Picked up OM Single Six this morning
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Great steal! Are those squashed chickens?
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Looks like the grips are from a later model but you made a great buy!
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For that price, I would have bought a dozen. 
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4,289 Posts
Didn't you mean to ask Huhwhat?
The squashed chickens referred to by BuckeyeBlast are the older style medallions with a flatter eagle. If it had Ruger's original "red" chickens you'd really have something.
Oops. I just realized that the red eagles were only used until Alexander Sturm died in 1951 at age 28. Then, Bill Ruger changed them to black in memory of his friend and partner. And, the Single Six was not released until 1953 so I assume there never was a SS with the red squashed chickens.
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This "vintage" of the Single Six family tree should have the black eagle medallions.
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Sueinsc, You should have started a new thread rather than resurrect a 4+ year old thread.
Your Single-Six was made in 1962 and the catalog number is RSS5. If it were in like new condition, it would be worth about $400 .... reblued maybe $350. So ... it depends on what you have invested versus what it will cost to have it reblued. Ruger made a lot of these so it is not rare or even scarce.
Here's what it should look like:
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Your Single-Six was made in 1962 and the catalog number is RSS5. If it were in like new condition, it would be worth about $400 .... reblued maybe $350. So ... it depends on what you have invested versus what it will cost to have it reblued. Ruger made a lot of these so it is not rare or even scarce.
Here's what it should look like:
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11,898 Posts
Here's how I would play it if I were you. I would contact Ruger CS and tell them you have an old model Single Six and you want the free transfer bar "upgrade". This will initiate free shipping to Ruger and back to you. Tell them while they have the gun you would also like to have it polished and reblued. They charge only $130 for the polish & reblue and that's a pretty good deal. Tell them you must have your old model parts back when they return it. They're supposed to do that and usually do but I would insist on it.
When you get it back you can keep it with the new parts installed or put your old parts back in. You could even sell your old parts and roughly recoup the cost of the refinishing. Your call.
As Iowegan said, these are not scarce or rare or, in your case even have much collector interest. It could be a really nice shooter though and I'm a believer in the saying that life's too short to own an ugly gun. There are purists who will disagree and insist on the original action and claim they like the "patina" of wear. If you see it that way then leave it as is.
Your gun, your call.
When you get it back you can keep it with the new parts installed or put your old parts back in. You could even sell your old parts and roughly recoup the cost of the refinishing. Your call.
As Iowegan said, these are not scarce or rare or, in your case even have much collector interest. It could be a really nice shooter though and I'm a believer in the saying that life's too short to own an ugly gun. There are purists who will disagree and insist on the original action and claim they like the "patina" of wear. If you see it that way then leave it as is.
Your gun, your call.
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5,374 Posts
Or, it could even look like this:Sueinsc, You should have started a new thread rather than resurrect a 4+ year old thread.
Your Single-Six was made in 1962 and the catalog number is RSS5. If it were in like new condition, it would be worth about $400 .... reblued maybe $350. So ... it depends on what you have invested versus what it will cost to have it reblued. Ruger made a lot of these so it is not rare or even scarce.
Here's what it should look like:
![]()
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Sue... to add a little info, IF your SS was shipped as a Magnum ONLY model(and the serial number indicates it was) it was very common to obtain a Long Rifle cylinder for it, and shoot Long Rifle ammo through it. Since its a Magnum model, it has the slightly larger bore, and shooting LR ammo thru your gun is safe. In fact, Ruger now uses the magnum bore in all the Single Sixes, and has for many years.
As far as a refinish... you will get many different answers. Its your gun, you can do what makes you happy. If it were mine, I would use Johnsons Paste Wax on it, and leave it as is. The Johnsons will stop any corrosion, and preserve it. If the pitting is deep, having the revolver reblued will only make the color even. The pits will still be there. Rebluing the revolver will also lower its value. It will never look like the beautiful gun that Iowegan showed.
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Looks like highway robbery to me. Like a squirrel finding the proverbial acorn! Good job!
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I will add another vote for Johnson's. I recently bought an old Colt revolver with a good amount of honest wear and patina. I spent about an hour with Johnson's Paste Wax and a rag. I hand buffed the gun, and when I was done I was very surprised at how much of the original finish was still there.
As for Iowegan's beauty, I think he must have "borrowed" that one from a museum somewhere.
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