifles is well known. The actions started off as a variation of the Mauser action and Ruger did very well selling rifles with a modest price-point compared to other popular bolt-action rifles. These rifles built a reputation for being light and tough with pretty good accuracy. A few years ago, something I like to call the Savage Revolution happened. Savage started selling bolt-action rifles with a great trigger, but at a much lower price point than the competition. Every manufacturer realized the need to keep up, and few have done it as well as Ruger did with the American rifle. These rifles came with the Ruger Marksman Trigger, an adjustable trigger that could be set between 3 and 5 pounds of pull. These rifles are lightweight, accurate and available at a really good price.
Why should you own a Ruger American rifle? You can pick up an American rifle in most of the popular calibers out there, including the newly popular ones like the 6.5 Creedmoor and .350 Legend. They have a nice, crisp trigger, a great feel in the hand and with quite good accuracy. Like all Ruger’s, the American will never feel cheap in your hand, too. There is a solid feel to them that, if you have never held one, you’ll understand when you pick it up.
Scout Rifle
Noted firearm expert and founder of Gunsite, Col. Jeff Cooper described what he felt would be the one rifle to have if you could only have one. He wanted a fast-shooting bolt-action rifle in a short-action caliber. The rifle would be magazine fed with a flash hider and accurate peep sights, as well as a forward-mounted scope option. The rifle needed to be comfortable to fire from any position and be extremely durable. That sums up what Ruger built with the Gunsite-approved Scout, a great-handling all-around rifle for hunting, defense and more.
Why should you own a Ruger Scout rifle? Initially offered in .308, these rifles are now offered in .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster as well. They are fun to shoot and can be fired accurately and quickly, something that isn’t always easy to do with a bolt gun. Get one and put a low- magnification optic with a long eye relief on and you’ve got a perfect all-around rifle, just like Col. Cooper intended. And if you haven’t yet, you need to go to Gunsite. It’s worth it!
Wrangler
One of the newest additions to the Ruger firearms family, the Wrangler is a single-action revolver with a Cerakote finish and chambered in .22. They have cold hammer-forged barrels with ultra-precise rifling that makes them accurate and with a long barrel life. These wheel guns were designed with a transfer bar mechanism and loading gate interlock that makes them more secure and helps prevent accidental discharges. These are simply great little handguns.
Why should you own a Ruger Wrangler? That’s the easiest question to answer – the price! These fun-to-shoot, single-action revolvers carry an MSRP of just $249 and can be found for less. They have that old-west look, mixed with modern tech like the finish and the synthetic grips. Even if you own other Ruger .22 revolvers, these are worth getting just because of the lost cost and high fun value. Cool stuff!
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