Request info on single six

[shelby07]

Hi all,
Brand new to the forum and I'm hoping someone can help me out with a question.

I have 2 consecutively numbered Ruger single six revolvers .22 cal with 4 5/8 inch barrels s/n 268-18654 and 268-18655 that were given to me by a friend who has since passed away. He hold me they were special guns but I can't remember exactly what he explained to me. I believe he said they were a fairly limited run of a couple hundred and were not listed in the Ruger catalog.

When I spoke with the Ruger customer service rep she informed me that the lower of the two serial numbers was manufactured in December of 1997 and the other was manufactured in March of 1998 which leads me to believe I have the last made in 1997 and the first made in 1998. I am trying to determine if the set has any special value. Both are NIB, never fired with all factory paperwork.

Can anyone give me any information or opinions on these guns?

Thanks!
Mark

 

[hittman]

Welcome to the Forum.

What's it say on the end of the boxes? They could be a 50th Anniversary Model but could also be other things.

Are they blued or stainless?
Regular or Bisley style grip frame?
Wood, plastic or white grips?
If stainless, is it a brushed finish or high polish?

My RENE guide shows 1998 production.

 

[NH Rugerman]

Catalog number and model number would help us identify what you have along with the info that Hittman suggests!

 

[shelby07]

They are blued with regular wood grips. Catalog NR-4F Model 00645 Caliber .22LR/22WMR

 

[hittman]

NR-4F

NR = blue New Model Ruger Single Six
4 = 4 5/8 inch barrel
F = Fixed sights

Looks like according to RENE they made about 300 of yours in this serial number range. However, this was evidently the 3rd time they produced this "limited" production. About 500 made the first time, maybe another 200 the 2nd time around and the 300 or so in your serial number range. They may have made more again later, I don't know.

 

[shelby07]

Thanks for all the information Hittman.

Does your reference show any information about when the special production runs occurred or who they were made for? (I suspect it was Davidson.) It is curious to me that the lower of the two was manufactured in Dec of 1997 and the next was made in March of 1998. The Ruger site does show the single six being manufactured in 1997-98, but doesn't show these serial numbers, and it seems that there was no regular production run of the 4 5/8" barrel.

Thanks for all of your help.

Mark

 

[hittman]

I also believe Davidsons.

 

[chet15]

The NR4F was not a special distributor model. All distributors could have received some of that model if they'd have ordered them from Ruger's production list. They are believed to have been made from left over lengths of barrel stock, because they were never cataloged.
Ruger had a picture of an NR4F in their 1994 catalog, but alas...they didn't offer such an animal, nor was that model ever cataloged.
So...since it was never cataloged, therein lies the reason the previous owner knew of its rarity.
Chet15