Ruger41

A few years back I did a neighbor a favor. He wanted to liquidate his gun collection as he hadn't shot any of them in years. He said he would give me10% of the proceeds for doing the listings and shipping. None of the guns he had were particularly collectible..just honest hunting & shooting guns save 1 old antique Gras.

But there were two in the collection I did want..a Ruger Deerstalker and a Ruger Standard auto. Sadly the .44 carbine he wanted to keep as a defense gun and was the only gun he kept. The .22 was in bad shape though. It had been wrapped in a rag and left out in a barn for about 15 years. It had surface rust all over but no apparent pitting. I told him it would have to be reblued which would obviously cost him money and a collecter wasn't going to give good money for a rusty gun nor do they like reblued ones. He said no problem..consider it a bonus for helping me! Now I am not a collector if safe queens so a reblue doesn't bother me so long as it's done right. So off to Ruger it went fir a reblue. I asked them to replace any old worn parts too. Got the pistol back and they reblued it and replaced various springs & hard parts for free..total was $85! I think that was a decent deal. The gun is a 1960 vintage one and shoots pretty well

Seneca

$85!
Just guessin...you probably spent more to have it reblued than it originally sold for...lol

Nice old MK I though, clean for it's age and from what I can see Ruger did a first rate job on the reblue.

Ruger41

Ya I thought they did a nice job too--thankfully the rust was just surface rust and not deep pitted. I really like the Mk 1 & 2 series.

brigond

Great deal! $85 for a classic.

303lithgow

Save the paperwork showing its a Ruger reblue. Having them reblue it will add $$$.

Seneca

Me too, I started with the Mark I, it was my first semi auto .22 and I graduated to a Mark II, I haven't tried a Mark III yet.

Sbh87

My guns are not old enough to need rebluing, but it's good to know if Ruger does it it won't hurt the value. Not that I expect my MKIII or single six to hold a high monitary value years down the line.

303lithgow

I think any re-blued gun is worth less than one in origional condition. What I mean is the Ruger re-blued gun will be worth more than the gun re-blued by Joe Smuck.

Seneca

If it is a shooter then it really doesn't matter if it's been reblued. You just want something to shoot that isn't rusty. That makes perfect sense to me. I don't like rust on my guns either...

I agree 85 bucks to have Ruger reblue it is a good deal, considering they also did an inspection/service at the same time...

KJS

Looks good as new actually. If I didn't look closely, I'd wouldn't notice the lack of a Ruger emblem on the grip panels or the lack of a taper in front of the bolt ears that would indicate that's not a new MKIII that came off the line last year.

303lithgow

It looks great in the picture.

Seneca

The Taper in front of the bolt ears started with the Mark II's and was carried over to the Mark III's. I always thought that the lack of a taper was the quickest tell of a Mark I. Well that and the chromed magazine base.

I had a chance to buy a (supposedly) unfired stainless Mark I, It was a one of 500 in a wood presentation box. Very nice! so was the price tag...

What you have there is nearly as clean as the 1 of 500 commemorative I was looking at.

Izzoquazzo

Wow.....85 bucks? That's great. I got back from Vietnam in 1972 and that Christmas I bought a used Mark 1 Target for my dad. He shot it a few times and then let it sit in the case for a very long time, almost 35 years. I got it back when he died a couple years ago. He had taken some steel wool to the surface rust that had developed and left a lot of fine scratches. The gun shoots great, but the collector value has dropped considerably. I tried to trade it a couple of times but the dealers said it wasn't worth much.

I think it would be worth the $85 to make it look good again. Thanks for the info.

freddy137

There seems to be a lot of talk about collectors value that just never seems to materialize. Unless you have a sure enough valid collector group to support the specific model it is just a gun with a subjective value on top of the blue book price. Every time I see a gun that someone wants more for than the book it is explained to me that it is a collectors item. And after a few times of believing that when I was younger and trusting I figured it out. The collectors are mostly in the imagination of the seller and transfer to the "wanting" buyer. If every gun I've owned over the years had been worth what it was speculated(by the seller) to be worth and I had sold a few of them I wouldn't need to work anymore.
Seriously, I have a couple of maybe a few of the so called collectables (Pythons, Pre 39 S&W, FOX shotgun ect,) but they are only worth what I can get for them, and it never seem to be close to the prices that all the Pro's and forums claim. So if you aren't going to turn it over for a profit or can't get that elusive price it's just another gun and maybe a family heirloom. and I'd lots rather leave a nice re-blued or refinished gun to my kid's than a so-called collectors gun that they either wont enjoy for fear of killing the value or get rid of and then some shankster will enjoy my labors.

Ocduff

Nice to know Ruger will reblue and do such a nice job for such a low price. That's great service.

I agree with freddy137 about these "collector" guns. I have very limited experience in buying and selling guns. About six years ago I sold an S and W 422 .22 pistol for $200 and was lucky to get it. Fast forward to the present and prices have doubled, if not tripled, and each seller is claiming these are collectible. It was a nice pistol, but I'm not paying $500 to get one in my hand. It's not a $500 gun to me.

Went with a Ruger Mark III. $330. Still a lot. Guns have just gone up in price. Oraybe I'm just getting old. But then some people call Pontiac Fieros collectible. Whatever.