Marlin rifles

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Ruger Expands In North Carolina

December 15, 2020 by 1 Comment

Ruger will be adding 60 new jobs at its Mayodan, North Carolina manufacturing plant. Along with the new jobs, it will be spending upwards of $10 million in capital improvements according to a story in the Greensboro News-Record.

The plant currently employs 490 workers. The new jobs will have an average salary of $44,033 per year which is $9,000 above the Rockingham County average.

The Rockingham County Commissioners also approved a performance-based economic incentives in a unanimous vote.

From the News-Record prior to the December 7th meeting:

The company has been made eligible for up to $150,000 in performance-based economic incentives from the One North Carolina Fund, which requires matching local incentives.

Rockingham Board of Commissioners are expected to approve Monday night a performance-based tax incentive worth up to $234,799, according to county manger Lance Metzler.

“We only know the company has seen considerable demand for its products, resulting in the search for a location to expand capacity,” Metzler said.

“They are such a good company to have as part of our community and offer some outstanding job opportunities to our residents with good-paying jobs.”

The expansion also generated a news release from anti-gun Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). It must have killed him to say nice things about Ruger but money is money and jobs are jobs.

“North Carolina’s skilled workforce continues to make our state a smart choice for growing manufacturers,” Governor Cooper said. “Today’s expansion by Sturm, Ruger & Co. highlights our state’s commitment to growing with companies and is a strong investment in the future of Rockingham County.” 

The expansion is thought to be related to the acquisition of Marlin in the Remington bankruptcy. It is reported that production of the Marlin firearm line will be split between the Mayodan plant and Ruger’s Newport, New Hampshire plan.

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Uhh, That’s Not A Marlin Lever Action

November 25, 2020 by

Examine the picture below. It was used by The Motley Fool website to illustrate a story regarding Ruger’s completion of the Marlin Firearms acquisition as a result of the Remington bankruptcy.

For some reason I don’t think the author was the one who picked the picture used to illustrate the story. That is because the story itself was pretty much on the money when it came to the background of Marlin and the impact the Freedom Group purchase initially had on quality.

Now I don’t claim to be an authority on everything lever action but I do know a Savage 99 from a Marlin 336. I have a couple of the former and one of the latter. I also know that the rotary magazine of the Savage lent itself to the use of the cartridges with spitzer bullets shown in the picture. Marlin lever actions, being tube fed, would generally use round or flat nose bullets.

The rule of thumb for a publication should be to let someone who knows a little bit about firearms pick the picture to illustrate your story on firearms.

UPDATE: A closer examination of the cartridges used in the photo show that many of them are flat nose bullets. I had to download the picture and enlarge it to actually see it. On first glance, I thought they were spitzer bullets with exposed lead tips.

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Ruger On Marlin Assets Purchase

September 30, 2020 by

Ruger is cautious in their public statements. I think that is why they waited until today to make an announcement of their winning bid for the Marlin firearms assets of Remington Outdoor Company. The bid was only approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama yesterday.

Ruger will be paying $30 million from cash on hand for these assets and expects to close on the purchase this coming month. When Cerberus Capital Management bought Marlin in January 2008, the terms of the deal were not released. However, I think it would be a good assumption that Cerberus paid a lot more than $30 million. In that deal, Cerberus not only got Marlin, but also H&R, New England Firearms, and L.C. Smith.

I think Marlin fans and lovers of lever guns will rejoice given the comments of Ruger CEO Chris Killoy below:

“The value of Marlin and its 150-year legacy was too great of an opportunity for us to pass up,” said Ruger President and CEO Chris Killoy. “The brand aligns perfectly with ours and the Marlin product portfolio will help us widen our already diverse product offerings.”

The transaction is exclusively for the Marlin Firearms assets. Remington firearms, ammunition, other Remington Outdoor brands, and all facilities and real estate are excluded from the Ruger purchase. Once the purchase is completed, the Company will begin the process of relocating the Marlin Firearms assets to existing Ruger manufacturing facilities.

“The important thing for consumers, retailers and distributors to know at this point in time,” continued Killoy, “is that the Marlin brand and its great products will live on. Long Live the Lever Gun.”

As Michael Bane said on his podcast today, Ruger knows how to make firearms and this is good for Marlin.