Mr. Fifer did know what a Ruger was & all. While it may not seem that way, he did & does have a good working knowledge of the firearm industry. I have spoken with him on several occasions, and while we may disagree on some things, we do so in a polite manner with respect to each other.
And as for the records,,, Kim spent 30 years at Ruger, and she used to work for Steve Vogel. She understood us collectors & did her job quite well.
With all the changes over the years since Bill passed, a lot has been done differently than how Bill wanted it or allowed it to be done. But as for the records,,, they are in boxes, in storage, not in any real "order" so to speak, that would take a LONG time to sort through & organize. And due to the company requirements, as well as Federal; requirements, and all, there are different types of records about the same firearms. Ruger used a "daybook" to handle stuff & that practice continued for a LONG time. These daybooks are where much of the simple data is pulled from for the letters. Details that many of us desire are buried in boxes & boxes in storage. SOMETIMES,,,, when Kim was there, a specific firearm that had special significance, the box of records that held that info was occasionally able to be located & researched.
All that was done for FREE! But employees have to be paid & as such, the cost of running the records dept was costing the company. To cut expenses, changes were made in the records dept. It's just a fact of big business. Hopefully one day, someone will be able to afford to spend the time & money to organize & put to a readily available format ALL the records to where we can get all the data for any Ruger firearm ever made. And remember,,, there are millions of Rugers that have been made.