Ruger modified a Savage 99 to be gas operated..?

[AJMD429]

It says so on page 8 of the February 2016 American Rifleman...I never heard that before.

Anyone know about that...?

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Pinterest bit... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/363595369888565719/

[Rusty]

My brother in law called and read me that paragraph. It seems it was Bill Ruger's first invention. That was the first time I ever heard of it, but since the rifle is in the museum it's hard to dispute.

[J Miller]

Yeah, it's in the book: "Ruger and his guns". Pretty neat idea and the end product doesn't look like a Rube Goldberg contraption.

Joe

[Pete44ru]

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Per my google-fu.............

While a business student at the UNC at Chapel Hill, Bill Ruger turned an empty room into a machine shop, and learned his trade.

In 1938 he came up with the early designs for an autoloader, converting a Savage 99 into a semi-auto.




His prototype semi-auto Savage 99 was unsuccessful, market-wise - but the rotary magazine of the Model 99 bears a strong resemblance to the one Ruger later used for his 10/22 rifle.

Ruger afterward worked first at Springfield Amory, then at Auto Ordnance - where he developed firearms for the US military during World War II.

One of the guns he worked on was a machine gun design that competed against the M1919 Browning, which was tested at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

WWII ended before issues with Ruger’s machine gun could be fixed, Ruger eventually partnering with Alex Sturm to produce his .22 autoloading pistol in 1949.



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[Ben_Rumson]

Somehow I skipped over page 8 & missed that ...Regarding the pics of his 99 ... Makes JMBs flapper actuated 73 Winchester look a little crude...

[457121]

I read somewhere years ago that he took that rifle with him to Springfield Armory when he applied for a job there. They liked what they saw and hired him.

[Washita]

I remember reading many years ago that John Browning converted a lever action Winchester to a gas operated semi auto. This was just experimental, I think, but it was the basis of his 1895 "potato digger" machine gun. So I guess Ruger wasn't exactly "plowing new ground", so to speak.

[AJMD429]

His prototype semi-auto Savage 99 was unsuccessful, market-wise - but the rotary magazine of the Model 99 bears a strong resemblance to the one Ruger later used for his 10/22 rifle.

In fact, his 96/22 and 96/44 and 96/17 leverguns were also very like the Savage 99 in design, too...