The odd story behind some of Ruger's early offerings (VIDEO)
Some of the earliest products to carry the Ruger name had a story all their own, and are sought out by collectors.
Hailing from a period before Bill Ruger combined forces with Alexander Sturm, the 1940s Ruger Co. produced a line of well-made hand tools to include hand-cranked drills. While Ruger was a firearms designer who lent a hand to what became the T10/T23E1 experimental light machine gun tested by the WWII-era U.S. Army, he didn’t craft his iconic Standard .22LR pistol until 1949. However, as pointed out in the above spot by Rock Island Auction Company, the drills bear a lot of very Ruger-ish hallmarks that are quickly identified and increasingly coveted by fans of the black eagle.
Another fun fact: did you know that early Ruger Standards were mailed out in wooden boxes direct (this was pre-GCA) to customers? We ran into one in the hands of the Ruger Collectors’ Association at the last NRA Show in Dallas earlier this year.
(Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
As well as one of these bad boys.
Look familiar?
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