Novelty in a practical world.

[MandoWookie]

The announcement of Rugers new 5.7 pistol seems to have set the gun world on fire with one question: Why???

Why now? Why this? What use is this to anyone? Of course that has also been my reaction to the sudden reincarnation of the 10mm Auto, on the heels of the demise of its progeny the .40 S&W. Or the sudden revival of the revolver as a market segment that has been in decline since the 80s, not only with the new offerings from the legacy manufacturers, but the entry of wholly new designs from brands never associated with revolvers. Or the combo of these two spectres of the Age of Cooper with the abominations of 10mm revolvers now offered. The rapidly crowding market of the high cap "tacti-cool" rimfires pioneered (or retreaded) by Kel-tec with the PMR30, followed by the CP33, and joined by TX22, G44 , P17 and likely more to come at least have the logic of being cheap fun.

But new designs in esoteric calibers from Ruger? That staid company of the workingman's gun? The company that brings you over lawyered but otherwise unremarkable iterations of of what is guaranteed to sell because two or three other company's proved it would first, and serving the lower to middle end of an established market with brand reputation and availability not usually associated with innovative new products.

It's pretty much common knowledge that the current firearms market is oversaturated, and everyone also acknowledges that the product offerings are largely similar to each other, being that almost every manufacturer offers some flavor of : single stack 9mm, double stack 9mm, AR15, PCC, precision bolt gun. Any evolutionary improvement in one brand quickly gets copy pasted by all the competitors, and everything in the case at the local gun dealer looks like a kaleidoscope color wheel of interchangeable plastic practicality. Pick one at random, it will be much of a sameness to one next to it, in looks as well as performance most likely. This is overall a good thing. A plethora of solid options means if one is dissatisfied with some aspect of a particular example, there likely an iteration available that assuaged that percieved flaw.

Or you could just by a G19 and shoot it, and not worry about that crap.

Thats the logical thing. And it is a testament to this forum that that advice seems to have actually permeated the gun culture at large, reinforced by the FBI basically coming to the same conclusion, that everyone acknowledges that it's a good idea. Get a Glock(or approximate facsimile) , get ammo, go shoot. Rinse repeat.

Is it that the normally risk averse companies are predicting a coming collapse in the market? And preparing for the possibility that nothing but the established players, with secured LE or military contracts will have products that continue to be profitable, and all those without that safety net will see their marginal market share collapse? So they set sails for uncharted waters in the hope they can stake out successful colonies in otherwise niche markets that might hold them through the storm?

Wow this turned into longer post than I intended.

[Lester Polfus]

Maybe.

[RevolverRob]

Novelty and innovation are important for growth and survival. So, for that matter, is failure. I sort of see the Ruger 57 as an engineering exercise that someone thought, “Fuck it, it’s cheap enough to build, let’s do it.” And they did.

If you want to see how stagnation ruins a company, Colt has only gone bankrupt twice since 1992 on the back of lack of innovation/diversification.

I do believe there is such a thing as too many variants/too large a catalog. And honestly, I think Ruger may soon be forced to cut their lines down in the name of efficiency and profits. BUT, Ruger has always done well discontinuing models that don’t sell quickly, so maybe not.

Anyways - I don’t think I’d read much into novelty. Our world is anything but practical and I don’t just mean firearms. We have smart phones, smart TVs, smart watches, smart cars, and obesity. We have fridges that can order groceries, but people who refuse to live within their financial means. If anything, to me, the Ruger 57 appeals to the very people who buy smart watches and then wireless charging stands, because their watches aren’t charged up in the morning.

[Nightvisionary]

I have gun safes full of novelty and gun safes full of practicality. Practicality isn't the end all be all in guns, cars, motorcycles, clothing, or pretty much anything else we purchase. There is always plenty of room for both and overlaps in between.

[Joe in PNG]

"Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot 9 days old", even if nutritious, does tend to get old.

[HCM]

Gun companies are untimately in business to make money, guns are just the means to that end.

[zpelletier]

Well if Glock really was the most practical and reliable option then they would make reliable 10 round magazines. However, I don’t think they ever will. I’m hopeful that one day people will recognize that guns aren’t the problem and overturn unconstitutional laws. But until that day comes I don’t see Glock as an option for me.

[jeep45238]

Gun companies are untimately in business to make money, guns are just the means to that end.

This. I'm in business to make money. A lot of my competitors in the area are in the business to cut down trees. It brings a dramatically different vantage point and SOP to the table.

[Cory]

Recently, a trainer made a social media post about how he viewed firearms as tools only, and didn't even like going to the range for enjoyment. There was some backlash and apparently a few other industry people showed their ass (on social media, no way.) But I didnt catch that part.

Point is there is a dichotomy of Tool vs Enjoyment. Skill vs Fun.

While many here happen to enjoy firearms as a hobby, it tends to be in addition to viewing them as a tool. That's probably why the grounded recommendation of "G19 and ammo" is so prevelent here.

-Cory

[Alpha Sierra]

But new designs in esoteric calibers from Ruger? That staid company of the workingman's gun? The company that brings you over lawyered but otherwise unremarkable iterations of of what is guaranteed to sell because two or three other company's proved it would first, and serving the lower to middle end of an established market with brand reputation and availability not usually associated with innovative new products.

That's the Ruger from the 90s and early 2000s

The Ruger of today came up with innovative products such as this:


Innovate or die