Ruger and His Guns

We went to the Book Fair this past weekend and I got a copy of Ruger and His Guns by R. L. Wilson (yes, that R. L. Wilson) for substantially less than the cover price. It has proven to be worth the money if only for the photos and the background on the various stages of the company. It is a big heavy book, in a landscape format, with gorgeous photography and excellent editing. It isn't often that you can go through a book and find that they have never confused "there" and "their" or "sight" and "site" or some such. Spell-check is wonderful but limited still and can't use the correct word in context. This editor appears to have gotten it right and that makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience.

Content, yes, there is content galore.  Bits and pieces of personal remembrances from family, friends and co-workers/employees.  Interesting stuff I don't think you'll find elsewhere.  I had always wanted to meet Mr. Ruger but now I feel as I've gotten about as close to him as I ever would have.  But there are also asides that give information on the various people who have influenced the products and sales (through their illustrations) and there is information on the financial workings of the company.  Not a whole lot of detail but enough to explain why the company has cash in the bank today.  That bodes well for American shooters because, unlike other firearms companies, Ruger is in a position to weather the storm of the current recession.

I should point out that the book isn't up to date in that it cuts off sometime before 2010.  That shouldn't matter to the aficionado of Ruger firearms.