Ruger Box

I bought what appears to be a unfired Ruger single six made in 1973 in the box. My question is about the box. It has the factory label but the box says Ruger Mark 1 on the top of box.
Was it common for Ruger to use a different model box? Maybe they ran out of the correct box?

Jeff

If the box has an end label, and it's intact, (not marked up,) and the top is marked with any kind of hand written marker, I'd say somebody has been swapping around boxes at some point. Only very few of Ruger factory boxes had any markings on the top.

Could we please have a picture of your box?

Yessir, a picture would really help but we have found over the years, especially around the 1973 era and the change over to "new" models, there were many boxes that had a 'printed' label stuck over the end flap of other model boxes, waste not, want not....... :wink:

The original box should have the gun's serial #written in white on the side of the box.

In early 1973 Ruger did make a huge effort to rid themselves of all their old two-piece telescoping boxes so that their standard shipping would be in a (flimsy) red hinged box. Ruger literally could have used any model old model box for any New Model handgun. They also used up the last of their two-piece yellow and red .22 pistol boxes with anything they had to ship.
But then even prior to that, Ruger is known to have used other model boxes for a different model to ship, namely guns that had previously discontinued...such as using their leftover Hawkeye .256 Win. mag. boxes to ship out a quantity of maybe as many as 1,000 9-1/2" Single-Sixes.
Then they also used at least two 10" .357 Blackhawk boxes (yeah...flattop boxes!!!) once that model had been discontinued to also ship a pair of 9-1/2" Single-Sixes. To make it right, Ruger just put the correct model labe for the gun being shipped on the info end of the box.
But yes...please show us some pics of your box, you might have a combination nobody has seen before.
Chet15