Ruger Letter

[texaswheelgunner]

I just received my requested letter back from Ruger regarding my OM Flat Top .44 Magnum. The letter states that it was shipped in June of 1959 as a Model BKH4.

I thought it would letter as a Model BKH-47 since it has a 7 1/2" barrel.

Can anyone explain this to me?

By the way, which is correct, BK4 or BK-4?

 

[BlkHawk73]

Someone changed it. Not too difficult to change a barrel.

 

[flatgate]

Any chance the rollmark on your 7-1/2" barrel contains Ruger's Eagle Logo?

The 7-1/2" and 10" barrels did appear in April of '59 according to Pistols and Revolvers. Also, at that period in time the Catalog Nomenclature was changed to reflect the barrel lengths.

So, there is likely some overlap of the "early" and "late" Catalog Numbers.

Now, back to your gun. If it does NOT have the Eagle on the barrel then one can still "date" the barrel by the EXACT fonts and alignment of the characters present in the roll-die.

The RENE Editor in Chief has assimilated the data and, perhaps, will chime in....

I believe the "official" Catalog Listings are sans hyphen.

JMHO,

flatgate

 

[chet15]

I just received my requested letter back from Ruger regarding my OM Flat Top .44 Magnum. The letter states that it was shipped in June of 1959 as a Model BKH4.
I thought it would letter as a Model BKH-47 since it has a 7 1/2" barrel.
Can anyone explain this to me?
By the way, which is correct, BK4 or BK-4?

Ah, as Flatgate pointed out, your gun is right on the cusp of the change in catalog numbers. I'm surprised Ruger came back with the catalog number of BKH4 though since Ruger's April 10, 1959 dated Distributor and Dealer Price Sheets actually say BKH46 for the 6-1/2" model.
I'll bet your gun was packaged "with a BKH4 stamped shipping sleeve"....one of the last of their type as the outside of the package would have been the visible portion while "shipping" this revolver, and recording in the shipping records.
Can you please let us know the full sn of your gun. If you don't want to give it out here, please send me a PM and I can tell you if your gun falls within a group of other 7-1/2" flattops that I have notes on.
The next thing is, there are two guns known that were originally 6-1/2" but were returned to the factory for one reason or another (serial numbers 10431 and 13289), rebarreled to 7-1/2", "returned to stock" and then re-shipped as the model BKH47. I believe both of these were either shipped as a factory "second" or as a "used" gun, although neither is stamped with the "S" denoting "second" or "used". Perhaps you have the third known of this??
I do believe the factory keeps another "book" where all of the "seconds" and "used" guns are listed. So perhaps this will give the factory another avenue in which to look your gun up.
If none of this comes to fruition, then we can go by the variation of address that was rollmarked on the barrel in order to get a general idea of the period of the barrel.
Chet15

 

[texaswheelgunner]

Chet, PM sent.

Gentlemen, many thanks for your answers here.

 

[hittman]

Lucky dog.....a June of '59 gun......my month and year of birth too!

P.S. ~ In my jealousy I almost forgot to say "Congrats" and please keep us posted.

 

[texaswheelgunner]

Hittman, yes, I'll post info. on this thread as soon as it becomes available to me. A pic. of this FT is on a thead I started a week or so ago....."Three Screw Shooters" if you're interested in seeing it.