Sturm, Ruger & Co.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	: RGR S&P 600 Component
Industry	Firearms
Founded	1949; 68 years ago (1949)
Founder	William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm
Headquarters	Southport, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States
Area served	worldwide
Key people	C. Michael Jacobi (Chairman) Michael O. Fifer (Chief Executive Officer) Christopher J. Killoy (President and Chief Operating Officer) Thomas A. Dineen (Vice President and Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer)
Products	Revolvers, Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns
Revenue	US$ 679 million (2013)
Number of employees	2,000 (2013)
Website	www.ruger.com

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. is an American, Southport, Connecticut–based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger.

The company was founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B. Ruger and has been publicly traded since 1969. Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action revolvers.

Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 in a small rented machine shop in Southport, Connecticut.

Just prior to their partnership, Bill Ruger had successfully duplicated two Japanese "baby" Nambu pistols in his garage, from a captured Nambu that he acquired from a returning Marine, at the close of World War II. When it came to designing their first semi-auto pistol, Ruger decided to incorporate the looks of the German 9mm Luger and the American Colt Woodsman into their first commercially produced .22 caliber pistol (see Ruger Standard), which became so successful that it launched the entire company.

Ruger is a dominant manufacturer in the .22 LR rimfire rifle market in the U.S., due primarily to the sales of its Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle. The 10/22 is very popular due to being relatively inexpensive and of good quality. As a result, a wealth of after-market accessories and parts were made available for it, which has further increased its popularity. The availability and variety of after-market parts makes it possible to build a 10/22 using only these parts; most of which are marketed to target shooters and hunters.