Here is something of an oddity for those who follow the collectible DA revolvers. This Speed Six appears fairly ordinary when viewed from the left side, except that the finish is non-standard (kind of a matte gray, not brushed stainless but not quite the current day "Target Gray").
But flip it over and the really interesting feature is seen. Instead of a caliber designation (it is in fact a .357 Mag), the barrel is rollmarked "W.A. POLICE".
This gun was recently (October 2009) shipped from the Newport factory. The box has a "NOT FOR SALE" sticker that has been crossed out, a fired case to comply with current law, and a modern orange barcode label.
If you google W.A. Police, the top hit is Western Australia. Suspecting that this gun was a warehouse cleanout of a contract overrun from a special order from that organization, I posted a question to the W.A. PD web site.
I was delighted when a sergeant who has been on the force since 1977 replied with the following info:
He goes on to talk about how he would love to find one of these for his collection, then concludes:
So there ya have it! Pretty neat piece, one of one known to have survived the crusher. The lack of caliber designation really is interesting as is the explanation provided by this officer. I can't think of another Ruger where they intentionally left off any caliber markings.
But flip it over and the really interesting feature is seen. Instead of a caliber designation (it is in fact a .357 Mag), the barrel is rollmarked "W.A. POLICE".
This gun was recently (October 2009) shipped from the Newport factory. The box has a "NOT FOR SALE" sticker that has been crossed out, a fired case to comply with current law, and a modern orange barcode label.
If you google W.A. Police, the top hit is Western Australia. Suspecting that this gun was a warehouse cleanout of a contract overrun from a special order from that organization, I posted a question to the W.A. PD web site.
I was delighted when a sergeant who has been on the force since 1977 replied with the following info:
Wow you have a piece of WA Police History. If this was the only one they had left, then you may well have the only one in the WORLD.
They were used by the old "Emergency Squad" in the early to mid 80's from memory and were rolled WA Police to hide the fact they were .357's and not the normal issue .38 Special. Everyone had a S & W revolver in .38 but the "Emergency Squad" an early version of our current TRG (SWAT) used the Ruger with 3" barrel.
As various officers left the "Squad" they got to keep their Ruger but still only used a 110 grain hollow point .38's through them as that was the standard issue.
In the mid 90's WA started to procure semi auto and the S & W Sigma was chosen. All revolvers including the Rugers' were to be traded in as part of the contract.
Then in 1996 or 97 a fellow in Tasmania went on a rampage and shot about 35 people dead at Port Arthur which had an immediate and sadly devastating effect on all law abiding firearm owners. The Federal and all State Govt. banned all semi auto long arms and pump action shotguns (unless a farmer) and placed an embargo on all firearms being shipped out of Australia.
To cut to the chase as far as I am aware all the Ruger and S & W revolvers that were to be traded to S & W to buy some Sigmas were chopped up by the Forensics Ballistics Unit of WA Police. I am quite sure this happened but will double check with them to confirm. If true and Ruger don't have any more you may well own the only one.
Lucky Guy eh.
In about 2000 an Asian student living part time in Aust. and studying at a Melbourne Uni joined a pistol Club and later shot 2 other Asian students dead. This was the trigger for the Federal Govt. to implement a National handgun buyback. Everything over .38 calibre was banned unless shooting metallic silhouette or Cowboy single shot action match. Every revolver must have a 4 inch barrel, every auto a 5 inch barrel.
He goes on to talk about how he would love to find one of these for his collection, then concludes:
Even if I were to obtain one, I could only keep it on a collector licence as the barrel is too short to licence for normal use. With a collector license you can't travel with it or use it, it just stays locked up in the safe. It would be worth it if one become available as it is certainly a piece of WA Police history.
I hope this helps with a bit of information about your Ruger.
So there ya have it! Pretty neat piece, one of one known to have survived the crusher. The lack of caliber designation really is interesting as is the explanation provided by this officer. I can't think of another Ruger where they intentionally left off any caliber markings.