The $2500 Ruger

It is a very nice looking 1911 and I am extremely happy to see a high end Ruger but that is a little rich for my blood, but I’d shoot the heck out of it if given the chance!
 
CZfool68 said:
Boy I hope for his sake Mr. Koenig doesn't get his rep destroyed by the Ruger team. :p
Click to expand...

Jerry Miculek seems to have survived his extreme POS Mossberg shotgun.
 
IMO the high end 1911 market is probably the toughest. 1911 guys that drop $2k and up are pretty discerning. For $2500 those guns are going to have to compete with Baer, Brown and some others.
 
CZfool68 said:
IMO the high end 1911 market is probably the toughest. 1911 guys that drop $2k and up are pretty discerning. For $2500 those guns are going to have to compete with Baer, Brown and some others.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. I really really like Ruger products. Mostly because they offer value far beyond their price. i.e., The MK series .22 pistols. Terrific accuracy out of the box at a price most everyone can afford. From a marketing perspective, there's something to be said for offering a 'high-end' option to raise the perceived value of the 'standard' line, but I don't think Ruger needs this.
 
Tim said:
My thoughts exactly. I really really like Ruger products. Mostly because they offer value far beyond their price. i.e., The MK series .22 pistols. Terrific accuracy out of the box at a price most everyone can afford. From a marketing perspective, there's something to be said for offering a 'high-end' option to raise the perceived value of the 'standard' line, but I don't think Ruger needs this.
Click to expand...

Yeah it will be a tougg sell on their 1911’s. But I could see them doing well with custom 10/22’s, 22/45’s and Mark IV’s.
 
Meh. I'm kinda torn. I love Rugers & they make up half of my modest handgun selection, but I don't see a $2500 1911 being a big seller for them when I can buy a Dan Wesson for $1000-$1500 less.

Custom revolvers, though? That could work well for them. Guys drop big $$$ to have 'name' gunsmiths work over & mod their Ruger wheelguns, so Ruger could definitely pick up a goodly chunk of that market share & it wouldn't take much more than action & trigger tuning, nicer finish levels & a broader choice of chamberings & barrel lengths. I'd be all over, say, a 10.5" Super Blackhawk in .41Mag, tuned & done right with Turnbull color case hardening for $2K. Going much above that point however, would put them into BFR or Freedom Arms territory & they'd really have to have their stuff together to get someone to pony up BFR or FA money for a Ruger.

Guess we'll see how it shakes out for 'em.
 
Last edited:
CZfool68 said:
Boy I hope for his sake Mr. Koenig doesn't get his rep destroyed by the Ruger team. :p
Click to expand...
if he's captain of their team, it's basically his team........so his reputation would be riding on his performance as it should, am I right?

FWIW the pistol looks awesome.

A lot of people said Ruger would never be able to sell a piston AR for similar money either, but they're out there in pretty good numbers.

If you watch Doug on the video at the bottom of the product page, it's clear he pretty much made this pistol that he would want to shoot:

https://ruger.com/micros/customShop/SR1911.html
 
Last edited:
I cannot see how this will work out for Ruger. I have never really understood the concept of a "custom shop" inside a big manufacturer that doesn't do custom work. It does not appear that you can customize this gun in anyway. Ruger is a a value based company. They produce a good product at a good price point but this thing is way out of their league. They are simply punching up too many levels with this pistol.

I doubt it will really sell for MSRP. Most likely have a realistic street price of $2000 but still at that price point you can get a lot of nice 1911s. I wonder if it is investment cast like the rest of the Ruger 1911s. They have been investment casting frames for Caspian for years but lots of high end 1911 shooters will look down on a cast vs forged frame. For a little bit more money you can get something like this in the high end used 1911 market. For the same $$ why would you choose Ruger over someone like Guncrafter, Nighthawk, Wilson etc...

hIIFvhT.jpg


From the video it appears that they are using the standard SR1911 platform and making some modifications. I just don't see people paying $2,000 for a Ruger. You would be better off getting a Colt or SA and sending it to your 1911 smith of choice IMHO. That way you get exactly what you want nothing more nothing less. For my money that equals a custom gun. This is a production level semi-custom similar to a Dan Wesson.

Their custom shop 10/22 makes a little more sense but even their you are pushing into higher end precision guns at a $900 price point.

https://ruger.com/micros/customShop/1022.html
 
Last edited:
"unique 1:16″ slow twist — increasing accuracy while shooting lightweight match bullets."

That's interesting. Everyone I know shoots heavy bullets like 147gr out of 9mm. Some shoot 135, and maybe a few 124's, but the majority use heavier.
But I am unaware of people using "lightweight match bullets" or slower twists (except in PCC and 9mm Major which this gun clearly isn't). Maybe its a Bianchi Cup thing (never seen one of those matches).
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
You can poo poo the $2500 Ruger 1911 in 9mm but they just got a lot of free press :)
Click to expand...

Not really. They paid a lot of money for all those ads in American Handgunner so they would do a review/ fluff piece article. I just think they over shot here. If we were taking about a $1500 that performed like a $2500 gun then they would have something but for a lot less you can get Dan Wessons or something like a CZ Shadow 2 with upgrades from CGW for $2500.
 
NKD said:
"unique 1:16″ slow twist — increasing accuracy while shooting lightweight match bullets."

That's interesting. Everyone I know shoots heavy bullets like 147gr out of 9mm. Some shoot 135, and maybe a few 124's, but the majority use heavier.
But I am unaware of people using "lightweight match bullets" or slower twists (except in PCC and 9mm Major which this gun clearly isn't). Maybe its a Bianchi Cup thing (never seen one of those matches).
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly I saw an interview or segment on some gun show where Koenig was taking a tour of the Hornady (another of his sponsors) ammo facility and he made a reference to using their 110 gr XTP bullet for the upcoming season. That makes better sense now. He shoots all kinds of matches but Bianchi is his claim to fame so I could see him going with that type bullet. I believe power factor is only 120 in that match so shooting a lite weight bullet that stays supersonic out to 50 yds with virtually 0 drop makes sense.

Hope Rugers new gun sells well but personally I believe they are at least $1k high on msrp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NKD
dave33 said:
If I remember correctly I saw an interview or segment on some gun show where Koenig was taking a tour of the Hornady (another of his sponsors) ammo facility and he made a reference to using their 110 gr XTP bullet for the upcoming season. That makes better sense now. He shoots all kinds of matches but Bianchi is his claim to fame so I could see him going with that type bullet. I believe power factor is only 120 in that match so shooting a lite weight bullet that stays supersonic out to 50 yds with virtually 0 drop makes sense.

Hope Rugers new gun sells well but personally I believe they are at least $1k high on msrp.
Click to expand...

Interesting. So basically it’s an Bianchi cup gun.

I have shot so many different kinds of matches, and never seen or heard of a BC match anywhere around here. I guess it a regional thing?
 
I don't think Ruger expects this gun to be a mass seller. I think it's more like one of those Bugatti's or a Dodge Tomahawk..."hey look what we can do if we want to.."
It's also a good way to get some press, introduce their new custom shop, and demonstrate an upper tier ability to a company that is known mostly for working-man guns.

I'm guessing that they figure if they sell 500 that would be pretty good, and a 1000 would be great. There's a 120M gun owners in this country alone.
I bet they sell every one they make.
 
NKD said:
Interesting. So basically it’s an Bianchi cup gun.

I have shot so many different kinds of matches, and never seen or heard of a BC match anywhere around here. I guess it a regional thing?
Click to expand...

Not really a Bianchi cup gun, at least not for Koeing, the gun he shoots in those matches looks more like a 2011 USPSA race gun, with optics, compensator, etc, but also barricade wings and oversize magwell for going prone. My guess is they would use this gun as a base to build the guns he would take to the match, hence the slower twist barrel. Not sure why Ruger is emphasizing the barrel twist rate as most folks buying this type gun are probably not gonna shoot real light bullets, and the open gun he will use in the cup can be built into basically anything he wants.

The reason you don't see or hear much about Bianchi type matches is it takes a moving target range to have one and very few ranges have a mover. We have one at Buccaneer and have an abbreviated BC match once a month, but its not a real popular match. Its actually a pretty difficult course of fire to do well on, and the run and gun IDPA and USPSA type matches are much more the thing now.
 
KoenigBianchi1.jpg


This is a BC gun Koenig used a few years ago in the cup. Might be able to start with the frame from the new Ruger but that's about it.
 
dave33 said:
Not really a Bianchi cup gun, at least not for Koeing, the gun he shoots in those matches looks more like a 2011 USPSA race gun, with optics, compensator, etc, but also barricade wings and oversize magwell for going prone. My guess is they would use this gun as a base to build the guns he would take to the match, hence the slower twist barrel. Not sure why Ruger is emphasizing the barrel twist rate as most folks buying this type gun are probably not gonna shoot real light bullets, and the open gun he will use in the cup can be built into basically anything he wants.
Click to expand...

Precisely my thoughts. I'd think bulk majority of comp shooters would be idpa and uspsa. Maybe some bullseye.
But ultimately, they are making a push to do comp guns, and Doug is a legend. So, if they are kinda putting this out as a "base gun" for BC, then I am sure there are those that will jump on it. I imagine there are not a lot of factory options for this. Having seen many of these guns and watching vids: they look very expensive. Like Open guns. Maybe it's not a bad deal for that. I have no idea what kind of costs are involved in BC. But a basic uspsa Limited 2011 is going to start about right there and go up very high in price.

dave33 said:
The reason you don't see or hear much about Bianchi type matches is it takes a moving target range to have one and very few ranges have a mover. We have one at Buccaneer and have an abbreviated BC match once a month, but its not a real popular match. Its actually a pretty difficult course of fire to do well on, and the run and gun IDPA and USPSA type matches are much more the thing now.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see more BC as it seems fun and interesting.
 
I was reading about this gun again today.
I really like the relief cuts on the frame around the trigger. That's nice work. Hate the ambi-safety, probably get removed before even getting shot.
It's a good-lookin gun. I bet it's a shooter. Too bad it's ridiculous expensive.
Do you think in a year from now we'll be talking about the 45acp version they just came out with? Hard to imagine Ruger hasn't thought about it. I'd almost bet they have a prototype laying around somewhere.
 
Ruger #metoo
 
I wonder if they put any MIM parts into it. I did notice they mentioned the slide stop was forged.
 
Sooo... Ruger copied a competitors gun, and wants $2,500 for it.
No thanks. Ruger should have used its own design dept and come up with something new.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom