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My New Speed Six!

4K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  Onebadcaballero 
#1 ·
Ruger has always been my favorite gun company as they are in my opinion one of the few remaining manufacturer's that provides quality American Steel for a man on a budget and this ruger speed six is no anomaly.



I found this little guy on gunsamerica for $365 and I knew I couldn't pass it up. This 2.75" model is chambered in .38 Special and it's sporting some old school roundbutt pachmayr grips.



The gun was NASTY when it got shipped into my FFL dealer. It had minor surface rust and "crud" on the outside, dust in the action, and caked on powder in the chambers. But....



After a complete tear down, a soaking in some warm soapy water (and some tedious tooth brush scrubbing) a slightly worn but still solid bluing was revealed. I didn't stop there though. After I cleaned er up I carefully used mothers mag polish for a deep cleaning and minor re-finish and sealed the deal with about 4 coats of Johnson's paste wax.



The next step would be ideally to find a nice set of badger boot grips, ream the cylinder out to .357 and smoothen' up an already smooth action. I was really looking for an sp101 but of course with all the talks of gun legislation at least in this area new guns are getting more expensive and hard to find but in the end though I'm really happy.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome from Australia mate.
Glad to have you on board, nice folk here and lots of good info.
Nice find and a job well done.
Looks great.
 
#6 ·
Welcome to the forum from Phoenix! Great find, there. Glad you're happy with it. :)

I'm not sure of the safety factor in boring out a .38 special to .357. There's a lot more than hole size between a .38 and a .357. Personally, I wouldn't risk it.
 
#7 ·
Welcome to the forum from upstate NY. Great job.
 
#10 ·
Excellent find there, Onebadcaballero. I love my old revolvers, but am especially attached to my Speed Six snubby. I found her filthy in a pawn shop in a bad part of town for $270 out-the-door. As you have shown us, they do clean up nice! I think I'll try the wax on mine.
 
#11 ·
I talked to a couple gunsmiths and scoured the forums and it turns out the only difference between the 357 and 38 speed six is the chamber length (1.15" vs 1.29"). They sport identical heat treatment, metallurgy, etc. All of the gunsmith's I have talked to said it was safe practice with any of the six series revolvers and would charge anywhere from $85-125. Still kind of on the fence for collectability reasons though. As suggested I just might wait and find an sp101 to fulfill my .357 slot!

The best part about waxing a blued gun is the maintenance aspect. You never have to oil the outside of the gun or worry about rust again. I'll probably start a separate thread on how to polish and wax a blued gun. If your not careful you can strip the blue clean off. I wish I had some before and after pics so I should you guys how much she really cleaned up. Thanks again everyone for there welcomes and kind words.
 
#12 ·
With the availability of .38 Special +P ammo, and the ability to reload a .38 to all the oomph one would want to shoot from a sub 3" barrelled revolver, I don't really see any need to rechamber for .357 mag. It won't hurt the revolver to do so, of course. But with such a short barrel, you won't gain any real velocity advantage over .38 +P, but you will get tremendous muzzle flash.

I've shot full house .357 Mag loads out of my 2 3/4" stainless Speed Six, but have no desire to do so again. When I carry it, it is loaded with 125 grain Winchester .38 +P ammo.

Firing fully-stoked 125 grain .357 Mag loads out of it is quite, err, exciting.
 
#13 · (Edited)
An alternative to wax and IMO a much better solution is to switch to FrogLube. FrogLube buffs up like wax plus gives you the best protectant and lubricant you can get. If you haven't tried it, you should. It's a true one product CLP (though I use their solvent, too) that leaves your gun well lubricated but dry to the touch. Works great and is safe for all surfaces. I discovered it buffs out and polishes accidentally on my stainless steel SR9c. The more I rubbed on it, the shinier it got.
 
#15 ·
Here's a post detailing how I revamped the finish.
http://rugerforum.net/maintenance/71223-how-bringing-life-back-your-blued-steel-guns.html

I'll have to look into froglube.

I've shot a scandium j frame .357 that was pretty exciting. I figure a gun the size of the speed six would tame it down but then again I'm still debating on whether or not I get cylinders reamed. I can buy set of dies, some powder and primers for the cost of the machine work. Luckily I already have the press kit.
 
#16 ·
I think you'll be happy with the results from FrogLube. Just be sure to use it as directed with heat and give it some time to bond to the surfaces.
 
#17 ·
A beauty, no doubt. I bought my first Speed-Six, my first firearm purchase, in 1974, a blue 4" .38 Special, for under $100. I sold it several years later, but was never happy doing without it. I ended up buying two more, a 4" blue .38 Special to replace my original and a stainless 2¾" 9mm to share ammo with my Beretta semi-auto.

I tried out a friend's 4" .357 Colt Trooper and was very uncomfortable with the heavy recoil and noise. That led me to the purchase of the .38 Special. I agree with other posters that .38 Special +P is plenty of power for a 2¾" barrel, coming very close to standard 9mm performance.

I recommend a set of the original checkered wood grips.
 
#18 ·
My first gun was a 2 1/4 inch blued .38 Speed-Six. Bought it used in 1978 for $110.

My favorite gun could be a 2 1/4 stainless Speed-Six in .22LR, had Ruger ever made it, and I would have bought it in 4 inch as well. Better grip and sights, for me. than the SP-101 .22s.
 
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