Ruger Old Army Stainless - BP - Serial No. 148-0008X

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Panhead57

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 11, 2024
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22
Location
Texas
I own a ROA Stainless revolver with serial number 148-0008X.

Below is an excerpt from the Ruger serial number lookup site showing the first number shipped for the indicated year:

145-662921993Blued Old Army Serial Numbers rollmarked with Stainless Old Army Revolvers beginning in 1982
145-70614 and 148-005041994Blued Old Army Serial Numbers rollmarked with Stainless Old Army Revolvers beginning in 1982

From the above, it appears the "148" prefix models first shipped in 1994 starting with serial #148-00504. What happened to serial numbers 148-00001 - 148-00503?

In any event, would I be correct in assuming my revolver was made in 1993?

Also, are there any notable differences between "145" and "148" prefixed stainless ROAs?

I would have posted a picture of my revolver but it's in a safe out at my farm so I won't be able to take any pictures until the next time I go out there.

Thanks for your help!
 
I found a couple of old pictures.
RUGER OLD ARMY SCREENSHOT-2.jpg
. It has a 5 1/2" barrel with fixed sights.
RUGER OLD ARMY SCREENSHOT-A.jpg
 
I never bothered to look up my OA with SN 145-250xx so I just did and it's 1981
 
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Yes your thinking is spot on 1993. The Ruger website shows the beginning # at the first of the year.

But 10$ will get you a real nice letter with the exact details of everything Ruger knows. Sometimes one gets information that they were not expecting…😳

Be real careful with those grips, as they age they tend to get very brittle and will not take any over tighten or abuse,,, and the original manufacture "LETT" is no longer in business.

Nice Gun…✔️
 
The 148 prefix was for the fixed sight guns. Yours is a 2 digit example of a pretty rare gun. The 5.5" barrels were least common.

Probably a model GKBP5FI. With the box and papers, and minty condition, probably a $1500 piece.

G = high polish
K = stainless
BP = black powder
5 = 5.5" barrel
F = fixed sights
I = Ivorex grips
 
Thanks everyone for the great information!

This revolver is one of 3 Ruger firearms I purchased directly from Bob Brister's widow after his passing in 2005. As some of you may know, Bob was the Shooting Editor of Field and Stream from 1971 to 1985 and he also authored some books. He was a rare combination of field hunter, competitor, and writer and was even once a Pulitzer Prize nominee.

The three guns I purchased were 1) Ruger Old Army .45 Revolver, 2) Ruger Mark II .22LR Pistol, and 3) Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle .223.

What I find very interesting about these 3 guns is that the second part of the serial number of each one ends in the same "00087". The first part of the serial number, which usually designates the model, is "148" for the Old Army Revolver, "18" for the Mark II Pistol, and "187" for the Mini-14 Ranch Rifle.

I have a couple of theories about the matching serial numbers.

1) Bob was a good friend of Bill Ruger's and Bill may have sent Bob samples of new firearms Ruger was starting to produce with a special serial number.
2) Serial numbers ending in "00087" may have been reserved by Ruger for Field & Stream test samples. There are, however, a couple of problems with this theory:
  • All three firearms appear unfired so they weren't used for testing
  • While the Mark II Pistol and Mini-14 Ranch Rifle were manufactured in 1982 while Bob was the Shooting Editor at Field & Stream, the Old Army Revolver was probably made in 1993, six years after he had left the publication.
Have any of you seen matching serial numbers like these that were sent to specific individuals or entities? Any theories?

Bob's widow also threw in a signed copy of one of his books, The Golden Crescent, with the purchase.

As I acquired these almost 20 years ago and I'm now suffering from "old timer's disease" I can't remember if the firearms were in their original boxes or if they were just pulled out of Bob's safe. If they had boxes, I still have them somewhere as I absolutely never throw away firearms boxes. Unfortunately, I have too many storage locations so now that I have renewed my interest in these 3 items, it's going to take me a while to determine if I have any boxes for them. I hope I do!
RUGER MARK II - 1.jpg
 
I have SS ROA 5 1/2" fixed sighted 148-00161. Authentication Letter says shipped in 2003. Ruger wouldn't divulge who it was shipped to. I picked it up in 2013 at a gunshow. I had a trigger job done on this gun by Munden Enterprises (Jeff Ault). Shoots well. I also have a blued ROA 5 1/2" fixed sights that shoots good too. but when I got it, it had a frozen screw (front grip frame). I've buggered it trying to get it out (and tried heating/cooling/soaking/etc.), but no joy in mudville.... Have a few other common ROAs as well.
 

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Rclark - that's really interesting! Mine had to have shipped before 2005.

I'm thinking of requesting Ruger Authentication Letters for all 3 of my Rugers to see if they will shed any light on the matching last 5 digits of the serial numbers, however, if they won't even divulge who guns were shipped to, the letters may not be very useful. :(
 
Since I believe my question about my Old Army's date of manufacture has been answered, I just posted about the matching last 5 digits of the serial numbers on the "Ruger & Other Firearm Collecting" section, hoping that maybe some collectors who hang out there have seen occurrence this before.
 
Ruger used to have a list of people that were known as "Subscribers " who would get the same serial number of each new gun offered.
Sounds like you have a few subscription guns that were assigned to Bob Brister back then.
NICE!!!
 
The #87 subscription bounced around, then some (apparently Brister's) were split up some years ago. The notes I have mention Brister, Judge Anderson, Don Horelick, and even Hiddleson. The auctioned group went into the wind in 2003 and even I got a couple (the S47N Super Blackhawk and S4440 convertible). I got the #87 S47N from the auction because I also have #86. And I got the S4440 by trading for it with another forum member in 2007 simply because I hoard the 2 and low 3-digit S4440s :rolleyes:. It did not match up any that I have, but if I could find #88, it would complete my second consecutive triple of 2-digits S4440s.
 
Thanks for great information about the #87 subscription. From your notes was Brister the last one to have this number?

Also, does one of your #87 revolvers have a 87-00087 serial number? If so, that's a pretty awesome serial number.
 
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Yes, the S4440 is 87-00087

I once had BKH45 number 45-00054 which is a palindrome, but I traded it to another OM .45 collector in a multi-gun swap some years ago.

I've had or have a few non-prefixed palindrome guns.

I currently have Super Blackhawk 80-00800, another nifty number
 
Great serial numbers!

While I have collected a varied assortment of firearms over the years (Colt SAA's, Winchester 18xx's, etc.), I'm not a Ruger collector. In fact, the 3 Ruger's I purchased from Bob Brister's widow are the only Ruger's I own. I didn't know Bob personally, but I agreed to purchase some of his firearms from his widow as a favor to one of my close friends, George Rice, who was close to Bob. George was worried that she might sell them for less than market value and he knew I would give her a fair price. George and I ended up buying all the firearms the widow had for sale, many of which were not Ruger's. George was a co-worker and good friend of mine who had played four seasons as a defensive tackle for the Houston Oilers earlier in his career. He passed away in 2010.

Even though I'm not a Ruger collector, as a result of this great forum, I'm starting to become very interested in Ruger's 2-digit subscription guns.
 
The #87 notes only say that Brister got the writer's club 20 ga. Red Label, and that Judge Anderson got some others. So by no means do I know the full subscription backstory. Hiddleson got the OM .30 Carbine from "the estate" and I guess that was Brister's. I had to look at my spreadsheet since that one rang a bell, but mine is #77 (no prefix). Then the auction was 2003 and I'm not sure who the consigner was there, but maybe Brister's widow.

Defensive tackles get hit in the head a lot. Did they check for CTE? I know it is undetectable without an autopsy. Wife and I are watching the Aaron Hernandez story on FX and we know he had it, but they haven't gotten that far in his story yet. They have shown a couple of concussions so far.
 
The #87 notes only say that Brister got the writer's club 20 ga. Red Label, and that Judge Anderson got some others. So by no means do I know the full subscription backstory. Hiddleson got the OM .30 Carbine from "the estate" and I guess that was Brister's. I had to look at my spreadsheet since that one rang a bell, but mine is #77 (no prefix). Then the auction was 2003 and I'm not sure who the consigner was there, but maybe Brister's widow.

Defensive tackles get hit in the head a lot. Did they check for CTE? I know it is undetectable without an autopsy. Wife and I are watching the Aaron Hernandez story on FX and we know he had it, but they haven't gotten that far in his story yet. They have shown a couple of concussions so far.
If the auction with the #87's was in 2003, and Bob didn't pass away until 2005, it's possible they may have auctioned part of his collection to fund his cancer treatment.

The Rugers I purchased from Bob's widow after his passing in 2005 must have been withheld from the auction for some reason. Do you remember the auction site from 2003?

P.S. - George's final season with the Oilers was in 1969 and he passed away over 40 years later, in 2010. I'm pretty sure they didn't suspect CTE or I'm certain his widow would have mentioned it.
 
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