Went to the local gun show Saturday and came away with a Mark 1 that the seller claimed was a factory prototype gun. I will let you all be the judge. I was able to call the seller last night and got more info.
Seller bought this gun and its sister from a gunsmith shop in Hollywood FL over 10 years ago. Gunsmith name was Charles Charley Sheppard who had worked for Ruger, High Standard, and S&W, according to the seller. The guns were part of his personal collection. As you will see from the pics, the stainless steel finish of this gun is rough, but according to the seller, its sister one digit sn off was polished. That gun sold the month before, but the seller knows of the buyer so I am going to track it down. Let me know what you think.
Interesting Gun show find -Factory gun?
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fishhuntnut
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:19 pm
Interesting Gun show find -Factory gun?
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Last edited by fishhuntnut on Mon Mar 17, 2025 8:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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fishhuntnut
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:19 pm
Re: Interesting Gun show find -Factory gun?
neat! Serial number doesn't come up on Ruger search......
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fishhuntnut
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:19 pm
Re: Interesting Gun show find -Factory gun?
I am going to send off for a letter on the very remote chance it is the real deal.
Re: Interesting Gun show find -Factory gun?
Interesting piece, but has all the features of a newer, later standard or Mark I....best to actually measure ( mic) the diameter of the receiver tube, and compare to another auto....anyone can 'pantograph' ,engrave marking ,numbers and letters and those are NOTHING Like any that Ruger used. I' ve seen other s that various gunsmiths made up from scratch over the years and from meeting,knowing other smiths from our time at Camp Perry back in the 70s with High Standard,,,,,often when guys who worked in, around the "tool room' having access to any and all the equipment at ANY given factory can make up stuff, and if the numbers are NOT in the Ruger system, then it is NOT "factory",,as we all know the CGA of 68 caused all the usage of numbers on about everything, and the various 'other' prototype guns of different models documented in any of the books ala Dougans, etc and seen at display show you cmoe to see and know their usage/style...my bet, "home made"....reminds me of all the guns "redone/made up using the old Remington UMC "lunchbox guns of many years ago,done with NO serial numbers on the parts ( frames ) that came out of the factory,,we had to deal with some of that back in the early 90s when I was on the board of OGCA over in Cleveland...we actually had to dismiss a noted "member" for "faking" the numbers on one of those...........yes they are out there..........see recently one of our members here has an "S" Tri color of question....caveat emptor baby 
