chet15
Hawkeye
El Numero Uno said:
I believe it was a 4-5/8" gun of Fred Davis's that lettered with ivory, although they may have come in the package and not installed on the gun. Don't remember the sn right now.
Chet15
ivory on Single six
- Thread starter crsides
- Start date
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I believe it was a 4-5/8" gun of Fred Davis's that lettered with ivory, although they may have come in the package and not installed on the gun. Don't remember the sn right now.
Chet15
chet15
Hawkeye
street said:
Right. Ruger was very strict in saying his guns would not come with any special features other than what was described in their catalog. For the company that just made things a whole lot easier in the sales and distribution process.
But...as Street mentions, if you knew somebody you could have just about anything done...i.e. 7-1/2" barrel on a two-digit Single-Six #16 for Herb Glass, various engraved guns, various inscribed guns, two known 4-5/8" barrels on .44 flattops, etc.
Right up to the #1 even, there are cases of special work done like ebony forend tips etc.
....and Ruger says they never had a custom shop.... :roll: Well, not officially.
Chet15
Armybrat
Buckeye
What Stanfield said. I'm not a nitpicker. 8)jstanfield103 said:
Your welcome jstanfield103 and thanks for the comments to all who posted. i was going to post the back sides, but you can see them by following the link by NitroAcres above. Thanks for that. It does appear to be the same gun/grips in both threads.
Until I hear definitively otherwise, it's a Ruger factory gun with ruger factory grips.
Charlie
Until I hear definitively otherwise, it's a Ruger factory gun with ruger factory grips.
Charlie
I have heard the medallions placement discussions before. We got to remember the gun factories were not in the collecting business, they were in the manufacturing/selling business.
As an example, I got a S&W Chief Spl Target a couple weeks ago. It is a J frame and has a target trigger on it, made in the late 50's. Who has seen J frames in the late 50's with target triggers? All S&W frames were to have model #'s stamped in the yoke cutout starting in 1957 due to some gov't purchasing decree. THE S&W book says this gun is in a serial number range of 198 guns made in 1959. Roy Jinks advises it shipped in 1961. It had a couple years at least to get that model number stamped, but it is not there. And collectors should have been chomping at the bit to get an uncataloged target version of a chief spl with total production at the time of 300 units. But it sat there in inventory for 2yrs.
So now it's our job as collectors to figure out what some guy on a production line was thinking 60 yrs ago when he put that medallion 1/32" too far back. :mrgreen:
Charlie
As an example, I got a S&W Chief Spl Target a couple weeks ago. It is a J frame and has a target trigger on it, made in the late 50's. Who has seen J frames in the late 50's with target triggers? All S&W frames were to have model #'s stamped in the yoke cutout starting in 1957 due to some gov't purchasing decree. THE S&W book says this gun is in a serial number range of 198 guns made in 1959. Roy Jinks advises it shipped in 1961. It had a couple years at least to get that model number stamped, but it is not there. And collectors should have been chomping at the bit to get an uncataloged target version of a chief spl with total production at the time of 300 units. But it sat there in inventory for 2yrs.
So now it's our job as collectors to figure out what some guy on a production line was thinking 60 yrs ago when he put that medallion 1/32" too far back. :mrgreen:
Charlie
street
Hunter
The medallions were not just drilled by hand with each medallion drilled at a different place, but the grips were put in a jig. The jig insured that the eagle was drilled low enough to be flush with the top of the grips. The jig allowed the countersink on the back of the grips to be drilled so that the medallion could be staked, as the Ivory and Stag were thicker at the medallion because they were fragile. There is one other point to make about using this jig. IT ALLOWED THE MEDALLION TO BE PLACED AT THE SAME PLACE ON ALL IVORY AND STAG GRIPS.
Check Dougans book as it shows where the medallions were placed on the Stag and Ivory. Even when everything looks OK there is no guarantee that the grips are factory. When something is not right then that is the guarantee that they are fake!
Check the two photos below. That gun was sent to the NRA in June 1953, when the Flatgate first came out. Check the placement of the medallions.
Check Dougans book as it shows where the medallions were placed on the Stag and Ivory. Even when everything looks OK there is no guarantee that the grips are factory. When something is not right then that is the guarantee that they are fake!
Check the two photos below. That gun was sent to the NRA in June 1953, when the Flatgate first came out. Check the placement of the medallions.
chet15
Hawkeye
And if they weren't done that way, it would be the only thing at the Ruger factory (or any reputable machinist operation in any quality manufacturing industry) that wasn't done by exacting specifications. Imagine...a quality manufacturer who machines pieces of art out of steel to exacting specifications, but actually freehanding the medallion holes in an expensive pair of stag or ivory grip panels. Really??
When doing the math I figured that Ruger would have to sell a bunch of pair of ivory or stag to make up for one broken pair....there wasn't the same kind of profit in stag and ivory panels as there was in the guns.
Drilling the medallion holes freehand at Ruger would show a level of incompetence that I don't believe WBR would have put up with.
Somewhere there should be a copy of an original Ruger blueprint that would have been sent to J.L. Galef when they were contracted to make those six pairs of ivory grip panels "with installed medallions". Why would anybody think Ruger wouldn't have used those same specifications? And if the grip makers installed the medallions (which I don't think they did), why would anybody think Ruger wouldn't have spelled out those specifications with a blueprint as well?
WBR didn't like losing $...so he had it spelled out for his employees and his contractors. For examples of this all one has to do is look at the correspondence that exists between him and his contractors or potential contractors...even Charles Jerred the engraver.
Chet15
When doing the math I figured that Ruger would have to sell a bunch of pair of ivory or stag to make up for one broken pair....there wasn't the same kind of profit in stag and ivory panels as there was in the guns.
Drilling the medallion holes freehand at Ruger would show a level of incompetence that I don't believe WBR would have put up with.
Somewhere there should be a copy of an original Ruger blueprint that would have been sent to J.L. Galef when they were contracted to make those six pairs of ivory grip panels "with installed medallions". Why would anybody think Ruger wouldn't have used those same specifications? And if the grip makers installed the medallions (which I don't think they did), why would anybody think Ruger wouldn't have spelled out those specifications with a blueprint as well?
WBR didn't like losing $...so he had it spelled out for his employees and his contractors. For examples of this all one has to do is look at the correspondence that exists between him and his contractors or potential contractors...even Charles Jerred the engraver.
Chet15
steve8261948
Single-Sixer
Factory or not still very attractive! I'm sure the the elephant tusks I have on my 27-2 Smith aren't factory but, wouldn't let them go for anything.
Steve
Steve
street
Hunter
No one is saying that the grips are not beautiful, nor that they are not valuable! The question was whether they are factory or not. I thing Chad and I listed enough thoughts on the matter to say they are NOT.
CraigC
Hawkeye
My $500 offer still stands.
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