Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Whatever happened to American gunmakers.

I have some older firearms, Winchesters, Remingtons, etc from years gone by long ago. These are quality firearms, excellent barrels, nicely fitted stock, perfect function. Not so with the new stuff.

Case in point: my friend just bought a new Ruger MKIV so called "Competition" model. Ha, ha!! Athough the thing shoots like a rifle accuracy-wise, the trick is to get it to shoot. The trigger had to be replaced first thing, original was horrible. He got 4 mags for it, none of which would feed until "tuned up". Failures to extract, failures to eject, jam, jam, jam, extractor has to be replaced along a new firing pin since they are prone to failure and he doesnt want this to happen halfway through a match. You would think for $600.00 bucks everything would be absolutely perfect, but I guess those days are gone forever.

I bought a MKI Target back in the 70's, thousands of rounds through it, has never stuttered.

The best answer I can give is that most all firearms companies are now run by accountants instead of engineers. Maximize profits by reducing costs and let the buyer beware.

Quality control (QC) costs money. Across many industries and companies, QC is among the first things to go when cost-cutting measures are taken. Ruger is good company that makes a decent product, but it seems as if they don't function test each firearm before it goes out the door. There are many stories similar to yours. At least Ruger's customer service is excellent. Companies have to make a profit, production costs go up, and shooters don't want to spend a lot on their firearms. Proof: Ruger's budget American series rifles are selling well while their better and costlier M77 Hawkeye rifles sales sag. We want them cheap.

The Mark I is a fine pistol, I have one, but mine has not been flawless. I have a target model from back in the late 70s. It was never very reliable. I didn't shoot it very much for years. This past year I got back into handgunning and it again kept jamming like crazy, (stove pipes, failure to extract, failures to fire etc). and I didn't have all that many rounds thru it. After replacing the recoil springs, extractor and firing pin with higher quality aftermarket parts, I got it shooting well. Now it's a pleasure to shoot. I did have a trigger job done on it yeas ago by Jim Clark and its 1 lb 13 oz trigger was/is the best part of that pistol.

Have to throw lawyers into the mix too. I'm not necessarily thinking about the ones that work for the gunmakers, but those that are so willing to sue a company for any reason or no reason. Let someone do something stupid with a firearm and to the litigious attorney, it immediately becomes the companies fault that their client was injured. The firearms company then changes all kinds of things on their firearm to make it "fool proof."

they build em in Finland now

Between liabilities, legalities, and govt regulations, I am grateful that anyone manufactures anything at all in today's culture.

and Portugal,Turkey,Spain,Brazil,the PI etc.

I don't disagree that firearms "ain't what they used to be" but I bought a new MKIV 22/45 and two extra magazines last summer. I've ran at least a thousand rounds through it without a single hick up. Granted....the trigger was gawd awful so I sent it to Volquertson for a tune up but it still went bang with the chitty trigger. I love the thing....
Sorry your friend got a stinker but fortunately Ruger has some of the best warranty service in the industry.

Yes they do!!!

Bean Counters and younger people are focused on plastic and steel .

What happened to American gunmakers was American buyers.

Americans will buy any kind of sorry ass crap now. It ain't about quality anymore it's about a price point.


Mike

One reason why my latest Rifle I bought was built In 1933 by Savage! enough said!

600 bucks is not a "price point", that's a lot of money for a .22 pistol and the buyer should have every expectation of top quality.

I suggest you broaden your horizons if you think there are no quality firearms being made in the US. Kimber, Cooper, Nosler, etc. Lots of great rifles out there if you're willing to look somewhere besides WalMart.

The bean counters are only doing what the investor demands. Pretty simple really. I am guessing that Ruger is making a pile of more money selling plastic than they did selling #1's, #3's, lever 22's and 44's, SxS shotguns, African and Express Rifles...

I doubt they made a thing on lever 22's and 44's.

This ^^^^^^^^^^ And yes, $600 is a price point. When you think about what these good guns everyone laments cost 60 years ago in actual wages and buying power it was more than a week’s pay for most working men. Today, a lot of us think we should be able to get a terrific rifle for half a week’s pay or less. It doesn’t work that way. That said, these cheap guns we’re buying today tend to be a lot better than the cheap guns of 60 years ago.

Gun makers make what sells. Fewer buyers are willing to pay for the top end stuff. There is still some good stuff out there, but it ain't selling at 1970's prices anymore. Nor should it.

For a while in the 1980s I spent a good bit of time with the head of a firearms company - a leading company - and found that, although he was dealing with all aspects of that profit-making outfit, his primary focus was on smart innovation and the quality of his products. His reputation and the company history were based on some unique designs and solid products. Most of us have some of them. Firearms manufacture has changed a good bit since then, along with the tastes and preferences of those who buy and shoot the stuff. The social and legal climates have changed as well. And, most of the guys who did what he did are gone.

There always will be high quality rifles made individually by fine craftsmen, but the broad market has changed. There are some very fine gun makers in the "mass" market today, but the numbers they produce are much smaller and the cost for the traditionally nice rifles is much higher than for the general market the past. It's not difficult to imagine old guys who were used to Winchester 54s and older 70s having such concerns when more modern and "cheaper' rifles started becoming a bigger piece of the market more than 50 years ago. For me, older has become gooder.

Making firearms (or anything else) is a business.
With the stock market going straight up for 9 years, making widgets has become tiresome for a lot of managers.