Which Production Plant Does The Wrangler/Super Made

[contender]

Delbert,, very interesting.

By all I've seen so far,, I'd think the Super Wrangler that Bull's-Eye has would be an early one. The way it's marked,, is very different than most of the production guns I've seen or handled.
And the "warning" crap that's now located on the bottom of the barrel is where most often the production guns are marked. AND the roll mark die is normally a dingle die with BOTH lines on it,, to assure alignment & such.
Bull's-eye's gun has a single line of lawyer crap. Again, interesting.

His gun has a noticeably different marking on the side of the main frame than production guns from what I've seen. And from what you've said about your main frame marking,, it's the same as mine.
The barrel address with "Prescott" in it,, being different on his gun, your gun & mine does seem to point to a couple of possibilities. Your gun failed to get the second line of the barrel roll mark. (A mistake maybe?) His gun being marked on the main frame didn't get it because it was already elsewhere. Mine being more common.
My gun letters as being shipped in April of 2023.

Serial numbers. Notice the picture above of what Bull's-Eye posted. The serial number of that Super Wrangler has a prefix of 207. Followed by the numbers 87392.
As noted above in my previous posting,, Ruger has overlapped the Wranglers & the Super Wranglers in their serial number sequence. Mine has a 207 prefix.

You keep saying your gun is a 4 digit gun.

You have not posted the prefix of your gun. Is it a 207 or a 209?

Ruger records,, SADLY,, even the factory info has a LOT of mistakes on the website. Plus,, often due to the way people interpret the Ruger charts, mistakes are made. The only TRUE way to get confirmation of the date of manufacture is to get a $10 letter from Ruger. The actual build records are used,, NOT what is on the website charts.

If your gun has a 207 prefix,, followed by a set of 5 digits,, (207-01234) it'd still not be a way to identify it as a "4-digit gun." Why? Because of the overlapping of Wranglers & Super Wranglers in serial number markings.
If it has a 209 prefix,, followed by the 5 digits, (209-01234) then it'd still NOT be a 4 digit gun due to the production of the guns with a 207 prefix.

In the early years from 1949 until the 1968 Gun Control Act was passed, a unique serial number of each firearm was not required. After 1968,,, Ruger started adding a prefix number to the serial numbers,, and assigned the prefix according to the models initially. 10 was the .22 semi's. 20 was the Single-Sixes, 30 was the 357 Blackhawks, 40 was the .41 magnum Blackhawk, 45 was the .45 cal Blackhawk, 50 was the 30 carbine, 60 was used again for the Single-Six line, 80 was used for the Super Blackhawk etc.
Once they run out of numbers in both the 5 digit suffix, they would change the prefix by (1) number,, such as 11, 31, 46, 81 etc. And later on Ruger went to a 3-digit prefix.
Anytime a definitive new model of some type is introduced,, they will pick a prefix that's a round number. The Wranglers were started with 200-00001. a true 4 digit Wrangler would be 200-01234 as an example. A 201-01234 would NOT be a 4 digit gun.

And since they have chosen to put the Super Wranglers in the SAME prefix section as the Wranglers,, a true 4 digit gun can not be determined by the actual serial number. Only the factory would know that info,,, and they don't release that type of info.

Using the factory website as a hard & fast method of identifying a production timeframe isn't the best.

And if you used the prefix of 209-012345 for your gun and it came up as 2023,, AND your gun does have a 209 prefix,, it most likely means they decided to stop using the 207 prefix on the Wranglers,, and POSSIBLY jumped over prefix 208,, and started with 209 on the next batch AFTER they stopped the Super Wranglers they had marked with 207-xxxxx.

We all like to think we have something special, or a lower serial number. And sometimes we do. You seem to keep on trying to make your gun a true 4-digit production example. Yet, w/o the prefix, AND knowing exactly what sequence Ruger used in their numbering of the early Super Wranglers,, (which they won't disclose,) it's a big question mark. And if your gun has a 209 prefix,, I can guarantee that it's not a 4-digit gun. Too many made already with a 207 prefix.

The bigger anomaly is the possible variations of the frame & barrel markings. From what I've seen & studied so far on this,, I'd say that Bull's-Eye's gun is most likely an earlier example. Yours,, if it's not marked with Prescott,,, is a possible mistake OR,,,, another variation. Mine,, I'll bet is a later production with all the "current" info on the gun.

 

[contender]

hittman & thinckley were posting as I was typing.

Actually the Wranglers were started with the prefix of 200 not 201. So the true 4-digit Wranglers will be 200-00001 to 200-09999.

thinckley,, read Delbert's last paragraph just before your post. He doesn't have a camera to share pictures.

 

[hittman]

The pictures on Ruger's web site may show a Wrangler or the Super Wrangler as the disclaimer below the pic says that the pic is "representative".

Even when I see them picture the Super, the description only says Wrangler; at least in the one I saw.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I love a good mystery!

 

[Hour of Angle]

On the left side of mine it says "SUPER WRANGLER" Prescott, AZ USA. On the right side, it says" RUGER (R) 209-21XXX 22cal. Bottom of the bbl it has the "Read the manual cra..stuff. Pretty clean I think

 

[NH Rugerman]

I believe the Super Wrangler started with the 209 prefix (Ruger did NOT serial number the guns in the sequence with the Wranglers, but set aside the 209 prefix for the SW line) so it is possible to have a four digit SW.

 

[jdavis]

Seems as if Delbert is taken a hiatus. Perhaps he will show back up with some photos……………or not

 

[contender]

Uhh,, my Super Wrangler does have the prefix of 207. So yes,, they did make some with that. And my factory letter confirms it.

And I also hope that Delbert does come back. I hope our discussion hasn't upset him. In fact,, this discussion has opened up the kind of stuff us collectors enjoy. It's very possible we are looking at 3 variations of the Super Wrangler markings. I'm sure of 2 of them. Bull's-eye's gun, and my gun are differently marked.
If Delbert's gun doesn't have the "Prescott" marking,, it's a possible 3rd variation.

And as we can see,, the serial numbering may also be an interesting topic. Mine has a 207 prefix,, and many later ones have the 209.

Good info for the RENE & Chet15 to document.

 

[TATERARK]

My serial number prefix is 207 also. And has all the markings as yours Contender.

 

[Delbert]

Yes, I'm back boys. I have thicker skin than that. I did a little reading about what a gun's "prefix number" OR, letters mean which is confusing some gun owner's.

A gun's prefix number(s) or letter(s) is generally to confine a gun into a certain series, year, or model (10/22, model 19, 66, 77/44 or blackhawk, super redhawk or others). The serial# determines how it falls within the production lineup when it's made.

Also, number or letter prefixes now used, that within any given prefix of multiple guns made, there COULD BE the same serial number, so the prefix gives one the positive ID that their gun falls where it does and series separation of another model. Anybody ever seen guns for sale that had the same serial #'s, but different calibers? Or same model series, but different calibers? This is where the prefixes distinguish one gun from another as a model or caliber. This is just a short summary of what a prefix # can provide. Also, a prefix can change over time or by upgrade changes if warranted by manufacturer.

My SW is listed as #209-01120. The prefix (209) shows that this is a genuine Super Wrangler by its prefix and it falls as a 22 caliber model that is a "convertible" as Ruger designed for release in 2023. The actual serial # is 01120.

Yes, I know the SW's came out sometime around early April of '23 by what I can find by any gun writeups. That serial # could start from #00001 OR #01000 for all I know, and unless one gets the Ruger verification sheet that lists all the info of this particular gun, make, model, caliber and so-on, I can only guess about how low the actual serial# started, or if Ruger even lists where their serial #'s start and stop for any given model. I'm sure they do, since there's many gun collectors of certain models or manufacturer.

By (only) using my serial # in this and my previous posting, due to it being a lower serial # I went through prefixes of #200-208 and this showed me that the regular Wrangler's were coded to these prefixes from 2019 to 2023. Also the prefix #208 and using my gun's serial # and entering 208-01120 was a regular Wrangler released in 2023. So, I'm guessing that there was a series of Wrangler's using prefix of 208 for the year of 2023 and not jumping across 207 to 209.

I will admit that Bulls-EYE does show a 207 prefix for a SW, I cannot explain why my prefix #209 cannot be an early 4-digit serial number which also showed came out in 2023. Just a different prefix.

Again, my SW DOES NOT have any markings of where made, nor any lawyer BS wording anywhere, that can be found on it. Kinda nice actually.

An anomaly, QC inspection problem, 1st model of series before plant changes, thoughts and ideas?

 

[NikA]

Pics would help. Your lengthy post above comes across as not being willing to admit your incorrect understanding of firearms markings. ATF says full serial number includes the prefix, which is what every other poster in this thread up to this point also understood "serial number" to mean.

I believe the ATF also requires a manufacturing location, so your claim that your SW is not thusly marked is highly unusual.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Mine has a 209 prefix and is 11,800+ digits higher than Delbert's. I believe that I purchased it sometime in early June of last year, if my memory serves correctly.

 

[contender]

Delbert,, glad to see you haven't stopped checking in. As I said,, it's anomalies like this that can help collectors.

You mention your gun has a prefix of 209. That's fine. But your assessment of it being a a 4-digit gun is most likely incorrect.

Yes,, as noted,, the ATF after the 1968 GCA required, by law,, a unique serial number for every gun made by a manufacturer. So the prefix is part of the serial number. Your complete serial number is 209-01122.
Mine as well as Taterark's both have a prefix of 207, followed by a dash & 5 digits.

My gun has a factory letter stating it was shipped in April 2023.

And since you've done some studying,, you are to be commended for that. But I think you have a bit of confusion. Model numbers are not part of the serial number process. Delve a bit deeper into the true history of Sturm, Ruger & Co. In the beginning, guns were "named" by Bill. The Ruger automatic, which later came to be called the Standard Auto. And a few other variations such as "Target model" were added. Then in 1953,, Bill introduced the "Single-Six." later on the Blackhawks & so forth. The 10/22, the .44 Carbine, the M77, the 96/44, and many others. (I'm not familiar with a Ruger model 19 or 66.)
Then the guns were marked with a serial number. Before the 1968 GCA,, we have Rugers with identical serial numbers but different models. (Collectors love matching up guns like this.)
But afterwards,, as I mentioned in my earlier post,, Bill added a prefix to the serial numbers to identify the specific models. As the prefix was initially a 2 digit type,, then due to production exceeding the available numbers,, the prefix would change. As mentioned above,, the prefix of 200 was assigned to the Wrangler. And as they used up all the available 5 digit numbers they switched to a different prefix and started all over again with 00001 until they again ran out of numbers.

And if you study my previous post,, and Ruger history,, you will see that in some models,, there's an overlapping of models that are similar,, but still carry a unique serial number. More-so in the .22 Single-Six line than other models. Especially the convertible ones.

And apparently,, when the Super Wranglers came out,, some are marked with a prefix of 207. But when Ruger decided to switch to using a prefix of 209,, they started with 00001 and went up.

Your gun would be a 4 digit,, OF THE 209 PREFIX type. Not necessarily an actual 4 digit production one.

Since Ruger doesn't publicly publish production numbers, we collectors try & chase info that helps us identify all sorts of details.

I'm not sure if the ATF does require the place of mfg on a gun,, but it's very likely.

And again,, as I've said,, if your gun has different roll markings,, it may be one of possibly 3 variations. Heck,,, there may well be another variation as well. But it's discussions like this that help us collectors.

But again,, with a prefix of 209,, and the prefix of 207 both being on Super Wranglers,, we have to assume that the 207 guns were built prior to the 209 prefix guns.

 

[hittman]

Here's an example for the newer folks …..
Ruger introduced the Security Six, Service Six and Speed Six with the 150-xxxxx serial number range.
All 3 models are co-mingled together.
These "Six Series" double actions continue into the 160-something range.
When they hit 150-99999, the next one was 151-00000, then 151-00001, 2, 3, 4 and so forth.
The ONLY 4 digit guns in the entire run are numbered 150-01000 through 150-09999.
The 3 digit guns are 150-00100 to 150-00999.
The 2 digit guns are ….. etc.
NONE of the guns with prefix 151 and higher are 4 digit guns.

 

[contender]

Good point hittman. I didn't think about that example. It's an excellent study into how Ruger has made different models within the same serial number bracket. Those 3 models were very similar,, yet different.
And a 4-digit gun of a specific model isn't easily found without actual factory day book records & study. Something we non-employees of Ruger don't have access to.

 

[Delbert]

Contender, models 19 and 66 pertain to the S&W series of guns. I just threw them in as they many times use letters to designate prefixes, followed by numbers.

Why else would Ruger place a dash between the prefix, which we know is NOT the serial number, but a series for company breakdown in what the firearm is, followed by a 5 digit span. It's to go up to 99,999 as a serial number, or even putting a letter(s) somewhere within that digit block before going to a "new" prefix and starting over with numbers or letters.

I know, as a whole when bringing up a serial #, any letters or numbers that needs to be used for all this goes together to make a serial # for any firearm.

Not trying to be irrational and a know-it-all. I guess what I'm saying is we're all correct and maybe I'm just going about it differently in thinking. I don't consider using the prefix as a serial number, but I do know one needs the prefix to make the serial # whole for giving the firearm its ID.

Yes, pics would help, but I've given y'all the layout that my SW has on it. It's nothing more that I can say. If I hadn't even brought up the topic, I would say that what I've seen in pictures online that my SW is same as all others. Until, it seems that there's possibly 3 variations now.

 

[NikA]

City and State or recognized abbreviations thereof are required markings on domestically produced firearms from licensed manufacturers per 98R-341P, issued 2002. If your firearm is truly lacking these markings, it is most likely a mismarked example that slipped past QC.

Still be interesting to see it, but there's no way I'd call it a 'variation' as I'm sure Ruger intended to comply with the marking requirements.

 

[contender]

Actually Delbert,, in the case of S&W,, the model, say,, 19,, or let's say 19-4 for example is on the frame,, but not part of the serial number.

Ruger is entirely different. The prefix per ATF rules,, is part of the serial number. Ruger, like S&W puts the model info separately on the firearm. To consider the prefix on a Ruger as not being part of the serial number is incorrect.

After fooling with Rugers for almost 50 years,, of which I've been a serious study of them for about 40 years now,, the fact your gun doesn't have the "Prescott" roll marking is more likely a "mistake" rather than a true variation.
A variation would be where several of them (at least a few hundred or more,) have different markings.

A few examples would be the very early FT Blackhawk in 357 Mag. We have what's known as a "Ross" variation. A gun with Type 1 features,, yet a serial number range that puts the features later in production. About 800 of those. Then another example of a much later change,, the beginning of the .32 H&R mag Single-Six. Several hundred of those were marked on the Frame with "SSM" which was later removed. These are but a few examples of a variation vs a mistake.

I own a Standard Auto,, where there's a factory mistake concerning the rear sight. And over the years,, I've seen or heard of other mistakes made by Ruger,, yet the guns were released. There have been barrels cut to a different length than what the factory catalog offered,, yet produced because a guy on the barrel cutting thought he was cutting for a different caliber. (He thought he was cutting 6-1/2" 41 mag barrel stock when he actually cut 44 mag barrel stock.) that makes for a factory mistake variation.

So at this point,, I'd say that the bold marking of the main frame on the side as shown by Bull's-Eye,, vs what is normally seen on the production guns,, will be more likely a variation. That font, and location points to a definite difference done on purpose. Making at least (2) variations.

Now we collectors & all need to start looking for other guns without the Prescott marking or the warning rollmarking on the bottom of the barrel. If we find out there are several,, then your gun would be the 3rd variation.

 

[chet15]

That's weird. Mine is a 4 digit serial #, and no location maker marks. I did find on Ruger's site that it was made in 2023.

As far as I know, Wranglers have always been made in Prescott, AZ. If Ruger's website says the service department for the Wrangler is in Arizona that would be the indication that that is also where they started production.
I guess I don't know at the moment if the Wranglers have a barrel address or not, would be on the bottom of the barrel. Even then however, even though the address on Ruger says one thing, it isn't where they necessarily built the revolver. Ruger's original Southport address was used on everything up until about 15 years ago because that was Ruger's corporate address.
Next, your Super Wrangler is definitely not a four digit Wrangler, or even a four digit Super Wrangler. Wranglers started serial numbering at 200-00001. Super Wranglers were first introduced in the late 207- prefix. Here is a link to one of those on Gunbroker right now.

Ruger Super Wrangler 22 LR 22 WMR 02032 Super-Wrangler - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 1040527471

Buy Ruger Super Wrangler 22 LR 22 WMR 02032 Super-Wrangler: GunBroker is the largest seller of Revolvers Pistols Guns & Firearms All: 1040527471

www.gunbroker.com

Ruger's policy is generally to have every new model series that has a different frame or parts set, to give them a serial number prefix that is reserved for that paticular parts set. They didn't do that initially with the Super Wrangler although they should have. When the 207- prefix ran out of numbers at 207-99999 they decided to make the 209- prefix solely for the Super Wrangler adjustable sight guns.
Sometime fairly early in the 209- prefix Ruger decided to add a little somethin somethin in their rollmarks, namely by adding Prescott AZ to the left side rollmark and adding "22 CAL" to the left side of the serial number on the right side of the frame. They added the Presscott AZ address because they didn't have any address noted on them previously? (Barrel rollmark?)
Here's a link to 209-00022 without the new rollmarks (not very good pics, but here it is...)

Ruger Super Wrangler Serial Number XXX-00022 - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 1042176569

Buy Ruger Super Wrangler Serial Number XXX-00022: GunBroker is the largest seller of Revolvers Pistols Guns & Firearms All: 1042176569

www.gunbroker.com

This rollmarking change also occurred with the fixed sight guns sometime in the early 2008- prefix. The 2008- prefix is designated solely for the fixed sight guns.
Chet15

 

[chet15]

Ruger changed the rollmarking on the Super Wrangler sometime between your 209-01120 and 209-02284
And on the fixed sight guns it was changed sometime just before 208-05190.
Chet15