Ruger Letters Have Improved

august1410 · Dec 17, 2018

I sent away the 10 bucks for the Ruger letter, knowing damned well it would only give me a month and year of manufacture. I was quite surprised when I got mine tonight and it tells me where it was shipped to as well. My previous Ruger letter for my Mini-14 did not have this information.

Bertfish · Dec 17, 2018

Didnt know they offered that service. I know Colt does

august1410 · Dec 17, 2018

Bertfish said:
Didnt know they offered that service. I know Colt does

Colt is $100
Smith & Wesson is about $75.

Ruger is ten bucks. Really.

TheOriginalMexicanBob · Dec 17, 2018

Smith & Wesson and Colt have records going back to the 1800s and have never been digitized. It takes time for a person to go through handwritten ledgers to find the information...if it's still available or legible after so many years. Ruger, as a company, is a baby by comparison. It takes man-hours to do the work required which is necessary to come up with the information to do a letter.

I say good for Ruger for keeping the letter service cheap but nothing is free.

danb · Dec 17, 2018

I had no idea one could do this with a Ruger.

I wonder if they can tell me whether George Peppard actually fondled my mini-14.

roady · Dec 17, 2018

Pretty cool, I never knew either..

august1410 · Dec 17, 2018

Found out some more. M&W Distributors was a subsidiary of Heck's, Inc. Heck's was a chain of discount department stores throughout West Virginia. This was likely sold at the sporting goods counter at a Heck's store.

Engine4 · Dec 17, 2018

Was there a form you had to fill out, or did you just send a letter asking for the info?

august1410 · Dec 17, 2018

Engine4 said:
Was there a form you had to fill out, or did you just send a letter asking for the info?

There was a form. You have to print it out, fill it out, and send with a check for $10. Took about two-three weeks. The one I got for the Mini-14 a couple of years ago did not have where it shipped to. I was quite surprised to see it on this one.

rseymorejr · Dec 17, 2018

This is good to know. My wife bought me a used convertible Blackhawk, 45 Colt/45 Auto the first Christmas we were married, 1984. I should send away for the info on it.

Rick · Dec 17, 2018

august1410 said:
Found out some more. M&W Distributors was a subsidiary of Heck's, Inc. Heck's was a chain of discount department stores throughout West Virginia. This was likely sold at the sporting goods counter at a Heck's store.

It was called Hecht's. I remember browsing their fireams section at the Prince Geroge's Plaza location (now called The Mall at Prince Georges) in the 1970s, although I never bought any firearms there. I don't remember, but I may have bought some ammo there at one time. I had forgotten about Hecht's until you brought this up.

hermyjoe · Dec 17, 2018

Rick said:
It was called Hecht's. I remember browsing their fireams section at the Prince Geroge's Plaza location (now called The Mall at Prince Georges) in the 1970s, although I never bought any firearms there. I don't remember, but I may have bought some ammo there at one time. I had forgotten about Hecht's until you brought this up.

I remember a hecks in Waynesburg pa when I was in high school (1980). also seem to remember a mcrorys in landover mall that sold guns (1987)

slsc98 · Dec 17, 2018

august1410 said:
... I got mine tonight ...

Very nice! :thumbsup:

I may do the same; a Ruger Security Six was THE first handgun I purchased, as soon as I turned of age (had Rich Fried tune the action and trigger (absolutely incredible job!) and decades later and it is one of my wife’s two favorite handguns).

Congratulations!

NateIU10 · Dec 17, 2018

TheOriginalMexicanBob said:
Smith & Wesson and Colt have records going back to the 1800s and have never been digitized. It takes time for a person to go through handwritten ledgers to find the information...if it's still available or legible after so many years. Ruger, as a company, is a baby by comparison. It takes man-hours to do the work required which is necessary to come up with the information to do a letter.

I say good for Ruger for keeping the letter service cheap but nothing is free.

Ruger letters still require (primarily) locating paper invoices when responding to these requests. The letters cost the Company more than they bring in, but people seem to like them.

Joe, glad to see you are happy with your letter. I’ll be sure to pass that along.

Biggfoot44 · Dec 17, 2018

FWIW , the s/n by year for all Ruger firearms are available on their website .

Added - In addition to the Well known Hecht Co , there also WAS a Heck's . A chain of discount dept stores founded in Boone Co WV in 1959, closed in 1990 .

august1410 · Dec 18, 2018

Rick said:
It was called Hecht's. I remember browsing their fireams section at the Prince Geroge's Plaza location (now called The Mall at Prince Georges) in the 1970s, although I never bought any firearms there. I don't remember, but I may have bought some ammo there at one time. I had forgotten about Hecht's until you brought this up.

Hechts and Heck’s are different stores. I worked for Hechts in the 80s. Hechts was sold to Macy’s a number of years ago

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

newmuzzleloader · Dec 18, 2018

danb said:
tell me whether George Peppard actually fondled my .

Where is the out of context thread? :innocent0

Reptile · Dec 18, 2018

august1410 said:
Colt is $100
Smith & Wesson is about $75.

Ruger is ten bucks. Really.

Mine is a first year (1978) Mini 14. Sent my request today. Thanks for the tip.

Clovis · Dec 19, 2018

Rick said:
It was called Hecht's. I remember browsing their fireams section at the Prince Geroge's Plaza location (now called The Mall at Prince Georges) in the 1970s, although I never bought any firearms there. I don't remember, but I may have bought some ammo there at one time. I had forgotten about Hecht's until you brought this up.

To pile on, Hecht Company was a clothing store at the Plaza at the time. During that time the only store selling guns and ammo was Herman's Sporting Goods (I think that was the correct wording of the name). Bought several guns and ammo there at the time myself.

august1410 · Dec 25, 2018

Reptile said:
Mine is a first year (1978) Mini 14. Sent my request today. Thanks for the tip.

FYI, the Mini-14 came out before 1978. Mine is from early 1977 and has the bicentennial rollmark on the side. Likely manufactured in '76 and shipped in '77.

(Edit- just checked, and the Mini-14 debuted in 1973)

Ruger Letters Have Improved

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