Ruger Gold Label

The Ruger Gold Label is a double-barreled shotgun. It is marketed and distributed by Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated, a company based in Southport, Connecticut. The Gold Label is made at the Sturm, Ruger manufacturing facility in Newport, New Hampshire.

The Ruger Gold Label is a side-by-side shotgun, designed to be similar to traditional English shotguns used for upland bird hunting and for clay target games such as trap, skeet, and sporting clays.

Features
The Gold Label has a stainless steel receiver and blued barrels. The stock and fore-end are made of AAA-grade American walnut. At 6½ pounds, the Gold Label is relatively lightweight for a double barreled shotgun.

The gun has a single trigger. A barrel selector mechanism is used to choose whether the left or right barrel fires first. The second shot can be fired even if the first shot was a misfire and the gun has not recoiled. The barrel selector is combined with the manual safety and is located at the top rear of the receiver, behind the top lever. Opening the action automatically engages the safety mechanism.

The Gold Label has been produced in 12 gauge only. The chambers are three inches long, to accommodate either 2¾ inch or 3 inch shells. The gun uses screw-in choke tubes that are steel shot compatible.

Models
There are two models of Gold Label. One has an American style pistol grip stock. The other has an English style straight grip stock. Both models have a splinter style fore-end.

The Gold Label was produced from 2004 to 2006 and has not been produced since. While the shotgun was still pictured in Ruger's 2008 Catalog, it was listed as "current production sold out, anticipate availability in 2009." According to most reports, including emails from Ruger customer service to customers who have asked, the Gold Label will not be produced again due to the high cost of manufacturing it.

Awards
In 2002, the Gold Label was named Shotgun of the Year by Shooting Industry News. In 2005, it won the "Golden Bullseye" Shotgun of the Year award from American Rifleman, a magazine published by the National Rifle Association.