Hi Tul,
Excellently done evil chuckle, one of the best I've ever heard.
I should have been more precise.
Ruger says the single-action line has (or had) more variations in it than any of their other lines, and they did try for quite a while to accommodate a wide range of customer requests, but they're cutting back to what sells the most in the SA line.Yeah, you're right to point out the .480 & the .204 & so on, but the comparison was made to the days of the S&W Gun Of The Month period, and the company wants to concentrate IN THEIR CENTERFIRE SA LINEUP
on the calibers that sell the most for them, and drop variations that weren't carrying their weight. With all of the different SA models, barrels, finishes, calibers, frame sizes, etc. they were offering, it was a large production, materiel, and inventory headache. People have been asking for a smaller Blackhawk for over 30 years and a smaller Vaquero for 10 years, Ruger listened, but didn't see the numbers justifying running the old Vaqs concurrently, so something had to give.
Everywhere I go on the various gun sites the .44 Special comes up, and yes, the questioner would buy one yesterday if Ruger made them, but Ruger apparently doesn't see the return numbers right now & has no plans right now to build any. Really, if you look at that caliber, there's a dedicated core following, but there hasn't been enough .44 Special buyers for any maker or importer to keep the caliber in regular production in any kind of volume for decades. Given that, the chances of them building a really low seller in a caliber that would be more curio than practico, like a .41 Special, is about zilch in a market that already has existing calibers & bullet options that cover essentially the same ground.
Again, there's always the possibility of a Davidson's run, and that's the best bet for anything outside the regular Ruger catalog.
Other than that, rent money can always be diverted to the custom shops, like Bowen, who are happy to build lots of fun guns to meet a customer's precise desires. It's a matter of priority- rent or a custom gun made to your own specs. America gives us the right to make those decisions, and I'm proud to live in a country that does.
Nothing wrong with Ruger trying out a new caliber every now & then, but considering the R&D costs, along with gearing up for production, they usually try to do it in what they perceive as possibly a niche area, but at least one that has a fair chance of selling.
The .41 Special might be a fun one to play with, but if all it needs is somebody to make guns & ammo for it, that doesn't sound much like it's "already out there" to me, nor does it sound like there'd be a huge market for it.
Not knocking anybody who'd like to have one, just pointing out in general why Ruger's cutting back on the SAs.
Happy Day After.
Denis
Excellently done evil chuckle, one of the best I've ever heard.
I should have been more precise.
Ruger says the single-action line has (or had) more variations in it than any of their other lines, and they did try for quite a while to accommodate a wide range of customer requests, but they're cutting back to what sells the most in the SA line.Yeah, you're right to point out the .480 & the .204 & so on, but the comparison was made to the days of the S&W Gun Of The Month period, and the company wants to concentrate IN THEIR CENTERFIRE SA LINEUP
on the calibers that sell the most for them, and drop variations that weren't carrying their weight. With all of the different SA models, barrels, finishes, calibers, frame sizes, etc. they were offering, it was a large production, materiel, and inventory headache. People have been asking for a smaller Blackhawk for over 30 years and a smaller Vaquero for 10 years, Ruger listened, but didn't see the numbers justifying running the old Vaqs concurrently, so something had to give.Everywhere I go on the various gun sites the .44 Special comes up, and yes, the questioner would buy one yesterday if Ruger made them, but Ruger apparently doesn't see the return numbers right now & has no plans right now to build any. Really, if you look at that caliber, there's a dedicated core following, but there hasn't been enough .44 Special buyers for any maker or importer to keep the caliber in regular production in any kind of volume for decades. Given that, the chances of them building a really low seller in a caliber that would be more curio than practico, like a .41 Special, is about zilch in a market that already has existing calibers & bullet options that cover essentially the same ground.
Again, there's always the possibility of a Davidson's run, and that's the best bet for anything outside the regular Ruger catalog.
Other than that, rent money can always be diverted to the custom shops, like Bowen, who are happy to build lots of fun guns to meet a customer's precise desires. It's a matter of priority- rent or a custom gun made to your own specs. America gives us the right to make those decisions, and I'm proud to live in a country that does.
Nothing wrong with Ruger trying out a new caliber every now & then, but considering the R&D costs, along with gearing up for production, they usually try to do it in what they perceive as possibly a niche area, but at least one that has a fair chance of selling.
The .41 Special might be a fun one to play with, but if all it needs is somebody to make guns & ammo for it, that doesn't sound much like it's "already out there" to me, nor does it sound like there'd be a huge market for it.
Not knocking anybody who'd like to have one, just pointing out in general why Ruger's cutting back on the SAs.
Happy Day After.
Denis