RST6 Serial Number Issue

[arcticruger]

Well this is a interesting. I received the LOA for my RST-6 with serial #250929 today. To my surprise its serial, # 250929, came back as being produced and shipped in September, 1963. It was sold to me as a 1964 and Rugers website shows it as a 1964 with the ‘64 autos starting with serial # 250296. While the serials numbers are only 633 apart, according to the LOA the pistol dates back four months into 1963.

So now I’m wondering if Ruger's website has a typo, or is it the LOA, or what?

Ruger Standard/Mark I Serial Numbers 1949-1981:
https://ruger.com/service/productHistory/PI-MarkI.html

LOA:

[johncdougan]

Hello arcticruger,

Your pistols are really nice, thanks for sharing them with us.

All seral number charts are estimates. Ruger Pistols & Revolvers, RENE and Ruger & His Guns are the most reliable. Although they vary from each other, they are all considered correct. Page page 106 of Pistols & Revolvers explains the process of numbering at the Ruger factory. These charts were never intended to be exact.

Your situation is a good example of why, time after time we read on the forums,"get factory verification". Your LOA would be correct because the info was taken out of the day books and or from the shipping invoice. The guides mentioned above were never intended to be exact, they are ball park estimates put together from exhausting research from Ruger archives and experience in the field and in most cases should be used for discussion purposes only. Everyone should read page 106 and get a better understanding of why the dates can differ.

Larry Wilson's charts in Ruger & His Guns are what the factory posted on their web-site.

regards, John

[chet15]

And to add to John's statement, since Ruger does not ship their guns in numerical order, the shipping dates between two consecutive guns for example can be years apart. I am currently doing research on Red Label shotguns and several different consecutive serial numbers could have easily been shipped in all different years.
Chet15

[arcticruger]

Hello arcticruger,

Your pistols are really nice, thanks for sharing them with us.

All seral number charts are estimates. Ruger Pistols & Revolvers, RENE and Ruger & His Guns are the most reliable. Although they vary from each other, they are all considered correct. Page page 106 of Pistols & Revolvers explains the process of numbering at the Ruger factory. These charts were never intended to be exact.

Your situation is a good example of why, time after time we read on the forums,"get factory verification". Your LOA would be correct because the info was taken out of the day books and or from the shipping invoice. The guides mentioned above were never intended to be exact, they are ball park estimates put together from exhausting research from Ruger archives and experience in the field and in most cases should be used for discussion purposes only. Everyone should read page 106 and get a better understanding of why the dates can differ.

Larry Wilson's charts in Ruger & His Guns are what the factory posted on their web-site.

regards, John

Thanks John! I sure appreciate the explanation, good stuff! I will go back and read page 106 here shortly.
arcticruger

[arcticruger]

And to add to John's statement, since Ruger does not ship their guns in numerical order, the shipping dates between two consecutive guns for example can be years apart. I am currently doing research on Red Label shotguns and several different consecutive serial numbers could have easily been shipped in all different years.
Chet15

Thanks Chet15, I’m starting to get it. I’ve since learned that the assembly date, production date, and shipping date can all be different dates.
arctic

[Watertender]

Now you have a birth certificate for your RST6! Maybe it was premature by a few months. You know the old saying. The first one can arrive at any time, but the rest all take 9 months! (Words of whizdom from my grandpa, whizdom instead of wisdom because it would whiz my grandma off) Anyhow you have a beautiful RST6 there and something to be proud of.

[arcticruger]

Heheh

Thank you! I got lucky on that one, and it cleaned up real nice. I need to take new pics of it. The shipper nailed it for me and when the owner accepted my offer I was like a kid in the candy store.

[BarkeyVA]

This old post reminded me of my T-678 serial number issue. I requested a letter for my T-678 with tapered bolt ears, serial number 27203 which, according to Chad's Handbook, was made in 1952.

Ruger's letter of Authenticity indicates it is a Standard Pistol shipped in February 1953! Chad's handbook does not include 27203 in the list of Standard model serial numbers.

After receiving the letter from Ruger, I sent several photos of my gun to Ruger to show that my gun, serial no 27203, is in fact a T-678. After receiving my photos, I got a call from a Ruger representative who commented that, while my gun appears to be a T-678, they did not intend to update their records.