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RUGER
OLD MODEL
SINGLE-SIX “MAGNUM ONLY” REVOLVERS
PRODUCED
1959 - 1962
GENERAL
OVERVIEW
The .22 Magnum cartridge
was introduced by Winchester in 1959.
Ruger introduced its Single-Six single action revolver in
.22 “Magnum Only” around June of that same year.
The Magnum guns had 6-1/2 inch
barrels, round loading gates, checkered black hard rubber grips,
and no firing pin groove in the rear of the cylinder.
They were roll-marked
“RUGER SINGLE-SIX WIN. .22 RF MAG. CAL” in two lines
on the left side of the cylinder frame. In early 1960 the Magnum Only guns were also made
available with varnished walnut grip panels.
These Magnum Only guns were
put in a special serial number range of their own beginning with
300000 and ending at 340XXX.
About March 1961 Ruger began to produce these Magnum Only
marked guns with an extra .22 caliber cylinder.
The extra cylinder, the .22 caliber in this case, had the
last three digits of the gun’s serial number stamped on its
front face, close to the cylinder base pin hole.
The idea of producing these dual cylinder guns or a
“convertible” came from customers requesting that Ruger
retrofit their “Magnum Only” single-cylinder guns with a .22
caliber cylinder or their .22 caliber only single-cylinder guns
with a Magnum cylinder.
The “Magnum Only” marked
guns came in a black and red box with a yellow wreath on top
like the standard Single-Six but designated with Cat. No.“RSSM”
on the box end labeling.
The production of these
“Magnum Only” Single-Sixes ended sometime in August –
September 1962. The
6-1/2” barrel length soon was made available in the standard
“Single-Six .22 Caliber/.22
Magnum Convertible” model.
The boxes for these 6-1/2 inch barrel convertibles
continued to be marked with the catalog number “RSSM”, not
RSS6, throughout the Old Model Single-Six production that ended
in 1972.
There are several rare or
scarce variations of these guns, some with only one or two
known, that I will not attempt to cover here.
If you are interested in learning more about these guns,
I suggest you become a member of the Red Eagle News Exchange.
The publisher of that newsletter has done extensive
research and study and goes into considerable detail describing
those and many other rare Ruger models and variations.
RUGER
OLD MODEL
SINGLE-SIX “MAGNUM ONLY”
REVOLVER
SOME
OF THE
MAJOR TYPES
AND VARIATIONS
Single-Six , Magnum marked:
-
Roundgate, magnum
cylinder, early XR3 marked black anodized grip frame,
black checkered hard Rubber or varnished Walnut
grips, 6-1/2” barrel.
-
Roundgate,
shipped with two cylinders from factory (.22 Magnum &
.22 caliber), early XR3 marked black anodized grip frame,
varnished Walnut grips, 6-1/2” barrel.
-
Roundgate,
two cylinders (.22 Magnum & .22 caliber), the later
redesigned
XR3-RED marked black anodized grip frame, varnished
Walnut or oil filled Walnut grips, 6-1/2” barrel.
Bill
Hamm
Read more about Bill on the
"About Us" page.
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The Ruger Owners & Collectors
Society is an active organization for all Ruger Owners, Shooters and
Collectors. Annual Membership includes a ROCS Logo
Brassard, the latest Digest Magazine and an invitation to
ROCS events. There will be two Digest magazines published
every year. For more information and to apply for annual
membership please visit www.Rugersociety.com on
the web or write to ROCS, P. O. Box 1026, Killen, AL
35645-1026. We welcome you!!
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Click pictures for a larger version.
Two-digit Magnum marked
Single-Six, serial number 300019, with checkered black rubber
grips.
Close up view of #19's
serial number roll mark on the right side of the cylinder
frame.
View of the maker and
model roll mark on the left side of the cylinder frame.
Magnum marked
Single-Six with varnished walnut grips, serial number 321217.
Close up view of #
321217's serial number roll mark.
Top, Magnum marked
Single-Six, model "RSSM", serial number 301416
shipped with a Magnum only cylinder and varnished walnut
grips. Bottom, Magnum marked Single-Six
serial number 321217, model "RSSMX", shipped with a
Magnum cylinder, an extra .22 Long Rifle cylinder and
varnished walnut grips. The last three digits of the
serial number are stamped on the face of the .22 Long Rifle
"extra" cylinder.
Front side of #
300019's cardboard outer shipping carton properly numbered in
lead pencil.
The model stamp that is
just to the right of the penciled number 300019 on the
cardboard shipping carton.
Magnum box end label,
this box is numbered on the left end in pencil
for # 300019.
Box top and
instructions & warranty card for the Magnum marked guns.
Model stamp on the
right end of a Magnum marked Single-Six's shipping carton.
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