1956 Single Six

[noahmercy]

My "Old Model" beater. Got this 20 years ago with the nice sambar grips on, and while it has some uglies on the outside (small pits on a section of the cylinder), the chambers and bore are minty and it shoots just fine. The cylinder gap is between .001" and .002"! Has all the features of a flatgate (square ejector rod head, long-throw notched housing, serial number range, etc.) but has a factory round gate installed and seems like it's been on it a long time based on the patina matching the frame. Never sent back for the transfer bar upgrade, so this is a load-one-skip-one-load-four proposition. One of my more prized Rugers...

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Aw, man . . . what a beauty! An absolute keeper!

 

[Chance]

Neat old SS. The addition of the roundgate is not surprising. Flatgates were a pain and not that well liked at the time which is why Ruger changed to the Colt style roundgates in mid 1957.

 

[Hondo44]

That's a beauty alright, especially the India Sambar Stag grips!

However, I suspect it was produced with the round loading gate, not changed. All the changes did not happen at once and there was always a transition period. The round gate change preceded the ejector rod change to round knob. With the serial # we can probably confirm that.

By the way, the ejector rod housing is the short throw, not the long throw. You can see that the rod would go a bit farther all the way to the cyl pin tip if it wasn't notched and had the later straight cut slot.

 

[arcticruger]

Now that's a good lookin' single six right there!

 

[RSIno1]

Very nice. I had to teach that load system to my grandson when I gave him an OM Bearcat.

 

[contender]

This is one time I will politely disagree with Hondo44. The 5 digit serial number,, is in the range of the Type 3 Flatgate guns.
And as mentioned above,, it has likely been modified with the exchange of the loading gate. Not an uncommon occurrence.

 

[noahmercy]

That's a beauty alright, especially the India Sambar Stag grips!

However, I suspect it was produced with the round loading gate, not changed. All the changes did not happen at once and there was always a transition period. The round gate change preceded the ejector rod change to round knob. With the serial # we can probably confirm that.

By the way, the ejector rod housing is the short throw, not the long throw. You can see that the rod would go a bit farther all the way to the cyl pin tip if it wasn't notched and had the later straight cut slot.

About the ejector rod housing, I thought there were three used on the Single Six over the years: two notched designs (one with a longer throw than the other), and then the straight cut. I've tried searching for some pictures, but my Google-fu is weak on this subject. Any suggestions where I could find any answers on this? I do strive to be accurate in my descriptions, and appreciate "coaching"...of course at my age, any time I learn something new it pushes something old out of my brain!

 

[contender]

"Any suggestions where I could find any answers on this?"

You NEED to subscribe to the Red Eagle News Exchange, (RENE) and get the "Ruger Reference Guide" offered by Chad. (Chad goes by chet15 here.)
On page 26 & 27 of the Reference Guide; Type 2 Flatgates have a short throw EJR housing, and Type 3 have the long throw ERH. "offset slot lengthened from .937" to .765" from the front of the frame."

Interestingly,, already knowing this,, I now wonder if it's a typo in the Guide. Wondering if the numbers got reversed in the order of appearance. I'm going to have to look into that. Or heck,, maybe I'm reading it backwards.
I do know there are short & long offset slots.
But,, in any case,, yes,,, there were (3) variations of ERH's.,

 

[9mmTed]

Nice revolver. I really enjoy absorbing the knowledge here. They'll never make them like that again. Glad I have the ones I have, don't think I could afford them in today's market.

 

[noahmercy]

"Any suggestions where I could find any answers on this?"

You NEED to subscribe to the Red Eagle News Exchange, (RENE) and get the "Ruger Reference Guide" offered by Chad. (Chad goes by chet15 here.)
On page 26 & 27 of the Reference Guide; Type 2 Flatgates have a short throw EJR housing, and Type 3 have the long throw ERH. "offset slot lengthened from .937" to .765" from the front of the frame."

Interestingly,, already knowing this,, I now wonder if it's a typo in the Guide. Wondering if the numbers got reversed in the order of appearance. I'm going to have to look into that. Or heck,, maybe I'm reading it backwards.
I do know there are short & long offset slots.
But,, in any case,, yes,,, there were (3) variations of ERH's.,

Mine is dead on .765" from the front of the frame to the rear of the ejector rod slot. .937" would place it further from the frame and make for a shorter ejector rod throw, if I'm braining right.

 

[Hondo44]

Mine is dead on .765" from the front of the frame to the rear of the ejector rod slot. .937" would place it further from the frame and make for a shorter ejector rod throw, if I'm braining right. View attachment 1297

You are correct. My mistake! Being old really sucks!

 

[noahmercy]

You are correct. My mistake! Being old really sucks!

No problem...I had to hold my tongue just right to figure it out!

 

[Ale-8(1)]

That's always been a source of confusion. It's "long slot, short throw . . . short slot, long throw" and then they got smart and just quit using the offset altogether. As mentioned, the "length" of the slot is measured from the front of the frame, not the overall length measured from the front end.

They changed -- shortened -- the slot to accommodate the slightly "longer" ejection throw required to accommodate the .357 cases compared to the .22 cases. The last change just made manufacturing simpler. Bill was no dummy.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Looks great, both the Ruger and the grips!

 

[rugerguy]

....Good information above and a FINE looking 'early' type 3 Single Six, and really nice looking stags too boot....yes, MANY a flat gate back then and later on , had the loading gate replaced, at first with the LONGER Premiere version, an aftermarket offering, Ruger got smart ( gave in ?? ) and went to the rounded loading gate , Bill liked the flatgates ,made them LOOK like a Ruger, NOT a Colt...

here is one my wife has , a few numbers lower than yours, the original owner had sent it back to Ruger and had the Premiere gate as well as walnut grips from a .44 flatop installed in 1957.....it has the complete set, box, split shipper, tags, etc and yes she still has the original flatgate and hard rubber grips for it.......

 

[area51guy]

My "Old Model" beater. Got this 20 years ago with the nice sambar grips on, and while it has some uglies on the outside (small pits on a section of the cylinder), the chambers and bore are minty and it shoots just fine. The cylinder gap is between .001" and .002"! Has all the features of a flatgate (square ejector rod head, long-throw notched housing, serial number range, etc.) but has a factory round gate installed and seems like it's been on it a long time based on the patina matching the frame. Never sent back for the transfer bar upgrade, so this is a load-one-skip-one-load-four proposition. One of my more prized Rugers...
View attachment 1266
View attachment 1267

View attachment 1268
View attachment 1269
View attachment 1270

I have one much like your Single Six. I bought it as a used gun in 1972 right after getting out of the Navy. The price out the door was $65.00! My gun is an XR3, has stag stocks, Micro sights and the magnum cylinder. The serial on my Ruger is 4169xx. Here's a picture:
PS not sure why it rotated!

 

[noahmercy]

I have one much like your Single Six. I bought it as a used gun in 1972 right after getting out of the Navy. The price out the door was $65.00! My gun is an XR3, has stag stocks, Micro sights and the magnum cylinder. The serial on my Ruger is 4169xx. Here's a picture:
PS not sure why it rotated!

Nice...really like the plum frame. And I don't know that I've actually seen an old model with the micro-sights before.

 

[rugerguy]

yes, much like the Premiere loading gate, etc Micro offered an adjustable sight set up using the dove tail of the fixed rear Ruger sight and a sort of clamp on front ,ramp setup used the round front Ruger sight, just as pictured, and of course again, this led Bill Ruger to make them with "adjustable sights" voila, the Super Single Six..

 

[Buckeye Bill]

You have got to love a1950's era Single Six. I found this one I found about 5 years ago at a local shop. Just plain fun to shoot.