May 24, 2010

The marketing firm called Ruger


The latest news from Ruger is that the same top-notch engineering and quality control that went into the LCPs and SR9s now may infect the LCR . Like  its black plastic sibs it  is proving itself capable of surprise, namely strewing gun parts and shards of cartridges, over a wide area.

The report, via Tam, is here

Full disclosure: I have personal beef with this company. After months of trying to get some one's attention to a badly botched safety conversion of a three-screw, I finally tore the thing down and fixed it myself. It is still tough to get over the fact that the returned Single Six was accompanied by a signed statement that a certified technician had test fired the weapon and found it flawless.  Could the lack have been in me for being unable to cock the hammer without multiple tries and jiggling the cylinder and trigger? That it wouldn't lock up  when cocked? That the trigger would only randomly release the hammer? Mind you, this was out of the box, and many weeks worth of emails to Ruger were rewarded with silence.



My Ruger disgust goes deeper -- to the LCP fiasco, the SR9 recalls, and now the case of the exploding plastic wheel gun.  As an RGR stockholder I watched the company being delivered into the hands of the MBA marketing shamans who may never have fired anything more lethal than an Andre cork. They looked around, saw that other gun companies had proved black was beautiful, or at least profitable,  and started ordering vats of the plastic crap while their interns researched abbreviated time-to-market possibilities. 

The result is exploding guns, and, quite probably, a corporate decision that it is cheaper to get sued a few times and to spend more on public relations  than it is to build proud firearms. 

For decades I was a Ruger addict. Getting over it requires a 12-step program, including dumping the last of the RGR stock. Who the Hell wants to own stock in --  or a gun built by -- the new Lorcin of the firearms industry?

The process  is much like watching a once beautiful and faithful  wife go emotionally awry and wind up down  at a Scully Square corner,  desperately motioning "c'mon" at slowly passing cars. 

5 comments:

JohnW said...

I think I expressed my doubts at the NRA convention last year about the durability of something the approximate weight of a silk hankie. And they were planning on bringing it out in .357 magnum?

Jim said...

You bet. The .357 Mag version is on the market. Madness.

And speaking of plastic Rugers, did you see the business news report that Ruger is now offerig the LCP as a "Coyote Special" in honor of Joe and Anne's guv? :)

Anonymous said...

Funny thing--this afternoon on a "Handguns" segment on the electric TV, they were talking about back-up weapons. One of the guns demonstrated was a Ruger LCR in .357. The hosts were talking about what a great, albeit hard to handle, gun it is. Aroused my interest. Second thoughts are now being processed. JAGSC

Jim said...

I read that the .357 version has a stronger frame with some stainless steel reinforcing, but still...

There are real guns out there that will do the job, and I'll stick with them when I need a small carrier. As John wonders, where's the logic in a heavy caliber piece that looks and feels like a Tonka?

Anonymous said...

If I do switch carry pieces---Here Come de Judge. JAGSC