Walter Rego
Single-Sixer
I received six Ruger letters. lead time was about five weeks. A Single Six shipped in May 1964 to Arthur Cook Supply Co, Laurel MD. Arthur Cook was an Olympic Shooting Champion and Gold Medal Winner in the 1948 games, won numerous other events and went on to help establish the USAF Marksmanship Program. He formed the wholesale sporting goods supply company in 1955. A Blackhawk .357/9mm convertible shipped in November 1970 to Western Hoegee in Glendale, CA. That one is interesting as I have a Savage M1917 pistol that shipped in 1923 to the original William F. Hoegee Co.
A Flat Top .357 Blackhawk shipped in Feb. 1959 to American Wholesale Hardware Company, Long Beach CA, a 9.5" Single Six shipped to them in February 1965 and a .30 Carbine Blackhawk also shipped to them in February 1969. I thought it was somewhat coincidental that those three models shipped to the same company in Long Beach.
A .41 Magnum Blackhawk shipped in July 1967 to Yakima Hardware, Yakima WA. This one is curious for a couple of reasons.
It is a 6.5" barrel BKH42 but lettered as a BKH41. The barrel roll marking is correct for the period and I see no signs that it was removed or replaced. However if sent back to the factory I'm sure they could have done it without a trace of a change.
The factory letter listed the caliber as .41 Magnum/9mm. What ?
Now I'm starting to think; did the person who wrote up the letters keep using the same template since they were all for the same customer (me) and typed up the BKH41 letter right after the letter for the .357/9mm Convertible Blackhawk ? Did three of the six guns all go to California Wholesale Hardware in Long Beach or did they repeat some info from the previous letter ?
At any rate I sent the letter for the .41 BH back and asked them to double check the records for the configuration and reissue the letter with the correct caliber. If it still letters as a BKH41 then that's what the day books show.
I guess for $10 a letter I shouldn't expect the services of an archivist/historian like Paul at Colt or Roy Jinks at S&W so I'm not really complaining.
A Flat Top .357 Blackhawk shipped in Feb. 1959 to American Wholesale Hardware Company, Long Beach CA, a 9.5" Single Six shipped to them in February 1965 and a .30 Carbine Blackhawk also shipped to them in February 1969. I thought it was somewhat coincidental that those three models shipped to the same company in Long Beach.
A .41 Magnum Blackhawk shipped in July 1967 to Yakima Hardware, Yakima WA. This one is curious for a couple of reasons.
It is a 6.5" barrel BKH42 but lettered as a BKH41. The barrel roll marking is correct for the period and I see no signs that it was removed or replaced. However if sent back to the factory I'm sure they could have done it without a trace of a change.
The factory letter listed the caliber as .41 Magnum/9mm. What ?
Now I'm starting to think; did the person who wrote up the letters keep using the same template since they were all for the same customer (me) and typed up the BKH41 letter right after the letter for the .357/9mm Convertible Blackhawk ? Did three of the six guns all go to California Wholesale Hardware in Long Beach or did they repeat some info from the previous letter ?
At any rate I sent the letter for the .41 BH back and asked them to double check the records for the configuration and reissue the letter with the correct caliber. If it still letters as a BKH41 then that's what the day books show.
I guess for $10 a letter I shouldn't expect the services of an archivist/historian like Paul at Colt or Roy Jinks at S&W so I'm not really complaining.