I would say no, not really. The serial numbers are not specific to the caliber so in the case of an SP101 a low serial number just means early production in general and could be a .38 Special or a 9MM or whatever. Ruger never releases production numbers for anything so it's hard to know for sure how many were made of which caliber, barrel length and combinations of the two. It's all jumbled up in the same sequence of serial numbers.
I would think a NIB SP101 in 32 H&R would be worth more (to some) than a 357 mag made roughly the same time period. I know the 327 in the SP is a little more scarce but don't know if the value has increased much over standard calibers?? I am not a collector so if I'm wrong then someone that knows the answer please correct me.
The more uncommon calibers and models will fetch a premium (9MM for example, or 32 H&R Mag or 22LR in a 2.25" 6-shot) but your original question was specific to lower serial numbers in those examples and that's where I don't think it really matters. It's not like the oldest examples are always the best. There may be an oddball collector out there who really likes 2 digit or 3 digit numbers and they may be willing to pay a premium for it I suppose but most folks don't care. There are some duplicate serial number SP101S and there are collectors who like to find those and will pay a premium for them (D570-04461 to D570-04563.)
Ok, thanks' . I probably could have worded my question better. I knew about the more rare calibers and thought an older model of say a 32mag could have more value than a later one. Do you know if all the 32s had the yellow red cardboard box
All the older SP101's had the yellow boxes! The .32 mag is a nice little revolver...fun to shoot and pretty accurate too!
Serial numbers, typically, have little to do with value...unless you get into model changes, and then, it's more so for individual preference or parts differences.
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