The Single Six is finished in either Blued or Stainless Steel.Īll versions of the Single Six use a six-shot cylinder. The transfer-bar prevents the hammer striking a cartridge without the trigger being pulled, hence preventing accidental firing.Īvaliable barrel lengths are 4.625in (117mm), 5.5in (140mm), 6.5in (165mm), 7.5in (190mm) and 9.5in (241mm). In 1973 the 'New Model' Single Six was released, featuring a transfer bar mechanism. Being a single action, prior to 1973 atleast, the Single Six couldn't be safely used with all six chambers loaded for fear of accidental discharge. The Ruger Single Six was designed as a single action revolver, a novelty in the 1950's with the main single action revolver, the Colt Single Action Army, going out of production before the Second World War.

3.1.2 'New Model' Single Six Convertible.

It really doesn't matter, since The Factory didn't record all the individual bits used on any particular gun anyway, so there is no documentation for most of those with the possible exception of some particular grip frames or panels, and these only occasionally.Īll this only serves to keep us on our toes and remember that with Ruger, never say never. There is no real way to sort these aberrations out, but in most cases they can be identified as 'suspicious' if that matters to someone. And of course there is always the potential for the 'screwdriver variations' arising from easily-swapped parts that muddy the gun's actual date of origin, either 'early' or 'late'. There will always be the occasional 'late shipped' gun having bits and pieces that were released considerably after the gun's serial number might indicate, or the occasional gun wearing some older bits from way earlier production that just floated to the top of the 'parts bin' at final assembly. He can, for instance, occasionally come pretty close to revealing within a month's time when certain features/parts were changed in a run of a particular model. His serial number breakouts are considerably more precise than anything Ruger has put out, and his discussion of which parts were used when is further informative. Knowing the month as well as the year certainly helps since the various 'type' configurations of many of the Old Models are pretty well known and documented in Chet15's Red Eagle News Exchange Reference of Ruger Firearms.

Ruger single six serial number