Security Six Stainless

Help Support Ruger Forum:

Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
1,457
Location
Arizona
About 8 years ago, a friend inherited a slew of guns from his deceased uncle. He had been buying a gun a week for over 20 years. Never shot them, just collected.

I picked up a Security Six SS .357, Redhawk SS, and a Mark 2 SS, for a crazy price. Cleaned them of the original oil, shot them, and into the safe.
 

BigBlue

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 24, 2004
Messages
126
Location
Eastern PA.
Great find! The fact that it came with the original box and paperwork is a real treat. I love those revolvers and always have my eye out for them at my LGS. Years ago I was lucky enough to find a Security Six and a Speed Six, both the 3" variety.
 

weaselmeatgravy

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Mar 28, 2001
Messages
3,081
Location
Colorado native, Vermont transplant
You can feed that gun .357 mag ammo all your life & it'll still be shooting it long after you are gone.

I can vouch for that. My dad bought his first .357 Security Six, a blue 6" "lowback" frame gun in 1973 when I was either 12 or 13 years old. He got it from a north Denver area department store called "O.G. Wilson" that went out of business by about 1980. I went with him the evening he bought it, and my mom never passed up a chance to go shopping. So my job was to distract mom in some other department while he completed the purchase so he could go hide the gun in the trunk of the car. He died in 1998 and stopped shooting in 1996 due to lymphoma. But over the 23 active years he owned it, he put a documented 30K+ rounds through it. Not all were .357 and most were handloads as he was always tinkering with different powders/charges/bullets seeking most accurate loads, He always took several guns to the range and some days he'd only shoot this one 18 rounds, but other days he would put 300 rounds through it. He kept journals of dates, loads, quantities he shot along with best/worst group sizes, etc. I went through his journal for that gun after he died and came up with the 30K, plus I remember shooting it a lot myself and he didn't document any plinking rounds, so I suspect closer to 40K total. It still shoots fine!

pops-ss1.jpg

The box has that weird double strike inside the lid. Outside, it still has the O.G. Wilson purchase tape.
When I got the gun, the original grips were in the box. He made a set of oversize maple grips that were on it when he passed.
pops-ss2.jpg

Those pics were taken in 2000 on the hood of a truck I sold in 2005.
 

RugerForMe

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
494
Location
Greendale, WI USA
Yeah, no worries with the Security Six, I have put some decent reloads through mine over the years and it's still as tight as the day I picked it up back in the early '80's
 

buckaroo

Banned
Joined
Oct 8, 2022
Messages
360
Location
U.S.A.
That's a wonderful story there weaselmeatgravy and good to know you have kept it. Good memories right.
When I own and carried the .357 version of the LCR I broke it in the first time with 300 rounds of nothing but magnum rounds, never once did I ever shoot .38 special out of it in the time I own it. Saw a test of a guy with over 10k magnums through his, sent it off to be x-rayed at a private lab, came back with a clean bill of health.

Ruger knows how to build .357 magnum revolvers. Some people will brag on S&W but when you get behind the curtain very few are shooting what is was supposely design for, i.e. .38's in a .357 or .44 specials in a .44 magnum, etc. S&W may look pretty on the outside but that's about it. I once own 3 different 642 snubby's with triggers so bad it would get you killed.

However I will say the S&W Governor I owned had a decent trigger on it. (and I use to carry that behemoth :)) Where talking rock&roll with .410 out of that thing. But the only revolver I would ever buy again is the LCR.





Yeah, try that in a snubby ..
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2022
Messages
24
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Thanks to all for your input/comments. I have to say the previous owner kept the gun real nice except for laziness around the forcing cone, been working on awhile. I've used solvents, the lead cloth can't get it all. Any suggestions? I'm OCD and this isn't good enough!!
 

Attachments

  • 20221015_145900.jpg
    20221015_145900.jpg
    81.6 KB · Views: 61

hittman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
16,923
Location
Illinois
Pro-Shot Products Lead Away Cloth. Cut a small square of it and wrap it around a popsicle stick. Do NOT use the cloth on bluing.

Or a small pick of some sort and gently wear away the stains.
 

jyo

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
134
I have a stainless four inch .357 Security Six just like yours---tough gun---no worries!
 

beentheredone

Single-Sixer
Joined
Mar 27, 2022
Messages
400
Location
SC
The Security Six was designed as a .357. Shooting .357 magnum ammo in it will do no harm. Sure, it will wear it out quicker than a steady diet of .38 Specials. So, if you buy a McLaren F1, you're going to drive it at 45 MPH, right? So it will last longer?
 

eveled

Hawkeye
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
5,606
Brass or copper scraper works well for that also. Soft enough it won't scratch. Pre-1982 penny cut in half is 97.5% pure copper and nearly free.
Yep. 1981 last year of solid copper penny.

Melting point of copper? 1981 degrees.

Pretty strange coincidence.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2022
Messages
24
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
A little better. I tried the Birchwood Casey lead cloth with a popsicle stick (thanks for mentioning) it still needs a bit more work but really tough to get off, obviously on there a long time. My biggest pet peeve are people who have nice firearms and don't clean them.
 

Attachments

  • 20221018_065231.jpg
    20221018_065231.jpg
    45.7 KB · Views: 55

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,142
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
"My biggest pet peeve are people who have nice firearms and don't clean them."

That's a subjective topic.

Overcleaning can actually be just as bad as not cleaning.

ABUSE of a firearm is wrong.

Many folks who USE a firearm on a regular basis don't deep clean one. They wipe them down, make sure they are oiled (where necessary) and store properly.

I recently read a comment from a well known gun writer who said basically the same thing. He doesn't "clean" his guns as deeply as some,, and especially the bore of his shooters. Many top shooters agreed with him.

The Security-Six is a tank of a gun without the feel of a tank. Shoot it,, enjoy it, and pass it along someday.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2022
Messages
24
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
"My biggest pet peeve are people who have nice firearms and don't clean them."

That's a subjective topic.

Overcleaning can actually be just as bad as not cleaning.

ABUSE of a firearm is wrong.

Many folks who USE a firearm on a regular basis don't deep clean one. They wipe them down, make sure they are oiled (where necessary) and store properly.

I recently read a comment from a well known gun writer who said basically the same thing. He doesn't "clean" his guns as deeply as some,, and especially the bore of his shooters. Many top shooters agreed with him.

The Security-Six is a tank of a gun without the feel of a tank. Shoot it,, enjoy it, and pass it along someday.
I agree what you said but I'm talking more specifically not cleaning firearms at all. I have multiple friends that have very nice collections and NEVER clean them at all. I guess maybe I'm a little OCD but when I go shooting I come back and always within a few days give them the white glove treatment. I want to know that whether I shoot them again in 2 weeks or 2 years they are well preserved. Thanks for your input
 

Geo1231

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
2
I just picked up a few weeks ago this beauty at a local gun shop that I've been dealing with for years. This gun is in excellent shape with a 155 serial number which dates it to around 1979, came with original box/papers as you can see. I'm still in the fondling period (most gun owners will know what I'm talking about) I haven't shot it yet but plan to this weekend! My question is; this gun seems like it's built very well, should I just run 38 special through and baby it or .357? I've read somewhere that you really shouldn't feed a lot of .357 through, over time isn't good for this.

Any thoughts comments would greatly be appreciated!
I bought MY Security Six in 1976. The 2 3/4" barreled Stainless version, (serial #151-80xxx x) it was then, has been through the years, and no doubt will continue to be my all-time very favourite revolver!!! Hunting, maybe 20 years back a friend spied a Styrofoam cup stuck in a tree at about 40 yards range, and made quite the wager re my ability to hit it. A most foolish shot (on my behalf) as I gave no thought to what might be behind said target -- but I got double lucky in both hitting the cup as well as (phew!) nothing was down range. My "pill" of choice has always been using .357 cases as I do not wish to either make the .38 S&W Special "ring" from the shortened cases using my own cast semi-wadcutters propelled with a moderate .38 S&W Special HP38 loading; added is a small bit of Dacron in case.
Congrats on your purchase... I can't imagine anyone "doing better"!
geo
 
Top