Ruger Mk I with no serial number

I saw a Ruger Mk I at the local gun show with no serial number. It was in excellent condition with the original box The box didn't have a serial number written on it. The dealer said he bought it "from an old guy" that bought it new that way. It definitely never had a serial number. It also is not marked 22 LR It did have the Ruger address on the back of the receiver on the right side The gun came in the red cardboard box.
What are your thoughts? Lunchbox gun?
One Ruger expert claimed that Ruger made some without serial numbers....which I highly doubt.

It your Ruger expert said that they made some MK-Is without a serial number, I would find a new expert. In order for a gun to be shipped from the factory the invoice would list all the serial numbers that was sent to a distributor. If a gun didn't have a serial number then one would be applied and then shipped.

the "dealer" should know better, they had serial numbers on them.......... :?

that I believe is considered "contraband", ....the cops at the door checking in firearms can confiscate it, though they seldom do,too much PAPERWORK :wink:

Some years ago, at the Akron show, they directed one to me, and I sent the person over to one of the local 'agents', they took care of it..... :roll:


BY the way, we have a "lunch box" gun and it has the same serial number as one from 1950, and yes, have that one also.........go figure,and no amount of chasing down numbers, factory and federal, can ascertain "why".......Oh well and to quote the late Mr Wil Terry ......"and so it goes......." 8)

There is surely much more to this story.

100% legal - Pre 68 guns were not required to have a serial number.

But did Ruger make any of them without serial numbers ...... that is the question.

Just because I've never heard of one don't mean it didn't happen.

Hey maybe it's a secret squirrel gun.

RSIno1 said:

100% legal - Pre 68 guns were not required to have a serial number.

Click to expand...

The MKI pistols came out in 1951, beginning with serial number 15001.

Trouble is, without a serial number there's no real way to tell when it was made. I'd be careful. :roll:

Too bad that a picture of that pistol was not done.

Scam, stolen etc .

hittman said:

There is surely much more to this story.

Click to expand...

^^^THIS^^^

:mrgreen:

Which Ohio gun show were you at ? I would sure like to see that pistol up close :wink:

Terry

The first eight or nine standard autos did not have serial numbers applied to the outside of the receiver. Serial number "3" is a large 3 that was probably stamped after the fact, but was actually also the first gun shipped... so maybe that big "3" was put on it before Ruger had their other serial numbering equipment. As to the other 7 or 8 without an external serial number, each was numbered internally from 1 to 8 or 9.
15 or 20 years ago I saw a standard auto on a table at the Tulsa gun show that did not have any markings on the outside of the receiver. Probably a lunchbox gun because the outside diameter of the receiver measured an even 1.000. I could date that one because it had tapered bolt ears, so was made in the 1952 to 1954 time period.
Chet15

The gunshow was at Hillard (Columbus). Somewhere I might have a picture.

Chad, aren't the tapered bolt ears a potential "screwdriver variation"?

RSIno1 said:

100% legal - Pre 68 guns were not required to have a serial number.

Click to expand...

True for long guns but not for pistols.