Calling Red Eagle experts...

[Bkat]

I would appreciate some opinions on a Red Eagle standard auto I saw today at a local gun shop. It comes with suposedly original box, manual and business reply card and is priced at $350. The SN is 339XX. The shop says it's a 1951 gun, but both RENE and the Ruger site say it's 1952. There's a noticeable 1 or 2 millimeter chip out of the red eagle, but other than that I would guess it's a 93--95% gun, although I'm not very good at estimating condition. There's just a small, faint streak of "blueing fade" on one side of the barrel, and that's the only real flaw I can see other than the chipped red eagle.

According to RENE, the SN range (30002--35029) makes it a type 8 Red Eagle. However, RENE also says there were Black Eagles in the SN range of 33041--49664. The trigger is chrome plated but I do not remember the bolt being blued, as RENE describes. The box is in good condition with the right catalog numbers. No serial number is penciled on it.

So a couple questions:

--Is it possible this is a black eagle that has been dressed up with faux red eagle grips?
--Did some Red Eagles ship in 1952?
--If this is a type 8 Red Eagle, is the $350 price a bargain, given the condition of the gun and box as I've described it?

If it's a bargain, I'll probably pick it up. If it's just a so-so price, I'll wait for a better example of a Red Eagle. Thanks in advance for any advice and opinions.

Bkat

 

[martyj]

Im not an expert but learned a lot from the ones that are.
The chip in the red eagle is caused by pressing the medallions into the grips at the factory and is normal on a lot of them.
As far as the shipping date call Ruger and they can tell you when it shipped.
I myself would not hesitate to buy it for that price especially if it has the one piece hinged box.
Come to think of I would of never left its side if the box and the gun were matched.

 

[street]

"Is it possible this is a black eagle that has been dressed up with faux red eagle grips?"
The red eagle grips will look just like the black eagle grips that came after them, but painted red,(the bird itself not the background, which will be silver). And yes they could have been painted RED.


"Did some Red Eagles ship in 1952?"
Sturm died in Nov.1951, so probably before all of the Red Eagles were used up it was probably early 1952. Chad would know for sure.


"If it's a bargain, I'll probably pick it up. If it's just a so-so price, I'll wait for a better example of a Red Eagle."
If it is a Red Eagle with the box, that would be a good buy, that is if all of the parts are correct and the box is correct. As for the box it should be a one piece box (with a hinged lid which is usually broken off), with (NO) part number on the box, such as RST-4. It should be Orange, on top it should have a Black Eagle on a white background. The end of the box should read "22 Ruger Pistol".


The trouble with buying a Red Eagle in the 30,000 range, there is no sure way to tell if it is a Red or Black Eagle. But if you like the gun and the price, then buy it, if you are not that hot on the idea, then pass!!!!!

 

[Bkat]

Thanks street. It's a two-piece box but with the correct numbering. Were all Red Eagles shipped in the one-piece hinged box?

Bkat

 

[street]

Thanks street. It's a two-piece box but with the correct numbering. Were all Red Eagles shipped in the one-piece hinged box?

Bkat

Yes all Red Eagle were shipped in one piece boxes, with the hinged lid. The Black Eagles used this same box up to serial number about 90800. Then the box looked the same but it was a two piece box. Your gun with that serial number should have that one piece hinged box,

 

[rugerguy]

as said above, good info, and the box just may indeed be a "hinged " version and the tape is torn across the back......
even then its a GOOD box and at that price , either way ,black or red ,it is a good price 'boxed'........ it is prtty close to the cut off of red/black so as said above, would need to contact the factroy, get a proper ship date......closer lookl at the box may find some sort of numbers ,somewhere ( shoul dbe on the end with the the label and even if 'erased' you could possibly make out what was written there......have to "see" it all, tough to speculate on the "unknown".........

 

[martyj]

This pistol was shipped 02/1952 according to Ruger.
Has kind of unique serial #33939

 

[Bkat]

Thanks to all for the info and advice. I decided to pass and continue looking for a lower serial number, but did pass the location info to another forum member who was interested. It did not have the hinged box and did not have the blued bolt of a type 8, which concerned me.

Thanks,
Bkat

 

[chet15]

Tough to verify a red eagle shipped in February 1952 unless you have it in hand. As Martyj said, 99.9% of red eagle medallions (those with the two piece medallion) will show a raised area at the eagles breast, which occurred when Ruger staked the medallion on the back of the grip...when staking it tended to push the stem through the breast of the eagle, so when the middle of the eagle pushed out the paint also cracked just slightly. All normal for the two piece medallion. If the medallion is perfectly painted without the push out on the eagle, or the crack in the paint it is more than likely a re-paint.
At the beginning of this thread you said there were catalog numbers on the end of the box. If so, then the box is wrong for the gun. The only thing on the end of the box for that early a gun should be a white rectangular panel with ".22 RUGER PISTOL". The box should also be mostly red with a white circle in the middle of the lid and black eagle within.
If the medallion looks right, I wouldn't be too worried about a gun showing up (shipped in February 1952) with red eagle medallions. Sturm died in mid Nov. 1951 and it took until February 1952 for the supply of red medallions to run out...so it wasn't an overnight change.
Chet15

 

[Bkat]

Thanks Chet. What about the unblued bolt--would that make it something other than a type 8?

Bkat

 

[chet15]

If it has an unblued bolt, it is either a case of the bolt being a leftover from Type 7 Red Eagle production (very unlikely since the last of those were in the 12xxx range), or somebody mixed and matched when reassembling their gun. A white bolt on a high numbered Type 8 is definitely an item that cannot be proven to be an original part with that gun (but remember, blue bolts are a dime a dozen...just needs to match the blue on the rest of the gun). I imagine there's always somebody out there that could use a scarce all-white bolt.
Chet15

 

[rugerguy]

makes you also wonder if it wasn't "polished out" to brighten up ??? or remove rust??
Pictures would help......................

 

[Bkat]

Thanks Chad & Dan. Dan, the blueing could have been removed as you say. Don't have pix since the gun is at the dealer. Since I still haven't acquired my first red eagle, I've decided to pass on this one and look for a lower SN. The box is wrong too.

Bkat