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I have found a nice, early 1996 example from a private party with a 26" barrel, no box and only two chokes. It has the typical wood to metal finish issues. At $1500 the price is right but I am concerned about the nicks in the bottom rear of the forend metal where it meets the receiver when opened. I'd also appreciate any tips on what to look for when inspecting. Here are a couple of photos. What do you think?

Nice gun, we had one that was engraved by John Adams for the factory back then but sold it, the smaller frame Red Labels were NOT very forgiving for putting them back together "in a hurry or carelessly" way, yes , you can refit, shape, blend in ( remove the chips) BUT gotta know what you're doing that is a touchy area and all marks show ( jump out at you) basically the stainless alloy is relatively "soft", thats what makes it easier to work on ,blend, polish that area.....I got rid of all but two of my Red Labels over the years and I had quite few of the early (fixed) choke gun even displayed them years back

Thanks, rugerguy.
I bought it today. The wood is nearly perfect and all the metal, except for above mentioned dings, is in excellent condition. Someone did a nice installation of a red Pachmyer recoil pad and the automatic safety feature has been disabled. No barrel block either. But what a nice shooter.
I forgot to take pictures.

Brought the gun home yesterday and had my first chance to check it over thoroughly. It has a couple of interesting features. First of all, the sights are different. They are white instead of gold color with the front bead on a small horizontal post. And it has a small white mid bead, as well. The red Pachmyer butt pad looks factory installed and the LOP is still 14 1/4 inches. Are these aftermarket modifications or could they have been factory? It does have the barrel block. The vent rib is loose on the middle four posts. Here are some photos:

Congratulations, nice pick up at a good price. Looking at the 1996 catalog it reads: All Ruger Woodside and Ruger Red Label shotguns have gold bead sights, stocks with a pull length of 14 1/8", a drop at the comb of 1 1/2", and a at the drop heel of 2 1/2". The model number of yours should be KRL-2826.

Yes, it's a KRL2826.
Does anyone know the origin of those sights?
I smoothed out the forearm metal with ceramic stones. Came out ok but a couple of slips marred the flat surface. A super fine polishing pad made it look better but a bit shinier.

So the internet says that the front sight is like the one Bradley Sights offers but slightly different looking. Whoever installed the mid-bead did a great job of drilling and tapping a tiny hole in the vent rib. Very tidy.
Some rubbing compound applied to the forearm metal evened out the finish.