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Mark I, Tapered Bolt Ears Question
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:29 pm
by BarkeyVA
Re: Mark I, Tapered Bolt Ears Question
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:36 pm
by rugerguy
Re: Mark I, Tapered Bolt Ears Question
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:29 pm
by BarkeyVA
Thanks for your reply. Was just curious if one is more "rare" than the other.
Re: Mark I, Tapered Bolt Ears Question
Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:20 am
by chet15
I believe the "up" or "down" flat would be completely at random, and there really is no purpose to having it one way or the other.
Betting that one of the first operations to the bolt was the rear portion where the ears would go on. Then when machining the top or bottom of the bolt, the bolt could be jigged either direction, completely at random.... wouldn't matter.
I've never attempted counting one or the other. Believe they are completely random.
Nice score on the tapered ear. A funny story... back in the day when collecting was really starting to blossom (late 70's and early 80's) nobody ever thought about a tapered ear T678 even though tapered ear RST4's and T514's were known at the time. Of course the T514 stuck out like a sore thumb anyway, and the RST4 tapered ear was common.
But then a friend of ours ran a general ad in the Des Moines register wanting to buy Liberty marked Rugers. The first person that called didn't have any of those, but he did have a T678 he wanted to sell, serial number 26966. We all went to that person's house for the purchase and lo and behold... the tapered ear T678 seemingly made its first appearance to the collecting world. Not sure if Donnie knew about them or not at the time but I'm pretty sure Lueders and Munnell didn't.
Chet15
Re: Mark I, Tapered Bolt Ears Question
Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:33 am
by BarkeyVA
Thanks, Chet. If I ever see one with the flat on the bottom, I'll consider buying it just because it is different from the one I have.