Ruger moved from Connecticut to North Carolina and didn’t tell anyone
Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc., better known as simply “Ruger,” has been a staple in American firearms manufacturing since its founding in 1949. Although Ruger started out of a rented machine shop in Southport, Connecticut and maintained its headquarters there, the company quietly moved its headquarters down to North Carolina on Jan. 1, 2026.
In May 2026, Ruger confirmed to Connecticut Insider that the company’s headquarters had relocated to Mayodan, North Carolina.
“Our largest footprint, employee base and production capacity is in Mayodan,” Ruger spokesman Rob Werkmeister wrote to CT Insider. “Additionally, we were using less than 20% of the total footprint of the Southport facility over recent years.”
Prior to founding the company with Alexander Sturm, co-founder Bill Ruger attended UNC Chapel Hill in the 1930s before working for the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts during World War II. Sturm served as an officer with the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the modern CIA, during the war.
After the war, the Ruger company started by copying Japanese Nambu pistols brought back from the Pacific by a U.S. Marine. Their launch pistol, the .22LR Ruger Standard, also incorporated elements of the Luger P08 and Colt Woodsman pistols. The Standard persists today as the MK IV and is one of the most popular firearms in the American market.
Ruger has since expanded its product line to include the popular 10/22 .22LR rifle, Ruger Mini-14 of A-Team fame, and other rifles and pistols. In 2004, the company exceeded 20 million firearms manufactured.
In the 1990s, Ruger ceased manufacturing at the Southport facility, though the headquarters was maintained there. Production shifted to Prescott, Arizona for handguns and Newport, New Hampshire for rifles and shotguns. In 2013, Ruger announced its 191,000 sq. ft. facility in Mayodan and has since added a 224,000 sq. ft. distribution center next door.
In 2020, Ruger acquired Marlin Firearms and relocated the company’s assets and assembly line to Mayodan. Ruger has also since acquired Anderson Manufacturing in Hebron, Kentucky.
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