First things first, or the inspiration for this thread: I just picked up one of the new Ruger SR1911's. I fully admit it was an impulse buy, but standing there in the gun shop and checking it out made this a very easy decision. Simply put, it's one of the best basic 1911's I have ever handled. Everything you need, nothing you don't. And, as it turns out, it shoots as well as it looks. I didn't bother taking a picture of it, but here is one right off their website:
It has all of what has become "the usual" stuff. Beavertail, Commander hammer, lowered and scalloped ejection port, polished feed ramp, throated chamber, Novak sights (that were spot-on at 25 yards right out of the box), extended safety. What is equally notable, however (at least to me) is what was left off: no extended magazine release, no ambidextrous safety, no extended slide release, no full length guide rod, and no "bushingless" barrel/slide. It struck me as pretty much what I would build if I were inclined to do so.
So much for that - on to my real point. It strikes me I buy a lot of Rugers. They make "everything" - rifles, shotguns, handguns. Centerfire and rimfire. Broken down further, semi auto, bolt action, and single shot rifles (lever actions for awhile as well). Modern double action pistols, now a traditional single action pistol, double and single action revolvers, over/under and (just discontinued) side-by-side shotguns, a cap and ball revolver (now discontinued as well, unfortunately), and on and on. No one covers the full spectrum like Ruger. No one ever has.
Ruger is acknowledged as a real force in any market they enter, with quality, affordable working guns. They cover niche markets like no one else, as far as the "big" manufacturers are concerned. My own two favorites - the Number 1 single shot rifle and Blackhawk single action revolver - as widely acknowledged as among the best ever, if not the best ever, in their little niches.
The 19th century had some real notables, like Colt, Winchester, Remington, S&W, and others. Those companies survive to this day (every one of them after being sold at least once), but Ruger has eclipsed them all. They really do strike me as "the gunmaker of our age".