Speed Six rescue

weaselmeatgravy said:

I'd be interested to see that and whatever markings it has. I have a Western Australia Police Speed Six that is recognized as likely the only one left in the world since by the time they transitioned to autos, there was a law that made it illegal resell or export old guns, so all the others were destroyed. The one I have was a "cabinet" gun held back at Ruger as an example of the model.

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How did you manage to get a gun that was held back by the factory? That's gotta be an interesting story.

weaselmeatgravy said:

I'd be interested to see that and whatever markings it has. I have a Western Australia Police Speed Six that is recognized as likely the only one left in the world since by the time they transitioned to autos, there was a law that made it illegal resell or export old guns, so all the others were destroyed. The one I have was a "cabinet" gun held back at Ruger as an example of the model.

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A couple of years ago Buds Guns had some of the Aussie cop guns on the cheap. I think it was $300 for this one. I'm out of the country right now but once I am back, I will post some pics of the markings.
It really shoots despite the fixed sights.

magnum0710 said:

How did you manage to get a gun that was held back by the factory? That's gotta be an interesting story.

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Warehouse cleanout in 2009. They found a few dozen -Six DAs sitting around and a local dealer with strong factory ties bought them directly from Ruger. That dealer knew me as a Ruger collector and called me when he got them. I bought 10 or 12 as I recall. The W.A. Police gun was the most interesting of the group, followed by a factory high polish lowback GA32 that I reckon had been sitting around so they used it as a Guinea pig for the high gloss stainless Vaquero finish. That one is a non-marked "S" gun with two ship dates, 1975 and 2009, so it came back for some reason.

Bigbore5 said:

A couple of years ago Buds Guns had some of the Aussie cop guns on the cheap. I think it was $300 for this one.

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Do the markings include anything besides the import marks?

Curious because mine says "W.A. POLICE" on the barrel where the caliber is usually marked. It is a .357 Mag. I chatted with a retired W.A.P. cop who told me the guns were special ordered for their elite force similar to our SWAT teams and that most cops were restricted to .38 Spl. In an effort to reduce "caliber envy" at the range, they ordered them with no caliber marking.

I think there is another Aussie -Six (maybe Queensland?) that has a special shield or something rollmarked on the topstrap and maybe the left side of the frame.

No other markings other than the importers lazer engraving. Hoschton,GA curved over the GDM in a rectangular box marking they used.