What to do with my MK6M?

[vacextar]

I have an unfired mint condition MK6M complete with factory hard case as well as the cardboard sleeve for the case. It's a beautiful gun equipped with ivory silhouette thumbrest grips.

Here's my problem. I can't find anyone or any source that gives me any approx value for this gun. Is it so rare that no one is even aware that these guns exist? If no one can give me any sort of value for it.....then it makes it not worth much more or less than any other MK6.....even if it's super-rare. On one hand, I'm afraid that it's somehow worth a small fortune and I would destroy its value by shooting it.....and on the other hand, if no one can tell me the value because none of the books even mention that it exists, then it just happens to be exactly what I'd be looking for in a target gun to do some shooting with right now...so why not pull it from its 25 year slumber and shoot the crap out of it?

Anyone care to give me some input? Can anyone give me an example of others like this that have sold and what they brought? If its worth less than $500, then I might as well enjoy it. If its worth $1500 to a collector, then I might as well sell it and buy a cheaper, more "generic" version to plink with.

 

[huntsman22]

Just shoot the dang thing. That is what it was made for, not collecting dust. It's paid for and it's yours.

 

[contender]

We'd be glad to help with real values,, if we have a few more details.

You mention "MK6M" the model. Is that the exact marking on the end of the box label? If so,, the gun was most likely built during the Mark II era. The serial number range would be LIKELY somewhere between 219-03000 and 219-04500. (This range is a guess right now.) According the the RENE Guide,,, there are only TWO currently known. Serial numbers; 219-03787 and 219-04309.
Now,, MK stands for Mark II,,,,,,,, 6 stands for 6 inch bbl,,,, and the M stands for "matte" finish.
According to the RENE,,, they were a special distributor issue,,, Western Hoegee. Model number would be 0165. Shipped in a hard red plastic case, with gray eggshell foam. shipped in 1982.

Listed as extremely rare.

I'd NOT shoot it. I'm SURE a few serious collectors here would enjoy owning a mint condition one.

 

[vacextar]

It is 219-04309. Looks like the other one has the black grips?.....which makes this the one and only MK6M ever produced with the ivory thumbrest grips? So....does anyone list a "book value" for this thing?

 

[RPM Enterprises]

What contender said. I have two myself. I will have to see what I paid. One is NIB and the other has been shot.

 

[contender]

Ok Rick you have a pair,, and with the RENE list,, that makes maybe 4 known?

vacextar,,, as for value,,, due to the rarity of this model,,, there isn't a pricing available. BUT,,, I KNOW it's worth more than a normal shooter version.

 

[vacextar]

What contender said. I have two myself. I will have to see what I paid. One is NIB and the other has been shot.

What grips are yours equipped with? Thanks for your input on this. I've never been much of a gun collector, so this is all a bit new to me. All of the guns I have, I bought to shoot. I ended up with this one as a trade on some other items and have been tempted to shoot it since I've had it, but always decided against it because I could never figure out what it was really worth. Hopefully we can get some sort of ballpark figure here so I can make a decision on what to do with it?

 

[RPM Enterprises]

Ok Rick you have a pair,, and with the RENE list,, that makes maybe 4 known?

vacextar,,, as for value,,, due to the rarity of this model,,, there isn't a pricing available. BUT,,, I KNOW it's worth more than a normal shooter version.

I know I have posted a picture of one on the forum. I may have used one in a picture when I did those calendars. When I get home tonight I will check.

 

[RPM Enterprises]

Ty, serial number on one is 219-03787 listed in Chad's notes. I gave 375.00 for it back in 2009. I was going to post pictures but Photobucket don't want to work. It is in original box with outer shipper. I have to look deeper for the other one. It has black plastic grips. I don't think the one mentioned by the other guy was shipped with Ivory thumbrest grips.

 

[vacextar]

If $375 is all it's worth, I can hardly sell it and afford to replace it with anything comparable to plink with. Seems strange that something so rare is worth no more than a regular blued MkIII that they made thousands of.......

Looks like this gun is moving closer and closer to being ultra-rare and ultra-used!

 

[contender]

vacextar,,, RE_READ RPM's post. He paid $375 for his in 2009. What he's NOT saying is what it's worth now. He's a collector. He has a pair. He has one of the 2 listed in the RENE, you have one,, and he has a 3rd one. That makes it 3 known. A rarer variation for sure. I also PMed a guy who collects the MKII's as well. He hasn't gotten back to me yet, but he will. He may be very interested in adding it to his collection.
Again,, I'd not shoot it,,, just replace it with a "common" model, and enjoy shooting the common one. I'm also a bit surprised a few more MK collectors haven't chimed in here yet.

 

[vacextar]

Contender,

I hear what you're saying....but there were the same number of them in 2009 (2 or 3) as there are today (2 or 3)....and in the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure 8 years is going to make that much difference.....27 year old gun in 2009 vs 35 year old gun in 2017.

I'll restrain myself from firing it for a while yet and see what pans out. I do appreciate your help and input here! Thanks!!

 

[RPM Enterprises]

Well I'm going to chime in on this a bit. Back in that era or time distributors exclusives we're about 1500 to 2500 produced. That was Rugers minimum order. Trouble with the gun we're talking about is unless you have a trained eye most would simply walk by it thinking it was just another 6" Standard. Also even if you seen one you thought would be a gun in question you would need to know what serial number range it would be in. Most people don't have that information. What is it worth? Well I always tend to not give values because some clown who thinks it's to high or to low and then come back and give you crap about it. I always say now that it's only worth what someone is willing to pay. Now to value the one I own in it's original packaging and not being fired I would not sell it for less than 650.00. as Tyrone knows I am a collector and my passion is the early autos and own most every model and variation of guns produced from 1949 to 1982 (early guns) and most MKII's ever produced. If you're interested and looking to sell it then PM me. It never hurts to put another in my private collection.

 

[contender]

See,,, it's worth more than the $375 I mentioned. You already have an offer of more than that from Rick. And,, that's more than a new one will cost.
As Rick noted,, a distributor gun where the actual production number are almost always at least 1000 guns. But due to the big thing being it's only different due to the finish,,, then as noted,,, most will not give it a second look. Keep it mint, keep the package together,, and it will sell for more than $375.

 

[vacextar]

I really appreciate the help with this from both of you. Contender....let me know if you hear back from your collector friend. Let me give it some thought and decide what I should do.....

 

[contender]

Will do.

 

[chet15]

It would be very difficult to believe if 1,500 to 2,500 of the MK6M were produced. That model wasn't all over the place in 1992 like some of the other distributor exclusives of that quantity were. I've only ever seen one MK6M and that one showed up at the Des Moines gun show maybe a decade after they were made.
Davidson's for example has been known to order 500 of a particular model and Ruger sometimes ships half the order. If for whatever reason the gun doesn't sell like hotcakes, distributors have been known to cancel the order.
Western Hoegee was a relatively obscure distributor during the time period the MK6M was made. Not sure how they did their advertising but it evidently was not near enough to turn the masses onto a matte finish MK6 with special red box.
Chet15

 

[contender]

And now we have more insight into this model.

Also, check your PM's.

 

[vacextar]

Thanks!....I just sent you a PM, contender.

 

[mohavesam]

Interesting. Did you take it to Tulsa? Is it detailed in the RENE yet?

Shooter Ruger pistols are all over the place - get one to shoot and leave this one alone until at least, you get a definitive value on it.

 

[xtratoy]

When you say Ivory grips, is that real Ivory or simulated Ivory?

 

[22/45 Fan]

You could post it on Gun Broker and set a reserve of whatever minimum you are willing to accept, say $650 as mentioned above. If the auction is successful you will make a bit to a lot more. If not and the bids don't meet the reserve, nothing is lost.