Old Ruger

[fatelk]

Went to a gun show this morning, with absolutely no intention of buying anything other than maybe a few odds and ends, maybe some brass.

There was this little Ruger Standard .22lr automatic, serial number dates to '74, immaculate condition except for a spot of rust and pitting, about 1/4" on the rear of the receiver where is had been in contact with something that rusted it. For $190 it was hard to pass up.

[Bazoo]

Does sound like a nice deal. What length barrel?

[pietro]

.

Ruger Standard Auto's were first issued with 4" bbls, then later with 6" bbls.

Nice grab, fatelk !

[fatelk]

Yes, it has the shorter barrel. It's funny, a lot of times we tend to think things were cheaper "back in the day". My first Ruger Standard I bought at a garage sale in the late '80s. It cost me $125 as I recall, and had some minor pitting on one side because the previous owner said he stored it wrapped in a rag. I still have it, have shot untold thousands of rounds through it. When you calculate for inflation, that $125 is equivalent to about $270 now.

I sure can't complain about $190. I was pretty happy with the $175 Ruger Wrangler I bought recently. As much as I like the Wrangler, I think this old Standard is more gun for the money. I seem to be accumulating rimfire handguns lately.

[smithnframe]

You stole it!

[Drm50]

I built my gun collection in the early 60s with Ruger Standard Autos. They were $37.50 at the time. I got a lot of good older guns and WW2 bring homes trading them up with Ruger 22. This was way before the gun show explosion. The only gun shows around were in cities. Many had old guns in odd or obsolete calibers and 22 pistols are like potatoe chips, everybody wanted one. People didn't shoot CF pistols like they do now either. The $37.50 in 1962 might be more expensive than Ruger is today taking the value of a dollar. I bought my 1st Ruger 10/22 at Ohio Gun Collectors show when it was in Columbus. It was first year 10/22 was out and I think they were $38.50.

[fatelk]

I remember the first time I'd ever heard of the Ruger pistol. I was probably in my early teens and fascinated with guns. My dad never liked guns (had a couple, really only farm tools), but my grandfather and uncle were occasional hunters. I absorbed any information I could find on the subject.

I found a book/annual at a church basement garage sale for a quarter - "Lucian Cary on Guns". I read it cover to cover multiple times. It was printed in 1950, and this was the early '80s, so it was a little out of date, but towards the back I saw this:

248700

Yep, I still have the book. I remember seeing that cool .22 pistol and deciding I had to have one. A couple years later I found one at a garage sale and my folks let me buy it. It was more than $37.50 though.

I remember looking at those prices on guns from way back and wishing I could have bought some, but I came to realize many years later that those prices might have just as well been in rubles or pesos, for all the relevance they had. That $37.50 in 1950, adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to around $400 now.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I have one, and only one, that I bought at age 18 in Swenson's Surplus Store in Grass Valley, CA. I think I paid about $45 for it used, still have it. Just a little blue missing near the muzzle, and forward edges of the receiver from holster carry by the original owner. Looks just like the one in the above picture. The eagle on the black plastic grips was already black, but in later years I bought some checkered walnut with the red eagle and installed them on the pistol. I found reassembly after cleaning to be a real chore, but now there's a device on the market that one can purchase and install that makes it much easier. Great pistol, great design. I'd like to have one of the new Mk. IV models in stainless. I'd probably stick with the shorter barrel length.

[oldhenry]

I bought my 1st. one for $37.50 (the short bbl one) from Richardson's Home & Auto in Columbus, GA. Richardson sold Texaco gas, Firestone tires, work clothes, guns & fishing tackle. I think I was 19 or 20. My shooting buddy liked mine so well that he wanted one, so off to Richardson's we went. As is turns out Richardson's only had one: a 6" bbl. & they said they needed to send it back to the factory because it wouldn't fire. They said they'd sell it as-is for $27.50 & we could send it back to the factory. While they were doing the paper work (we bought everything on Firestone's credit plan) I swung out the mainspring housing & aligned it with the hammer strut & before we walked out I pulled the trigger & everyone heard the "click".

I guess I should be ashamed of myself, but......I was only 19....or 20.

Henry

[winelover]

FWIW, American Rifleman has an article on this particular pistol, this month.

Winelover