U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (NYSE: RGR) mourns the loss of William B. Ruger, Jr., former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ruger. Mr. Ruger, who was the second CEO of the Company and the son of the Company’s founder, passed away this past weekend.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Bill, who was integral to the foundation and early success of this company,” said Chris Killoy, President and CEO of Ruger. “Bill’s 42 years of loyal service to the Company has had a lasting impact that is still felt today. We will sincerely miss him and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Bill joined Ruger in 1964 and worked in a variety of manufacturing and engineering positions within the Company. In 1970, he became a member of the Company’s Board of Directors. The following year, he was named Vice President of Manufacturing of the Southport Firearms Division. Just a few years later Bill was promoted to Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and, in 1991, was named President of the Company. He became Vice Chairman of the Board and Senior Executive Officer in 1995, and reassumed the duties of President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998. He became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer upon William B. Ruger, Sr.’s retirement in 2000. Bill officially retired from the Company in February of 2006.
Mr. Ruger was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1939. He graduated from Harvard College in 1961 where he studied engineering and applied physics. Before joining Ruger, Bill worked for the Kel Corporation of Belmont, Massachusetts as an electronics engineer.
Bill was a member of the Executive Committee of the Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute and various other trade associations, a trustee of St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, and a trustee of the Buffalo Bill Memorial Association of Cody, Wyoming.
About Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market. As a full-line manufacturer of American-made firearms, Ruger offers consumers over 400 variations of more than 30 product lines. For more than 60 years, Ruger has been a model of corporate and community responsibility. Our motto, “Arms Makers for Responsible Citizens®,” echoes the importance of these principles as we work hard to deliver quality and innovative firearms.
rip mr. ruger you leave a great co god speed
my 1st ruger product was a 44mag carbine great wepon and I still have it
have or have had meany ruger thru the years not one ever failed when needed
Rest In Peace William B. Ruger Jr.
You will be sorely missed by the firearm owners of our Country.
You and Your Father’s firearms are the best and most affordable anywhere.
1997 Ruger P90 .45acp semi auto pistol in SS
2018 Ruger AR-556
Rest well Bill.
10/22
LCR 357.Mag
P94 40.cal
Mini 14
And of course my GP100 357.mag.
Most reliable affordable guns on the market.
Thank you
RIP. Bill”s Ruger SR9c is the BEST all-around handgun for affordability, compactness, availability, effectiveness, reliability, and capacity combined.
To Daniel the idiot complainer! Now tell the truth, have you ever been arrested for tipping gravestones over at the local cemetery of course, so you could embarrass your whole family while you were at it? Mr. Ruger may you R.I.P.
My condolences to the Ruger family. May he rest in peace.
Love Ruger guns .. Have had my P90DC 25+ years and recently purchased the Security 9.
Keep up the good work !!!
Of the few gun brands I currently own (Ruger, Kel-tec, and Diamondback), my Ruger SR9c is BY FAR my favorite and most reliable! Sad to hear about the passing of Bill Ruger Jr.
Sincerest condolences to the Ruger family.we have lost a great leader of an iconic American legendary company.keep making your wonderful products the way you always have..love them.I own a few.God Bless.
M.Morra
Sympathy for family’s, both personal and professional. About the junk comment, I own 10 Ruger firearms. Revolvers, semi handguns, and rifles. NONE of which have ever given me any trouble.
And my 1997 Ruger P90 semi auto .45acp has never, not once failed to fire, failed to eject, nor jammed or stoved piped in 21 yrs of use.. I have mixed ball ammo, hollow points , different brands, both inexpensive and high priced ammo all in same mag, in 5 different mags, and fired it as fast as I could, and have yet to make it jam. Best semi auto pistol I’ve ever seen bar none.
Same for my new Ruger AR 556 .
Quality guns and rifles… R.I.P. Mr. Ruger
To the family of Mr Ruger my condolences.
To the Ruger brand thank you for generations of great Americans.
Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger Bearcat
Ruger Super Redhawk, Ruger 22 Mag
Ruger 10/22, Ruger mini 14
Ruger 556 , always fired, every trigger pull God bless you, don’t change a thing.
My prayers go out to the Ruger family, employees and friends. Ruger is a fine co. and as the article points out, manufactures rugged guns! I have a mk1, Blackhawk and 10/22. Great guns! I only hope that the tradition of quality guns continues!
My Condolences to the family and all that knew and considered him their friend!!
William Ruger , Jr was a very good man and a credit to the way his father raised him. His family and company should be very proud of him! SAMMI is very proud of the late Mr Ruger !
I’ll remember Bill Jr as the consumate gentleman. Kind, generous and fair to those around him and a superb ambassador for his families legacy. After seeing the note of his passing, a picture of Bill’s big smile framed by his ever present bowtie came to mind. May God bless him and his family.
Tigers I’ve owned over the years:
Mini 14 in .223
Blackhawk in .30 carbine
P90 in .45 ACP
10/22 in.22
Don’t have a complaint about any of them, and to tell you
the truth a couple of them I bought as a youngster with price as my
only thought. Luckily I was fortunate enough to have picked
a Ruger. As for Mr. Ruger, I never met him or anyone in his
Family, but I’ll just say their firearms speak for them. Any loss
to the firearms family is a loss that affects us all.
In reality one of the best and MOST American companies ever… it will continue to survive and prosper. I have and do own MANY Ruger semi’s, bolts, and single shots in bot long and hand guns and NONE (NOT ONE) has ever failed to fire or cycle when the trigger was squeezed during plinking or an emergency. Obviously you have a bone to pick with the Ruger family and/or their firearms for whatever self serving reason. Don’t like them, don’t buy them, pretty simple… Stick to your foreign designed/manufactured or parted guns. Anyone that read or writes here knows that… Read more »
R.I.P. Mr. Ruger, you will be missed.
Sorry for your lost! The name Ruger is synonomous with this houehold! RIP Mr. Ruger.
This is truly a great loss, both to the firearms industry and the many jaw abiding gun owners he fostered. My sincere regrets that he was canned to his maker. I can only hope that Ruger will continue in the FINE ftraditions he established as an honest and dedicated leader of the shooting sports
This may not be the time for this. But after the Father died Ruger went down hill. My heart is with the family. This man’s death will be the final blow to Ruger. All of their semi auto guns I’ve owned have been junk.
Your a damn fool
He is the traditional ‘dancing on the graves’ moron. He should have 1/10 of the character of any of the Ruger family.
RIP Mr Ruger.
I own four different Ruger semi autos and two revolvers. I have never had a failure to feed or failue to fire on any of the semi autos. I like Ruger firearms and would have no issue with owning more.
You are right, it’s not!
@Daniel S, you admittedly knew that this is not the time for this. Yet, you fired off your quality complaint at the time of family bereavement, anyway. I don’t even know how to respond to such rudeness. So I am going to ask you, What would you write to someone that did that to your family?
To Daniel S.
I have 10/22s Ruger Mark 1-2-3 Super Black Hawk and others have never any issues with any of them!
Have you ever considered User Error!!!!!!!!!
Prayers for his entire Ruger family and all Ruger employees. He WILL be missed !
Sorry for your loss…I just purchased my first hand gun 2 weeks ago, and of course it was a ruger, mark vii, I wouldn’t buy anything else.
It is a sincere loss to us all, a great man and company!
My family &I extend
our heart felt condolences to the family.
Billy was a good man, I enjoyed working with him and his father in Southport back in the day.
Condolences to the family. ^0^
Rest In Peace. Thank you for 65 years of Ruger firearms. They are the best! God rest your eternal doul
So very sorry of hearing the loss of mr ruger jr. He will be greatly missed but his legacy will carry on through the company family friends and every ruger owner.
Gone but never forgotten. The Ruger legacy lives on! R.I.P.
My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Ruger and his family and friends.
Sorry to hear. Fine people and a fine company who I suppprt.
RIP. Mr Ruger
Godspeed.
Any loss of a Ruger,is a great loss…RIP
I’d like to extend my sincerest condolences for Mr Rugers family and friends for their loss…
Bill Ruger Jr was a brilliant, decent human being. I was privileged to work under him for nearly 42 years and credit Bill Jr. for his support in promoting my career path within the Company. He had a wonderful wit enjoyed by all who came in contact with him. Godspeed my friend.
May He watch and guide us and Ruger corp.from Above!!
Ruger means tough and reliable.
I remember in the early 70’s buying a Blackhawk 45 7.5″ it was great and took stout handloads without a problem.
I also had an early 22 semi auto which digested thousands of hunting and plinking rounds without a hickup.
Good tough guns.
Hate to hear Jr died.
RIP
Love the products.
God Bless him and his family. What a great man.
So so sorry for the loss.
God bless him
The are not Mourning his death. I was with him the whole time. They were so disrespectful to Bill, words can not explain it. Dirt Bags all of them.. Greed and Money shame on all of them.
Kevin Henderson
Godspeed.