Many of you know what a moment of indiscretion on GB can cause.....

While I dearly enjoy my S&W hardware, guess I'll always remember my first quality centerfire revolver.
I started working at an LGS when my city was MUCH smaller than what it became when I retired from it's PD many years later. I was about 16-17. Started in 1974 at age ~16. The business was THE gunshop for many counties around.

About 1975-6, I put a Ruger Security Six 4" SS on employee layaway. With it went a Bianchi #5B and a set of Herrett's Shooting Star grips. IIRC, total for all was around $240.

A few years later, it went away in a trade for a 6" M28, as nuclear handloads were the order of the day.

I've always missed the Ruger SS. It was a great woods gun.

Anyway - I grabbed one the other day on GB (a 4" SS model) and it dates to 1975. Just seems sorta right.

It'll serve in a couple of 'invented' roles - to reduce shooting wear on my old duty M66 and unrelated 3" and 4" M65's. (Dumb, huh?), and serve as another woods/hunting season companion.

In a quandary over whether to acquire an older used set of Herrett's like I had all those years ago, or a set of Pach's, or a set of Ruger Targets, which just weren't seen that much in my area way back then.

Maybe this is just a detour to alleviate guilt over getting something I don't really NEED. And yes, I know I'm in the wrong place to get any intervention

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

My Ruger ss security six I got back in the late 70's.I immediately put pachs on it.A year later I went back to original grips and a Tyler t grip.I have since passed that gun on to my son.He likes that setup and carries it that way in the boonies.

Checking out GB often leads to an un needed but desired gun. The feelings for me are mixed. First the oh geeze I won which I didn't really expect would happen, then the oh geeze now I have to fork over the big bucks. But then I get the gun and forget all about the money spent for something I didn't need. Money only brings happiness when it gets spent on something we want.

If you are planning to shoot it rather than look at it, then it's not the looks but rather the shape of the grip and the trigger reach that matter.

Compared to a K-frame the Six series grip frame is a bit smaller with a shorter trigger reach, all other things being equal. That's a plus as it gives you a bit more range to work with when selecting a grip.

I like the Pachmayr gripper grips on a Service Six or Security Six, but I'm not a fan of their presentation grips in either the large or small size - but my hand is probably different than yours, and the advantage of the Six Series grip frame is that with the right grips it'll fit anyone well.

Congrats on your find. Speed Six, Service Six, Security Six, all outstanding and underrated.

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Ad Astra Per Aspera

As most of the older K frames have gone up in price these days, the Ruger's can still be found at decent prices. I'd take a Security Six any day over a GP100.

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Ephesians 6 (Armor of God)

I did the same thing in 1975 as a starving student, Ruger Security Six with 6" barrel and Herrett Shooting Star grips for about $220. Then there was carbide dies, bullet moulds, sizer die, and I'm sliding faster down that slippery slope of saving money. A brick of primers and 500 cast bullets saved me ~$28 on 10 boxes of ammo.

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S&WHF 366

Love my S&Ws but I also love my Rugers ,you are my new hero .Now I have an excuse to give my wife why I " need" another gun to prevent wearing out my other guns .Man you are a genius pure and simple .

Truer words were never spoken. It's the exact same "love/hate" relationship I've got with GB... ... but somehow it all works out in the end.

My first pistol was a blue 4" Ruger Security Six. I bought it and a box of shells for $105. I had a charge account with Rich's department store in Atlanta with a $100 limit. I was so proud of that gun.

Later I traded it to my grandfather for a WWI Colt 1911. It too was traded for something else. I wish I had both of those guns back. I have since bought another 4" blue Ruger Security Six of the same era, a 2 3/4" SS Speed Six, and a 6" SS Security Six. I like the early Ruger revolvers as part of my younger years but my S&W revolvers are my favorites.