Question for the experts!

[transalp1961]

I recently purchased a Ruger RST-4 in stainless (has Billl Ruger's signature on the gun). I saw another Ruger standard in stainless on GB today, pictures below. I called Ruger and they said it was sent out of the factory in July 1973, as a blued gun. I called the seller, who has been a gun dealer a long time, and he said it is DEFINITELY stainless. I got my stainless RST-4 out to see if a magnetic attaches to the gun. It attaches to every part of the gun. On my Mark IIs (that are stainless), the magnet only attaches to the barrel! How do can tell if this gun is truely stainless? Could it have been shipped out of the factory as stainless but records indicate it is blued? The seller said it does not look like it has been plated. Could it be that the gun was striped of the bluing and is just metal? The seller said he will stand by the gun and refund me if it is not stainless. Any thoughts or comments?

 

[recumbent]

A lot of stainless steels are SS alloys and they are magnetic.

I'm not a Ruger historian but if Ruger says it left the factory as a blue gun I would tend to believe Ruger.

 

[1gunsnotenough]

I beleive this gun has been floating around awhile. As I've seen it or it's duplicate questioned online before.

 

[street]

That gun reminds me of a 4 5/8 in. .41 Mag. "FLATTOP" that was Stainless Steel, that I saw at a gun show in North Carolina back in the 1980s. I ask the guy if he had a letter from Ruger on that gun and he said." I don't need a letter because I know Bill Ruger and he said the gun left the factory as a Stainless Steel .41 Mag."

I think this RST-4 or should I say KRST-4?? :roll: falls in to the same category as that Stainless Steel .41 Mag. Flattop!!! That being "BS" :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[rugerguy]

easy to to 'test' and find out if its stainless or not.......under the grips or some'other' out of sight spot ( like under the receiver or inside the grip frame, scratch the metal and using a bit of 'cold blue' see if it changes color..if it darkens then it is steel (in this case ,chrome -moly) and if it does NOT darken or change color then it is stainless...we run into this quite often and folks 'swear' its stainless and they ALL have a story to boot........with the serial number shown of the gun above, my bet is its 'armaloy' or Metalife SS finish...........stainless .22 autos (Rugers) did not come into production until the last of the 17 prefix guns for the Signature and the California Initiative models,circa 1981-82

Yes, a magnet will stick to 'stainless' steel alloys that are used in MOST firearms...I recall some of the alloys that were used by Randall did not?? been a while since we had to even "try"........

 

[Pal Val]

That's odd. I bought a .22 Standard in 1976, and there was no stainless steel model in the catalogue then.

 

[contender]

Pal Val makes a good point. I do not believe ANY stainless guns were produced by Ruger in 1973.
Get the serial number,, and if it's truly a 1973,, then it can not be stainless.
Maybe someone applied a "finish" to a blued gun,,,???

 

[RADAR]

Here's my '62 Standard that I got as a rust bucket. I spent a lot of time rubbing it down to shiny white metal-looked like stainless. It stayed this way for well over a year without a hint of rust.

I decided to bring it back and used Brownells Oxpho-Blue to restore it, turned out great...

You may have one that someone did as I did, I would believe what Ruger told you.
Great pistols, mine shoots just as well as my MKIII Target using iron sights.

 

[Bootlegger]

By no means do I know much, just going by Don Findleys and Chad Hiddlesons books, but shouldn't the trigger be black not have a chrome finish if its stainless??

 

[street]

By no means do I know much, just going by Don Findleys and Chad Hiddlesons books, but shouldn't the trigger be black not have a chrome finish if its stainless??

No! The triggers should be chromed. There were a few of the Red Eagles, type 9, that had a blue finish on the triggers but only 1500 to 2000. It is believed that when Ruger decided not to offer the Standard .22 in chrome that they used up the blue triggers that they had for that project.

 

[transalp1961]

Thanks for all the replies. I decided to pass on this pistol.

 

[street]

By no means do I know much, just going by Don Findleys and Chad Hiddlesons books, but shouldn't the trigger be black not have a chrome finish if its stainless??

No! The triggers should be chromed. There were a few of the Red Eagles, type 9, that had a blue finish on the triggers but only 1500 to 2000. It is believed that when Ruger decided not to offer the Standard .22 in chrome that they used up the blue triggers that they had for that project.

Bootlegger, sorry but my information is wrong that I gave you above. I thought that you were talking about a blued model that someone had polished the blueing off to make it look like a stainless steel model. Yes I think that the stainless steel models do have a black trigger. Here is one thought though, if this gun is a stainless steel model, which I don't think so, and it was made some years before the stainless steel models were made, who knows what kind of trigger Ruger would have to put in it. They would probably just use a regular chrome trigger that they had at the time.