I have been following all the comments & such,, yet,, so far,, nobody has put one in their hands & tested it.
There are a lot of good thoughts as well as negative ones.
I say let the market decide things.
Remember,, Ruger is in the business to make MONEY. Even Bill Ruger was keen on that. The guns are the product to that end.
Today's shooters are different than the shooters of yesteryear.
And if I recall all my Ruger lore,, Bill started this fine company by building a quality product,, at a much cheaper cost than the "big boys" at the time. Look where it's at now.
And think like this,,, as well noted above,, most of today's buyers are looking for CHEAP,, AND they expect a certain quality. BUT,,,, they also live in a "disposable" type of world now. Many do not expect stuff to last a few lifetimes,, and as such,, are willing to use the cost factor as a deciding point. Ruger by far does an excellent job of building a quality firearm,, but it all comes at a price. It USED to be that a Ruger cost less than "the big boys" and as such,, people bought them,, and over time,, found them to be "as good or better" than other brands. Nowadays,,, a Ruger (in general,) costs as much or almost as much as anybodies guns. Ruger is now "one of the big boys."
So,, while many of us,,, (myself included) will PREFER to buy an older or more expensive gun,, than something like this,,, let us not snear at an offering that can get shooters into a gun at an affordable price. Especially if it's new shooters & the gun is better built than other brands.
Lastly,, let's all await for them to get into the hands of knowledgeable shooters for proper judgement first,, BEFORE we pass judgement.