SDPEC
Bearcat
Howdy.
One of our customers contacted me and gave me links to posts on this forum regarding the Ruger .40 S&W Vaquero commemorative done for the San Diego Sheriff's Department's 150th anniversary in 2000. I'm the President of San Diego Police Equipment Company Inc. We've been a law enforcement distributor for Sturm, Ruger for approximately 25 years, and we ordered and sold the guns. I see there seems to be a little confusion as to the details of this model, so I thought I'd try and help clear it up. I apologize in advance for the lengthy post. I just thought it best to answer more questions instead of less.
In late 1998 or early 1999, I met with members of the committee organizing the upcoming celebration of the department's 150th Anniversary in 2000. We discussed various concepts for a commemorative badge, and several members asked about producing a commemorative firearm. A western themed gun was thought to be appropriate, and an engraved Colt Single Action Army was suggested by several members. Having experience with previous LE commemorative guns, I cautioned that the cost would likely be prohibitive for the Colt. Other's suggested a S&W double action revolver, as the department had issued those prior to converting to semi autos. At the end of the meeting, I promised to research possibilities.
Having a long business, and personal relationship with Sturm Ruger, and having been their largest LE distributor, I felt they might be amenable to making some sort of special feature gun, so, I contemplated ideas. What if Ruger would chamber one of their western style revolvers in .40 S&W, the cartridge in current use by the department at the time? This would tie in the old with the new. I contacted our representative for Ruger, Ron Macy, and ran the idea by him. He felt it was a great idea, so we started making inquiries. Hitting a bit of a brick wall in the "sales prevention department", I finally called Bill Ruger Jr., and ran the idea by him. He replied, "no problem, that would be easy", "it sounds like a fantastic idea". Common theme, virtually every large piece of business we did in the old days was stifled on the way up, due to insignificant perceived problems, until we contacted Tom, Bill Jr. or WBR himself, who would then, "make it happen". After more meetings with Captain Dennis Cole, Captain John Tenwolde, and Sheriff Bill Kolender, the designs for both the badge and the guns were approved.
The initial order to Ruger was for 500 units, the usual minimum Ruger would accept for a special run at the time. Since there was no guarantee of how many orders we would get, we hoped that we could sell that many. When initial orders were strong, representatives from the department asked if we could increase the amount. Though a little hesitant, we placed another order for 500 more units.
The guns were received from Ruger as standard stainless Vaqueros, chambered in .40 S&W, model KBNV-404SW. San Diego Police Equipment Company Inc. then arranged for an outside contractor to do the laser engraving on the right side of barrel of the gun, as well as the right grip panel. (We originally experimented with acid etching the barrel, but the results were unsatisfactory). We also had a custom display case maker design and manufacture glass top, solid oak cases, with Kelly green lining, inletted for the Vaquero. (The lining color was a tribute to former Sheriff John Duffy, who used it in everything from the ink he signed letters with, to patrol cars.) A place for the commemorative badge was inlet into the box, next to the gun, but the badges were not sold as part of the gun set. The badge was, and is, an official badge for the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and was authorized for wear during the anniversary year 2000, and in succeeding years during the anniversary month of April. They were not sold to civilian employees of the department, except set into Lucite blocks. There were two models of badges that could be ordered through the Deputy Sheriff's Association. A silver tone alloy badge, (39.00), and a solid sterling silver badge, (69.00), both of the same design, with the owners rank on the front, and no badge number. A facsimile of Sheriff Kolender's signature was cast into the underside of the badges sold for the anniversary, as a mark of authenticity. The badge orders were completely separate from the gun orders, and many more badges were sold than guns. Small quantities of additional badges were manufactured for the Deputy Sheriff's Association in subsequent years, but do not contain Bill Kolender's signature.
The price for the gun and case set was $499.00. The reasonable price, and uniqueness of the gun, contributed to the initial brisk sales. Orders for the gun sets slowed before the second 500 guns were exhausted, and some cancelled their orders, partially due to delays in receiving the guns, cases, and getting the engraving done.
With a slight overrun, a total of 1015 guns were received by our company. Serial numbers were contained between 57-49XXX and 57-85XXX. We received them in various size groups between September of 1999 and the end of April 2000. Approximately 800 were engraved and sold as commemorative models. Of the remaining approximately 200 guns, a fairly large number, perhaps 50-75+, had been rejected for use as commemoratives due to poor quality on the engraving work, where the guns hadn't been set straight in the fixture, mistakes in the initial setup runs, scratches or marks from the fixtures, etc. (We never used that engraver again). They, and the remaining unmarked guns were sold to several dealers, with many going to Sheriff's Deputies who hadn't ordered on the initial order, or those who wanted a "shooter".
Some early re-sellers, (or planned resellers), of the guns made the claim that Ruger would never chamber a Vaquero in that caliber ever again in their sales pitches. No promise was ever made by Ruger or anyone else to that effect, though, other than the double cylinder guns made for a commercial distributor some time later, and a few clean up guns made from old parts, I'm not aware of any others that were manufactured.
Even though it wasn't hugely profitable, it's still my favorite of any similar project I've been involved with in the last 30+ years in the business. Probably because it was done for our friends. Compared to some of the other "commemoratives" done in the past, I think it turned out rather well.
I hope I helped fill in some of the details for those who own these guns and I hope you enjoy them. You can thank Bill Ruger Jr. They wouldn't have happened without him.
Best regards,
Don Hacklander
President, San Diego Police Equipment Company, Inc.
PS. No, we don't have any of the unmarked guns left. I wish we did. I didn't even put one aside for myself. Anybody want to make me a deal on one? Maybe I have something else I could trade you? :wink:
One of our customers contacted me and gave me links to posts on this forum regarding the Ruger .40 S&W Vaquero commemorative done for the San Diego Sheriff's Department's 150th anniversary in 2000. I'm the President of San Diego Police Equipment Company Inc. We've been a law enforcement distributor for Sturm, Ruger for approximately 25 years, and we ordered and sold the guns. I see there seems to be a little confusion as to the details of this model, so I thought I'd try and help clear it up. I apologize in advance for the lengthy post. I just thought it best to answer more questions instead of less.
In late 1998 or early 1999, I met with members of the committee organizing the upcoming celebration of the department's 150th Anniversary in 2000. We discussed various concepts for a commemorative badge, and several members asked about producing a commemorative firearm. A western themed gun was thought to be appropriate, and an engraved Colt Single Action Army was suggested by several members. Having experience with previous LE commemorative guns, I cautioned that the cost would likely be prohibitive for the Colt. Other's suggested a S&W double action revolver, as the department had issued those prior to converting to semi autos. At the end of the meeting, I promised to research possibilities.
Having a long business, and personal relationship with Sturm Ruger, and having been their largest LE distributor, I felt they might be amenable to making some sort of special feature gun, so, I contemplated ideas. What if Ruger would chamber one of their western style revolvers in .40 S&W, the cartridge in current use by the department at the time? This would tie in the old with the new. I contacted our representative for Ruger, Ron Macy, and ran the idea by him. He felt it was a great idea, so we started making inquiries. Hitting a bit of a brick wall in the "sales prevention department", I finally called Bill Ruger Jr., and ran the idea by him. He replied, "no problem, that would be easy", "it sounds like a fantastic idea". Common theme, virtually every large piece of business we did in the old days was stifled on the way up, due to insignificant perceived problems, until we contacted Tom, Bill Jr. or WBR himself, who would then, "make it happen". After more meetings with Captain Dennis Cole, Captain John Tenwolde, and Sheriff Bill Kolender, the designs for both the badge and the guns were approved.
The initial order to Ruger was for 500 units, the usual minimum Ruger would accept for a special run at the time. Since there was no guarantee of how many orders we would get, we hoped that we could sell that many. When initial orders were strong, representatives from the department asked if we could increase the amount. Though a little hesitant, we placed another order for 500 more units.
The guns were received from Ruger as standard stainless Vaqueros, chambered in .40 S&W, model KBNV-404SW. San Diego Police Equipment Company Inc. then arranged for an outside contractor to do the laser engraving on the right side of barrel of the gun, as well as the right grip panel. (We originally experimented with acid etching the barrel, but the results were unsatisfactory). We also had a custom display case maker design and manufacture glass top, solid oak cases, with Kelly green lining, inletted for the Vaquero. (The lining color was a tribute to former Sheriff John Duffy, who used it in everything from the ink he signed letters with, to patrol cars.) A place for the commemorative badge was inlet into the box, next to the gun, but the badges were not sold as part of the gun set. The badge was, and is, an official badge for the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and was authorized for wear during the anniversary year 2000, and in succeeding years during the anniversary month of April. They were not sold to civilian employees of the department, except set into Lucite blocks. There were two models of badges that could be ordered through the Deputy Sheriff's Association. A silver tone alloy badge, (39.00), and a solid sterling silver badge, (69.00), both of the same design, with the owners rank on the front, and no badge number. A facsimile of Sheriff Kolender's signature was cast into the underside of the badges sold for the anniversary, as a mark of authenticity. The badge orders were completely separate from the gun orders, and many more badges were sold than guns. Small quantities of additional badges were manufactured for the Deputy Sheriff's Association in subsequent years, but do not contain Bill Kolender's signature.
The price for the gun and case set was $499.00. The reasonable price, and uniqueness of the gun, contributed to the initial brisk sales. Orders for the gun sets slowed before the second 500 guns were exhausted, and some cancelled their orders, partially due to delays in receiving the guns, cases, and getting the engraving done.
With a slight overrun, a total of 1015 guns were received by our company. Serial numbers were contained between 57-49XXX and 57-85XXX. We received them in various size groups between September of 1999 and the end of April 2000. Approximately 800 were engraved and sold as commemorative models. Of the remaining approximately 200 guns, a fairly large number, perhaps 50-75+, had been rejected for use as commemoratives due to poor quality on the engraving work, where the guns hadn't been set straight in the fixture, mistakes in the initial setup runs, scratches or marks from the fixtures, etc. (We never used that engraver again). They, and the remaining unmarked guns were sold to several dealers, with many going to Sheriff's Deputies who hadn't ordered on the initial order, or those who wanted a "shooter".
Some early re-sellers, (or planned resellers), of the guns made the claim that Ruger would never chamber a Vaquero in that caliber ever again in their sales pitches. No promise was ever made by Ruger or anyone else to that effect, though, other than the double cylinder guns made for a commercial distributor some time later, and a few clean up guns made from old parts, I'm not aware of any others that were manufactured.
Even though it wasn't hugely profitable, it's still my favorite of any similar project I've been involved with in the last 30+ years in the business. Probably because it was done for our friends. Compared to some of the other "commemoratives" done in the past, I think it turned out rather well.
I hope I helped fill in some of the details for those who own these guns and I hope you enjoy them. You can thank Bill Ruger Jr. They wouldn't have happened without him.
Best regards,
Don Hacklander
President, San Diego Police Equipment Company, Inc.
PS. No, we don't have any of the unmarked guns left. I wish we did. I didn't even put one aside for myself. Anybody want to make me a deal on one? Maybe I have something else I could trade you? :wink:
