Ruger Speed Six

[sagamore-one]

A Ruger Speed Six followed me home from the gunshow today. How do I find out what year it was made ?? Serial starts with 159-xxxxx, blue, 2 1/2 in barrel.
What year ??
Thanks in advance.

[Sprue]

159-xxxxxx were made in 1983 and 1984 with the info given.

Try this (http://www.ruger.com/service/productHistory.html#)

[sagamore-one]

Thanks Guys. It appears to be 1983 vintage.

[Sprue]

What caliber is yours? I have a stainless one in 9mm Luger ....... luv them short bbl's

Heres mine:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/SpeedSixWood.jpg

[Sprue]

Oh, yesterday I rescued a blue pre Mod 10 with a 2" bbl made in 1949 and shes abt 95%

[sagamore-one]

It is a 357 mag with a 2 3/4 barrel. The hammer and trigger appear to be stainless and the rest of the gun are blued steel.
I was intending on getting a Smith model 66 , but .. good Lord ... the price they get for one of those. I almost fell over when the new in the box was put out on the table for $750 asking price. The used was $650.
So home came the Ruger.

[Jeff H]

...... So home came the Ruger.

You done good. I have owned a number of those and they all shot well. One blued 4" Security Six in particular spent a lot of time checking out all the max loads in the manuals of the day. I wore a lot of brass out but not that Ruger. They tune up nice and all of the ones I had were exceptionally accurate with any type of load that I tried.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I have a friend who carried a .38 Special Speed Six while a robbery dectective at NYPD. He used it to launch two or three bad guys off to their rewards. Wish I could find one of the .38 guns, as I don't have a need for another .357

[jgr1974]

Didn't know these were made in 9mm? I knew the sp101 was in 9. I have to add another one of these to my list!!!

Hoping Ruger comes out with the LCR in 9mm.

Sprue-what is the bore diameter on your Speed Six? I hear the sp101's are .357.

[9.3X62AL]

Sag, you did real well.

[sagamore-one]

As Paul Harvey used to say... the rest of the story.
This is the first Ruger firearm I have owned in over 20 or 25 years. I got into a rather heated discussion with Mr. Bill Ruger and it ended with him advising me if I didn't like his political views ( 10 round magazine ban) I should feel free to NOT buy any of his products. I have honored his request till this weekend. But... a very inexpensive 357 mag changed my mind. Mr. Bill is probably doing summersaults in his casket at the thought that I finally gave in and bought a Ruger. But I'm glad his idea about only law enforcement being qualified to have magazines that held over 10 rounds finally faded away.
Heck ... I may even break down and try" light" beer next. Who knows?

[Sprue]

Didn't know these were made in 9mm? I knew the sp101 was in 9. I have to add another one of these to my list!!!

Hoping Ruger comes out with the LCR in 9mm.

Sprue-what is the bore diameter on your Speed Six? I hear the sp101's are .357.

Heres one thats avail for the rich folk

Heres one on Gunbroker (http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=203608020)

MY bore dia, its been so long that I loaded any rounds for it I dont remember, I would guess .357 but I do own a 356 & 357 dies.
I think my buddy has this mold. Again I can't remember.

[jgr1974]

I have seen that one on gunbroker-looks pretty rough for that price as well. If Santa wasn't leaving a bill for me at the end of them month I might have been able to scrape the cash up for it!

ps Sprue you a chopper pilot?

[JudgeBAC]

Several years ago I landed a blued speed six .38 with Herrett stocks for $215.00. The finish is not the best and the bore was gunked up beyond belief.

After scrubbing the bore with everything imaginable, I finally wrapped 0000 steel wool around an old brass brush coated it with bore paste and proceeded to get every speck of gunk out of the barrel. Underneath all the gunk was pristine rifling. The thing really shoots great and is built like a tank.

Later I added an XS big dot sight. Best money ever spent. Even my 53 yr. old eyes can find that sight. I would highly recommend this sight for any defensive handgun.

[cajun shooter]

To give you owners of the Ruger Speed Six and Security Six let me tell you a story. While I was a armorer for our department I was sent to the Ruger Firearms class for Police. As in the other schools I attended you build 8 guns from scratch. We worked on the Security Six with Adjustable sights.The last day of school the Instructor asked for all of us to give him a dollar with our name on it. He then picked one of the guns at random and told us to report to the range. The range was covered with concrete shooting positions and sidewalks. He had one of the officers take the gun and drop it from the podium onto the concrete about 6 times as we all were in shock. We were in shock at what we were seeing but we were a long way from the end. He loaded the gun and fired 6 rounds downrange without a hitch. He then had us throw the gun as far as we could down the concrete sidewalks. It landed very hard and slid and bounced until it was covered with gouges and deep scratches. He would load it and fire 6 more rounds. We all were groaning and in total shock that this gun would still shoot. He then asked me to bring my Jeep onto the side walk area. When it was there he asked that I put it in 4X4 and I did. He put the revolver in front of the left rear tire and asked me to do a burn out over the gun. I said you have got to be kidding and he said no DO IT!! I revved up the engine and went over the gun throwing it 50 ft behind the Jeep. If there was such a thing as a Frankenstein gun this was it. The gun fired all 6 rounds with us shaking our heads. He reached into the hat with all the dollar bills and pulled out the name of a wildlife and Fisheries agent. He handed him the gun and said school is over and you all have passed. I offered the guy who won $150 but he said no he was going to keep it for all his life. There is no other gun made that will pass that test. I know as I have been to 5 S&W schools along with others. I saw a Colt Python fail to fire after being dropped from a holster during a PPC match. Not even a scratch.

[jgr1974]

Wow,

Thant is a really cool story! Makes me want a security six (in any caliber0 even more!!!

[sagamore-one]

Thanks for all the feedback and info guys. I plan to make a trip to the range this weekend to try out the Speed Six .Till then I need to load up some magnum rounds, 13.5 gr of 2400 and H&G 43 boolits same as I use in my N frame Smiths.

[bob208]

i have a security six 4" stainless. i bought it used in 77. it was made in 76 it is stamped made in the 200 year . i have used it as a main carry gun for all these years it has never refused to fire.

[sagamore-one]

I took the new to me Speed Six to the range only to find that 357 mags would not chamber. I cleaned the beast before the trip. So.. back home I go. 38 special buildup so severe that it took almost an hour to get it removed. All is well now, as it will chamber maggies with ease. Can't hardly wait to go back to the range, even if it is 22 degrees and snowing.

[jhrosier]

..... 38 special buildup so severe that it took almost an hour to get it removed.....

The Hoppes Tornado brush will clean a revolver chamber in about four strokes.
Get the next larger size for best results, i.e.: .40 caliber is good for a .357 chamber. The looped bristles will not scratch your chambers.

Jack

[NickSS]

I have a couple of security Sixs one 4 inch blued and a six inch stainless. The 4 inch has over 50,000 rounds through it and it is stull as tight and as accurate as it was new. The Stainless I bought used about 28 years ago and it too has thousands of rounds through it without a single issue. I have read a review or them on the internet where the author said that he knows of one security six owned by a range who rents them out that has over one million rounds through it and other than normal maintenance has had nothing go wrong with it. They and the speed six are hard to beat as for durability and reliability.