Acquired a Single Six

[HogMaintainer]

Several years back I inherited this 'old model' SS from my grandfather. At the time, I knew nothing about Ruger revolvers and didn't show much interest in it because it was a 22, very silly of me I know. Fast forwarding to now, I finally went out and shot it for the first time since 2014, it was a blast! It also turns out it is un-converted. I believe this gun was made between 62-68. I will have to get the S/N a little later because I couldn't find much on it.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Welcome to the forum !
Grandpa left you a good one for you to pass down one day & sounds like you are enjoying it like he planned.
Terry

 

[bedfordboy]

You might want to clean it really well, I inherited one from my father years back and came down with a raging case of Ruger-itis that I’ve been battling ever since, still flares up several times a year, there is no cure and the only known treatment is buying more Rugers which can cause a secondary condition of hemorrhaging money from your wallet

 

[rugerguy]

welcome to the forum , and let us know what the serial number is ( you can always block the last digit or two) we can help you determine just when...good point above, a good cleaning, keep it simple if you are not familiar with them,,,just remove the wood grip panels and you can soak it in kerosene, works wonders........let it soak at least overnight, blow it all off and out with an air hose,,,spray it down with a good oil, blow off that excess, swab out the bore and the chambers, you'll be good to go,put the wood grip panels back on...we just did one last week ,sat in someone 'backroom' since the mid 60s, and she looks, works ,like a charm,,,made them happy campers...
what kind of "hogs" do you 'maintain' ?? feral, farm or Harley Davidsons??

 

[KIR]

Congrats on your inheritance. Did yours come with an extra cylinder for .22 Magnum ammo?
I purchased mine in 1967 when it was manufactured. A few years later, I took my oldest son out in the desert for some practice. I placed three cans up for targets and he couldn't even come close to hitting any of them. He did not know I first loaded the pistol with blank ammo. I then aimed the gun at the center can and when it went off, the two cans on each side were knocked over and BOTH had small holes in them. I later told him about the blank ammo.
Many years later when he came to visit me he asked me for the gun as it was something he always would have a remembrance of me and our day out in the desert.

 

[HogMaintainer]

Yes, cleaning it is in the agenda for sure! But the gun as it is is working beautiful. The hogs I maintain are the flying kind. The Warthog

 

[HogMaintainer]

Congrats on your inheritance. Did yours come with an extra cylinder for .22 Magnum ammo?
I purchased mine in 1967 when it was manufactured. A few years later, I took my oldest son out in the desert for some practice. I placed three cans up for targets and he couldn't even come close to hitting any of them. He did not know I first loaded the pistol with blank ammo. I then aimed the gun at the center can and when it went off, the two cans on each side were knocked over and BOTH had small holes in them. I later told him about the blank ammo.
Many years later when he came to visit me he asked me for the gun as it was something he always would have a remembrance of me and our day out in the desert.

Unfortunately, I don't have the magnum cylinder. But if I can find one, I want to get it. Awesome memories! Wish my grandfather was around to shoot with.

 

[Hvymax]

welcome to the forum , and let us know what the serial number is ( you can always block the last digit or two) we can help you determine just when...good point above, a good cleaning, keep it simple if you are not familiar with them,,,just remove the wood grip panels and you can soak it in kerosene, works wonders........let it soak at least overnight, blow it all off and out with an air hose,,,spray it down with a good oil, blow off that excess, swab out the bore and the chambers, you'll be good to go,put the wood grip panels back on...we just did one last week ,sat in someone 'backroom' since the mid 60s, and she looks, works ,like a charm,,,made them happy campers...
what kind of "hogs" do you 'maintain' ?? feral, farm or Harley Davidsons??

I like Automatic Transmission Fluid. That stuff creeps in and loosens things up. I've filled a few seized engines over the years that fired up after a week after draining and filling with proper oil.

 

[gunman42782]

Wonderful little guns. Love the Single Six!

 

[Watertender]

Yes, cleaning it is in the agenda for sure! But the gun as it is is working beautiful. The hogs I maintain are the flying kind. The Warthog

Thanks for fixing the best medicine ever invented to take care of almost anything in a war

 

[contender]

Kudos on a sweet handgun. Lots of good info above.

If you are a guy working on A-10's,,, you'll fit right in around here! LOTS of us are some form of aviator or have been. And the A-10 is a very respected aircraft!

 

[rugerguy]

Now that, I should have thought of, as my nephew recently retired USMC and was a "Harrier" crew chief out there in Yuma ,Az........ between there and Iwakune ,Japan,,,,, bless his little heart,,,,and bless yours too......
I recall my brother in law who was on the Enterprise back in the Gulf of Tonkin ( two tours) later telling us one of the 'troops" favorites was the Warthog, and my GE guys loved the C-130s with ALL them 'gatling guns" and such.......neat stuff

Again, welcome aboard.........

 

[Hankus]

Yes, cleaning it is in the agenda for sure! But the gun as it is is working beautiful. The hogs I maintain are the flying kind. The Warthog

The ground-pounder’s favorite aircraft!

 

[HogMaintainer]

Thank you for all the warm welcomes! It has truly been a pleasure serve in the military and experience the things most people don't.

I hope to learn a lot from this forum!

 

[Hondo44]

Congrats, a very nice heirloom to inherit. If you can dig up the serial number we can pin down the year for you. But you got the approximate range. After ‘62 with its slightly larger XR3-RED grip frame. And well into the convertible cyl range with its slightly larger barrel bore for the .22 Mag.

 

[HogMaintainer]

Grabbed a photo of the SN!

 

[hittman]

RENE says 1962, I don’t think it came with a Magnum cylinder.

 

[HogMaintainer]

RENE says 1962, I don’t think it came with a Magnum cylinder.

Thank you for looking that up. Ah, so that may be why I don't have one.

 

[wproct]

Welcome to the forum! You have a very nice revolver. I just love the older 3-screw Rugers. Love to hear them sing when you work the action.

 

[HogMaintainer]

Welcome to the forum! You have a very nice revolver. I just love the older 3-screw Rugers. Love to hear them sing when you work the action.

Those hammer clicks are so soothing!

 

[HAWKEYE#28]

Thank you for looking that up. Ah, so that may be why I don't have one....

SPLITZ sez: If your bore diameter does not allow/sanction use of 22 mag ammo, thus no extra mag cylinder for that as a five digit SN vintage gun(Unless you covered two digits and the serial is 244xxx, as there were a VERY small number of Single Sixes made in that range that were convertibles...I owned 244301 at one time)

 

[Danjet500]

If your gun has a 6 digit serial number Ruger would have retrofitted a magnum cylinder if requested. Guns that had a serial number 150000 or lower had the smaller .22lr barrel diameter and consequently they would not fit a magnum cylinder.

 

[HogMaintainer]

If your gun has a 6 digit serial number Ruger would have retrofitted a magnum cylinder if requested. Guns that had a serial number 150000 or lower had the smaller .22lr barrel diameter and consequently they would not fit a magnum cylinder.

Mine is 6 digit, but I'm sure it was never fitted for one is my guess.

 

[HAWKEYE#28]

Rare gun in that SN block and they were all convertibles..........244020 to 244318(1962) pg. 71-72 in Hiddleson's REFERENCE OF RUGER FIREARMS, Single Six Convertibles

 

[HogMaintainer]

Rare gun in that SN block and they were all convertibles..........244020 to 244318(1962) pg. 71-72 in Hiddleson's REFERENCE OF RUGER FIREARMS, Single Six Convertibles

That's nice to know. Thank you for tracking down that info

 

[HogMaintainer]

So I was digging through my things and I found the matching magnum cylinder for my gun! Lucky me because I was gonna buy one.

 

[chet15]

Rare gun in that SN block and they were all convertibles..........244020 to 244318(1962) pg. 71-72 in Hiddleson's REFERENCE OF RUGER FIREARMS, Single Six Convertibles

Not all of the 244xxx range guns were convertibles. Gotta go to the LR only series in the Ruger Reference... there were around 130 of the 244xxx range that were shipped as RSS5W LR only.
Regardless... that is a desireable gun!!
Chet15

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

That's a rare one indeed, in the Lightweight range but not a Lightweight. I have 244064, a convertible in about 98% condition and a 4 digit valuation.

The bulk of the 2xxxxx SN range was reserved for the 1950's Lightweight Single Sixes with aluminum alloy cylinder frames. Ruger seemed to have started to reuse that range in the early 1960s with these guns, then changed their mind and switched to the 4xxxxx range (because the 3xxxxx range was reserved for the 6.5" RSSM and RSSMX). In later years, there were some other barrel lengths in the upper 3xxxxx range but only that brief burst of non-Lightweights in the 2xxxxx range. After 4xxxxx was exhausted, they jumped to 8xxxxx because the 5xxxxx range was reserved for adjustable sight Super Single Sixes and they probably thought those would just keep going into 6xxxxx and 7xxxxx but GCA68 dashed those plans by requiring every serial number from a manufacturer to ID one and only one gun, so Ruger complied with the prefixed numbers starting in 1969.

 

[HogMaintainer]

Thank you for explaining some of the history. I am definitely holding onto the gun. I didn't realize how rare some of these were. Mine is a shooter and will continue being my plinker.

 

[HogMaintainer]

Just wanted to revive this thread because I just got my Ruger letter back and wanted to share it. Gun was originally delivered to Wichita, KS, my hometown where my Grandfather purchased it.