Got me a Service Six!!

[FergusonTO35]

I won this Service Six on Gunbroker. Its .38 Special and near the end of the line for the grand old Six series, 1988. When I look at these I think "man, thats the ultimate evolution of the DA revolver." I have a GP and like it very much but the Sixes are just in a class of their own.

I'm eagerly looking forward to getting this revolver into my hot hands and have some questions about it. Are there any known trouble spots with them? Do they have much parts commonality with the GP-100? I shoot almost exclusively 158 grain lead bullets. Do these revolvers have a known bullet preference? What are their sights regulated to?

 

[Tommyhof]

I had a Speed Six that I gave to my son, I shot 158 LSWC (relaods) with no problems.

 

[Glupy]

That is a very nice find. The 4-in version is my favorite.

I have several revolvers in the Six series and there seems to be no bullet weight preferences. Either that or my skills are insufficient to notice the difference.

I don't know anything about parts commonality. Mine are all only 30 years old and nothing has broken, loosened or fallen off yet.

Dave

 

[hittman]

Are there any known trouble spots with them?

Yes. You can't own just one!

No commonality with the GP, no idea on bullet preferences. I have one just like yours and assume they were older LEO or Security Guard trades as my dealer got half a dozen at once. Mine was a nice little find for $300.00.

 

[contender]

Congrats on getting a fine revolver. Who was the seller??? We have a member here who offered one a few weeks back,, and it could be the same person,,,! If not,,, I know where another one is,,,,!

 

[Terry T]

By the by, we figure only 20% to 25% were made up in 38spl. and most of those were for the LE market. No one knows how many of those were destroyed rather than resold.

Speaking of destroyed - confiscated guns are now destroyed but folks are making parts kits out of every thing but the frame. One can pick up a 357mag cylinder on gunbroker.com for not much money. It's a 'drop in' part. As a collector, I'd keep the original cyl. and then have the flexability of a 357 mag.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Terry T

 

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks alot guys. The only thing I don't like about the Six series is that Ruger doesn't make 'em anymore!! 8) I wish that, when Ruger created the GP-100, they continued to use the Six series frame, grip, and styling. The seller was Wain Roberts in Florida, known as Widebuffalo on Gunbroker. He's a great guy, I've bought stuff from him before.

 

[stantheman86]

I was watching that one on Gunbroker! I'm glad you got it, instead I picked up two of those Cook County Hospital security trade-ins that the one guy had a bunch of. I already had two of them I bought from the same guy, so now I have 4 of the CCH marked .38 Service Sixes.

That later 1988 Service Six was probably regulated for 125-130 gr. .38 +P's, I have a 1988 4" .38 Special Speed Six, basically the twin of that gun, and that's what it's zeroed for.

From 1986-88 the Service and Speed Sixes were assembled from NOS parts, because adjustable sight GP100 production began in 1986 and Security Six production pretty much ended in '86. To fill the bill for fixed sight service revolvers, the Service and Speed were assembled for two more years, until the fixed sight GP's came out in '88.

Most of my fixed sight Sixes don't seem to have much of a preference, some of them shoot to POA with anything from 130's to 158's. I only have one later 1986 Service Six that only shoots to POA with 125 gr. .357's. Otherwise, just aim higher!

A few PD's would not allow their officers to carry .357's, for "PC" reasons and liablility. The word "Magnum" scares soccer moms and liberals, the fact that Police Officers in their town or city carry "Magnums" wouldn't sit right with the libs..the NYPD was one of them, the .38 Special Service Six was an authorized duty gun...also many security companies wanted .38 Special Rugers because they too didn't want the liablilty of .357, and they wanted something cheaper and tougher than a S&W Model 10. Also some states only allow security companies to use .38 Special revolvers, no autoloaders........which is why the Taurus 82's were and are so popular wih rent-a-cop companies.

I collect the .38 Special GP100's and Speed/Service Sixes, I just think they are neat.

Yes, there were far fewer of them made, but ironically the "market" value of the .38's is overall lower, since more people buy Ruger Sixes to shoot, than to collect and most want the .357's.

I started with a 4" stainless .357 Speed Six about 4 years ago, and now I own over a dozen of the Sixes. I don't like the Security Sixes as much, I am a fixed sight revolver shooter and collector, I just like the way they look and handle.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Stantheman, you are officially my hero. I love fullsize revolvers chambered in .38 Special only. To me they are just anachronistic cool. I'm looking to get a .38 special GP-100 too, although it'll be awhile before I have the cash to buy one. In the early 2000's they were listed in the Ruger catalog and I wanted one. The dealer told me he could get a stainless, half shroud model for $400.00. I should've went for it but I ended up buying my S&W 10-5 for $200.00--and it has served me very well.

I'm a big fan of the .38 Special cartridge too. Its just the perfect wheelgun round. Very accurate, no fancy bullets or loading technique required, most common pistol powders work well in it. A 158 grain lead flatnose at 860 fps is easy to shoot, hits hard, and is cheap to load. About the sights: the front sight on this revolver is replaceable, right? My experience is that if the gun was built for the light bullets it will likely shoot low with 158's. If its replaceable I would just acquire an extra sight and file it to the correct height, as I did with my old SP-101. If you should come across a shooter grade .38 GP-100 feel free to give me a heads up.

 

[Jake Bauer]

Congrats Ferg. I love my Service Six as well. I definitely want one of each of the Six series before I die.

 

[protoolman]

The common story is that all the fixed sight service and speed sixes were zeroed for 158 gr. loads.

 

[stantheman86]

Here's my two .38 Special GP100's. I love .38 Special, an ultra modern, strong revolver made for monster .357 loads, chambered for .38 Special is neat to me. The fact that I have both a S&W M&P from 1915 and a GP100 from 2003 chambered for the exact same round is interesting.

I also have this DAO .38 Special GP100 ordered by the NYPD, but never sold to officers. It is said they were never delivered by Ruger and the over-runs sold as surplus.......once in a while they pop up on GunBroker.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Lookin' good Stan. I really like the GPNY grip style, round butt rubber with plastic inserts. I'm glad someone else understands the weird, gravity-like pull of .357 size revolvers chambered in .38 Special. I'm thinking of starting a collection of fullsize .38's.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Here's a Geep in .38 with a 3" tube and GPNY style grips. Man, so many Rugers but so little money!! :?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=222051596

 

[stantheman86]

That's how I started, I was a newbie to the Ruger revolvers,only had a few .357 Sixes and GP's..... I saw that full lug 4" .38 in the pic above on GunBroker about 3 years ago, a dealer in NM was selling a bunch of them listed as security trade ins.....I was like "A GP100 in .38 Special??!" and I had to have it, never even knowing such a thing could exist. I thought "One of the strongest .357's ever made, chambered in .38....how cool is that!" Then I HAD to have one with the half lug, then I started looking for the .38 Sixes, and then more .357's to "balance" my collection out.......you know how it goes......

If you like S&W's, don't forget the 38/44 Heavy Duty......it's an N-frame with a 4" or 6" barrel, chambered in .38 Special. Made for a Hi Velocity .38, in the era prior to the .357, but it's neat..........it's still an N-Frame with .38 Special stamped on the barrel! For some reason Smith kept making them well after .357 revolvers were common.

I did just buy 3 more Service Sixes, chambered for, none other than .38 Special! A bunch of security trade ins must have just come on the market or something.

One of my "Grail Guns" is a 4" blue Service Six with the "US" stamp on it, of course it's a .38. Last one I saw on GB was a minty one that went over $1,000.

People who aren't infected by the ".38 Special Ruger DA disease" don't understand........even my dealer is like "Why do you buy so many of these .38 Rugers........you know you can shoot .38's in the .357's right?" And I was like "No, you just don't get it......."

I even heard of one guy who was having .38 Special Service Sixes and GP's reamed out to take .357's, and my heart just sank......

I even e-mailed Ruger asking how I could special order a 6" full lug blue GP100 chambered for .38 Special, just so I could have the first one in existence, but they didn't even bother to respond. I'll settle for my .357 Redhawk, I guess, as my "ridiculously overbuilt and heavy for the round" revolver.

I have always had a thing for massive, overbuilt revolvers. I shoot 158 gr. .38's out of the Redhawk and they feel like .22 shorts.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Say, you weren't born in San Antonio in 1978 were ya? I have a feeling we may have been separated at birth!! The cartridge rims in the cylinder of that Redhawk look like .22's.

The Service Six did arrive at the shop yesterday so I picked it up and hightailed home for a test shoot. Accuracy wise its at least on par with my S&W 10-5. If I do my part all six rounds will hit bull at 10 yards. The only down side is the grip. This gun has a really small grip frame and the bottom corner digs into my palm when firing, it doesn't give you much to hang on to. I've already ordered some rubber grips from Fleabay. Single and double action pull are really good and will likely get even better in time. Also, my K-frame speed loaders work just fine on this revolver, although the HKS website says you have to use the same ones for the Colt Trooper.

Very, very pleased with this sixgun so far. The only thing I really don't like about the Service Six is that Ruger doesn't make 'em any more. I like the S&W K-frame as long as its a .38. The 64 and 67 are on my list.

A 6" full lug Geep in .38 would be awesome, not least because it makes all the magnumaniacs sick at their stomachs. 8)

 

[stantheman86]

No unfortunately I was born in Southern NJ in 1980 :lol:

I'm glad the new Six worked out for you, they are truly addictive. I also am no huge fan of the stock "skinny" wood grips. They look cool, with the retro 70's looking checkered diamond, but for shooting they are pure crapola for me.....although they are OK for concealed carry in an IWB holster because they are so slim. I vastly prefer the wood target or as Ruger calls them the "Big Grip". Only a few of my Sixes have the skinny grips, I just wanted a few that were "original retro" but I don't shoot those much.

If Ruger did custom work I would pay a pretty penny for a 9.5" target gray Super Redhawk chambered in .38 Special, just for a sick novelty 8) It would be worth every penny the first time someone was like "what the heck is that thing?" and I would be like "It's a .38" :lol:

 

[FergusonTO35]

If the Six grip was the size of the square butt S&W K-frame it would be alright, but as it is not much bigger than an SP-101. What is your favorite grip for the Service Six, for range use and open carry? I just ordered a set of Pachmayr-ish rubber grips off Fleabay for $8.00. They were made in Italy, maybe thats where Sile used to get their Ruger factory grips.

 

[hittman]

What is your favorite grip for the Service Six, for range use and open carry?

The smaller wood checkered factory grips with a Tyler T-Grip.

 

[stantheman86]

I carry this one occasionally, the Speed Six grips make it better for concealed carry and the T-Grips fill the grip frame out a little to give me a little more to hold on to. I have since added a Tyler trigger shoe, I usually don't use them but they seem right on this gun. I usually carry it in this OWB holster under a long untucked shirt.

You're right, the Ruger medallion rubber grips are just Siles with inlaid medallions.