Ruger firearms, from the dashing No. 1 to the popular 10/22, are unique and often quite collectible.

When one thinks of collectible firearms, the mind invariably turns to the products of Colt, Winchester, Marlin and Smith & Wesson—you know, guns made by the old-line companies. Interestingly enough, though, the products of one of America’s newest makers, Ruger (formerly Sturm, Ruger), has a loyal following among enthusiasts, and some of its wares rival the prices and scarcity of many of those seen in the more traditional collecting arenas.

To be sure, if you were to be honest, you’d have to admit that the hottest Ruger collectibles are probably handguns, but the rifles have their followers too, as we shall see.

Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded in 1949 by firearms legend and designer Bill Ruger and businessman Alex Sturm. Their first offering was a handy little .22 semiauto pistol that took off like wildfire and made these newcomers serious contenders in the gun world. This was followed up with a line of rimfire and centerfire single-action revolvers, timed perfectly to take advantage of the burgeoning demand created by the large number of popular television westerns of the 1950s and ’60s.

The Mini-14 is reliable, handy and, in some cases, rare enough to be desirable as a collector piece.

But Bill was not content just to stick to one genre of firearms, and in 1960 the company came out its first long gun, the .44 Magnum Carbine.

Initially called the “Deerstalker” (the name was changed after a threatened lawsuit by Ithaca, which already had used the name), the rifle looked a lot like the M1 Carbine that many of Ruger’s World War II veteran customers were familiar with.

It was a spiffy little knockabout semiauto chambered in, as its name implied, .44 Magnum. The rifle had a tubular magazine and was sleek, simple, powerful and eagerly accepted by the shooting public.