As expected, Ruger had a very good 2020. You can read all the specifics in yesterday’s edition, but there’s not any doubt that sales increases of $150 million dollars over 2019 (not a bad year) confirmed the runaway demand that has the entire industry scrambling to try and meet demand.
In a conference call with analysts yesterday, Ruger CEO Chris Killoy was quick to credit “historic demand” for a portion of the company’s success, but he also didn’t ignore the opportunity to remind industry observers in the financial world that Ruger didn’t have a record year simply because of demand.
Instead, he was quick to credit the company’s 1800 employees for their dedication, hard work, and adhering to the Covid-19 safety protocols Ruger has successfully employed to keep all their facilities running. Those protocols, Killoy said, added something on the order of $3.5 million to operating costs, but the company unhesitatingly made the investment in order to keep their 1800 member “family” safe.
Speaking of that growing family, Killoy recounted how the company froze hiring through the initial shutdowns of the pandemic, only to resume hiring mid-year. In 2020 Ruger added 250 new full-time employees (they don’t hire temps) across their facilities, and still has openings.
As has come to be expected, a significant part of Ruger’s sales this year came from new product like the 5.7 pistol, the LCP .22 LR and their Wrangler .22 rimfire revolver. Demand for the Wranger, Killoy proudly admitted, “surpassed our wildest expectation.” While the new products provided twenty-two percent of 2020’s sales, 2019’s new products accounted for twenty-six percent of the year’s sales. That, Killoy explained, was attributable to a combination of factors, including the fact that Ruger “ages” products out of the “new” category after 24 months. That took several of their still-popular guns out of the “new” mix.
If you’re a Marlin lever-action fan, the call had some very good news.
When Ruger purchased Marlin’s assets in the Remington bankruptcy, there was the small matter of relocating what Killoy described as “100 tractor trailer loads of inventory, parts, and manufacturing equipment” to Ruger’s facilities. Now, Killoy says, Ruger’s methodically evaluating the equipment, looking at “every part for every Marlin rifle” and integrating the manufacturing into Ruger’s manufacturing cell model.
Now, Killoy said, Ruger plans to be offering centerfire Marlin lever-actions into the marketplace before the end of the year. Plans include the Marlin 1984, 1985 and 336 models initially, with the Model 50 .22 semi-auto coming at some point after that.
