
Black and white TV screens were lighting up America’s living rooms every night, and some of the most popular programs were Westerns. The new medium of television was growing rapidly. Bill Ruger’s company was profitable and becoming well established in the industry, and he was anxious to expand his product line. The advent of the transfer bar safety made carrying a fully loaded Ruger Single Six a reality.The main difference between the ‘Old' and ‘New' model Ruger Single Six was only safe to carry the old with the hammer down on an empty chamber.22 LR had a 5 1/2-inch barrel, and 4 5/8, 6½ and 9½-inch models were later added. Given Colt discontinuing the SAA, the revolver gained a foothold.The Ruger Single Six was inspired by the popularity of TV and movie Westerns in the 1950s.How Did The Ruger Single Six Become An American Icon: A gun inspired by the classic Western TV shows of the 1950s that were dominating the family room of nearly every home in America, the Ruger Single Six has gone on to become the stuff of legend. and worth quite a bit on todays market.For its first several years, the Single Six had what was known as a “flat loading gate” on the side of the receiver. 002" (thousandths) larger in diameter for the 'new' Magnum cartridge.


and thus was never meant to be a "convertible" ass the 22 magnum did NOT come to being until 1959, when the bore became. Welcome to the forum, good info above and yes its a very nice early 'flategate) RSS5,, the name meaning the loading gate on your gun ( the early guns ) was made ' flat' so as to not be confused with a Colt ( that has always been MY take on the reason "why") but soon to be found that was hard on the fingernails to open it to load and unload.a company called Premiere, made a replacement, rounded, loading, a bit longer that what was to be the "standard or norm" so Ruger did their own and was used from then on, sometime in 1957.nice gun, and the hard rubber (plastic) grips on your gun have turned to a shade from brown due to sunlight ( ultraviolet rays) or maybe even just getting "dry".wipe them down with a good oil or grease and the may darken up.many folks 'like' this brown shade.another thing to keep n mind is being your gun is a very early one, the bore diameter is on the smaller ( tighter) side.
