RCA
HARRISBURG RUGER
COLLECTORS
DISPLAY SHOW
2009
MARCH
21-22,
2009
Narrative by Bill Hamm
Photography by Matt Olivier
This Display Show was dedicated in the memory
of our dear friend, fellow displayer and RCA member, Glen (Budd) Given, Jr., who
recently passed away. Budd will be
sorely missed but always fondly remembered!
The third Annual RCA Harrisburg, PA display show was held the weekend of
March 21 & 22, 2009. This is a
1200 table venue and was a well attended show.
We want to thank our host, Nick Jubinski, Mid Atlantic Arms Collectors (MAAC),
for inviting us to the show and awarding a most generous pot of prize money.
A lot of the public stopped by and looked at the displays and chatted
with the displayers. From what I
hear, that resulted in some good guns purchased and numerous good leads on
potential great finds!
We had eleven great displays that almost covered all areas of Ruger
collecting. This proved to be very
interesting and educational to the public.
The displays were graded by a well qualified group of judges and the
winners of the various classes named. The
winner of each class was presented with a plaque, a one year membership to the
RCA, and a one year membership to the Red Eagle News Exchange. A big thanks to
both the RCA and the RENE for sponsoring these awards as they are greatly
appreciated by all winners!
The awards banquet was held on Saturday night at a local restaurant,
Gilligan's Bar & Grill. We had about 40 people in attendance; we enjoyed a
great dinner, no one left hungry!
At the beginning of the banquet, RCA Display Show Coordinator, Matt
Olivier, held a moment of silence for our recently lost friend, Budd Given.
Matt announced the
winner of the Red Eagle News Exchange Best Ruger of Show.
Congratulations to Richard Wilmot for his consecutive serial numbered
brass frame .41 Magnum Blackhawks, what an incredibly rare pair of sixguns.
Richard was presented a plaque along with a one year membership to RENE. Thanks
to its editor, Chad Hiddleson, for sponsoring this award at each of our display
shows.
On Saturday we had
a very successful raffle for a Lispey's Special Edition New Model .44 Special
Flattop. This particular gun was
completely restored by Doug Turnbull Restoration.
What fine work they do; this revolver is absolutely beautiful!!
We really want to say thanks to Dave Lortscher for donating the funding
of this work and Keith VanOrman of Turnbull Restorations for getting the work
accomplished in record breaking time! Check
Turnbull Restoration out; they can be located on the web at www.turnbullrestoration.com
All
50 raffle tickets for the .44 Special were sold by 1PM Saturday, so we drew the
lucky winner during the banquet. Congratulations to our winner, fellow RCA
member, collector, and displayer, Bob Nelson.
After the raffle
drawing, and as a thank you for displaying, each displayer was returned their
$50 table fee, along with a 1979 Ruger pocket calendar, donated by RCA Member
Donnie Findley, and a Ruger sun visor sunglass clip.
The displayers were
then surprised by an unannounced drawing for three guns, funded by the RCA
Display Show funds. Each displayer was given one chance per display table to win
one of an LCP, an SR9, or a Ruger MK I Target Auto. With 13 display tables, that
came out to roughly a one in 4 chance of winning a gun!! All
guns will be transferred to the winner's FFL dealer over the next few weeks. The
winners were Matt Olivier for the LCP, Jim Schafer for the SR9, and Mike Fabian
for the Mark I T678.
Congratulations to
all our winners!!
After the drawing,
we started the fund-raising auction. We auctioned off 73 different items
generously donated by 18 different people. The highlight of the auction was a New
Model Vaquero, .357 Mag with a 4 5/8" barrel completely restored by
Turnbull Restorations, the gun and work were generously donated by Dave
Lortscher and Keith VanOrman. The beautiful moose stag grips were donated by Sack
Peterson of Lakeland, MN. The auction was extremely successful resulting in ~$2400
raised for future display shows.
We
want to encourage everyone to come to one or all of our shows and participate.
You will have fun, meet some great folks, and may even win a free gun!!
A
description and pictures of each display along with each displayer’s awards
are given below:
DISPLAYS
and AWARDS
(Click
Pictures for a Larger Version)
MIKE FABIAN'S
DISPLAY "SPECIAL GUNS FOR SPECIAL PEOPLE"
WINNER
OF FIRST PLACE - INTERMEDIATE LONG GUNS
Below
is taken directly from Mike’s Display Explanation:
Over the years,
Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (now just Ruger) has produced a wide selection of
special, non-cataloged firearms for a limited number of dealers and
distributors. My display is a
sampling of those firearms. With
the multitude of firearms now made for these special people, displaying or
owning them all is not practical. This is why I chose a sampling of long guns,
revolvers, and automatics to show how diverse these items can be.
The list of
special dealers and distributors seems to grow larger every year.
You have Davidson’s, Talo,
Lipsey’s and even Gander Mountain just to
name a few of the current ones. I’m
sure there have been many in the past that no longer exist.
One of these is “Buckeye Sports”, of Ohio.
In the late ‘80s, Buckeye Sports had a pair of revolvers produced with
the Ohio Buckeye plant leaf engraved on the top strap.
These two firearms are part of my display.
All of these are
part of my display to demonstrate the diversity.
The main purpose
of this display is to show the public that there are special guns out there for
everyone…All you have to do is look for them!
Well,
I hope that this display helps bring Mike in a whole lot of other special guns!
BOB NELSON’S
DISPLAY “PATCHES OF RUGER AND THE RCA”
WINNER
OF FIRST PLACE – ADVANCED MEMORABILIA
Bob’s colorful
display showed the all of the Ruger patches from the first to the present with
the exception of one. He is missing
the “Fire Brigade” patch which was made for the Newport, NH plant’s fire
brigade. The
first Ruger company patch was made about 1954 and the last in 2008.
The RCA’s first
patch displayed was made available in late 1975 and the last one in 2005 for a
total of eight patches.
Looking
at all of these different patches was very interesting and informative.
I sure hope someone out there can help Bob obtain the missing “Fire
Brigade” patch.
BOB THOMPSON’S
DISPLAY “RUGER KNIVES BY CASE CUTLERY”
WINNER OF FIRST
PLACE - INTERMEDIATE MEMORABILIA
WINNER
OF MAAC PROMOTER’S CHOICE AWARD ($50 CASH PRIZE)
Bob’s great Ruger
Knife display was made up of nine display cases filled with knives made by Case
for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
The display covers
the various styles of blades, knives, and types of handle material.
Some of them are special issue and some are sets.
The sets were only made for four years.
It is really good
to see other areas of Ruger collecting being brought before the public.
If
you have a Ruger knife question get with Bob; I’ll just bet he can answer it!
ROD KIRIAN’S
DISPLAY “INTRODUCING THE NEW RUGER 10/22”
WINNER
OF FIRST PLACE - ADVANCED LONG GUNS
Rod’s well laid
out 10/22 display included serial number 133 rifle with its original box,
instruction manual, warranty card, and original sales receipt.
It sold for $58.65 including tax!!
His display also
included a 10/22 “Cut-away” gun and “exploded” trigger group from the
William Workman original display. This
very well done and colorful “cut-away” was very detailed with different
colors used on the internal parts and was a very educational item.
Also included were four very rare factory clear “salesman sample”
magazines!
Rod says two of his
“coolest” items are the original “rice paper” draft of the first 10/22
owner’s manual sent to the printer and an original sign made for the 1964 NRA
show where the 10/22 was first introduced.
Rod’s display
banner is an enlarged version of the original style banner that was shipped with
the early 10/22s.
Simply
put, this was just a great display!!
TYRONE
PHILLIPS’ DISPLAY “RUGER HANDGUN TERMS 101”
WINNER
OF MAAC BEST EDUCATIONAL DISPLAY AWARD ($300 CASH PRIZE)
Tyrone’s display
focuses on the common terms used in Ruger single-action collecting by
collectors. He displays twelve
examples of handguns showing the firearms used in the description of the
collector terms. These include Red
Eagles, Black & Silver Eagles, Flatgates,
Lightweights, Tri-Colors,
Protected Ears, Old Models, New Models, Bearcats,
Brass Frames, and the Old
Army.
Also included in
his display is the “Safety Conversion” information from Ruger.
Tyrone included examples of old model original parts and the safety
conversion parts.
A complete set of
books of collecting Ruger Single Actions were also on display.
This
display is a hit with the public and seasoned collector as well.
RICHARD
WILMOT’S DISPLAY
“OLD MODEL
BLACKHAWK .41 MAG VARIATIONS”
WINNER FIRST
PLACE – INTERMEDIATE SINGLE ACTIONS
WINNER
OF RENE “BEST OF THE SHOW” AWARD
A detailed
explanatory write-up of Richard’s display provided by him is set out below:
This display
shows an example of each off the five variations of the old model Blackhawk in
.41 Magnum. It includes 1 of
only 50 .41 Mags manufactured and shipped with a 4-5/8” barrel and brass grip
frame and 1 of only 160 .41 Mags manufactured and shipped with a 6-1/2” barrel
and brass grip frame. These two
guns are A consecutively serial numbered pair.
(These two guns won the RENE ‘Best of the Show” award.)
Each of the four
types of the Eagle logo that Ruger used on .41 Mags is displayed on a gun
manufactured during the time of that eagle’s use.
Also each of the two types of ejector rods, the semi-round and
triangular, is included on the guns. Additionally
a .41 Mag with German proof marks is displayed.
The 5 variations
of the old model Blackhawk .41 mag are:
1: Non-prefix
serial number marked Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (Known as INC guns).
2: Non-prefix
serial number marked Strum, Ruger & Co. (Known as non-INC guns).
3: Non-prefix
duplicate serial numbered – may or may not be “D” marked.
No “D” marked guns have been
discovered so far.
4: Prefix serial
numbered guns.
5: Prefix serial
numbered guns with Brass grip frames.
Additional
information about the old model Blackhawk .41 Mag, its variations and a couple
of oddities that have been discovered were included in the informational book on
a stand at his display. I am sure if you contact Richard he will be more than happy
to share that information with you.
A
fine showing of some very rare .41 Magnums!
JACK COOGAN’S
DISPLAY “TAKE IT TO THE MAX, RUGER .357 MAXIMUM”
WINNER
FIRST PLACE – ADVANCED SINGLE ACTIONS
Jack’s
encompassing display covered the history of the Ruger .357 Maximum and its
demise during its short life of 1982 – 1984.
The following rare pieces were displayed:
- S/n 9, originally
John Amber, writer and Gun Digest Editor.
- S/n 10, originally
Len Brownell, company employee.
- S/n 11, originally
Michael Horelik, long time company employee.
- S/n 19, originally
Pete Kuhlhoff, writer and Argosy Magazine Guns Editor.
- S/n 20, originally
Jack O’Connor, writer and Outdoor Life Magazine Guns Editor.
- S/n 32, originally
Leon Daucy, company employee. This
gun is a factory prototype.
- S/n 54, originally
John Wooters, gun writer.
- S/n 108, originally
Frank Bonaventura, the company’s Southport Plant Manager.
- S/n 1000,
originally Bob Wallack, gun writer.
- S/n 11300, highest
recorded serial number in the public’s hands.
1982 & 1983
employee Christmas gifts, various factory literature, catalogs, magazine
articles, and advertisements complemented the display.
This
was a great display of these very scarce revolvers, Jack Took It To The Max for sure!
JIM SCHAFER’S
DISPLAY “FLATTOPS SWEET FLATTOPS”
UN-JUDGED
VOLUNTARY MASTERS CLASS
WINNER
MAAC “BEST OF SHOW AWARD” (CASH PRIZE $150)
Jim displayed 24 of
the highest condition Flattops that I have ever seen displayed in one group!
He displayed twelve .357 Flattops and twelve
.44 Flattops along with seven representative
boxes.
The .357s included
a low 3-digit number up through a 10” barrel six groove gun.
The .44s included two 3-digit numbers through two 10” barrel guns.
Most of them were different variations that had a different feature.
Several were adorned with fine looking factory stags.
The boxes displayed were a BKH3, BKH34, BKH36, BKH4, BKH47, BKH30, and
BKH40.
This
old Flattop display was indeed Sweet!!
LEE SUNDERMEIER,
RICHARD WILMOT AND DON WILKS JOINT DISPLAY
“THREE
TRIPLETS”
UN-JUDGED
VOLUNTARY MASTERS CLASS
This was a display
of an unusual collection of three different calibers of Old Model Rugers, all
with the same consecutive three serial numbers but each caliber owned by a
separate individual.
These guns are all
new in their original boxes and some have their outer cardboard shipping
cartons.
- Serial numbers
9, 10 & 11 of the Blackhawk .30 Caliber Carbine (Don Wilks)
- Serial numbers
9, 10 & 11 of the Blackhawk .41 Magnum (Richard Wilmot)
- Serial numbers
9, 10 & 11 of the Blackhawk .45 Colt (Lee Sundermeier)
All of the serial
number 9 guns were shipped to John Amber, past Editor of the Gun Digest.
The serial number
10 guns were shipped to Leonard Brownell or Jack O’Connor.
All of the serial
number 11 guns were shipped to Michael Horelik, Ruger Company employee.
All of these guns,
once owned by well known people in the gun and outdoor industry, are rare and
highly collectible.
I
really enjoyed seeing these three collectors hook up to display these fine
Rugers, a great showing!
MATT OLIVIER’S
DISPLAY “A SAMPLING OF .22 RUGER AUTOMATICS”
WINNER
FIRST PLACE – ADVANCED SEMI-AUTOMATICS
Matt displayed a
sampling of minty .22 Semi-Auto pistols from his collection.
The sampling included a "Salt Cod" box gun complete with paperwork; a very
early Target MKI 6-7/8” barrel Red Eagle with its original hinged box; a US
marked Target Auto with 6-7/8” barrel complete with its release papers and
shipping box; a MKI 5-1/4” barrel target with box; one of only two known
walnut stocked Duplicate S/N 5-1/2” MKI Targets; a Duplicate numbered 4-3/4”
Standard Auto (featured in Donnie Findley’s Book); and a scarce US Navy
contract overrun MKII 5-1/2” barrel blackened stainless steel pistol.
If
this is Matt’s Sampling, I sure
would like to see the whole collection!! Very
nice display!
BILL HAMM’S
DISPLAY “RUGER SUPER BLACKHAWK, 50TH ANNIVERSARY”
UN-JUDGED
VOLUNTARY MASTERS CLASS
This display
included four Super Blackhawk .44 Magnums that represented the “Evolution of
the Super Blackhawk” over its 50 years of life, 1959 – 2009.
The guns are all new in their boxes and all number 10.
- Serial
number 10, Old Model, originally shipped to Frank Bonaventura, company
employee. Manufactured in Feb
1960 but not shipped until Aug 1974.
- Serial number
81-00010, originally shipped to Lenard Brownell.
- Serial number
87-00010, a .44 Mag/.44-40 Winchester Convertible, roll marked Blackhawk but
the shipping carton is marked Super Blackhawk S4440.
- Serial number
SB-00010, the special issue 50th Anniversary
model.
Examples
of all the boxes used throughout production except the Whitebox were also
displayed.
Bill Hamm
The Ruger Collectors' Association is the oldest organization
for the Ruger collector and/or enthusiast. Membership includes the Association's
sporadically-produced newsletter and invitation to members-only events. For more
information, visit www.rugercollectorsassociation.com.
The Red Eagle News Exchange is a quarterly publication
filled with new information, updates, and articles about collecting Ruger
firearms and memorabilia. This is an excellent resource for the Ruger collector
and/or enthusiast, and the wealth of information sent to new subscribers as a
free gift with a paid annual subscription is alone well worth the money.
Highly recommended. For more information or to subscribe, write Red Eagle
News Exchange (Chad Hiddleson - Editor), 1945 Clover Avenue, Perry, IA
50220, or call (515) 465-2057.
Got something to say about this article? Want to agree (or
disagree) with it? Click the following link to go to the GUNBlast Feedback Page.
| 
