Another mismarked Police Service Six: MERGED THREADS

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Waynes124

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Feb 8, 2022
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Hello all,
I'm a new guy from Maryland who just joined a few days ago, if fact, this is my first post. I was reading some of the posts regarding the Police Service Six with round butts that were mis-marked because my son was a Montgomery Co, Maryland Police Officer for 30 years and was issued one of these as a new hire. When the county upgraded to semi-autos a few years later, they allowed the officers to purchase these revolvers for $125. He asked me if I wanted to buy it, so I did. I lettered the gun with Ruger a few weeks ago and actually received a call back from them explaining what I had. The letter pretty much says what Ruger told me over the phone but truthfully, I'm more confused now than ever. I measured the thickness at the bottom of the grip, and it measures 7mm with my micrometer. I would very much appreciate it if someone could explain to me exactly what I have because the Ruger letter is confusing. Oh, by the way, my son will one day get his gun back. I appreciate any and all advice.
Thanks



















 

hittman

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About Ruger saying GS-84HP and GF-84HP. Here's the definition;

GS = stainless Speed Six
GF = stainless Service Six with fixed sites

84 = 38 Special caliber with 4 inch barrel

H = heavy barrel
P = Pachmayr (rubber) grips

So ..... Ruger claims you have a Service Six as the rollmark indicates; regardless of the round butt.

My guess would be that maybe when the order for these Service Six's was placed, only the round butt Speed Six frames were available so .... they used them and put the Service Six rollmark on them. Maybe it was a "rush" order .... who knows.

==========================================================================

I have a round butt Police Service Six, 357 Magnum with 2.75 inch barrel. It also has a factory round butt like the Speed Six.

My letter from Ruger says mine is a SPEED Six, GS-32F; regardless of how they rollmarked it.
 

Waynes124

Bearcat
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Feb 8, 2022
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Thank you Hittman, I appreciate the info. I do have the original Pachmayr grips as well.
 

contender

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Welcome to the Forum!

Nice way to introduce yourself,, with a fine "mistake" Ruger! It's not the "thickness" of the grip frame,, but the SHAPE of the gripframe that's the issue.
A Speed-Six has a more rounded butt shape,, while the Service-Six is a bit more square. Maybe this helps reduce your confusion. If you can find a Speed-Six and a Service-Six to compare it to,, you'll see the differences easily.
 
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There are not many Speed Sixes (which is "physically" what you have) that are roll marked Police Service Six (PSS). As said above, most likely Ruger got a contract for 4" PSS's chambered in .38 Spl and ran out of PSS frames so to fulfill the contract they used Speed Six frames. That is why the Ruger paper gives you both model numbers.
 

hittman

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Here's a copy and paste of some info sent to me by Terry T a few years ago.

Mis-Marked Ruger "Speed Sixs"

A very few (14) Speed Sixes (round butt) have been found roll marked "Ruger Police Service Six" rather than "Ruger Speed Six".

Initial speculation was that these were originally square butt guns that had their butts rounded at the factory to fulfill orders for round butt guns when there was shortage of round butt guns in inventory.

However, when one measures the thickness of the bottom of the grip, one finds that (on scalloped frame guns) the grip frame measures 0.31" on a round butt but only 0.29" on a square butt. This refutes the grinding theory. A better answer is simply that the wrong roll mark was used.

In the case of the San Francisco gun, several years elapsed between manufacturing date (1984, by ser. no.) and shipping date (1988) and then it was shipped to a police agency. We can speculate that Ruger Quality Control set this particular revolver aside until it could be used in a manner where the erroneously or mis-marked frame would not be an issue.
 

hittman

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I don't have this in writing and relying on memory. But, when I ordered the letter on my gun, the nice lady at Ruger called me.

She wanted to make sure I was looking for info on a ROUND butt SERVICE Six. I did.

She thought some police agency had a super-rush order for a small number of SERVICE Six's ….. only the Speed Six frames were already done so they roll marked them SERVICE and completed the order. Then the police agency cancelled all or part of the order. That's when they went out to a distributor.
 

Waynes124

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Messages
7
Thank you all for your comments. So, based on what is said above by Hittman and Terry T, is it the general consensus here that the gun I have is actually a Speed Six and was incorrectly roll marked by the factory as a Police Service Six? And, based on what Terry T said, "A very few (14) Speed Sixes (round butt) have been found roll marked "Ruger Police Service Six" rather than "Ruger Speed Six". Does that put this gun on the list with the other 14?
 

Waynes124

Bearcat
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Feb 8, 2022
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Update on Another mismarked Police Service Six with Ruger letter.
Hey guys, Ruger called me last week and said they made a mistake on the letter they sent me earlier and would be sending out a new letter. The new letter attached clears up the mis-stamping issue. Your comments are appreciated.

https://i.postimg.cc/QMV9Vt5t/Ruger-Service-Six-letter.jpg
 

Waynes124

Bearcat
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Feb 8, 2022
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Hi all,
This is an update to a previous post I made a couple of weeks ago regarding "another mis-marked Police Service Six" that I own.
I received a call from Ruger last week saying the letter they sent me a few weeks ago was incorrect and they would be sending me a new letter. I think the new letter clears up any confusion about the mis-marked roll stamp. If you care to see photos, you can search the original post below. I welcome your comments.


https://i.postimg.cc/QMV9Vt5t/Ruger-Service-Six-letter.jpg
 

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