Finally scored another .32

[Mike Armstrong]

Found a stainless Single Six in .32 H&R NIB up in ID and jumped on it. Ruger .32s hard to find in CA at any sane price. (Don't know why because CA has no "listing" requirement for single actions, so they can be "imported" freely).

I'd been looking for one because frankly I use .32s mainly for small game and informal target shooting and don't need a .327, especially in the shorter barrel lengths--if I want flame, I have a New Model Blackhawk in .30! Mostly I shoot S&W Long wadcutters and .32 H&R cases reloaded to "cowboy power" levels. Kills small game and varmints within the ranges I can hit 'em.

Does anybody know when the stainless Single Six in .32 H&R was introduced? I've never seen a stainless one before, and wondered if this one was part of a distributor-only run. It's a 5 1/2" in the current gray plastic case. (I may have got this partly because I have a perfect holster for it....once got a Colt New Service .44-40 partly because I had a near-new Heiser holster for it....).

 

[NikA]

They are a distributor exclusive/clean up gun from this year. There was a sale on the blued version from a dealer in the classifieds here about a month or so ago. I believe there was one other previous adjustable sight .32 H&R model, but it would have been very uncommon and I don't have any info on it.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Thanks, NikA! Always glad to get in on the "cleanup"!

 

[Hondo44]

Mike,

Nice catch!

Recognize that the SSM (Single Six Magnum) with adjustable sights was never produced in stainless, only blue in the original 1984 to 1994 production run. So technically it's more than just a normal "clean up gun". It's a different model configuration of very limited production.

They were introduced by Davidson's 12/17/15 and all reporting indicates Davidson's original 99 are all that were made.

Yours has the fiber optic adj sights, correct?
To confirm, what's the model and catalog numbers from the box?

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Yeah, Jim it has the green fibre optic sights. I don't have it yet (you may have heard of our infamous CA "gun jail" where it is serving out its full 10-day sentence...). I'll tell you the model etc. when I actually get to take possession next week.

Did check it for casting voids, chips, burrs, etc. and found none. There are very faint annular machine marks on the cylinder, but, along with the matte (or at least not high-polish) finish, I just expect those will just hold CLP on the surface better. I don't like high-polish stainless at all.

Cylinder/barrel gap is good (just barely visible) and the gun locks up tight as a drum--no shake in the cylinder at all when locked. Sights are squared up too; no sign of a canted barrel.

Have some ammo on the way; it should get here about the time the gun is "released."

 

[Hondo44]

Well acquainted (and disgusted) with the 10 day "quarantine". I'm due north of you.

If you tire of the fibre Op sights, easy to swap.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Jim, I finally got my .32 out of jail and got it home. Next weekend, the range.

It is marked on the case: Model 06518, SN 650-57230, and Cat. # KSSM-5.

I apparently overpaid the dealer I bought it from $1, and when I opened the case, there was the greenback! My contact with this dealer and the transaction went perfectly; nice folks to talk to on the phone, too. Anybody that lives in Southern Idaho and needs an FFL, or needs to get a gun from Idaho elsewhere, might look them up: MidStar Firearms between Star and Middleton, near Boise. Am going to visit them on our annual O.F. Road Trip this summer; going to Boise and Lewiston to do a Jack O'Connor and Elmer Keith pilgrimage.... My brother is an amateur geologist, so we'll get to see lots of rocks and lots of rock, too. Idaho has plenty.

 

[Hondo44]

Hi Mike,

Way to go, you have a great pair.