Beretta going after Ruger

For a company that makes a lot of sub-par products and has a long history of doing so, Ruger is getting a whole lot of love and support from the American 2A community over their issue with Beretta buying shares of their stock.

Having bought over 25 Ruger firearms over the span of a little over four decades, I think I'm entitled to not be a huge fan of their products at this point. Buying a Mark 4 pistol and having to send it back for a recall less than two weeks later was the last straw for me. I'll not be buying another Ruger product.

While I'm not a huge fan of the "Arms Maker for Responsible Citizens," I'd rather not see it get gobbled up by Beretta. That said, I don't see the situation between Beretta and Ruger to be one of Ruger wearing the lily white hat and Beretta wearing black. Whatever Beretta management want to do with respect to Ruger, they wouldn't be in a position to do it in the absence of executive decisions on Ruger's part.

I expect to get flamed by the Ruger Faithful. Before they light their torches, I would say to them: "P-85 pistol," "Mini-14," "Single Sixes with uncrowned muzzles and chambers eccentric to the bore center line," "Gold Label shotgun recall," "Incorrect front sight height on Old Army," and "No. 1 with internal barrel finish on par with a sewer pipe."

Instead of spending money on Marlin and the buyout of Andersen Manufacturing, Ruger's upper management could have used that money to shore the company up against a hostile takeover, but, alas, they did not.
 
Beretta currently own:

Holland and Holland
Chapuis
Tikka
Benelli
Sako
Franchi
Stoeger
Uberti

Is there an idea them controlling Ruger will be a net negative to the product?
 
Is there an idea them controlling Ruger will be a net negative to the product?
There is indeed such a worry among the Ruger Faithful. Some YouTube "content creators" are having hissy fits over the situation with Beretta and Ruger, acting like the Second Amendment will cease to exist and the planet will rotate off its axis if Beretta does get a controlling stake in Ruger. The more comical among them seem to believe that it will be the end of "Ruger quality," while I'm not convinced that "Ruger" and "quality" always belong in the same sentence.
 
There is indeed such a worry among the Ruger Faithful. Some YouTube "content creators" are having hissy fits over the situation with Beretta and Ruger, acting like the Second Amendment will cease to exist and the planet will rotate off its axis if Beretta does get a controlling stake in Ruger. The more comical among them seem to believe that it will be the end of "Ruger quality," while I'm not convinced that "Ruger" and "quality" always belong in the same sentence.
I own a 10/22 and a mark iv. Nothing else from ruger. I wouldnt call them the highest quality things. The 10/22 at least works all the time. The mark iv doesnt like the cold.
 
There is indeed such a worry among the Ruger Faithful. Some YouTube "content creators" are having hissy fits over the situation with Beretta and Ruger, acting like the Second Amendment will cease to exist and the planet will rotate off its axis if Beretta does get a controlling stake in Ruger. The more comical among them seem to believe that it will be the end of "Ruger quality," while I'm not convinced that "Ruger" and "quality" always belong in the same sentence.


Good grief. That’s crazy. I only own one Ruger, a 1982 Mark II I got for my 10th birthday. I have owned an older #1 7x57 that I really miss, and two 338s and one 06 that I was quite happy to sell. I’ll never buy a new one. Oh, and a 10/22 that I just didn’t like for any reason.
 
I’m surprised it took this long for this story to surface on Rokslide, especially given all the Tikka love on here.

One thing I haven’t heard from anyone is the pro and the cons if Berretta takes over Ruger. The debate is almost all one sided, one way or another.
 
One thing I haven’t heard from anyone is the pro and the cons if Berretta takes over Ruger. The debate is almost all one sided, one way or another.

How can a debate be "one sided" and "one way or another" at the same time?


Anyone listing out pros and cons to any takeover of Ruger by Beretta is going to fall under the heading of subjective speculation rather than objective fact. It has to, because nobody can really know how things would "play out" under such a paradigm. Someone can say "I think these good things might happen if..." and "I also think these bad things can happen if..." but nobody can say "I know what will happen."
 
How can a debate be "one sided" and "one way or another" at the same time?


Anyone listing out pros and cons to any takeover of Ruger by Beretta is going to fall under the heading of subjective speculation rather than objective fact. It has to, because nobody can really know how things would "play out" under such a paradigm. Someone can say "I think these good things might happen if..." and "I also think these bad things can happen if..." but nobody can say "I know what will happen."
Fair point. What I probably should have said is that it seems most people have taken one side or another on this issue. Either Ruger sucks and should be taken over by Berretta or Ruger is one of the best American firearm manufacturers and Beretta shouldn’t dare touch them.
 
Id like to see less take-overs.

Seems like we’ve reached the point where instead of innovation and market dominance, the goal
Is purely $ and cutting corners. The older rifles might not shoot as well as the newer ones but they were made better.

Always saw Ruger as a good gun. Same for Beretta.
 
Id like to see less take-overs.

Seems like we’ve reached the point where instead of innovation and market dominance, the goal
Is purely $ and cutting corners. The older rifles might not shoot as well as the newer ones but they were made better.

Always saw Ruger as a good gun. Same for Beretta.
I'm uncomfortable with this takeover attempt as well. Many nations protect their companies by limiting foreign stock ownership. On the plus side, Beretta and the companies it owns has produced quality products. The downside is that competition will be reduced - Ruger has the largest share of the US firearms market as of 2023. Also, I wonder if Beretta's policies and products will be more likely to align with global interests in the future, instead of focusing on the American market.
 
I'm uncomfortable with this takeover attempt as well. Many nations protect their companies by limiting foreign stock ownership. On the plus side, Beretta and the companies it owns has produced quality products. The downside is that competition will be reduced - Ruger has the largest share of the US firearms market as of 2023. Also, I wonder if Beretta's policies and products will be more likely to align with global interests in the future, instead of focusing on the American market.
Totally agree.

Betetta will align w global interests, no doubt.
 
I have owned several Ruger products over the years but they always left me wanting something the particular item in question didn't have going for it. My first rifle was a Ruger M77 MKII and I wanted so badly to love that gun but it wouldn't shoot as well as I would have liked. After years of money and time wasted on it, a new barrel has it shooting acceptably only to find the stock cracked with minimal aftermarket support for my personal preferences.

The biggest differences I see are customer service. Beretta's is abysmal at best while Ruger's can be equated to that of Vortex in my mind. A Beretta take over would most likely kill that but, maybe provide a better QC'd product in the long run? Who knows. Time will tell what will happen...
 
I did not realize Ruger had such of a market share as they do until this thread. Figured Remington would be more of a big dog.
 
I own 5 or 6 Rugers I think. Their revolvers are solid. My near 50 year old Mark 1 is still fun to shoot, and shoots very well, my 40 year old 10-22 is still a shooter too. My only rub is my Mini 14. Ruger knew for several decades that those were trash yet they did nothing until the internet exploded and they finally came to their senses and fixed it in the late 90's I think.
 
Beretta is based out of Italy.
Ruger out of CT.

Diff mindsets for sure.

Beretta is one of the longest continuous running manufacturing endeavors in history and the oldest continuous firearms manufacturer extant. If Beretta helps make Ruger into the company some people believe it to be, it will be a great day for USA firearms.
 
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