Jeff Quinn
Single-Sixer
slabsides":3kl2lkk7 said:A comment to GunBlast and Jeff Quinn:
I suspect that I've been shooting, and buying Ruger product with my very own hard-earned, for more years than you have.
I have earned the right to 'gripe'. I prefer to call it candid criticism.
The company that brought the common man the Standard Auto, the Single Six and Blackhawk, and the #1 is no more. Now it's just another cash cow for investors, run by bean counters. And I still feel soiled. SAD, that is.
You probably have, and you have the right to sit around and be bitter every time Ruger introduces a new product, if that is how you want to live out the rest of your life.
Here is a bit of news for you: Ruger still makes those products that you listed, even the Number 1. They did not discontinue them, and new shooters are discovering them everyday.
What would YOU like for Ruger to make, that they do not make already? Let them know. They listen. That is why they are building an AR. People want to buy ARs, and Ruger has attempted to build a better AR. What is wrong with that?
I harbor no bitterness towards Browning because they no longer make the Auto 5 shotgun, and now make only the gas-operated shotguns. The reason for that is because shooters were buying the gas guns, and not buying the Auto 5. Yep, you guessed it, they are in business trying to make a profit. Instead of building a gun that doesn't sell, in hopes of keeping some sour old folks happy, they gave in to real world economics and built a shotgun that buyers were willing to pay for.
Ruger was the only major gun company at NRA that you could walk up and speak with the CEO, all day, everyday. Mike Fifer was working in the Ruger booth, talking with anyone who needed help with a product, showing Ruger's wares, and listening to folks. He didn't make a big deal out of it. He was there like everyone else who worked in the booth, putting in time talking with customers and potential customers, even bitter old folks who just wanted to gripe about what Ruger is building. They are building what shooters want. It is called a "marketing plan". Businesses that make products try to make products that people want to buy. What a concept! Ruger makes these products in the USA, employing a lot of people. This time, they didn't make what you wanted, but I would be willing to bet that no matter what they build, some people will want it, and others will not. There are many guns on the market that I have no desire to own, but I do desire that the company that builds them will succeed.
I also do not buy every product that Ruger builds, nor do I do so with other companies. I pick and choose, buying what I like, as does everyone else. The marketplace decides what is and is not a success. We each have the right to choose what we want, and the more choices available, the better the products we get to buy.