I thought we had real RUGER collectors on the RF.......

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Firestone made the first black grip panels for the .22 auto pistols. These were later made by the Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Company of New York City.(Dougan, page74)

VRP made the black panels for the Single-Sixes. (Dougan, page 97)

:)
 

chet15

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Ale-8(1) said:
Firestone made the first black grip panels for the .22 auto pistols. These were later made by the Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Company of New York City.(Dougan, page74)

VRP made the black panels for the Single-Sixes. (Dougan, page 97)

:)

Hmmm, I see that now. The caption on the pic in the middle of page 98 though says Firestone Rubber Co. made the hard rubber panels. And the paragraph on page 74 at the bottom of the first columns hints that Firestone made the first .22 pistol rubber grips and then VRP started making them.
Doesn't matter on those to me though. I was just discussing the wood panels made by Sile, and by the time Sile made the long frame grips in 1959 they would have made 3 different sizes of panels, XR3 walnut, S47 and S47 long frame. That's where I'm getting the "A", "B" and "C" idea. The XR3 walnut and standard (short frame) Super Blackhawk wouldn't have needed identification on the backside because the difference between the Single-Six panels and the S47 panels was obvious. But I can see why they needed identification on the backside of the longframe grips...and "possibly" why a letter "C" was stamped on the back of those.
Chet15
 
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The way I've always understood it was that when Elmer was working with WBR to produce the "Dragoon" the first SBH grip frames produced were the "long" version, followed shortly by the now-current design, with the XR3-RED's following in like 1962. I base this on some of Elmer's writings which I cannot immediately reference.

This would make the "long" version a "B" type according to your concept.

Just another speculation.

:)
 

chet15

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Ale-8(1) said:
The way I've always understood it was that when Elmer was working with WBR to produce the "Dragoon" the first SBH grip frames produced were the "long" version, followed shortly by the now-current design, with the XR3-RED's following in like 1962. I base this on some of Elmer's writings which I cannot immediately reference.

This would make the "long" version a "B" type according to your concept.

Just another speculation.

:)

Maybe...would depend on when Ruger ordered "production" panels for them. I don't know...somwhere there was a reason to put a "C" on them.
Chet15
 
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One wonders why the "long" panels were marked at all, seeing as how there was little probability of mistaking them for the original XR3's.

Likewise, one wonders why the later, current design S47 panels weren't marked . . . to easily distinguish them from the very similar "long" ones.

Could all just be explained as "growing pains" of the SBH.

Just rambling . . .

:)
 

flatgate

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Ale-8(1) said:
The way I've always understood it was that when Elmer was working with WBR to produce the "Dragoon" the first SBH grip frames produced were the "long" version, followed shortly by the now-current design, with the XR3-RED's following in like 1962. I base this on some of Elmer's writings which I cannot immediately reference.

This would make the "long" version a "B" type according to your concept.

Just another speculation.

:)

Sixguns by Keith, Oct. '61 Edition, p. 321. Ruger got excited about the "Super Blackhawk" project and had around 300 of the "Dragoon" style grip frame castings produced. Meanwhile, Elmer and others were testing the Super and the conclusion was made that the old Colt Dragoon grip frame, which was emulated by the Ruger Super Blackhawk (long) grip frame, was "too much of a good thing" and the design was "downsized" a little bit.
The result was the classic Super Blackhawk grip frame which is still used today!

358049722.jpg


This image shows the relationship between the standard Super Blackhawk grip frame and the XR3-RED grip frame. Notice how well the XR3-RED grip panel follows the contours of the Super Blackhawk grip to the point that it's simply a "slice" of it's parent part.

JMHO,

flatgate
 
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There ya go!

I figured somebody could come up with that.

Would be interesting to see a "long" frame wearing a "long" panel, then a current SBH panel, then an XR3-RED panel, then a recent "short" .32 panel.

;)
 
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Ale-8(1) said:
There ya go!

I figured somebody could come up with that.

Would be interesting to see a "long" frame wearing a "long" panel, then a current SBH panel, then an XR3-RED panel, then a recent "short" .32 panel.

;)

Bill Hamm wrote an outstanding article a few years back on Ruger Grips on GunBlast.com that address's your request quite well I feel. J/S
 
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Yep, I'm familiar with that.

http://www.gunblast.com/Hamm_Ruger-SA-GripFrames.htm

The nice overlap drawing at the bottom of the article sorta shows what I meant. That's a classic. Doesn't happen to show the "long" SBH panels, though.

But what I'd like to see would be the actual pieces shown as I described . . . just for the sake of conversation.

Blame Flatgete . . . it was his photo above that gave me the thought.

:)
 

HAWKEYE#28

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Simple, I suggest: the long frames became mixed with the regular frames and when in the Build Station, two dimensions of grip frame showed up. Thus the "C"marked panels in one bucket and the non marked in a second bucket. based on trial and error, the builder knew which bucket to go to until the three hundred long frames were finally used up......There were no "extra hands" to sort prior to build and the bucket syndrome was born..........Look at the old photos of day one and the few workers, and you will see "no extra hands" to screw around with sorting.........Bill would have said: "mark those long panels, the bastards, with a C and ship those d**n guns!"......He was a tough taskmaster and frugal to boot..... 8)And, do not ignore that the wood boxes had to be differernt as well, or at least routed out to fit the longer frame........
 

chet15

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Ale-8(1) said:
One wonders why the "long" panels were marked at all, seeing as how there was little probability of mistaking them for the original XR3's.

Likewise, one wonders why the later, current design S47 panels weren't marked . . . to easily distinguish them from the very similar "long" ones.

Could all just be explained as "growing pains" of the SBH.

Just rambling . . .

:)

If it were me, I'd think why mark upteen thousand normal Super Blackhawk grip panels with a letter when you only had to stamp maybe 600 of the long frame panels with the letter. Its all in how efficient one "needs" to be when working in the industrial environment...time is $.
Chet15
 

chet15

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HAWKEYE#28 said:
Simple, I suggest: the long frames became mixed with the regular frames and when in the Build Station, two dimensions of grip frame showed up. Thus the "C"marked panels in one bucket and the non marked in a second bucket. based on trial and error, the builder knew which bucket to go to until the three hundred long frames were finally used up......There were no "extra hands" to sort prior to build and the bucket syndrome was born..........Look at the old photos of day one and the few workers, and you will see "no extra hands" to screw around with sorting.........Bill would have said: "mark those long panels, the bastards, with a C and ship those d**n guns!"......He was a tough taskmaster and frugal to boot..... 8)And, do not ignore that the wood boxes had to be differernt as well, or at least routed out to fit the longer frame........

Yeah, I agree with that. And the long frame shows up all over the spectrum from at least #4 to at least #3111 which was several months of production from first to last. It was probably a lot easier to just slap the LF steel frames on the guns (or somebody mixed them in by mistake as splitz says may have happened), then just assemble with the correct grip panel when the others don't fit by a long shot. Random "parts bin" installation of the long grip frames. The long frames definitely weren't just assembled to the first 300 or so earliest sn guns, which means there was a thorough "mixing".
I still think there's a good chance Sile is the one who put the "C" on the backside. They would have had to know how many "C" pairs to build, but to also keep them separate from the normal grip frame panels. Mixing them on Sile's part would probably not have been a good idea. Ruger orders 300 sets (or however many) and Sile produces the required amount...no more, no less, or there's about.
Chet15
 

flatgate

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From my limited experience, an assembly line worker would get "very familiar" with the variances of the parts and after a while they wouldn't need to look for a stinking "C" on the grip panel. Having the LF grips "marked" would be quite handy, though, during the "learning process".

:roll:

JMHO,

flatgate
 

radicalrod

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I am with Chet15 on this....I would think that the manufacturer would mark them what with such a short run/order you wouldn't want them mixed in with the other 20 thousand or so standard frame grips....I bet the guys assembling these cursed when those LF got mixed in with the standard frames.....couldn't wait to use up the DARN THINGS.....RR.
 
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Personally, I don't think the "C" had any particular significance other than to mark the long ones to help at assembly or perhaps when shipping out "parts".

And I agree with Flatgate that the assemblers would quickly learn to "eyeball" the parts and not need the marking.

All speculation on my part, of course.

:)
 
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I realize I was asking for a lot.

In order for this to be accomplished, it would have to be done by somebody who just happens to have a "long" grip frame, all the necessary grip panels, a proper camera, and the time and inclination to do it. Very few of us meet all those requirements, me included.

Just a thought.

:)
 
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