robertkirksey said:
David, I don't doubt what you say. All I know is what is stamped on the barrel. I recently got a letter on an early Model 77 and it stated the gun shipped from Newport. When I called I was told that Model 77s had always been made in Newport but the company got permission (from BATF?) to mark them with the Southport address.
*****
The Model 77 rifle started in Newport NH, site of the foundry. Strum, Ruger started, of course, in Southport CT, which remained corporate headquarters, certainly through Bill Ruger, Jr.'s tenure, he retired in 2006. Don't know when manufacturing ceased at Southport, but Sturm, Ruger had expanded all it could at Lacey Place. Single actions and .22s pretty well filled Southport, with double actions, rifles, and the shotgun program set up in Newport. Auto pistols and a separate foundry were set up in Prescott. At one point half of Ruger's casting went to other firearms manufacturers and non-firearm products. It is my understanding that since Bill, Jr., retired, the supply of castings to outside manufacturing has ceased; this includes 60 million in titanium casting alone, with that high quality manufacturing headed up by Eric Unger (pictured in my photo essay of the memorial for Bill Ruger, Jr., 22 Sep 2018).
During development of the .357 Maximum in 1980-82, the difficult calving processor the Red Label over/under shotgun and Redhawk revolver in Newport, work began to install hammer forging machines for barrel making in factory on the Sugar River in Newport. Redhawk and GP-100 barrels begin as outsourced drop forgings, with Ruger performing all gun-drilling and machine work, etc. While the Blackhawk Maximum was made in Southport, near all testing was done in Newport, or, more specifically, at Bill Ruger's place in Croydon NH, adjacent Blue Mountain Forest.
David Bradshaw