Hawkeyes & the late, great H.H. Sefried II

[mr.deerstalker]

I have always been a fan of the late Harry H. Sefried. Rugers engineer turned Master Gun designer. Bill R. hired him in think in early late 57 or early 58 to my understanding, Bill R. wanted to start on single shot pistols, and start working on rifles. the 22 & 22 hornet prototypes pistols never went into production. his action work on the "New" Super Black Hawk in 1958/59 was great. He co-designed the1022 with Bill R., making his with now intuitive 1022 10 round rotary clip. the long hours an 13 or so prototype Hawkeye pistols in 61/62 still the only Ruger pistol with an 8.5 in Barrel. here's two of mine, one is engraved (not factory) and of two known Harry H. Sefried pistols. Bill R. received one for Christmas 1958, and mine. is there more out there? Who really knows. but the striking resemblance of the Hawkeye can not be discounted. Mr. Sefried retired from Ruger in 1979, died on June 19 2005 (my birthday) to me he was the John Browning of our times. gone 20 years now this June, but not forget by this gun enthusiasts.
Mr. DS

 

[JAYDAWG]

Wow,
Some cool history there. Good for you:cool:

 

[contender]

Color me very jealous,, and at the same time glad to see them in a good home!

I too have a weakness for the Hawkeye's and I knew of that other pistol too!

VERY, VERY nice!

 

[Bullthrower338]

Thanks for posting these! Wonderful

 

[flattop44]

Great story and great gun designer. I am the caretaker of one of Harry's Rugers. It is Single-Six #58 and is stamped with a "S" in front of the trigger guard. It may be the only 2-digit RSS that is stamped as a Second. The factory letter says it was mfg. 6/04/54 and it was first shipped to Sloans, NY on 3/30/66. It was returned, stamped as a second and picked up by Harry Sefried on 5/12/66.
FT44/Bill

 

[Johnnu2]

Great info here............

THANKS

J.

 

[Fargo General Store]

As it is -18 F in Fargo now, I was up reviewing a few old posts and saw this one on Mr. Sefried, of course I couldn't hold back on my story about a special revolver he was involved with in 1954! My friend the Potato farmer had this special New in the Box early flat gate revolver serial #13xx and it was a BEAUTY. After over a year of bothering him about it he allowed me to take it home. It was a special model for Mr. George Rowbottom, one of WBR's safari hunting buddies and was special because: 1) It was ordered with factory stags that were listed on the included invoice for a total of around $54. 2) It came from Hank Williams Jr. before Terry. 3) It had a handwritten note from Harry Sefried saying; Mr. Rowbottom, I finally received the stag grips for your single six, and when I fitted them I did it with the grip frame in the "white", it looked so good that I have shipped it to you that way. If you would like me to anodize the grip frame, please return and I will do so. It is such a neat story I felt I had to share it. Lucky Terry is not very good with a computer, ( to put it mildly), as he would probably make me return it! I don't think many of these made it out with factory stags on the invoice, or in the white, maybe someone can educate me on this. Thanks, Bill

 

[arcticruger]

Excellent stuff! :)

…and thanks for the pics!

 

[chet15]

As it is -18 F in Fargo now, I was up reviewing a few old posts and saw this one on Mr. Sefried, of course I couldn't hold back on my story about a special revolver he was involved with in 1954! My friend the Potato farmer had this special New in the Box early flat gate revolver serial #13xx and it was a BEAUTY. After over a year of bothering him about it he allowed me to take it home. It was a special model for Mr. George Rowbottom, one of WBR's safari hunting buddies and was special because: 1) It was ordered with factory stags that were listed on the included invoice for a total of around $54. 2) It came from Hank Williams Jr. before Terry. 3) It had a handwritten note from Harry Sefried saying; Mr. Rowbottom, I finally received the stag grips for your single six, and when I fitted them I did it with the grip frame in the "white", it looked so good that I have shipped it to you that way. If you would like me to anodize the grip frame, please return and I will do so. It is such a neat story I felt I had to share it. Lucky Terry is not very good with a computer, ( to put it mildly), as he would probably make me return it! I don't think many of these made it out with factory stags on the invoice, or in the white, maybe someone can educate me on this. Thanks, Bill

Yes, truly unique with the grip frame in the white. So it still looks like that??
Nice also that it was shipped with stag. Can you post a pic of the grips? Do you have a ship date on the Single-Six?
Chet15

 

[JAYDAWG]

As it is -18 F in Fargo now, I was up reviewing a few old posts and saw this one on Mr. Sefried, of course I couldn't hold back on my story about a special revolver he was involved with in 1954! My friend the Potato farmer had this special New in the Box early flat gate revolver serial #13xx and it was a BEAUTY. After over a year of bothering him about it he allowed me to take it home. It was a special model for Mr. George Rowbottom, one of WBR's safari hunting buddies and was special because: 1) It was ordered with factory stags that were listed on the included invoice for a total of around $54. 2) It came from Hank Williams Jr. before Terry. 3) It had a handwritten note from Harry Sefried saying; Mr. Rowbottom, I finally received the stag grips for your single six, and when I fitted them I did it with the grip frame in the "white", it looked so good that I have shipped it to you that way. If you would like me to anodize the grip frame, please return and I will do so. It is such a neat story I felt I had to share it. Lucky Terry is not very good with a computer, ( to put it mildly), as he would probably make me return it! I don't think many of these made it out with factory stags on the invoice, or in the white, maybe someone can educate me on this. Thanks, Bill

@Fargo General Store
Great story! Thanks for posting.
An awesome gun, Type 1 Flat gate, and with provenance.
Can't get much better than that.........
How about a couple pics :cool: