1946 Purchase Order

All Ruger Tools
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

chet15 wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:17 pm Just revisited this post after a thought.
The 15,000 sets of left hand and right hand housings look like they were the probably the first order for Ruger's grip drill models. They would have all looked the same.
But later on while developing his .22 pistol, the round indents came into being on each side of that grip frame... which would seem to mean that there must have been an additional order for the later style grip frame shells, which also happen to be the most common (at least 2 times more common than the square arbor type grip drill).
Or, might the Ruger Corp have found a way to press the round indents into the shells for later production?
Chet15
More to add... A Ruger drill grip frame shell cannot be modified and turned into the 1949 design Ruger Pistol grip frame... the drill grip frame is too short. So perhaps WBR thought the dies that he paid for to press the shell halves for the grip frame could be modified into a press that could then turn out pistol grip frame shells.

Or... ARE YOU READY??? Maybe the grip frame shells for the drill were originally the size of Ruger's pistol grip frame and the shells were modified for the time being (by cutting off the lower portion) and turned into Ruger Corp drill shell halves.
To the point.... why have a pressed steel manufacturer press grip frame shells with the round indent in them if those indents had no use for the drill whatsoever? Those indents were to guide the .22 pistol magazine.
I am now betting that original drill shell halves were indeed meant for Ruger's .22 pistol, and were only modified to the Ruger Corp drill by a simple slicing off of the lower portion.
Wow!!!!!
Chet15
rugerguy
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:57 pm
Location: NE OHio

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by rugerguy »

Hey Chad, flash-back, you and I and Jeff M talked about that MANY ,MANY years ago at Monroeville........ 8-) :roll: ;)
User avatar
T.A. Workman
Posts: 610
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:02 am
Location: Ohio

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by T.A. Workman »

Chad,
I just read your email and replied. Makes sense to me also fits right in with John's writings.
We just had the cart in front of the horse :) ;)

Terry
NRA Benefactor
Life Mem MOPH
Life Mem USMC
Clyde "Jug" Johnson - Six-Gun Man
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

rugerguy wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 4:55 pm Hey Chad, flash-back, you and I and Jeff M talked about that MANY ,MANY years ago at Monroeville........ 8-) :roll: ;)
yeah probably.... but couldn't get by the fact that the drill grip frames are shorter than a .22 pistol grip frame.
Chet15
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

Just imagine... WBR would have been ready to produce .22 pistols maybe as much as 2-1/4 years earlier. All he needed was a fairly simple tube receiver (already managed on the hand drill and stick drills), thread a barrel to it and insert bolt (turned from bar stock) and ejection apparatus. Thus, Alexander Sturm may have never entered the picture!!!
Note that the heading of the invoice at the top of this thread says "RUGER AUTOMATIC PISTOLS".
Yeah... WBR was nearly ready.
Chet15
Last edited by chet15 on Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

And now... I may be reaching... but is this the reason Ruger skipped serial numbers 0661 through 1999 in their early pistol serial numbering? The old production grip frames used to make Ruger Corp drills were now gone??
Wondering if there is a way to tell if the earliest Ruger pistol grip frames are really remnants of Ruger Corp drill production... maybe in the way the halves were stamped, or maybe in the process of welding the two halves together? Possible differences in the way the drill grip frame and the pistol grip frame look internally?
Chet15
Watertender
Posts: 994
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:42 pm

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by Watertender »

I no longer have the Ruger drill so can't look at the differences between that and the pistol. You pose some very interesting possibilities with the dies and stamped pieces. I also noticed the banner saying "Automatic Pistols" almost a full 3 years before they actually made pistols. The original pistol dies were the A54 frame and then the updated A100 frame was used from the early 1970's to the end of production for the MK and RST models. I am sure the dies were the property of the shop that pressed the pieces for Ruger. Would be interesting to see if there are any remnants of that company still in business.
Some people sit on $.05 of knowledge like it is the treasure of Egypt. I will teach anyone $.10 worth just to prove a point...
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

Watertender wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:51 am I no longer have the Ruger drill so can't look at the differences between that and the pistol. You pose some very interesting possibilities with the dies and stamped pieces. I also noticed the banner saying "Automatic Pistols" almost a full 3 years before they actually made pistols. The original pistol dies were the A54 frame and then the updated A100 frame was used from the early 1970's to the end of production for the MK and RST models. I am sure the dies were the property of the shop that pressed the pieces for Ruger. Would be interesting to see if there are any remnants of that company still in business.
"I am sure the dies were the property of the shop that pressed the pieces for Ruger." Actually, Ruger probably owned the dies. He wouldn't want Worcester making grip frames and selling them to somebody else.
Worcester Pressed Steel of Massachusetts went belly up in 1975.
Chet15
Watertender
Posts: 994
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:42 pm

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by Watertender »

Chet seeing that Worcester Pressed Steel went out of business in 1975 I am sure another press and die shop finished the frames for the rest of the MK and RST run as well as the MK2 and up. You are right on Ruger owning the dies, but they were probably kept at WPS. I wonder if WPS made the A100 frames?
Some people sit on $.05 of knowledge like it is the treasure of Egypt. I will teach anyone $.10 worth just to prove a point...
chet15
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:28 am

Re: 1946 Purchase Order

Post by chet15 »

Watertender wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:40 am Chet seeing that Worcester Pressed Steel went out of business in 1975 I am sure another press and die shop finished the frames for the rest of the MK and RST run as well as the MK2 and up. You are right on Ruger owning the dies, but they were probably kept at WPS. I wonder if WPS made the A100 frames?
Not sure. But if Ruger owned the dies, and I would proably be sure they did... Ruger would have requested those dies go back into their ownership.... and they probably would have went to the next vendor to do stampings.
Chet15
Post Reply