...I bet it would do a good job on vicious white rabbits or at least on cottontail rabbits & squirrels. The it would be my latest firearm - a Ruger Mark I with a barrel compensator. The auction from which I purchased this one said it came with a muzzle break and five 10 round magazines but I think Ruger called it a barrel compensator, whatever it is, the one on this Mark I looks to have been secured/pinned to the barrel by a numbskull. Then again it could be secured properly as looks can be deceiving and I am not a Ruger expert nor am I a guNschmidt. Whatever it is, Sturm Ruger is stamped into the metal so it is OEM.
The pistol looks to be in remarkably excellent shape considering it is 69 years old as per the info I gathered, from this website, based on its serial number: https://ruger.com/service/productHistory/PI-MarkI.html. So if you collect Ruger Standard or Mark I pistols, you may want to make sure to bookmark that link. Getting back to the gun: While there are a couple of very small spots of finish wear, the most noticeable being a small blemish on the frame immediately behind the upper line formed by the right grip, there is little else to detract from its appearance. Someone took good care of it. I just got it on the Friday, immediately before writing this so, I have not fired it yet; of course, me being THE Great Procrastinator, I may not fire it for weeks, months or even years. I am hopeful though that no one will want to burn me like a witch since I got better on that procrastination point within the last year or two. So maybe, just maybe, I will bring it to the range soon. If and when I shoot it, I will do a write-up about it.
As for the barrel compensator, I imagine Ruger made them for this model - which appears to be a Mark I target model based on the target sights - to give that tapered barrel some weight to help balance it for target shooting. If I think of it again, one of these days (there goes that procrastination thing again) I may actually write to Ruger to see if they will supply some info both on the pistol and the compensator. I'll ask about them in general and also about how the compensator was originally secured and if mine is original in that regard, about how to remove it. I'd like to secure, with some Locktite, the screw that holds the front sight in place but it is under the body of the compensator with no access to it. That screw has the tendency to come loose on Ruger Mark II pistols and I imagine it is no different on the Mark I.
I only picked up this one gun this time around, been spending on a bunch of other things lately and inflation is not helping my gun buying budget. at a gun show last weekend where I had two tables. I sold some ammo, some magazines and one Ruger New Model Super Single Six (in evidently pristine condition) and made very little net profit if any. I do not like to cheat people as many vendors at gun shows seem to enjoy doing and often sell at cost or below if I need cash that I'd otherwise not take out of my savings account. For example that revolver cost me $396.85 from the auction house but I had to pay another $20.00 for the FFL to do the transfer so it cost me $416.85. I sold it for $400.00 out the door and lost $16.85 considering what I paid for it but I actually lost more as I now have to pay AR state & local sales tax of 10.25% on that sale, I probably could have gotten at least $500 for it, I have seen them sell for as much as $500 in that shape but wanted it sold fast and it did sell fast, very fast. The first guy to buy anything from my table, in fact he may have been the first guy to look at anything on my table, on the first day of the to day show is the one who bought it. He did not even bother to take the second cylinder (it came with 22 LR & 22 MAG cylinders) out of the box to look at it, I guess because the rest of it was as pristine as was what he looked over. Did I screw myself, maybe but I needed the cash fast to help pay for the Ruger Mark II and the other items I got at the auction last week.
As far as selling a truly excellent Ruger Super New Model Single Six, all I can say in my defense other than I needed the money is that I have another New Model Single Six, a stainless steel version with both cylinders and I preferred to keep that one. Of course, as is often the case, I already have seller's remorse. Those Ruger 22 revolvers are quite desirable in my estimation.
As for other things I got at last weeks auction, those included:
-9 boxes, 180 rounds, of Sig Sauer Elite Performance 30-06 ammo
-a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9X40 350 Legend Duplex scope new in the box
-a Tasco Sportsman 4-12X40 scope also new in the box
-two (2) Troy Folding rear battle sights for an AR, both new in packaging
-a 30 round SKS magazine.
-a new in the box Camillus folding knife, with "Some Like It Hot" on the side, in tribute to Firefighters (this one will be a gift for one of my dearest friends who is retired from the New York City Fire Department
-two handmade Damascus steel sheathed knives.
I also got the above pictured assorted oddities to include:
-a spittoon shaped duck call, supposedly made circa 1920, that is activated by hand crank. Seems to be made from brass and it works. Well, I don't think a duck in its right mind would answer that call but it does make noise when cranked.
-two items said to be bookends in the auction but evidently are door stops, one with a metal mouse figure on it the other with a cat each standing on their rear legs and hold out front paws to make it seem they'd be hold the door open.
-a pin on Marble Arms & MFG. Co. brass cased compass, looks to be very old, art least I am guessing older than me and I feel ancient even though I am a year younger than the Ruger Mark I.
-a sort of a stand up mini bust, profile only, it stands a few inches high, of Franklin Roosevelt (liberal scum but he seemingly done good in WWII), it's dated 1933 and is embossed on its back indicating it came from the a Legion Convention. in Illinois in 1933 (American Legion held it convention there that year), a commemorative medallion from some industrial convention in 1933.
-a cross with the embossed word BULL and the letters S, H, I and T on it. It took me three looks at it to realize what it said.
-what possibly appears to be some sort of surgical tool or a really weird nose picker (that would hurt).
Finally there was this:
That bird is supposed to be a Surf Scooter, a carved wooden decorative mini-decoy. It has some nicely detailed carving and I think it will sit pretty somewhere in my apartment or maybe be a gift to someone or other.
I am happy because I think, I got very good deals on the ammo and scopes and at least good deals on the other things. For instance that Leupold scope retails for about $300 but then it is specifically made for only one caliber the .350 Legend. Regardless, I may try it out on another caliber otherwise will sell it. The decoy was only $6.78 with bid & buyer's premium. I am guessing a nice piece of work like that might go for several bucks more in a store.
Well, that's it for my newest gun and other auction acquisitions. More after their next auction or so I am guessing.
All the best,
Glenn B
