There's a previous, lengthy thread discussing this matter. One post within it is the following, somewhat abbreviated . . .
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I am new to this forum, but just had to put in my $.02 worth.
As the president of Williams Shooters' Supply, the lack of notification on these guns is my fault. Ruger produced the 0868 sometime in the past (I haven't asked when.... yet). They were offered to me along with some other discontinued items. They first arrived in our warehouse on September 16th. In all honesty, they were an afterthought. They were a special make up gun for a very famous Ruger Fan. After we received the initial 40 units, Ruger offered us another 36 units early last week. As of 5pm Central time today we took an order for the last 4 units. We currently have another 200 units on order, but no idea of the delivery date yet.
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Kent Williams
President
Williams Shooters' Supply, INC
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From this I take it that perhaps Mr. Hank Williams, Jr. might have requested that Ruger make him a "special" gun. This is not unheard of. It is not unlikely that Ruger decided to make a "few" while they were at it. It is also not unlikely that those involved referred to these as the "Hank Williams guns" as they were processed thru manufacturing, and thus did the nomenclature stick. Once something gets started it's hard to stop it.
I can also see that Hank might not appreciate all this fuss, and Ruger is likely attempting to smooth things over. The letters mentioning the Hank reference will no doubt become collectors' items, particularly if accompanied by any "correction" letters that may be forthcoming.
Interesting episode.
Totally JMHO, of course.