Within the early Seventies, Invoice Ruger, co-founder of Sturm, Ruger, and Firm, acknowledged a gap within the over/beneath shotgun market. On the time, most high quality double-barrel shotguns had been being imported to the U.S. from Europe (as they’d for many years). They had been costly and sometimes unobtainable for working-class hunters. Eager on filling that void, Ruger went to work designing and engineering a practical, cheaper American-made over/beneath—the Ruger Crimson Label. By 1977, the primary Crimson Labels hit gun retailer cabinets. The Crimson Label loved a manufacturing run of greater than 30 years, however manufacturing prices doomed the double gun. Nonetheless, the Ruger Crimson Label continues to be a favourite of great upland hunters throughout the nation in addition to a collector’s merchandise for shotgun aficionados.
The Introduction of the Ruger Crimson Label
The primary manufacturing Ruger Crimson Labels had been 20 gauges, not 12s (although each gauges had been introduced on the identical time). Two years later, Ruger launched the 12-guage adopted by a 28 in 1994. From its conception, the Crimson Label was billed as a well-built, dependable break-action. Crimson Labels initially offered for $480, which wasn’t overly dear for an over/beneath of that stature. Adjusted for inflation, the Crimson Label would value $2,271 at present.
Aesthetically, the Crimson Label caught with Ruger’s mantra of practicality. Early Crimson Labels featured a easy oil-finished walnut inventory with checkering on the pistol grip or straight English-style inventory and fore-end. The gun had a blued receiver, solid barrels, vent rib, and Ruger’s signature crimson recoil pad. Through the years, Crimson Labels had been provided in quite a lot of types and choices, together with a stainless-steel receiver mannequin in 1985 that continues to be probably the most recognizable variants. There was additionally a novel single-barrel lure gun launched in 2000. Till the late Eighties, all Crimson Label barrels had fastened chokes. Beginning in 1988, screw-in chokes had been elective and have become commonplace on all fashions by 1991.
Ruger Constructed a Extremely Useful Over/Below
What the Crimson Label lacked in curb attraction, it made up for with ultra-reliable mechanics. Crimson Labels use a handy sliding security, situated close to the rear of the tang, that doubles as a barrel selector. One other characteristic distinctive to the Crimson Label is in its set off design. In contrast to some over/beneath shotguns, the Crimson Label’s set off doesn’t want the recoil from the primary shot to reset the set off for a follow-up. If you happen to permit the set off to journey absolutely ahead after the primary pull, it resets, and fires the second shell.
“We make the best pair of shotgun barrels that might ever be constructed,” stated Invoice Ruger in an excerpt from R.L. Wilson’s guide Ruger and His Weapons. “We put the cash into the machine as a substitute of in hand labor. All the nice, old-time gunsmiths—the lads who made the attractive issues—are at present constructing the attractive gear to construct the attractive issues. Maybe you can say that, apart from engraving, gold inlaying and chic end, [by] utilizing machines, you’ll be able to simply surpass the work of the best individual by way of actually mechanical motion, the precision of the equipment. You must keep in mind—high quality watches will not be made with recordsdata.”
The Crimson Label did have some shortcomings. Shooters primarily griped in regards to the hefty weight (12 gauges weighed between 7½ to eight kilos) and awkward steadiness level as a result of extra ahead weight within the barrels. Having a pair of 20-gauge Crimson Labels myself, I feel it comes down to private choice. My 20s are on the heavy aspect (7 kilos, 3 ounces) for a sub-gauge over/beneath, however that very same weight additionally helps my swing and observe via and dampens felt recoil.
The Crimson Label Is Discontinued
The demise of the Crimson Label got here all the way down to the ethos Ruger constructed the gun round — worth. As prices for manufacturing and uncooked supplies continued to climb, so did the value of the Crimson Label. When the road was dropped in 2011, the price for a brand new Crimson Label was almost $2,000. That hefty price ticket pitted the Crimson Label in opposition to a number of different well-made, reasonably priced over/beneath shotguns, together with the Browning Citori, and gross sales dropped dramatically.
Two years later, Ruger rebirthed the Crimson Label in a 12-gauge mannequin after going via a deep redesign to chop prices and keep performance. The brand new Crimson Label hit cabinets with an MSRP of $1,300. The second-generation Crimson Label appeared just like its predecessors however featured a couple of welcomed adjustments. Ruger was capable of lighten the gun’s weight to 7 kilos, 5 ounces, primarily by trimming down the barrel weight. In addition they barely adjusted the size of pull to 14½ inches and the drop at comb (1½ inches) and heel (2½ inches).
Mechanically, Ruger made minor modifications to the unique design, however the purpose was to not reinvent the gun, moderately to streamline the manufacturing course of. A significant change was a newly designed one-piece body and tang versus the 2 elements being welded collectively as in earlier fashions. Sadly, its revamp was brief lived as a result of continued rise of producing prices.
“Our major purpose was to take out a number of the complexity of producing to scale back the price of manufacturing,” stated Michael Sylvester, a veteran engineer from Ruger and die-hard Crimson Label fanatic.
My Set of Ruger Crimson Label 20 Gauges
I used to be gifted of a pair of 20-gauge Ruger Crimson Label shotguns by an older gentleman who I hunted deer, elk, and antelope with. He spent years looking bobwhite quail in southern Georgia with each weapons. The bluing is worn on the backside of one of many gun’s actions, the results of many seasons in pursuit of covey rises.
In line with the serial numbers, each Crimson Labels had been manufactured in 1983. Certainly one of them sports activities a hard and fast skeet/skeet set of barrels and the opposite a modified/improved cylinder pairing. The skeet/skeet Crimson Label was my buddy’s go-to gun for looking quail in tight quarters whereas the improved cylinder/modified scattergun was primarily used for sporting clays.
I’ve spent many days afield with each weapons and grown fairly keen on them. Most significantly, I shoot them nicely. The burden has by no means bothered me. My solely criticism is the wood-to-metal match. It’s not flush, however that actually doesn’t have an effect on the efficiency of the Ruger.
Patterning the Crimson Labels
Previous to writing this text, I had by no means patterned my Crimson Labels. For testing, I shot Winchester’s 3-inch Sport Hundreds—1 1/8-ounce payload of No. 7.5 shot—at 30 yards (the everyday distance you’d shoot a flushing pheasant or chukar) inside a 30-inch circle. The skeet/skeet Crimson Label averaged 48 % patterns at 30 yards with a mean of 189 pellets impacting contained in the 30-inch circle. The improved cylinder barrel produced a better sample density of 64 % whereas the modified barrel produced a 71 % sample (279 pellets). It’s also price noting that the middle of the sample was constantly close to my level of goal.
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Last Ideas
You’ll be able to nonetheless discover a Crimson Label on the used market. Most don’t value greater than $1,500. It’s nonetheless a dependable and sought-after American-made shotgun, and an ideal purchase when you discover one at that worth in good situation. It’s unlucky the Crimson Label isn’t nonetheless in manufacturing. Since you might argue that it was among the finest reasonably priced American-made over/unders—together with the Remington 32 and Marlin 90—ever produced. Presently, no gun producer makes a comparably priced over/beneath within the U.S. There are high-end doubles constructed by Kolar and Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Firm, however at present’s working-class hunter is out of luck in the event that they need to purchase American.
