Hello and Merry Christmas to everyone. A good friend of mine was gifted the following Ruger Auto Pistol by an aging WWII veteran for Christmas.

Price is not really a required since my friend now considers it his favorite firearm but if someone could give a ballpark it would be appreciated.

What I'm really looking for is the DOM, Possible Model and any other tidbits.

Thanks for any and all responses.

It has a Blue Finish(85% to close to 90%), 4.75" Barrel, Black Grips, Fixed Sights and a one Magazine.











Here is some ammo that was with the gun as well.

Have you posted this on the Ruger forum? They should be able to help you. This is a Ruger Standard Model. One just like it was my first pistol. I bought it sometime in the late 60's.

Due to the lack of a model name I'm assuming it is a Mark I. With that serial number is was likely made in 1956.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

Just a Standard Model, there were no Mark I's except the target model IIRC.
That was also my first semi auto pistol. I later added Millet adjustable sights. It was a very reliable and accurate pistol but had a bad trigger.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

Keep in mind that there are TWO Ruger forums. Dot net and Dot com.

Members on both would love these photos.

You pictured a box of .22 Short ammo. Use ONLY .22 Long Rifle in these pistols.

T-Star

Gentlemen...THANK YOU!

I appreciate you looking and offering your advice.

I will check out the Ruger forums and update with any additional info.

Have a great holiday season.

Regards,

kobsw

Yep Ruger Standard model, you can look up its DOB on Ruger's website. IIRC they were $39.00 for about 20 years or so until the 1st price increase which was ~$5.00...again IIRC. [I] believe it was this model that got Sturm and Ruger started with Sturm providing the funds. It was a short partnership as Sturm died within a few years of the company starting. The first few 100/1000 had grips with red eagles which Ruger changed to black in mourning of his lost partner. As another aside, magazines between your gun and the later MKII are different, yours holds 9, and the other 10. MKII magazines do not work well if at all in a Std. Another feature of the MKII is a slide stop, where on the Std. you have to use the safety to hold the bolt open. You pull the bolt back and engage the safety into the "SAFE" mode and it locks the bolt back.

Ruger Standard and Mark I Serial Number History


http://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/june_08_p37.pdf

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Still Running Against the Wind

A Ruger Mark I Target Model was my first firearm.

It had the 6 1/2" tapered barrel, and adjustable rear sight.

I paid $88 for it in the mid 70's.

It liked Winchester T-22 Target (standard velocity) ammunition, but it was hard to buy in quantity.

After some experimenting, I found CCI MiniMag 40gr round nose shot nearly as well, and could be purchased from K-mart at a reasonable price.

I used to go to the range and burn up 500 to 1000 rounds at a time.

I wish I still owned that pistol, given the price of reloading components, these days.

With the MiniMags, that Ruger would fire all 500 to 1000 rounds, without a failure of any kind.

Try to avoid field striping the pistol, without some good tutorials, perhaps on Youtube, as it's hard to reassemble.

I believe Mark 1 targets were bull barrels, regular Mark 1"s were tapered.

The original target guns in the 50s were a 5 1/4" tapered barrel that was only made for a few years and a 6 7/8" tapered barrel.The 4 1/2" and 6" had fixed sights.The 5 1/2" bull barrel came out in 1965.

You can say that again!!! My first experiene was with one of these while still in the Army. It was an Army gun and I got it apart and couldn't get it back together again. Fear in this young lieutenant's heart!!

This thread is a little old, but so is the gun.

A previous poster was correct, there were no Mark I guns. They were just called the Standard and that's what's pictured in the OP.

You can easily tell by what's on the left side of the gun. Note the lack of slide stop. The bolt would not stay back after the last round. It could be held back by applying the safety when the bolt was back though.

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Freedom isn't free.

Is there any added value to the red eagle magazines? I bought a MKII Competition Target recently that supposedly came from an estate sale with no magazine. The mag that came with it has a red eagle & was added by the gun store.

Did they repro those?

My oldest ones date from a few years after the red eagle guns,but they have chrome base plates that are non removable