If I were starting my law enforcement career in the mid '80's all over again, knowing what I know now and having collected and shot most of the "Big Three's" revolvers, I would choose a stainless 4" Security Six. And this is from a guy who carried a Model 66 and a Python during that decade.

That cleaned up nice! It will last a very, very long time. Best of luck with it.


WG840

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Freedom above all else.

Put me down as a fan. I have one. 1978 stainless steel,4inch barrel, original skinny wood grip. Its a 9.5 out of ten. Just got it a month ago. I kept going into this same gun shop and it was there for around 2 months,problem is it was on the bottom shelf and if you didnt look closely you wouldve never known it was there. They had it on the bottom self because it still had the original box. Well we all know how these shops like to line up thier handguns in an impressive row or rows. There wasnt enough room to put this beauty where it could be seen lol, oh well, my gain! I kept going back and it was still there, ever time. Not anymore! Its very nice. Awesome revolver

I think its...

Security Six = 4 or 6" bbl, square butt, adjustable sights
Service Six = 4" bbl, square but, fixed sights
Speed Six = 2 3/4 or 4" bbl, round butt, fixed sights

Could be other variations but I think that was the standard factory offerings.

I had a Ruger SS Security 6 with a 6" barrel. I also have a S&W 686 stainless with a 6" barrel.
Althouth the fireing mechanism is different (686 circa 1984) the 686 fireing pin is integral with the hammer, they were identical performers on the range. I could place a 6 shot grouping from either pistol within 1" at 25 yards. Recoil was identical with both 357 and 38 loads.
I traded the Ruger for a 12 year old unfired Taurus model 98 9mm last year. The Taurus is still unfired by the way. I traded because I wanted a full size 9mm and had no need for two 357's and the gentleman I traded with wanted the Ruger.
My point is, in my opinion, the Ruger SS is every bit as good as the 686.

I sold a 2 3/4" barrel Security Six when I got a deal on a Model 66 SW. The SW was like a piece of fine art, the Security Six was an eyesore next to it. Tell you the truth I now wish I had never sold it. It was accurate, had a decent trigger, handled the heaviest load, but butt ugly.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

I think all three models were avaialbe with the short barrel.

Brian~

All three of the DA "Six" series revolvers were available with the 2 3/4" barrel.

I have over a dozen of the Sixes, I like the Service and Speed Sixes a lot better, I like the handling and looks of the fixed sight Ruger Sixes.....they have that "meat and potatoes service revolver" look.

That gun will last forever, there's not much you can do to hurt a Security Six short of beating it with a sledgehammer, and maybe not even then. These are tough guns built for a steady diet of .357.

Sometime around the mid 80s I traded my S/S Security-six for a S/S Colt Python. Years later I discovered that you could have the best of both guns in one package.
Mark

I bought a used Security Six when I was hired on with a law enforcement agency here in Az. in 1989. The academy letter said to show up with a .357 4 inch barreled Colt, S&W or Ruger. So, I went to a large, now defunct gun store in Tucson and asked what they had in a used revolver in those brands. I bought the SS, in stainless for 200 dollars, the academy armorer supposedly inspected it and I could shoot the wadcutter reloads which were always 38's without a problem. When it was time to qualify, they would break out the .357 factory loads, and I could never get through a course of fire without 3-4 failure to fires. I had to borrow a S&W Mod 19 to qualify at the end of the academy. I went to Apache county to my duty station, and about my second day on the job, an Apache Co. deputy asked about my Ruger. I told him the story about it, turns out he had just attended a Ruger armorer's school and said he would take it home and look it over. He called me the next day to return it, said it should never have left the gun store in that condition, and the academy armorer definitely hadn't done anything but look at it. He thought it had been under water for quite awhile and some spring, I don't remember which, was severely weakened, therefore the light hits. He replaced all the springs, did a slick trigger job and installed an orange ramp front sight. He wouldn't let me pay him a dime, but I did get do repay the favor eventually. About three years later the department transitioned to the SIG P229, because that's what DPS were using and recommending. The old Ruger has never hiccuped since the rebuild and I eventually grew to love the dang thing and taught all my kids to shoot with it, with light loaded 38 wadcutters.

I had a Security Six 4" and some low life stole if from me. I paid less than a Hundred for it OTD NIB. A local owned drug store w/sporting goods dept was closing out their sporting goods and I got it for a sweet deal.I would love to have that pistol back.

Good gun to throw in the tool box on the tractor.

I wouldn't throw a Ruger 6 in a toolbox, I thought that's what smiths were made for. I sold my 66. The Security Six and Speed Six are much better revolvers. They are uncomplicated and clean, a masterpiece of gun design.

They're actually a pretty good revolver. Not nearly as refined as a S&W but they do the job and are dependable.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

Add exactly why we use them in the gear boxes on our equipment. They can get wet repeatedly, don't need a lot of attention, and still work when needed.

Excellent guns. I have two Speed Sixes (2 3/4" and 4") and a 6" stainless Security Six. While the factory DA triggers almost always suck, it is very, very easy to slick them up and lighten them. All mine are very accurate. They will take lots more rounds of hot .357s than will a K-frame Smith. I'd rank their strength right alongside L-frames, but they are a bit lighter and smaller.

They usually had terrible triggers from the factory, but they are monkey-easy to put in a good trigger pull.

38-44HD: this is the second time you've stated how easy it is to do a trigger job on a Ruger Security Six. I don't doubt you, but would appreciate your sharing your secrets on how you do a trigger job - other than just changing springs. I have always been told that only a qualified Ruger gunsmith should work on the Security Six revolvers.

Thank you.

Dave

Ohhh...that looks GOOD! (Hmmm.photo didn't appear in the quote.)

T-Star

Sceva, that little Speed Six is purty as heck with the grip adapter and the stag grips. Just perfect.

In someways Rugers are more sophisticated than S&Ws which are basically a 1900s design.
Regarding the trigger pull, I installed a Bullseye or Trapper spring in mine, that greatly reduced the trigger pull while maintaining 100% reliability, and it is basically a drop in part.

I am very fond of the Security Six, Mine has been doctored up by Clarks with a bull barrel and an Ultra Dot 3 dot sight. The action is very smooth, and it is a good shooting gun. I would like to find a nice 4" blued gun as I think it is a very well made piece.

Dwight

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I've owned a few Ruger revolvers over the years and never had an issue with any of them . I just bought one of these last week for a " truck gun " . $325 and he threw in two boxes of .357 mag ammo .
Ruger® SP101® Double-Action Revolver

I have a 4" Service Six that I bought new from Summit Uniform in the San Jose, CA area in 1981 or 1982. I hated that gun! It had the worst trigger I had ever experienced. I finally took it apart and looked at the trigger parts. Turns out there was a curl of metal (from a worn cutting tool?) on one of the machined surfaces that was causing all the trouble. I lightly slicked up all the surfaces, put it back together, and what a difference that made.

I ordered a holster for it. When it arrived, I realized they had sent me a cross draw holster instead of the right-side holster I had ordered. Since it was there, I tried it. I found out how handy a cross draw was for camping and four-wheeling. That Ruger became one of my favorite revolvers. I still have it and the cross draw holster. The Ruger is my desk gun and has been for years.

OCD1, had a Security Six quite a few years back. Loved it, especially with Pacmeyer ( spelling?) grips. Loved it but fell in love with a Smith and Wessen and sold it. I found it accurate.
Teasel.

Used to be you could find PD and security trade in Ruger Six revolvers for dirt cheap at gun shows, I got a few of mine for as low as $150-200 with heavily worn blue or scuffed stainless, and in some cases rust damage from being kept in a leather holster for decades. If you find a Six in any kind of workable condition for below $300 these days you better snap it up........prices for Sixes is rising more every day. I have seen a few beat up looking ones go for $350-400 on GunBroker.



Got this security trade .38 Special Service Six for $180, along with a better condition "twin" for $250. Get them while you can, in a few years I can see nice Sixes being $700 guns. In some cases they already are, and some of them are "collectible" now.



I prefer these for shooting, I love my fixed sight GP100's.

I have over a dozen of the Ruger DA Six revolvers, I vastly prefer the Speed and Service six, I don't much care for the Security Six and the 1 that I do have is about to get a Bushnell Phantom scope mounted on it. I just don't like adjustable sight revolvers in general, though and will take the fixed sight equivalent every time. The DA Six revolvers don't have the best DA pulls, but they aren't target guns, they were made as duty guns, to be stronger and more durable, and more importantly cheaper than the S&W 19 and 66 to attract police and civilian sales, which they did, much to the chagrin of S&W.

The coil mainspring will never be as smooth as a flat spring, like S&W. But with a lot of use, the guns do slick up pretty good. I put a lighter mainspring in one of my very well used Speed Sixes and it's as slick as any Ruger could ever be.

The best statement I ever heard describing the Six series revolvers and their stagy DA pull, is "The Security Six is more of a Single Action revolver with the ability to shoot Double Action in an emergency" I also like to think of the Security Six as a double action Blackhawk.

IMO the GP100 is a better revolver, it is stronger, more durable and has a better DA pull, in general. Ruger got rid of the standard system of using the extractor rod to lock the front of the cylinder, and used a lock on the crane instead.

Either the Six or the GP100 would be very difficult to wear out in any of our lifetimes, but the GP is better suited to heavy magnums. I collect the .38 Special Six and GP revolvers so I have 0 worry about ever wearing one out.

My first revolver! $99 OTD at Rolfe's, with a holster and a box of rounds. 4" blue adjustable sight,. I added a Herret's Shootong Star grip.
The next week I bought a Lee Loader, 100 Seirra JSPs. a box of CCI primers, a can of Alcan AL-7, for about 15 bucks, and I have been a reloadin' fool ever scince. That was about 38 years ago.
I sold it a long time ago and got a 6" Python. I have a 66 too. And some .38s: a Victory 4", a model 10 6", and a 1888 Second model.
All on account of that old Ruger. Sweet gun.

One of the guns I carry is a 4" Security Six. It had belonged to my late brother and had not been shot much but carried a lot. At the time I got it (1989) I was carrying a 4" M19 and later a P220 Sig. I did not put the Ruger into use until about 2 years ago.

When I retired in 2008 I started carrying whatever I wanted to. I've always been a sixgun man at heart so I "went back to my roots" so to speak. Problem was my old M19 has seen its better days. It's basically been rebuilt twice and I don't want to wear it completely out. So I got to thinking about the Security Six.

I swapped the springs, installed a Speed-Six spurless hammer, and rounded the sharp edges of the back sight. Just this week I got around to rounding the butt and installing a pair of Pachmayr compacts. It is a whole different breed of cat now.

It's heavier and still not as smooth as my old favorite, but it is accurate, smooth enough, and sized right-meaning my M19 holsters and speedloaders will work with it.

It goes to town with me when I want to carry a .357.

BTW, I also once had a 2 3/4" Speed Six w/ spurless hammer I got on a trade and still kick myself for selling it.

Back in the 70s I got a blued 6" Security Six. I put a couple of Woolf springs in it to help the trigger pull and a Hogue grip. When we went out in the desert it was my carry gun, loaded with 125 gr Federals and sighted in for 100 yds. With a little care in trigger pull and sight picture, it will hit a silhoutte target every time at 100 yds. It's probably put in 300 miles in its holster at my side. Lots of finish wear on the barrel since it must have been in and out of the holster a thousand times as I learned that I don't have the instinct for instinct shooting. One of the very last handguns I'd let go.

I will not say anything bad about a S&W, have em, love em, but I did pick up a security six a month ago at a gun show in great shape [with a broken back sight blade] with an unused nylon holster for 250.00. After researching a little I found out the security six was Rugers first attempt to break into law enforcement D/A guns. I made a back sight blade with my dremil tool and off to the range I went. My Six is a blued 1976, 6" barrel. I have found the most commented items to be true, Super heavy built [only screws on the gun hold the handles on. Trigger is heavy. It has a great no tool needed, field break down system. Accuracy is very good, but not a target pistol. If I could combine the best features from S&W and Ruger, zero complaints could be made.

Very nice! I have one just like it, minus the stag of course.

I'm another fan of the speed six.

Mine is stock except for the grips and Tyler-T. Good trigger and carries well.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

Can you repost your pics, please? Pretty please?

Mine:

Older model thin barrel


Newer model heavy barrel


But really now that I bought new rubber insert grips, my GP100's are really starting to grow on me.

Well Dave I have a very early Security Six .357 I bought new in 1972. It was the first pistol I could legally get here in the people’s republic of NY. I wanted an S&W 19 4'', but they were hard to find at the time. My dealer said here try this, is something new. I handled it; dry fired it and said OK. Had to pay in full and wait another month till all the necessary legal bull excrement of NYS was satisfied and I could take it home.

Gun is a tank, but I found its typically Ruger, good value for your money. Now as far as the trigger I'm a pipefitter not a gunsmith but had absolutely no problem putting a better trigger pull on this gun. This was before spring kits came out, but just like Smiths a little polishing in the right places and some work on the springs, (go slow here, it’s faster) and I had a good& dependable pull on my gun. Heck I even carried it as a CCW till I could find a S&WModel 60, that was about a 5 month wait.

Still have the Ruger today, but it’s sort of morphed into a safe queen. I will always keep it due to nostalgia as it was the first handgun I owned.
I have/had a bunch of other Ruger products and feel they give good dependable value for money expended.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

If anyone ask me what gun for Cougars I'll refer them to this, The Couger.

I didn't know about this combo until I read this thread. Pretty cool if you got the parts.

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Dum vivo cano

I Love' my "Six" series' as well, here is my latest, 1984' near mint*
.. Very accurate!


~ Joe

Well, now you can see a nickel plated one.....As a rookie cop in Kansas circa 1970, I was required to furnish my own service weapon. I had noticed an ad in a magazine that Ruger had come out with a new service revolver for law enforcement: the Security Six. I went to a local gun shop & had them order me one- a .357 (150 series). If I remember right, the price was about $125.00 - alot of money for me then.
Once I got it, I took alot of "ribbing" from the older officers - all "Smith" men. One told me the gun would make a good trot line sinker.....Well, when the time came to qualify for a pistol team that was forming, I did so with the SS. No more ribbing after that. Anyway, the gun was originally blue & I sent it off to a place in Wichita and had it nickel plated - they did an excellent job. Also I had an old man who was a master craftsman, make me grips out of burly walnut. As you can see in the photos, it is a nice looking piece. I still shoot it at times & would never sell it (nostalgia reasons). Has a few nicks & dings from confrontations with unruly characters when I was a cop, but otherwise, nearly perfect.

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For a S&W forum this Ruger post has lasted a long time. I picked up a 4" stainless security six last year and compaired it to my 4" S&W 66ND. Size, shape and weight they are almost identical,the 66 has a smother trigger but the ss is not bad.
My ss came with the small factory gripps and I bought the larger gripps from Ruger, and with either gripp when shooting .357 mags the knuckel of my middle finger is hit by the trigger gaurd, this don't happed with my 2 1/2" 66ND or 4" 66ND.
If I didn't have my 66's I'm sure I would be happy with the security six and with different gripp's the knuckle problem might dissaper.

Years ago I shot PPC matches with a 6 in. Security Six. it had a great action job, millet sights. I used Dade speedloders. Won my class everytime. Great guns, often overlooked. Outshot my custom model 66 constantly with the same loads. I regret selling it, and now I dont know why I did.

If you want a gun that is built like a tank and that you can shoot full house loads till the cows come home, a Ruger fits the bill. They are a bit on the 'rugged' side and lack the refinement of a Smith, but if you just want to shoot the %#$& out of it, it will not only oblige, but it will outlast you!

Never have liked them much...

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Got remarried a couple of years ago. The wife came with her own Security Six. So far I have looked down my nose at it, but am going to have to give it a chance.

Came across this thread when I was doing Internet research on a newly acquired Ruger Police Service Six in .38 spl. It is a blue, 162 serial number manufactured in 1988 right at the end of the six product line and was an NYPD gun. has a bit of holster wear, but uncharacteristically for a Ruger the trigger is butter smooth. I also have a 1985 stainless Police service six in .357 magnum. Bought that one like new about 5 years ago. That trigger is typical Ruger. While I don't have anything bad to say about S&W, in my humble opinion, the Ruger Six Series revolvers are about the best duty revolvers that have ever been conceived or produced....period. No doubt the Glocks of the revolver world (at that time) I mourn the day they were replaced with the GP line.

This is one of the finest concealed carry revolvers ever made, and in .38 special or .357 magnum it it the best concealed carry revolver ever made, at least in my opinion. Better still it will not cost you 700 or 800 dollars.

Earlier in this thread (well, three years ago ) I made the comment that I had always regretted not buying a Ruger Six when they were still being made. I also mentioned that I'd grab one if I ran across it at a decent price.
I guess those who have 'em must like 'em because used ones around here are rare. You almost never see one and the ones you do see are rough to say the least. You can find them on the auction sites, but prices are now up in the $450-550 range.
Well just last month I was at a gun show and happened across an older gentleman with a very nice 1977 vintage Blue 4" Security Six for sale. The gun was in excellent condition with just minor wear on the high spots. He wanted $525 for it and I politely said no. As it turns out, we both spent the entire day at the show and ran across each other several times. We sort of developed a running haggle. We'd bump into each other, I'd make an offer and he'd counter, then we'd move on. This happened 3 or 4 times during the day. Finally around 3:00pm I offered him $425 IF he threw in the Bianchi holster he was carrying it around in. The deal was done and we were both happy.
Some of you may think I paid too much. But after shooting it, I have no regrets at all.

Related story: Ten, maybe 15 years ago I picked up a nice set of used Herrett's Shooting Star grips at a gun show cheap. They were marked "S&W K", but it turned out they weren't. They didn't appear to be Colt's either. So I just threw them in the wood pile and forgot about them.
Well whaddaya know. They fit a Security Six!

Destiny.

I'd like to see it with the Herrett's.

BTW Your price with a holster wasn't bad. Around here one as you described would sell for 350 to 400 W/O leather.

They're great guns.

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Dum vivo cano

I used to have a blued 6" .357.

It was a decent gun, accurate and reliable.

A couple of friends have them and also like them.

I'd rather have one than any revolver S&W currently makes.

I paid $400 on gunbroker for my like new 4 inch stainless police service six about 5 years ago. After shipping and FFL fees it was close to $500...but I was just glad to get it. My recently acquired blue 4 inch .38 spl model was from a family member so I only paid $200

I have a first-year production Security-Six, four-inch, blue, one of the first hundred made. I had some hand engraving done at the Ruger Studio back when they first started up and also added a set of Herrett Troopers. Great shooter, accurate, and strong enough to handle anything.

I have a 1976 ruger GF 32 police service six in 357mg with a 2 3/4" barrel in S/S. This bicentennial revolver was never in the catalogue. I got it for $135 and I heard it's worth $1,000 today. I'm the original owner with the original box and papers.

I picked up a ruger security six in 357mag in blue with a 6" barrel used but in excellent condition+++ for $199. I couldn't do the paperwork fast enough.

We never, hardley never see these nor the s&w m27 /m28 for sale here. People just don't part with them.

They're OK and I've used mine at the range. The action is different than the S&W with the half-cock and stuff but, they shoot well, are easy to maintain and handle the 357 Mag or 38 Spl just fine.