GUNS Magazine March 1958

standard for the manufacturer long before there was a manufactory;
and, even now, seven generations later, standards established by
custom gunsmiths still persist, more or less, in modern arms
manufacture.
As the concept of machine-made guns with the interchangeable
parts was accepted, plants began springing up throughout Connecticut
like mushrooms after a warm spring rain. Some of the plants
lasted scarcely longer than a mushroom on the plate of a gourmet,
as shooting men spurned guns that were poor in workmanship,
design, or reliability. There were plenty of good gunsmiths around
to provide a man with a gun he could depend on and be proud of.
But the machine-made weapon was gaining in public favor. If the
marriage of wood to metal was slightly less precise in the mass
production gun, the shooter might still accept it if it cost substantially
less than the product of the gunsmith's shop. But workmanship could
not deviate greatly from the uncompromising standards of the gunsmith
or it would find no acceptance at any price.
The manufacturer is keenly aware that he must provide a weapon
which is not only functional but which will be a source of pride to
its owner. The gunsmith's pride in his product still lingers about the
modern gun plant, just as the old time gunmaker looked on himself
as a mechanic apart from other workmen. So do the top executives
and the young sport-shirted lathe operators in gun plants today
consider themselves a breed apart.
66 Its 9 a business for gentlemen," was the way William B. Ruger
summarized his feeling toward the gun industry. With those words,
the head of Sturm-Ruger & Co. paraphrased an intangible feeling,
seldom voiced, that forms a common bond among the mass production
gun makers of Connecticut. By the word "gentleman" Ruger did
not refer to the nolished dilettante with a studied set of manners. He
used the term to denote a type of man possessing the spirit, pride,
taste, and sensibilities of an aristocrat. He classed gun making with
ship building, aircraft manufacture, and other crafts associated with
romance and adventure. This does not mean that Ruger or any other
gun manufacturer in Connecticut has a completely visionary approach
to arms manufacture; there is nothing intrinsically wrong with
making money-and guns must be designed and built with profit in
mind if the manufacturer is to stay in business.
In a young enterprise like Sturm-Ruger, where it is possible to talk
directly with the founder and designer, it is not hard to uncover a
philosophy of gun making. That philosophy is incorporated in the
Centers of gun bugs' interest in Connecticut arms. . - - -
factories range from the newest modern sho s like
Whitney's to older firms such as Marlin's, Moss E erg's,
Colt's, and the small Ruger works headed by one man.