Was this a DEVEL / ASP Speed Six

[sceva]

Hi all;

I looked for rules to see if this link is allowed and did not see anything. Mods. if not allowed please delete with my apologies.

This .44 Spl Speed Six popped up on the S&W forum and sold almost immediately; I think at an attractive price. The seller implies a Factory special edition but I am thinking it is possibly a DEVEL / ASP conversion but the onyy markings appear to be factory and ".44 Special Factory Ammunition Only" What do the experts say? I think it's very neat

http://smith-wessonforum.com/guns-s...ger-special-edition-speed-six-44-special.html
Here are the photos if they don't show in the link.

 

[hittman]

Somebody ruined a nice old Speed Six.
For full disclosure, I’m not a custom gun fan.

A Ruger factory ($10.00) letter would be in order.

 

[Cholo]

I Googled *DEVEL / ASP conversion of ruger speed six* and the first link to come up was right here on RugerForum.com

https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/interesting-asp-conversion-of-speed-six-to-44-special.106046/

 

[RoninPA]

I couldn't get on the S&W forum to see if the seller ever showed the serial number. It just looks to me to be a custom Speed Six (barrel looks odd to me but I'll have to get in to my Speed Sixes to look closer at the details

Can't say I'v heard of anyone doing this but you never say never. I really doubt it came from Ruger and I don't thInk Ruger would do a one off job like that.

 

[NH Rugerman]

Nitride satin finish suggests a MUCH later build than the time frame when Ruger built the six series, NOT factory IMHO….

 

[sceva]

Ser No not shown or given. I'm wondering if the Barrel is a cut back 4"; the end looks odd as does the front sight.

 

[contender]

I vote; "Not factory!"

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

No, it's not factory, but for the $800 price it was a good deal if that's what you were jonesin' for. Probably has that much custom gunsmithing into it.

In the earliest factory announcements, they said they would offer a .22 LR version of the -Six DA but that never happened. All -Six DA guns were six shooters in and around the .357 caliber (.38 Spl, .357 Mag, 9mm, and the oddball .380 Rim, AKA .38 S&W export models).

 

[FlyingZebra]

No, it's not factory, but for the $800 price it was a good deal if that's what you were jonesin' for. Probably has that much custom gunsmithing

More than three times that

And I agree there's nothing factory-looking about the barrel, cylinder, or extractor

 

[hittman]

The description by the seller is …. Hmmm …. Creative? Maybe that’s the polite way to describe it.

 

[rugerguy]

Paul, interesting have not heard that name in many years, Kelsey left us around 2003 believe he was murdered?? and he was known for his Devels (da vels) mainly autos from what we remember and I think he had a protege or a contemporary named Paris Theodore and he did the ASP??? wow been some time, my partner at our shop Cleveland Bluing, ( 1970s) and Chuck Caan was friends with Charlie and had some of his early guns and I believe Wayne Novak has about the largest collection of Devels........so back to the revolver you picture, nice gun, kinda neat but certainly after market,,,too many GOOD "gun plumbers" fail to put their name on their products,,,,,,,,and we got out of the "six" series guns way back........main reason being once Ruger fails to "support" them, we do not want to get "stuck" or burned when problems arise,,,,,,look at the Red labels also we got rid of all of them but 2, one 20 and one 12 ga both the same low serial number.............

 

[1chessiefan]

Sceva,
I bought this revolver. It is an ASP 44 Special conversion of a Ruger Speed Six. I just picked it up from my FFL today and have not had a chance to shoot it. Hopefully this weekend.

1chessiefan

 

[FlyingZebra]

I look forward to your report

 

[pyth0n]

I Googled *DEVEL / ASP conversion of ruger speed six* and the first link to come up was right here on RugerForum.com

https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/interesting-asp-conversion-of-speed-six-to-44-special.106046/

I found this (You'll have to have it translated to English.); https://casatic.livejournal.com/939785.html

 

[sceva]

Sceva,
I bought this revolver. It is an ASP 44 Special conversion of a Ruger Speed Six. I just picked it up from my FFL today and have not had a chance to shoot it. Hopefully this weekend.

1chessiefan

I Believe you got a bargain. Please do give us a report ( and better photos please) on it. I always thought the DEVEL / ASP mods to autos were very nice but didn't know they did revolvers too. I would think a .44 Spl on a Ruger DA six frame would be a better platform than the Charter arms.

 

[1chessiefan]

Sceva et al.,
Here are a few pictures. I believe the barrel was a stock Ruger barrel that was rebored. Except for the size of the hole in the end the barrel is almost identical to the one on my 38 Special Speed Six. The front sight is not stock. The article in the thread that Cholo linked to indicates that ASP rebored the barrels on these conversions. I have dry fired it (with snap caps) and the action is very smooth and fairly light. The stocks are comfortable to my hand although I wish they had completely filled the gap between the frame and the trigger guard. I have ordered a Tyler T Grip and will use the factory grips with the T Grip once they ship my order. I will provide a range report after I have shot it. I plan on only running standard pressure ammo through it. I suspect the HSM 240 gr. SWC 44 Special Cowboy load will get the job done. That load is very manageable out of my 3” Bulldog.

1chessiefan

 

[1chessiefan]

Friends,
Took her to the range today. I attempted to shoot 15 rounds. It hits to point of aim with the HSM 240 SWC ammo at bad breath distances. One refused to go bang after several attempts. The indentation in the primer looks good, must have been a bad round. The recoil was very manageable. I am going to have my gunsmith install a stouter mainspring to err on the side of caution. It needs to go bang when I pull the trigger. The timing on this action is as it should be - the cylinder locks before the hammer starts to fall. I really like this revolver. I look forward to getting it set up as I want it. Once that is done I may well carry it some. I have a very nice Sparks PMK for my Speed Sixes.

1chessiefan

 

[FlyingZebra]

Good