Old Ruger Catalogs

[Star43]

Maybe I'm a little crazy, but every once in awhile I like to go over to my favorite part of the bookshelf and pull out an old Ruger Catalog from the 80's or 90's or early 2000's. When I look at the pages, seeing and saying "I have that one and I have that one" Then of course I look and say, I should have got that one !!!. Anyway, old memories come to my mind and I just enjoy looking at them. I have from the mid 80's to the last one I saw, which was sort of half a catalog in 2012. Anyway, I miss seeing them at the gun shops. Am I the only guy who likes to look at the old Catalogs, or are there others out there ???

 

[bigbillyboy]

I do the same thing .

 

[gnappi]

While I couldn't buy multiple shotguns I used to amass Browning catalogs just to drool over the pages. Once I got an Ultra XT I stopped drooling.

 

[Watertender]

I look at the old catalogs and also the old Gun Digests and Shooters Bibles. I also have a bunch of old Harrington and Richardson catalogs. I love looking at the ones from the early 1950s talking about the upstart company from Southport...

 

[Star43]

I look at the old catalogs and also the old Gun Digests and Shooters Bibles. I also have a bunch of old Harrington and Richardson catalogs. I love looking at the ones from the early 1950s talking about the upstart company from Southport...

I also have quite a few of the H&R Catalogs. Being originally from Mass, I know where good old Gardner Mass is/was. (Love my 950 !!).

 

[Watertender]

I also have quite a few of the H&R Catalogs. Being originally from Mass, I know where good old Gardner Mass is/was. (Love my 950 !!).

The 950 is the nickel plated 949! My 1st handgun was a 922 Bantam. It grew feet with a bunch of my stuff... H&R was originally in Worcester and moved to Gardner (God-nah) in the early 70's I believe. I used to work with a guy from Leominster which was where Iver Johnson was.

 

[Watertender]

The 950 is the nickel plated 949! My 1st handgun was a 922 Bantam. It grew feet with a bunch of my stuff... H&R was originally in Worcester and moved to Gardner (God-nah) in the early 70's I believe. I used to work with a guy from Leominster which was where Iver Johnson was.

I meant Iver Johnson was from Fitchburg which is next to Leominster

 

[Star43]

Isn't it amazing how many gun companies used to be in Mass, till they were driven all away. And of of course, we call it "Woostahh".

 

[Star43]

My favorite Ruger Catalogs from the 80's, I think, but I like them all. When the "Big 9" came out and the 32 H&R Magnum SSM came out. All big news at the time. The Security Six, the Speed Six !!!

 

[contender]

I thought the thread was about OLD Ruger catalogs? the ones from the 50's & 60's!

Sigh,,,,,,,,,!

Ok, Yes,, I like catalogs myself. Might be why I have almost all of them from Ruger ever printed.

 

[Watertender]

I thought the thread was about OLD Ruger catalogs? the ones from the 50's & 60's!

Sigh,,,,,,,,,!

Ok, Yes,, I like catalogs myself. Might be why I have almost all of them from Ruger ever printed.

How many pages are missing from your Sears catalog?

 

[Star43]

I thought the thread was about OLD Ruger catalogs? the ones from the 50's & 60's!

Sigh,,,,,,,,,!

Ok, Yes,, I like catalogs myself. Might be why I have almost all of them from Ruger ever printed.

What is the oldest one you have ? I wish i had the real old ones. I think I personally have only a couple from the seventies. Wish I had more !! Did they have a "catalog" in 1953. I mean the Single Six made it's debut and of course the biggie at the time were the 22 autos ....I would love to see the real old ones for sure. That is true history !!

 

[Star43]

Here is a real dumb question.....Did Ruger ever sell guns through the Sears Catalog ?? Didn't Sears always want to rebrand things like as in the Ted Williams brand ??? I bought 2 single shot lever actions that were made by Ithaca but were branded as "Ted Williams" guns....I bought them when I was young. They were selling out what they had and one was a demo floor model.

 

[contender]

Well, Bill introduced the Standard Auto in 1949. Yes,, I have an original flyer for it. And yes,, I have the very early years,, 1950 & up. I have variations of several from the 50's & 60's. In 1958,, there are 2 variations. The early one,, where they introduce the Bearcat and it says; "Shoots all .22 RF ammo." Then,, after that printing, AND Winchester introduced the .22 Magnum,, they had to re-print the catalog and change it to say; "Shoots .22 Short, Long & Long Rifle ammo."
And the early 60's era ones with the various changes as they had factory changes.

Yep,, I have them all.

And I may have some odds & ends extra copies of some of the older ones. I know I have several from the 70's. We call them the "roadmap" type. Why? Because you unfold them like we used to have to unfold the road maps. Or how about the early ones with the .357 Maxi in the cover? There are different variations of that one too!

 

[Watertender]

The 1975 Sears catalog had a Ruger "10-20" for $73.50.

 

[Star43]

Well, Bill introduced the Standard Auto in 1949. Yes,, I have an original flyer for it. And yes,, I have the very early years,, 1950 & up. I have variations of several from the 50's & 60's. In 1958,, there are 2 variations. The early one,, where they introduce the Bearcat and it says; "Shoots all .22 RF ammo." Then,, after that printing, AND Winchester introduced the .22 Magnum,, they had to re-print the catalog and change it to say; "Shoots .22 Short, Long & Long Rifle ammo."
And the early 60's era ones with the various changes as they had factory changes.

Yep,, I have them all.

And I may have some odds & ends extra copies of some of the older ones. I know I have several from the 70's. We call them the "roadmap" type. Why? Because you unfold them like we used to have to unfold the road maps. Or how about the early ones with the .357 Maxi in the cover? There are different variations of that one too!

Yeah, I remember the road map type. That is the best way to describe it. It was all folded together. I wish they still mad a catalog .....I would buy it, and not expect it to be free......another smart phone wrong here. People can just pop it up on their phones or whatever. I LIKE to be able to hold a hard copy in my hands !!! Oh, I miss them....

 

[Watertender]

The 1975 Sears catalog had a Ruger "10-20" for $73.50.

That same catalog had the Ruger 44 carbine for $149.95. They also carried Browning, Ithaca and Remington brand firearms as well as their Ted Williams branded guns. I picked up a Ted Williams 12 gauge pump shotgun which is Winchester Model 1200 with a 2.75" chamber in a multi gun deal from a friend of mine who was dying. His son didn't want his guns and his daughter was a drug addict so he didn't want her to have them. It was supposed to be an 8 gun deal but his son found 3 more so I extended the price by 3 units to purchase the whole deal.

 

[Star43]

That same catalog had the Ruger 44 carbine for $149.95. They also carried Browning, Ithaca and Remington brand firearms as well as their Ted Williams branded guns. I picked up a Ted Williams 12 gauge pump shotgun which is Winchester Model 1200 with a 2.75" chamber in a multi gun deal from a friend of mine who was dying. His son didn't want his guns and his daughter was a drug addict so he didn't want her to have them. It was supposed to be an 8 gun deal but his son found 3 more so I extended the price by 3 units to purchase the whole deal.

An 11 gun dea !!. That was a bonanza. It's a shame his own son didn't want his own dad's guns. Sounds weird but I've heard it happen before in other threads. Sears stopped selling guns in Mass right around mid seventies from what I remember in my area.

 

[Watertender]

An 11 gun dea !!. That was a bonanza. It's a shame his own son didn't want his own dad's guns. Sounds weird but I've heard it happen before in other threads. Sears stopped selling guns in Mass right around mid seventies from what I remember in my area.

I sold a few and kept a few and gifted another few to friends. The steel ammo boxes of ammunition were included in the price. Just that was worth almost half of what I paid

 

[Star43]

Yeah, the last catalog I have from Ruger was 2012. It's not very big. That's for sure. 2011 was much nicer......I wonder if they actually still make a booklet that one could buy ?? If they did, I would buy one. 1986 was a very nice one with the guy on the canoe. 1987 with the bear. The 90's ones were nice too. Oh, to go back in time......

 

[bigbillyboy]

Yeah, I remember the road map type. That is the best way to describe it. It was all folded together. I wish they still mad a catalog .....I would buy it, and not expect it to be free......another smart phone wrong here. People can just pop it up on their phones or whatever. I LIKE to be able to hold a hard copy in my hands !!! Oh, I miss them....

For sure , I enjoy just leafing through those catalogs . It's just much simpler and more relaxing than using a device . Great thread by the way !!

 

[TINCANBANDIT is back]

The 1975 Sears catalog had a Ruger "10-20" for $73.50.

 

[contender]

Ruger hasn't produced a paper catalog in several years now. I'd have to double check to see what year was the last one.

However,, currently,, this year,, they did produce a "poster" of their guns. It's a fold out type,, that when closed up is about 15" x 15" I guess. They can be bought in the "Shop Ruger" section for $5.95 I think. It's a 75th Anniversary poster.

I'll check a bit later for the actual dates of the last paper catalogs, and to see what extras I may have.

 

[Star43]

Ruger hasn't produced a paper catalog in several years now. I'd have to double check to see what year was the last one.

However,, currently,, this year,, they did produce a "poster" of their guns. It's a fold out type,, that when closed up is about 15" x 15" I guess. They can be bought in the "Shop Ruger" section for $5.95 I think. It's a 75th Anniversary poster.

I'll check a bit later for the actual dates of the last paper catalogs, and to see what extras I may have.

Thanks for checking. How I got mine was just visiting the different gun shops in the area and different companies all had their yearly catalogs. I would always pick up some from all the various makers. Ruger was always my favorite brand so I definitely picked that up for sure. The last one I saw and have was the 2012 one. I have it some where around here, but it wasn't a full catalog. It was a smaller one and not everything was listed. It was blue in color, but definitely for 2012.....

 

[wproct]

I have a lot of them from the 1970's on and likewise the Harley Davidson booklets also. These are becoming a thing of the past for sure.

 

[rugerguy]

ah yes ,another thing of the past, , used to get them at any and all the trade shows, got them by the case when we had the gun shops, and when we gave up our last license in the late 90s they had stopped coming around or given out, had to ask for a few years...like noted above, now its all "in your device", sorry but mine just rings or calls out, nothing in there for anyone to look at........still take some catalogs to the guns shows from time to time from the 70s and 80s vintage ( no they do NOT sell) gave a bunch to my neighbor to sell on ebay, he can't sell them either...I still recall many years ago when High Standard moved from Hamden to East Hartford and we spent time at the new plant learning their guns as our shop was a warranty repair shop for them , we spent time in the shipping department throwing out and burning their old High Standard catalogs , guy with a tuxedo on the cover I believe it was and we got rid of hundreds of them, stuff they brought over in the move, yeah then we worked on guns,,ha ha guess we were cheap labor............yeah back then we had met the guy from Southport who was payed to scrap Rugers brass frames and later, cutup and scrap thr Maximums, wish I had take some of the "stuff" that he had set aside,oh well all more Ruger lore, of times gone by.............:((n)

 

[Star43]

ah yes ,another thing of the past, , used to get them at any and all the trade shows, got them by the case when we had the gun shops, and when we gave up our last license in the late 90s they had stopped coming around or given out, had to ask for a few years...like noted above, now its all "in your device", sorry but mine just rings or calls out, nothing in there for anyone to look at........still take some catalogs to the guns shows from time to time from the 70s and 80s vintage ( no they do NOT sell) gave a bunch to my neighbor to sell on ebay, he can't sell them either...I still recall many years ago when High Standard moved from Hamden to East Hartford and we spent time at the new plant learning their guns as our shop was a warranty repair shop for them , we spent time in the shipping department throwing out and burning their old High Standard catalogs , guy with a tuxedo on the cover I believe it was and we got rid of hundreds of them, stuff they brought over in the move, yeah then we worked on guns,,ha ha guess we were cheap labor............yeah back then we had met the guy from Southport who was payed to scrap Rugers brass frames and later, cutup and scrap thr Maximums, wish I had take some of the "stuff" that he had set aside,oh well all more Ruger lore, of times gone by.............:((n)

That is the sad part. As time passes by, I would think that we have to look back and see how things have changed are, No Longer the same. To me, I appreciate the old ways, and I guess I am one of the few, that when I see an old catalog, I would scoop it up and cherish it for what it is. That's me anyway......

 

[Watertender]

For most of us the old catalogs and related items are cherished possessions. We can hope that someone will appreciate them when our time is done. But that is beyond our control once we are gone. They may be enjoyed by someone new or may be in a landfill somewhere. That's why I will try to give as much stuff as possible to someone who will take care of it

 

[bigbillyboy]

There were printed catalogs after 2012 . I have a 2020 catalog that I picked up at the dealer when I bought a wrangler . I remembered it after reading thru on the thread . This catalog is 160 pages .

 

[bigbillyboy]

So out of curiosity , does anyone have any catalogs from 2013 thru 2019 ? I used to order them from time to time direct from ruger and sometimes picked them up at the dealers .