A lot of it comes from the Clinton "assault weapon" ban years. Bill Ruger made a comment that nobody needs more than 15 round capacity. AR guys decided to hate him over it. Then, people simply started saying Ruger sucks and never said why, people started believing it and started complaining about the slightest issue that would normally be quickly fixed, and the reputation was ruined.

I always wanted a M77 in .416 Rigby.