Dear Ruger,
As a shareholder, owner of a half dozen Ruger handguns, and regular action shooting competitor; I have a few product ideas I would like to share with the company. These products could be stand alone products or part of a new marketing focus on competition shooting. All of these product ideas are slight variations of existing products to reduce development costs. If these models were given some designation like S&W does with performance center, they could be sold at a premium price with only minor additional production costs. Competition shooters often are willing to spend more on firearms and buy new firearms just to participate in different sports or classes. We often spend hundreds to thousands on custom gunsmith work to get our guns just right. Competition models that cost a little more but save the trip to a smith are likely to sell well.
My first product suggestion is based on my own customized SR1911. A SR1911 can be made competition specific with as little as a change in sights, grips and a mainspring housing / magazine well. Competition shooters seem to prefer a fiber optic front with a plain black rear sight. Adjustable target or Novak style rear sights are desirable as well. This idea could be taken further and justify a higher price point with additional modifications. Front cocking serrations, more aggressive serrations, front strap checkering or dimpling, and more aggressive grips are all desirable while adding minimal costs. This competition model could ship with an 8 and a 10 round magazine to show its flexibility. If care is taken to comply with IDPA rules this pistol could be perfect for popular classes in each sport(limited, limited 10, single stack, custom defensive pistol).
A second suggestion is to expand the caliber selection for the SR 1911. I believe that a 9 mm in either basic or competition configuration could be a nice variation of an existing product. 40 S&W, 10mm and 38 super would also be possible with only changing a few parts.
My third suggestion is to make a version of the redhawk revolver to compete with the S&W 625. The 625 currently dominates the world of competitive revolver shooting. Your existing model KRH-45-4 could be the base model for a gun chambered in 45ACP with full moonclips. The hogue grips and adjustable rear sight are perfect but a change to a fiber optic front like the one ones used in the new SP101 models would be in order. I believe that this model could be brought to market at a lower price than the 625 and would make a great product addition.
My last suggestion is for a 3gun specific SR-556. 3gun competitors often prefer a longer 18" or 20" barrel or a short 14.5" with a pinned muzzle brake. Heavier barrels, fluting and chrome lining all help with high round count stages. The flash suppressor should be changed to a compensator or muzzle brake. Lightweight tube style fore ends like the one used in the carbine model are perfect but a longer tube could be used for a longer barrel. Iron sights on this model could be the offset sights that are now popular in tactical optics devision. Dueck defense and XS make examples of this style sight. All features listed are specific to the upper which simplifies manufacturing and makes the stand alone upper a good product as well.
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. While I'm dreaming I want a 2.5" barrel 9mm moonclipped gp100 with fixed night sights and wood grips.
