Shortly after graduating from high school in Connecticut, Richard “Rick” Crabtree joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and soon found himself in Vietnam as a Navy Corpsman with the 3/7. Initially issued 7.62mm M14 rifles, Rick’s outfit was soon ordered to turn in this fine weapon for the then-brand-new M16 rifle in 5.56mm. Rick’s very interesting Vietnam experiences aside, he came out of the USMC with a less than warm feeling for the M16, being all too familiar with its many early failures in combat.

Back in Connecticut, Rick found himself going to college at night and working as a chauffeur during the day for a company that furnished drivers to executives. Rick was assigned to drive a brand new blue Chrysler Imperial owned by Bill Ruger, head of Sturm, Ruger & Company, and for the better part of a year, he was at Ruger’s disposal, driving him over much of the East Coast.