BILL RUGER died

[Orv Reichert]

Firearms Innovator Ruger Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:59 p.m. ET


PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) -- William B. Ruger, founder of Sturm, Ruger and Co. Inc., one of the largest firearms manufacturers in the United States, has died. He was 86.

Company officials said Ruger died Saturday at his home. The cause of his death wasn't immediately available. Ruger had been ill for some time.

The company, which has plants in Prescott, Newport, N.H. and Southport, Conn., makes rifles, shotguns, pistols and precision investment castings used in the aerospace, automotive, general manufacturing and golf markets.

Ruger, who was born in Brooklyn in 1916, had a hand in the design of every firearm his company ever produced.

He teamed with Alexander Sturm to form the company in 1949. His first firearm for the company, produced that year, was a .22-caliber target pistol that is still in widespread use today.

Ruger is survived by his son William Ruger Jr., the company's current chairman; a daughter, Carolyn Vogel; six grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. His wife, Mary Ruger, and a son, James Ruger, died before him.

Funeral services will be held Saturday in Croydon, N.H.