victorio1sw
Bearcat
Yes, I sure did. Mailed on 4/14/24 with $10 check. Jim
VERY EARLY RUGER SINGLE SIX FLAT GATE #93
- Thread starter victorio1sw
- Start date
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Very cool.
I love these type 1 RSS's.....
And I would appreciate any knowledge the letter reveals.
Cheers,
Jay
victorio1sw
Bearcat
I plan to scan and post it here -- when it arrives. Jim
Star43
Blackhawk
You know when I see an old gun that looks in great shape, of course you feel good for the guy who "just got it", but what about the guy who had it before him. To me the history of a very well cared for gun always intrigued me. For one, when the original guy bought it and where he bought it. Of course that guy cared for the gun in its great condition. He even switched out the flat gate to the rounded one. Did he sell it to someone else. Heck for that matter why didn't his kids or his relatives want to keep it. It is to me anyway, a family heirloom. I guess it could have been an estate sale or the guy or family just sold it.....I guess maybe I'm weird, but I sort of like to be like an old Paul Harvey. It's good to know the rest of the story ...when you know that , it makes it even more special knowing the true history of the gun.
AMEN!
It's been said 1000 times, but if this gun could talk...........
Cheers,
JAYDAWG
P.S.
You're not weird, I think most of us here are the same way.
It's been said 1000 times, but if this gun could talk...........
Cheers,
JAYDAWG
P.S.
You're not weird, I think most of us here are the same way.
Star43
Blackhawk
Well it would be certainly nice to know the history of this #93........First year of production, well cared for ALL of these years, etc....To me it is kind of weird that it didn't "stay in the family".....I mean we aren't talking about a well cared for gun that was made in 1993.....it was from 1953....
Star43
Blackhawk
Just wondering .....I mean if it was the 14th one made as was mentioned earlier.....I wonder why it was numbered as #93....which is still ridiculously low, but only the 14th one made ?? The story of this gun would be very interesting for Ruger fans I would think ?? Definitely interesting for me. 
JAYDAWG you haven't got enough marbles to offer a fair trade in the classifieds. Beautiful flatgate and nice to be seen. Thanks for showing us victorio1sw.According to John Dougans book....................
The 93 was one of the first 14 guns produced, December 15th 1953.
An historic one for sure.
Slide that baby over to the classifieds..............
Cheers,
JAYDAWG
Just wondering .....I mean if it was the 14th one made as was mentioned earlier.....I wonder why it was numbered as #93....which is still ridiculously low, but only the 14th one made ?? The story of this gun would be very interesting for Ruger fans I would think ?? Definitely interesting for me.
90% of what I have learned and 100% of facts I post about the early RRS guns come from John Dougans book "Ruger Pistols & Revolvers" The vintage years 1949-1973. I would encourage anyone who wants more knowledge about the history of Ruger and specifics about production NEEDS this book. I'm always reading up & refreshing my memory in it.
Back to the 93 and early serial numbers..........out of the first 17 Single Sixes produced the two days of December 15th & 16th 1953, six of those were 3 digit guns. In fact 28 of the first 86 guns were 3 digit.
It's referred to as the parts bin theory.
Fun stuff
Cheers,
JaydaWg
Star43
Blackhawk
Well, that is all fine and good, as you read it in a book, But my question is really to the OP.......I wish he would share with us some history of his actual "new to him gun",. Serial number #93..... I would hope he would share what he may know of the origins of this very early made Single Six....To me and many others, the SS is very special. It would be nice to hear the story, if possible, about the origins of this particular gun.....I mean if he doesn't know, well that is ok and fine too, but how often does one come across something like this ....in my opinion.....it doesn't hurt to ask.....
Totally get it.
The type 1 RSS's are my kryptonite, and I always ask, how long have you had it?, why are you selling?
Most of these guns have circulated in the Ruger collecting community for several decades and have had many
caretakers through the years.
Unfortunately, NO ONE selling one of these is the original owner.
So, unless victorio1sw is the great grandson of a Ruger employee from 1957, and grandpa told him everything,
this guns' story is lost to history.
Cheers,
JAYDAWG
PS,
This would have been a subscription # , so the factory letter could disclose the original owner & pedigree
The type 1 RSS's are my kryptonite, and I always ask, how long have you had it?, why are you selling?
Most of these guns have circulated in the Ruger collecting community for several decades and have had many
caretakers through the years.
Unfortunately, NO ONE selling one of these is the original owner.
So, unless victorio1sw is the great grandson of a Ruger employee from 1957, and grandpa told him everything,
this guns' story is lost to history.
Cheers,
JAYDAWG
PS,
This would have been a subscription # , so the factory letter could disclose the original owner & pedigree
Star43
Blackhawk
It would be nice to hear from the OP on how he was fortunate to come across his new gun ?? Maybe he knows how it even came to be available in the first place and/or if he knew the original owner ?? #93 sounds interesting !!
victorio1sw
Bearcat
Jay,
The Ruger letter arrived today. As promised, it has been scanned and attached.
A couple of questions about this letter. Is the Gold Seal a new feature, to make it look official?
The letter does confirm what some of you predicted, that it was manufactured in Dec 1953. But it further states that it was shipped to a hardware store in Topeka, KS in Dec 1953.
The only other Ruger Single Six letter that I have (#455296) only stated that it was shipped Nov 1966 as a 22 RF with a 22 Mag cylinder, but no address given. That was six or seven years ago. Has Ruger started supplying more information in these letters?
All comments will be appreciated.
Jim
Attachments
victorio1sw
Bearcat
I first found that W. A. L Thompson had purchased the hardware store of Whitmer & Smith, and will continue this business at the same location on May 24, 1878 in the Topeka Daily Commonwealth..
I also find W. A. L Thompson Hardware listed at 199 Kansas Avenue in a June 7, 1878 Topeka State Journal.
I will add more recent A. L Thompson Hardware ads if I find them.
Jim
Attachments
contender
Ruger Guru
Some years ago,, Ruger did begin adding a little more info to their letters. Basically, the mfg date as well as the ship date & where it was shipped to. They also added the gold seal thing about the same time. It can help the very few un-savory types who might try & counterfeit a letter to enhance the value of a Ruger.
victorio1sw
Bearcat
Maybe I should order a new letter on #455296, because the first one was disappointing in content.
Jim
Jim
contender
Ruger Guru
The only extra info you will get will be the separating of the mfg & ship dates,, and where it went.
I think Ruger gives us all they've got.
Yours looks like most of the letters I've gotten from them.
Once I got a 2nd letter, attached to the "standard" letter. The 2nd one explained how or why my gun had an "S" following the serial number.
Yours looks like most of the letters I've gotten from them.
Once I got a 2nd letter, attached to the "standard" letter. The 2nd one explained how or why my gun had an "S" following the serial number.
Jim,
WAY COOL!
Thanks for posting.
The type 1 RSS's are not only my favorite, but John Dougan says in his book "In many ways the first 2000 or so flat-gates are the most collector significant of all production Ruger single-action revolvers."
I must agree, they sure have bit me in the ass
Contender & Hitman have already answered your questions, and also, yes, I believe a new letter will give you ship to info on your other gun.
Congratulations on being the caretaker of a very special piece of Ruger history!!!
Happy for you.
Cheers,
JaydaWg
Star43
Blackhawk
Is this Hardware store still in business I wonder ? So this #93 wasn't a "subscription" gun, as a lot of early production guns were , as I was led to believe ?? It's nice to know when it was made and obviously shipped right out to the hardware store in Topeka KS. To me it makes me wonder more if the store owner bought it for himself or he just bought it for resale to some customer ? And I wonder where it's been for the last 70 plus years ??? Again I wonder if it was in this guy's family or just been bouncing around from collector to collector all this time ? Who the heck knows or if they even want to say or talk about it. To me it's intriguing. I wonder if Contender and quite a few others are thinking a spacer should go on those grips, as one would not want those to crack for sure ....then again, it may just sit in a box in a safe right now. Who knows? But interesting.
