[TBAZ66]

I have a new stainless single six that is pre label. 6539627. The 22 lr cylinder number has the matching last three scribed on the cylinder.

The magnum cylinder came in a red bag, gold string but has 4 numbers marked on the cylinder. Any one know the signifignace of the 4th number

There are the normal three, which do not match the gun, and either a 7 or a 1 at what would be the 6 o clock position on the cylinder.

I do not know if this gun was a convertble or if another mag cylinder just got handed down with the gun. It seems to time very well but i am not a gunsmith.

thanks for any replys

Tim

By the way i just joined the ruger club as i moved into revolvers. I got a new model,older, blackhawk and this single six. So far really enjoy the rugers. Can of getting hooked. Nice guns.

 

[Hondo44]

Welcome to the forum.

I presume the revolver is 'new' to you? Or was it New Old Stock that's been hoarded somewhere and never sold?

If the Mag cyl doesn't match the gun, 99% chance it's not the original. But if you think it fits and works fine it'll be fine if there's no fore and aft play (known as cyl end shake). That's typically the only potential problem when swapping cyls to different guns.

The other 1% is that the cyl was accidently switched with another gun at the factory or at the dealer. It happens.
OR the gun has a star on the bottom of the frame in front of the trigger guard and is a scarce single-cyl-gun from the factory.
Your serial # 65-39627 indicates production in 1977, one of the very last w/o the warning label. It may be in the serial range of a single-cyl-gun depending on the barrel length.

What barrel length do you have?

The 7 or 1 that's non-contiguous with the other three is a "sometimes" factory assembler or inspector stamp.

 

[Iowegan]

I have two NM Single-Sixes with a "D" prefix 3-digit electric pencil mark on the front cylinder face .... making the appear to have 4 digits. I was stumped .... until I got my second one. I called Ruger and talked to one of the production managers .... found out they fit the cylinders as one of the very last steps of assembly. During the assembly process, sometimes a previously fitted cylinder doesn't meet specs, in which case a new cylinder is fitted and marked with a "D" (for duplicate) .... so it ends up looking like this: D123. My Colorado Centennial has a "C" prefix on both cylinders and I wouldn't doubt there are other exceptions. It is remotely possible for serial numbered cylinders to get swapped at the factory, but if so, it will be within a few numbers of the frame. Penmanship really sucks on every cylinder I have ever seen. You often need to use your imagination to figure out what a Ruger employee actually wrote. I never heard of an inspector mark on a cylinder face and really doubt that ... it's more likely to be a false start by the assembler when they tried to write the fist digit.

If the digits on the cylinder face don't resemble the S/N on the frame, no doubt it was robbed from another gun somewhere along the way ... most likely at the dealer. It's really no big deal as long as the cylinder fits properly.

 

[Hondo44]

During the assembly process, sometimes a previously fitted cylinder doesn't meet specs, in which case a new cylinder is fitted and marked with a "D" (for duplicate) ....

It is remotely possible for serial numbered cylinders to get swapped at the factory, but if so, it will be within a few numbers of the frame.

As I said: "The 7 or 1 that's non-contiguous with the other three is a "sometimes" factory assembler or inspector stamp [AKA marking]."

My 1st Convertible single six was purchased by me brand new with mismatched cyl in 1973. It was the only gun of that model that the store had, so it was mixed up at the factory. The cyl number doesn't have a single matching digit to the # on the gun.