The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Who's the "Steve Jobs" of the gun industry?

pendennis · June 8, 2011, 08:15 PM

...responses here.

For pure innovation of existing products, Bill Ruger surely has an edge. He brought investment casting to the fore. He also "single-handedly" (sorry for the pun) brought back the single-action revolver, making great advancements, so the familiar design would handle hotter modern cartridges, something the old Colt Model P could never do. He also brought to modernization the single-shot rifle. The Ruger No. 1 is absolutely elegant.

The Model 77 just about slammed the door on the Model 70 (post-64). They're accurate, reasonably priced, and great value for the money.

He also entered into the modern revolver fray with the Security Six. Not taking either side (Colt v. S&W), he brought a very innovative design to the market.

Most famously however, is the Ruger Mark I. Simple in concept, it brought real affordability to the average shooter wanting a semiauto, but unable to afford a Colt Woodsman.

Granted, none of his designs were original in the sense that they broke new ground, but Bill Ruger knew how to get the most from his modifications.

In the 19th century, there were lots of designs, in both handguns and rifles, which didn't survive in the market place. Savage and Remington both had revolvers which didn't survive. Any number of repeating rifle designs died because they weren't strong enough or were much too "Rube Goldberg-ish" in their designs. There were semiatuo designs (Mauser and Luger) which died after a few years. And probably many hundreds more we can't remember.

Right now, the PC world is broken into roughly two camps - Apple and Intel. Apple still carries the day when it comes to innovation. However, for pure utility, Intel-type PC's rule the world. When it comes to software, again Apple is innovative, but Microsoft Office rules the business world.

For pure genius over a breadth of firearm designs, John M. Browning is probably the best. Who else designed as many different firearms?

Model 1885 Winchester
Model 1886 Winchester
Early Model 19xx semiautos
Model 1911
Model 1935 (with post-mortem finishing design by Dieudonne Saive)
Browning Automatic Rifle
Browning Automatic Shotgun
Browning light and medium (Model 1918, etc.) machine guns
Browning .50 caliber machine gun
Browning Superposed shotgun

Based on sheer diversity of products, Browning surely has the edge.

June 8, 2011, 08:15 PM	#23
pendennis Junior member Join Date: March 18, 2009 Posts: 572	A lot of great ... ...responses here. For pure innovation of existing products, Bill Ruger surely has an edge. He brought investment casting to the fore. He also "single-handedly" (sorry for the pun) brought back the single-action revolver, making great advancements, so the familiar design would handle hotter modern cartridges, something the old Colt Model P could never do. He also brought to modernization the single-shot rifle. The Ruger No. 1 is absolutely elegant. The Model 77 just about slammed the door on the Model 70 (post-64). They're accurate, reasonably priced, and great value for the money. He also entered into the modern revolver fray with the Security Six. Not taking either side (Colt v. S&W), he brought a very innovative design to the market. Most famously however, is the Ruger Mark I. Simple in concept, it brought real affordability to the average shooter wanting a semiauto, but unable to afford a Colt Woodsman. Granted, none of his designs were original in the sense that they broke new ground, but Bill Ruger knew how to get the most from his modifications. In the 19th century, there were lots of designs, in both handguns and rifles, which didn't survive in the market place. Savage and Remington both had revolvers which didn't survive. Any number of repeating rifle designs died because they weren't strong enough or were much too "Rube Goldberg-ish" in their designs. There were semiatuo designs (Mauser and Luger) which died after a few years. And probably many hundreds more we can't remember. Right now, the PC world is broken into roughly two camps - Apple and Intel. Apple still carries the day when it comes to innovation. However, for pure utility, Intel-type PC's rule the world. When it comes to software, again Apple is innovative, but Microsoft Office rules the business world. For pure genius over a breadth of firearm designs, John M. Browning is probably the best. Who else designed as many different firearms? Model 1885 Winchester Model 1886 Winchester Early Model 19xx semiautos Model 1911 Model 1935 (with post-mortem finishing design by Dieudonne Saive) Browning Automatic Rifle Browning Automatic Shotgun Browning light and medium (Model 1918, etc.) machine guns Browning .50 caliber machine gun Browning Superposed shotgun Based on sheer diversity of products, Browning surely has the edge. Last edited by pendennis; June 8, 2011 at 08:53 PM.