Ext Rare SDA-34MB

[T.A. WORKMAN]

42 years ago March 1984, a Noted Ruger D/A Collector and RCA member Mr. Sonny Johnson wrote an article for the March 1984 RCA Journal Issue Vol. 8 No.1

He reports on his new discovery of a Ruger Police Service-Six, SDA-34MB a 4”.357 Mag. previously unknown variation His SDA-34MB has four distinct features that regular Police Service-Six revolvers do not have.

No. 1 – A full 11/16” Bull Barrel from breech to muzzle.

No. 2 - The ERH is ½” wide, 1/8”wider than standard SDA revolvers.

No. 3 – Barrel Crown has a “LIP” which protrudes about 1/8” from the front of the sight rib.

No. 4 – The sight rib is a massive 17/32” wide with 12 fine grooves, vs the standard 3/8” rib with 7 coarse grooves. 5/32” wider! It was milled with the same tooling as the No.1 Rifle rib.

At the 1983 NRA Show in Phoenix AZ. he was able to confirm that his revolver was indeed factory through 3 individual factory employee’s in attendance at the show.
He learned later that the “LIP” was the result of a 1/16” machine set-up error. It was stated that his barrel should have been scrapped.
I wonder how many barrels were run before the error was caught and the fate of those barrels. Were they scrapped or assembled and shipped.? But no way to letter for right now?

42 years later March 2026, I was fortunate enough to locate & buy my own SDA-34MB, identical to Sonny’s discovery. (wink) Mine is a Ruger Police Service-Six .357 Mag. Serial #152-79211. Made 1977.

I contacted Chad and ask him how many were made & that I had located one. He replied back IIRCC 8 or 9, due to rarity there was not a lot of info. How ever RENE lists the serial # range as #152-68188 – 152-79622, and also so a GF-34MB Ser.#152-87886 (Sonny’s?) Chad also told me that Sonny’s factory contact was none other than Steve Vogel, WBR’s son-in law who was in charge of LEO. Military And Foreign Government contracts.

Now the bad news...the gun was not stored properly and showed rust in several spots, the hammer & trigger sides were sad. I figured it at 70 – 75% ?. But I new it was very rare. I was hoping that the
condition would turn most away. As it ended up I got it with out any trouble.

There is a saying among collectors that I took Heed to….”When Rarity Trumps Condition” This gun clearly fits that adage, IMHO.

Pictures from GB,

Upon receiving the gun I noticed that other than poor storage & neglect, it appeared unfired after proofing, note cylinder turn line. When I took her apart she was clean as a whistle on the inside no carbon nothing. I cleaned up the sides of hammer & trigger. I had a spare blue trigger assembly w/smooth trigger so I switched out the trigger from my gun replacing the smooth one after cleaning. After a couple of days of soaking in kerosene I started working on the Cylinder Frame & cylinder it's self with #0000 steel wool & oil, over the next few days this is how she turned out. I am going to replace the hammer though.
Terry

Note this picture shows 3 of the 4 different features of the gun. 1.- 11/16" Bull Barrel. 2. - The ERH is 1/2" wide which is 1/8" larger than standard SDA revolvers.
3. - The muzzle crown "LIP"

Muzzle Crown

Massive 17/32" Sight Rib which is 5/32 wider than standard SDA revolvers, with 12 very fine grooves, vs standard 3/8" rib with 7 coarse grooves.

Last but not least, Sony's article.

 

[contender]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! EXCELLENT score there. Ron, Terry, Bob & a few others are gonna be envious!

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Ty,
I would not be surprised if the weasel man pulled one out of his hat....
But I would be happy for him! I consider Bob to be the Modern Day Sonny Johnson of D/A Collectors.
I am pleased to say that we have our share of dedicated & serious D/A Collectors on the RF /ROCS and RCA forums.

 

[contender]

True enough! But heck,, if the weasel man did have one,, he'd be glad someone else found one.

Still a great find!

 

[RoninPA]

Ty,
You are right, I am envious. But good things do happen to good people sooner or later.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Envy can be a good thing!!! Envy makes us better hunters and more driven to hunt even harder.
We all suffer from the malady!..

I'll bet every D/A Collector out there will take a lot closer look at the Sight Rib's on Ruger Police Service-Six's
that they encounter from now on..

I have always taken a look at all -Six series revolver's that I come across regardless of condition. It paid off in March....
For your notes Ron I forgot to mention in my post that a standard SDA 4" gun weighs 33.5 oz. - mine weighs 34.1 oz.

 

[RoninPA]

Thank you for that info Terry, it has been duly noted and recorded in my books. OH, and when I first read about your aquisition, I immediately went to my collection and looked ALL of them over, not just the PSS's

 

[chet15]

It is interesting that the employees said these were the result of machine set-up error. Not sure how that could happen when these were indeed the very first bull barrel DA's. You would think they would have looked at the end of the barrel at some point before machining a bunch of others... Not only that, they letter as SDA-34MB and GF-34MB. The heavy barrel guns have always been SDA-34H and GF-34H, but those don't begin until later sn's.
So, dunno.
Chet15

 

[hittman]

Likely a stupid question but ….. was there a manufacturing difference between the MB machined barrels and the H heavy barrels?

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Chad,
The way I read Sonny's article is that the 3 employees at the NRA Show verified that the gun was Factory and MB=Machined Barrel.
Then on the second page as he is describing the muzzle "LIP" he mentioned the adjustment error. I think that this could be knowledge
that Sonny got from Vogel. Just a thought but I'll bet he and Steve shared a lot that none of us will ever know.

I was disappointed that he never mentioned his guns serial number in the article, was the GF-34MB in the reference one of Sonny's pair?
Thanks for your help on this one..
Terry