Ruger ceasing production of Hawkeye

LeftySixgun said:

Bill Ruger and Alex Sturm just rolled in their graves

What does this mean for Marlin?

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Pretty much, no new models.

Wow, I understand business decisions, but this seems like a bean counter “triage” more than good business.

Ruger makes a stellar revolver, and to get rid of their better rifles seems foolish.

Man! I hate to say I told you so.

20 years ago I got into it on a forum when CB did a big endorsement for Ruger and their new and better version of the .375..

I knew I was right.

Inkgardener said:

Seems to be the opposite of what they should do. All the high end brands in other markets drop their entry level stuff and keep their flagship…and do well.

The American rifle is okay, but everyone makes a cheap bolt gun.

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I think the problems they are stuck in the middle. Their highest end stuff isn’t nice enough to compete with other high end products and their lower end is either not as good a similarly priced products or not the cheapest.

I know it is easy to blame bean counters or say they should still make guns we all personally like. But the fact is they exist in order to turn a profit. If none of these lines are making money they have to do something.

The gun business is a tough one. You’re selling extremely durable goods. Unless you are sought after by collectors it is tough to find ways to sell more of the same guns. I have a red hawk and a Blackhawk, they will both last much longer than I will. I love them but why would I ever buy another one just to have two of the same thing.

Well this sucks. My Ruger Alaskan 9.3x62 shopts 1.5 in groups at 200 yards, I have taken kudu, elan, nyalla, and an elk last week. Inlove it, this makes me sad.

I own two Ruger’s. My dads M77 with tang safety, has a recall. (I have the part) My father-in-laws .22 wheel gun has a recall. ( I have not sent the gun in for a new cylinder) I can understand why they’re not selling a lot of guns.

I bought two Hawkeyes this year. Alaskan in 9.3 and African in 35 Whelen.

Both perfect from the factory, both have shot moa groups with factory ammo.

I have have six Ruger stainless single actions.

And two number ones as well.

I am in mourning.

Ruger rescued Marlin, but apparently Beretta has no such plans for Ruger.

That is too bad. Can’t be good for Lipsey’s

Wow, this is a gut punch.

I just realized something. There’s only one commercially manufactured control round feed rifle in big bore calibers left on the market, which is currently still in production- The Portuguese Winchester Model 70 (available in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, .416 Remington Magnum and .458 Winchester Magnum). It’s literally the last man standing now.

Everything else is gone. Unless you go the semi custom route (such as Parkwest Arms or the Mauser 98 Magnum) or the fully custom route.

Beretta is pulling the puppet strings at RGR now.

Beretta holdings is going to own Ruger within 12-18 months

Terrible

Wow, I hate to see this, as there are so few entry level safari rifle options out there these days. I guess I should just be glad I have mine already.

From what I read it is a production suspension. Not a cancelation, I would bet that remains to seen.
Ruger is going to continue scheduled production runs through the end of 2026.
Although Ruger did cancel the Left Hand 9.3 Alaskan Bush Rifle.
Sad to see the company in a state of disarray.

Hunter-Habib said:

I just realized something. There’s only one commercially manufactured control round feed rifle in big bore calibers left on the market, which is currently still in production- The Portuguese Winchester Model 70 (available in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, .416 Remington Magnum and .458 Winchester Magnum). It’s literally the last man standing now.

Everything else is gone. Unless you go the semi custom route (such as Parkwest Arms or the Mauser 98 Magnum) or the fully custom route.

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Is Montana still building rifles?


This will be mostly due to Beretta's new influence IMO. Maximize profit period. Large publicly traded companies don't have any pride in what they build. They are in the business of making money to the point where they don't care much at all about the products they build, just so long as people will keep buying them. If people would quit buying the cheap crap and only buy quality built stuff although it's more expensive we wouldn't have this problem. Most people today would prefer to two half plastic rifles rather than one that's all metal and built to last a lifetime or two.

As anyone who has read my posts is probably aware, the rifles I favor are narrowly defined: Basically left-handed models in a long-action classic cartridge with walnut & blued steel is my thing. Initially I started off by buying Ruger No. 1's (I own four) but later I bought a LH Ruger M77 MkII. The problem with this is I bought all of them used so none of those purchases directly helped Ruger's bottom line. The main reason for this is that while I appreciated Ruger making left-handed rifles, they seemed to be catering to a group whose tastes differed from mine.

For blued walnut & steel in a long action cartridge, I've basically had one choice for years in the 375 Ruger African. But I already own two Winchesters in 375 H&H so buying the Ruger seemed kind of redundant. The modern left-handed Hawkeye options are otherwise limited to 300 WM, 308 Win, 6.5 PRC & 6.5 CM with all of those options either sporting less-desirable plastic or stainless.

The affordable left-handed American line had limited appeal both in aesthetics and cartridge selection (5.56, 7.62x39, 300 BLK, 350 Legend, 400 Legend & 450 Bushmaster).

So this was why I was excited about the announced left-handed Alaskans in the classic 35 Whelen & 9.3x62 with iron sights earlier this past summer. I was going to buy one simply to support the endeavor & encourage more of this kind of behavior. But a few weeks ago, they pulled the rug out from under me on that project. Fortunately, I have every rifle I really need so personally I'm good. Moving forward, I'll probably rely mainly on Sako as about the nicest LH rifles my modest budget can afford if I ever decide to buy another one.

Buckums said:

That is too bad. Can’t be good for Lipsey’s

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I wonder if Ruger is considering going exclusively to limited Lipsey type runs instead of doing big runs of chamberings selected by the factory. That's sort of what they did with the Ruger No. 1 releases where every new release was a limited Lipsey release. Based on the recent left-handed Alaskan fiasco, finding out accurate information about what Ruger is doing is often impossible.

Guys from what I am hearing this morning it is a temporary shut down on the models listed.
Ruger is planning a major overhaul of its CNC machines with all new machines. This requires a complete stoppage for awhile on production. We will see if and when models return, timeline is uncertain.
Yes Beretta is acquiring about 20-25% of Ruger stock.
What I was told by a supplier, as that is what they were told.

As sad as it is, let's not forget, RGR is a small cap publicly traded company whose share price has done nothing excluding the COVID boom years, and since then has been cut in half. For profit public companies have one primary objective: maximize shareholder return...and RGR has failed in that department. Shareholders buy stocks for a return. Period. If they don't generate a return, they sell the stock. The same as you would do with any stock you own. RGR is no different and now they a 25% shareholder (a strategic buyer no less, not just a activist hedge fund) is going active and shaking things up. Maybe good for shareholders longer term, maybe not. They wouldn't be suspending if they had reasonable demand and were making an acceptable margin on these firearms so, as a public company, something has to give.