rarest Rugers
- Thread starter TINCANBANDIT is back
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wow never heard of that one
1gunsnotenough
Buckeye
KMK512B pretty scarce.
Then there are those that were made in higher quantities but there are few, or possibly only one, left.
Western Australia Police have a tactical division similar to our SWAT that was allowed to carry .357 Mag while the regular cops were restricted to .38 Special. They didn't want Revolver Envy at the range, so they special ordered Speed Sixes with no caliber designation, just "W.A. POLICE" on the right side of the barrel. They also specified a custom finish to the stainless. I chatted with a retire W.A.P. officer who recalled that the force eventually changed to semi-autos. But prior to that, in the wake of that Tasmanian mass shooting, the Aussies passed a new law that outlawed the sale or re-export of handguns not meeting a strict set of guidelines. So all of the old revolvers were destroyed. He thought this one might very well be the only one left in the world. This was retained by the factory until 2009 as a "cabinet gun", then released without ceremony during a big clean out.
Western Australia Police have a tactical division similar to our SWAT that was allowed to carry .357 Mag while the regular cops were restricted to .38 Special. They didn't want Revolver Envy at the range, so they special ordered Speed Sixes with no caliber designation, just "W.A. POLICE" on the right side of the barrel. They also specified a custom finish to the stainless. I chatted with a retire W.A.P. officer who recalled that the force eventually changed to semi-autos. But prior to that, in the wake of that Tasmanian mass shooting, the Aussies passed a new law that outlawed the sale or re-export of handguns not meeting a strict set of guidelines. So all of the old revolvers were destroyed. He thought this one might very well be the only one left in the world. This was retained by the factory until 2009 as a "cabinet gun", then released without ceremony during a big clean out.
chet15
Hawkeye
We had a low back Service Six factory Second without rifling as well.
Have also heard of other models without rifling.
Chet15
chet15
Hawkeye
It may be one of one. Ruger employees however usually picked the Ruger that was offered at the time with the highest MSRP, so there maybe be a few gold label 20 anniversary guns.
Your RB-103 U.S. marked auto would certainly rank high up on this list!
Chet15
another great piece of info
chet15
Hawkeye
chet15
Hawkeye
Good point! There are a few out there. I think employees might have purchased most of the few hundred that were produced.
There were also one or two sold by Ruger on their Ruger auction, one of which was in .243.
Chet15
chet15
Hawkeye
There were probably 12-14 of the.416 Taylor in the M77 made.
Haven't heard of a 16"/18" Number 1 in .458, but a non prefix #1 in .458 would definitely be high on a rarity list!!
Chet15
I knew a deputy sheriff ~50 years ago, who purchased a new S&W Model 19 (I believe there was a corporate discount program for LEOs at the time). When he received his revolver, he discovered it had no rifling - being a shooter rather than a collector, he returned it to S&W.
Not being a lawyer, I was never sure how the law might treat such short-barrel smooth bores.
As always IIRC, IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc.
Not a lawyer either, but I recall a smoothbore Redhawk being offered on RIA 10-15 years ago and several days before the auction, it disappeared. I presume they either figured it out or were informed by someone.
Chad, Can you link me to that auction? I missed it. Curious about what it went for.
Thanks,
Terry T.
There is the 357 Magnum Light Weight 1 of 1.
TINCANBANDIT is back
Single-Sixer
do you have more info on the lightweight .357?
chet15
Hawkeye
chet15
Hawkeye
Ruger worked on one in R&D in 1990 or 1991 prior to working on the Lightweight Single-Six project. At least four cylinder frames were made out of a high strength aluminum alloy, with only one gun believed to have been produced, a prototype bearing serial number KA34 on the bottom of the cylinder frame ahead of the trigger guard.
After this, Ruger decided to R&D some aluminum framed New Model Lightweight Single-Sixes. There were four or five prototypes completed of this, with some having adjustable sights and the others having fixed sights of the Old Model type with drift adjustable rear sight. The project came to a halt when Ruger shuttered their doors at the Southport factory in July 1991.
Chet15
TINCANBANDIT is back
Single-Sixer
so were these Security Six, SP101 or GP100 revolvers?
Don Findley's books, The Ruger Papers and the sequel are great sources of information concerning the operations of Sturm, Ruger Inc.
I also enjoy Chad's Encyclopedia of the .22 pistol. Lot of knowledge there!
I also enjoy Chad's Encyclopedia of the .22 pistol. Lot of knowledge there!
