I recently picked up a Mark I with a 6 7/8" barrel. I checked the serial number on the Ruger site and it states it was made in 1965. Then since I was on the site I decided to see what year my Mark I with the 5 1/2" Bull-barrel was made. According to the site it was made in 1978, serial # 14-711##. Here is what confuses me, I know I traded for this "used/like new" pistol in the fall of 1975. I had a Beretta O/U shotgun that I had picked up during my first enlistment in the Navy (I got out in Oct 1974) that I traded for three other guns including this Mark I. I had it with me when I re-enlisted in May of 1976 and went back to Norfolk, Virginia. These are the only Mark I pistols I have ever owned.
How can the serial # list be this far off?
How can the serial # list be this far off?