Value guide
What is my Ruger worth?
Ruger built guns to be used and priced them to be bought, so most of what turns up is honest working equipment worth honest money. There is one genuine exception, and it has to do with a safety change the company made in the 1970s.
No page can price your gun, and any page that offers to is guessing. What this one does is show you the things that decide the number, so you can look at what you have and know whether you are holding something ordinary or something worth a proper look.
Old model three-screw revolvers, before the transfer bar
Ruger's single-action revolvers made before roughly 1973 used a three-screw frame and no transfer-bar safety. When the design changed, Ruger offered to retrofit older guns with the new mechanism free of charge, and a great many owners sent theirs in. Collectors want the unconverted original guns, with their original parts, and a converted one is worth less. If the factory kit was fitted, the original parts were usually returned in the box — and if a family still has that little bag of parts, it matters.
The models that turn up, and what they mean
| Model | Made | What it means for value |
|---|---|---|
| Single-Six | 1953–present | A .22 single action. Old-model three-screw examples, unconverted, are the ones to identify. |
| Blackhawk | 1955–present | Same story as the Single-Six, in centerfire. Flat-tops and early production are distinct markets. |
| No. 1 | 1967–present | A single-shot falling block. Discontinued chamberings and early production carry a following. |
| 10/22 | 1964–present | Made in vast numbers. Ordinary money, with early production and certain factory variants as exceptions. |
| Red Label | 1977–2011 | An American-made over-under. Discontinued now, which has firmed up prices for clean ones. |
| Mark I / II / III pistols | 1949–present | Target .22 pistols. Early Mark I production and unusual configurations are the ones worth checking. |
What to check before anybody makes you an offer
- On a single action, whether the frame has three screws in the side or two pins — the quickest way to tell old model from new.
- Whether an old model has been converted, and whether the original parts came back with it.
- Any 'before using this gun read the instruction manual' warning on the barrel, which indicates later production.
- Boxes and paperwork, which Ruger owners kept more often than most and which help.
And the two rules that apply to every gun on this page:do not clean it, and keep the box and papers. Removing original finish is permanent, and on the right gun the packaging is a real fraction of the total.
"Rugers are modern guns, there's nothing collectible here"
Mostly true and expensively wrong in a few specific cases. The old-model single actions, early Mark pistols, discontinued No. 1 chamberings and clean Red Labels all have real followings. It is worth having a Ruger looked at rather than assuming it is simply a used gun.
How do I tell if my Ruger single action is an old model?
Look at the side of the frame behind the cylinder. Three screws in a row means the earlier design; two pins means the later transfer-bar version. It takes a second and it is the difference between an ordinary revolver and a collectible one.
Getting an actual number
Condition, originality and configuration decide it, and none of the three can be judged from a description. We appraise firearms, collections and estates across Michigan and the Great Lakes region, free and with no obligation — you get a written list with a value against each firearm and it is yours to keep whether you sell to us or not.
Related: what determines value on any gun ·how to sell a collection ·you inherited firearms
Other makers
Winchester, Remington, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Marlin, Browning and military surplus rifles.