Mark 2 II 678G Target Government US marked SN RB-103
- Thread starter golferboy426
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contender
Ruger Guru
Have you contacted "1gunsnotenough" here? He collects the MKII guns.
Is that David K I tried him but the email was old and bounced...guess not.. I PM's 1gun is......
contender
Ruger Guru
No,, his name is Ben.
RPM Enterprises
Buckeye
That was Robert K Brown who was the original owner of soldier of fortune magazine. I've known about this gun for a long time and tried to buy it but the owner couldn't decide what to do with it or sell it for.
see PM
chet15
Hawkeye
That's what it was!!! Rick, what was the sn of the other one that was known? The RB-103 of golfer boy's came out of a factory employee collection.
Chet15
RPM Enterprises
Buckeye
Chad, I know who has it but I don't know what the serial number is. I was told that the gun doesn't letter or even in the books. Golferboy should contact Ruger and see what info he can get on his. I am sure he may get the same result.
I 've got 3 odd ball guns that including this one that needs some factory research.. I'll be mailing the requests this week. Will keep everybody posted.
chet15
Hawkeye
That may be. We know the employee RB-103 came from however... the same tool maker that produced Ruger's first two Single-Six cylinder frames out of solid blocks of steel in 1952. 103 was his subscription number so he must have seen it, then snagged it as his own.
Chet15
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This will not letter. No record of this gun. I'm actually pretty surprised . It wasn't illegal to make your own gun but I think you had to serialize it and maybe even report it. I could be wrong. If Rex made this it probably was not legal to sell it. You could only made guns for your personal use. There is debate about that. If indeed you make it for your personal use you probably could sell it. he also may have requested a SN from the ATF.
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RPM Enterprises
Buckeye
Like I stated in a earlier post, I'm not surprised it won't letter and Ruger even have records on it. My opinion it does have a serial number the problem would be the manufacturer not having record of it. Nevertheless it is a interesting firearm.
to me it doesn't make sense Rex would take a completed gun out of the factory without some kind of record, especially with all the proper Mil spec type Govt packaging
RPM Enterprises
Buckeye
From what I remember hearing is that those mk2 U.S. contract guns were never meant to be in civilian hands. The few that did were taken by employees who had subscription numbers, since Ruger has auctioned a few in the last few years ago and if I remember correctly those were returned guns to be repaired. We may never find out the true answer on this one but as a collector and have a pretty intensive U.S. Mark 1 and Mark 2 collection I don't feel that this gun would be a good addition due to that it is not a confirmed military contract firearm. In addition there's no pedigree behind it. Possibly a lunch box special.
you don't get much better pedigree than coming from one of the best tool makers Ruger had, who also happened to have subscription 103. Somewhere no doubt I have all the paperwork from Rex to my dad.
chet15
Hawkeye
These aren't lunch box specials. That Ruger is unable to find the record saying it was even a gun doesn't surprise me. The Number 1 rifle that Lee Newton was just presented with the special serial number does not show up on Ruger's serial number lookup page either. Similarly, a special serial number .22 pistol was also presented to Jeff Quinn. JQ- something. But the records are there somewhere if somebody at the factory would just dig a little deeper... maybe they don't have time to do that??
It looks like there were probably at least seven of these RB- prefixed U.S. marked pistols as here is a pic of RB-107. Looks like Robert Brown auctioned this personal example of his on Gunbroker in December 2019.
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THAT is some definitive information
chet15
Hawkeye
OK... just noticed something... the Robert Brown personal gun is RB-007. The Rex King gun is RB-103.
Maybe there are only two.
I guess the next thing is, was Robert Brown the "subscription" holder for the #7's at least in 1984 or so when this gun was made?
It would seem these were made for subscribers...
Chet15
Maybe there are only two.
I guess the next thing is, was Robert Brown the "subscription" holder for the #7's at least in 1984 or so when this gun was made?
It would seem these were made for subscribers...
Chet15
To me, this gun is MORE collectible than the average military contract gun. IT CLEARLY WAS MANUFACTURED BY RUGER AS ONE OF THE MILITARY CONTRACT GUNS AND WAS PACKAGED THAT WAY.
The only question is to the serial number and we now that Ruger did all kinds of guns with unique serial numbers, I know of dozens of Ruger firearms made with custom serial numbers, including birthdays, anniversaries, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, names, etc. Because the gun has a unique serial number in NO way makes it a lunch box special….you didnt have sneak guns out of the factory with WBR, just ask and you would get what you wanted!
This is a worthy collectible….and to me, the most collectible of the US marked Mark Pistols!!!
The only question is to the serial number and we now that Ruger did all kinds of guns with unique serial numbers, I know of dozens of Ruger firearms made with custom serial numbers, including birthdays, anniversaries, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, names, etc. Because the gun has a unique serial number in NO way makes it a lunch box special….you didnt have sneak guns out of the factory with WBR, just ask and you would get what you wanted!
This is a worthy collectible….and to me, the most collectible of the US marked Mark Pistols!!!
I just got off the phone with Dwight from Sportsman's Legacy who actually auctioned off the Robert Brown gun RB-007 in late 2019. It sold for 1750 and sold immediately. He did not know a lot about it but mentioned he was a good friend of Mr. Brown. Honestly because of the original owner being Robert Brown vs Rex King, I'd say the RB-007 may be the most valuable. Linda from records emailed me. Now that I have shown her TWO RB guns she is going to try to do a deeper dive in an attempt to discover some factory records.
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