Ruger 250th Anniversary Expansion: SR1911, Hawkeye, Marlin 1894

Ruger announced six new commemorative firearms on June 17, 2026, extending its 250th Year of American Liberty Series past the eight SKUs the company launched in March. The new run is the centerpiece announcement of the Semiquincentennial cycle for Ruger, and it leans into rifles for the first time: two Hawkeye bolt-actions, a No. 1 single-shot in .375 Ruger, and two Marlin Model 1894 lever guns. A new SR1911 pistol rounds out the expansion. Each rifle SKU is capped at 250 units. The SR1911 is capped at 1,776 units, an explicit nod to the year the colonies declared independence.

The earlier March batch was anchored by .22 LR plinkers and budget commemoratives: three 10/22 variants, the Ruger American Gen II in .308 Win, a Mark IV 22/45, a Super Wrangler revolver, an LCP Max, and a stripped AR-15 lower receiver. The June 17 expansion goes the other direction. These are flagship hunting and presentation pieces with polished blued metalwork, gold accents, jeweled bolts, high-grade walnut, and patriotic engraving. For the broader picture of what is in current Ruger production and how the commemorative SKUs compare to the standard pistols and revolvers, browse the live catalog.

The SR1911 commemorative is the only handgun in the June 17 batch. Ruger took the standard SR1911 Government-frame .45 ACP platform and added a finely detailed slide engraving commemorating the 250th Year of American Liberty alongside patriotic imagery, then matched custom grip panels with scrollwork to the slide treatment. The base action remains the SR1911 platform Ruger has been producing for over a decade: CNC machined stainless slide and frame, lightweight aluminum skeletonized trigger, Series 70 firing system, and the company's precision-machined slide-to-frame fit.

The 1,776 production cap is the headline number. It is high enough that dedicated 1911 collectors and Ruger enthusiasts will have a realistic shot at securing one through a dealer, but low enough that it will not linger on shelves once distribution clears. If a 1911 is on your list and you want a deep look at what hardware actually moves the needle on these guns, our 1911 upgrades guide walks through triggers, grips, sights, and recoil management for the platform.

Ruger included two Hawkeye bolt-action variants in the June 17 expansion, each capped at 250 units. The first is chambered in .30-06 Springfield with a 22-inch barrel, polished blued metalwork that carries the 250th Anniversary engraving and gold accents, a jeweled bolt finish, V-notch rear sight with a brass bead front, and a checkered American black walnut stock. It is the dress-up version of the standard Hawkeye Hunter: a working .30-06 hunting rifle with commemorative cosmetics, not a presentation-only piece.

The second Hawkeye trades the polished blue for satin stainless, carries the “Made in the 250th Year of American Liberty” engraving on the floorplate, and runs a 20-inch free-float threaded barrel with American walnut. The shorter threaded barrel is the operational upgrade: under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, suppressors carry no federal making or transfer tax, and ATF eForm 4 approvals are now running on the order of days to a couple of weeks. A Form 4, background check, fingerprints, and NFA registration are still required. A threaded factory hunting rifle is now a substantially easier suppressor host than it was two years ago. For the menu of cans that pair with a .30-cal hunting bolt, see our best hunting suppressors guide.

The No. 1 commemorative is chambered in the .375 Ruger cartridge, with polished blued metalwork, 250th Anniversary engraving, gold-plated details, and a high-grade American black walnut stock. Production is capped at 250 units. Ruger picked the chambering deliberately: .375 Ruger is a Ruger and Hornady joint development that delivers .375 H&H Magnum-class velocities from a standard-length action and a shorter barrel. It is a true dangerous-game cartridge, and the No. 1 falling block is a strong, classic action to host it.

This is the most overt presentation piece in the expansion. It is also a usable hunting rifle. A 250-unit run on a chambering like .375 Ruger says Ruger is targeting the cohort of collectors who also hunt, not just safe-collectors looking for a sealed box. For context on where bolt-action and single-shot rifles fit in a broader hunting kit, see our best deer hunting rifle guide.

Two Marlin 1894 lever-action rifles join the series, each capped at 250 units. The .44 Remington Magnum variant features a Skinner Black Gold peep sight, a brass front post, eagle engraving on the receiver, and gold-plated accents on top of polished blued metalwork. The .45 Colt variant comes from the Marlin Classic Series catalog: stainless steel construction with the “Made in the 250th Year of American Liberty” engraving on the receiver, a 20.25-inch barrel, adjustable semi-buckhorn sights, and an American walnut stock.

The Ruger-owned Marlin operation has been on a release cadence since acquiring the Marlin brand, and the 1894 commemoratives fit the pattern: production-spec lever actions with elevated cosmetics. If you want to see what a non-commemorative tactical 1894 looks like from the same factory, our coverage of the Marlin Mad Pig Customs 1894 walks through the threaded, M-LOK-equipped, OD-Green Cerakote variant that sits at the opposite end of the configuration spectrum. For where lever actions stack up against each other across calibers and brands, see our best lever-action rifle guide.

Including the June 17 expansion, the Ruger 250th Year of American Liberty Series now spans 14 SKUs across pistols, rimfire rifles, centerfire rifles, a single-shot, lever actions, a revolver, and an AR lower. The March batch handled the volume end of the catalog. Production-line 10/22 variants ran from $359 to $679. The Ruger American Gen II in .308 Win landed at $769. The Mark IV 22/45 came in at $475, the Super Wrangler at $339, the LCP Max at $399, and the stripped AR-15 lower at $129. Those guns were aimed at the broad consumer base that wants a commemorative without a five-figure outlay.

The June 17 expansion fills the upper register: a flagship 1911, two presentation-grade Hawkeyes, a dangerous-game No. 1, and two collector-spec Marlin lever guns. Production caps of 250 units per rifle and 1,776 on the SR1911 set the supply ceiling. MSRP and street pricing for the new models were not published at announcement. The earlier batch reached dealers within weeks of the March announcement, so the June expansion should land at Davidson's, Lipsey's, Sports South, and Bill Hicks & Co dealer pages on a similar timeline.

For other anniversary-tied commemoratives shipping this year, see our coverage of the SIG M17 Army 250th Anniversary presented to Army leadership at the Pentagon on June 10. The SIG piece is a non-commercial Pentagon presentation and cannot be bought. The Ruger run is the opposite: limited but actually available through normal dealer channels.

Ruger's June 17 expansion is the part of the 250th Anniversary Series aimed at collectors and serious hunters rather than the volume buyer. The SR1911 caps at a tightly defined 1,776 units. Every rifle SKU caps at 250. The configurations target real use cases: a .30-06 hunting bolt, a suppressor-friendly stainless Hawkeye, a dangerous-game .375 Ruger No. 1, a .44 Magnum 1894 brush gun, and a .45 Colt 1894 cowboy gun. The commemorative work is engraving, gold accents, jeweled bolts, polished metalwork, and the inscription that ties the entire run to the Semiquincentennial.

MSRP and ship dates were not published at announcement, which is the practical hurdle for anyone trying to plan a buy. The March batch reached dealers within weeks, so the June models should follow on a similar curve through Davidson's, Lipsey's, Sports South, and Bill Hicks & Co. Once allocations clear, 250 units per rifle SKU will move quickly. If a commemorative is on the shortlist, build the rest of the kit in our builder or compare platforms side by side while you wait for street pricing to settle.