I never was much of a letter collector. Even when they were free, I only got them on select, very rare guns, probably under 10% of my collection. If a gun was unusual, I would mostly just call for a catalog number and ship date and note that info in my collection spreadsheet. The reason I didn't get them on all my Rugers was that I felt that if the Records department (which was then part of Exports and had other tasks) kept getting overwhelmed with letter requests, they might get the idea to start charging for them in order to encourage the folks who got them for every gun to think twice about it.
I've never requested a $10 letter, but I do recognize that that is a low fee compared to the industry. I keep telling myself that I will order letters on a bunch of rare guns, but I haven't taken the time. I have the $10 letters for several guns, but those were requested and paid for by a former owner and kept with the gun when sold.
But a first day Single Six is something that would motivate me to cough up the ten bucks in a heartbeat! Although I have a 1953 Single Six that I have not lettered. I probably should get the letters on the rarest ones for my son's sake when he has to sell off my stuff someday!
