Riomouse911
Contributing Member
A bit long-winded, but here goes:
A while back I posted that I saw a very nice Ruger 6 7/8” Mark II on a “California chain-store LGS” consignment sheet for far too much $$ ($699!!). Here in Ca the asking price for any off-roster gun being sold by a private party is often jacked up, but I refused to fork over that much even if it was a gun I wanted. (My Mk II is a Government Target, 6.5” bull barrel model, I wanted a medium weight target gun as well.)
For months I kept looking, Mk II’s in a variety of styles and conditions popped up and then disappeared as they sold. But they were either fixed sight models or were at a store that is too far away to make it worth the trip. (That $699 gun sat for months, no one else was going to pay that either.
)
Finally, at the same location the overpriced Mk II was at, its twin was listed at $449 and two other Mk II’s were $499. Still priced high for a Mk II by free state standards, here that price was fairly reasonable. I made the 32 mile drive to that store in late October and checked it out.
The gun was nice; Original grips with no scuffs or chips, a small scratch by the safety switch, a hint of muzzle wear on the left side, two period-correct magazines with a bit of bluing wear, there was some old oil that was congealed on the bolt, and it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.
I told the clerk that I would buy it, and I got my ID’s and wallet out. After I committed, I was told that I could pay now but I would have to come back in 12 days to start the paperwork because it hadn’t been cleared for sale yet. Rats!
I shelled out the full $$, as the store wont let buyers pay half when buying used-consignment guns, then I left and drove home. (Within a day all the MkII’s were off the consignment list, except the $699 Mk II.)
13 days later, the gun manager helped me when I made the 64 mile round trip to fill out the 4473 and start the 10-day wait
.
Yesterday was day 11, so I made my third trip down there to pick up the Ruger. I showed my ID to a different clerk than the other two. He checked the computer, saw the gun was paid off and the waiting period was over, and went to the back. After about 10 minutes he comes out with a large plastic handgun case.
He sets it on the counter, cracks it open… and pulls out a Government Target model with Hogue rubber grips!
I immediately say, “That’s the wrong gun. The one I bought has a medium-weight barrel and adjustable sights.” (As I already own one of the Govt models, I certainly wasn’t looking for another!) He looks at the gun, looks at the paperwork, and reads off the serial number put on the 4473. It matched the one on the Govt target. I again said this wasn’t the correct gun, so he gets the manager. (Who was the guy who helped me when I made the second visit to the store, and took my IDs to fill out the 4473.)
They start looking over the paperwork, checking the counter for other gun tags (I saw the $699 Mk II’s was reduced now to $599!) and tried to confirm that this was not the gun I wanted to buy. I made it clear that this was not the one I looked at the prior month, it was not the one I wanted, and I was not interested in buying the $599 Mk II.
At one point during the hour long “what happened” search the managers went on, the original sales person came over. He confirmed to me that he remembered showing me the Mk II with the medium-weight barrel, and this gun in the case was not it.
I was at first thinking the gun I wanted was sold to someone else, but I was told that gun was still in the store. Then I was dreading I would have to go through another waiting period and 64 mile round trip to correct the error. (That would have made this purchase add up to over 250 miles!)
Ultimately, they confirmed by reviewing the camera footage from October that the Govt model was not the one I initially checked out and bought. They determined that somehow the tags on the guns were switched because the descriptions of these two guns in their system was so similar, so the wrong serial numbers were assigned to these two guns.
The 4473 was corrected, and as an apology they let me buy a full 20-boxcase of 9mm that was on sale and normally limited to 5 boxes per customer, plus they knocked off a bit more $$.
I took it home for a take down and cleaning, which it needed. Afterwards, it looks very good inside and out. Trigger pull averaged a pretty clean 2lb 11 oz. Not quite on the level of my Volquartsen kit in the Mk IV, but not bad IMHO.
(Pre-cleaning pics showing the shellac on the bolt
I shot the gun today at the indoor range, putting 200 Rem 40 gr Golden Bullets through it. Perfect function, with the usual Ruger Mk series accuracy out to a yard or two beyond 15 yards.
I’m not in @NIGHTLORD40K’s Mk-series collecting class, but I sure do see why he likes these pistols.
Stay safe.
A while back I posted that I saw a very nice Ruger 6 7/8” Mark II on a “California chain-store LGS” consignment sheet for far too much $$ ($699!!). Here in Ca the asking price for any off-roster gun being sold by a private party is often jacked up, but I refused to fork over that much even if it was a gun I wanted. (My Mk II is a Government Target, 6.5” bull barrel model, I wanted a medium weight target gun as well.)
For months I kept looking, Mk II’s in a variety of styles and conditions popped up and then disappeared as they sold. But they were either fixed sight models or were at a store that is too far away to make it worth the trip. (That $699 gun sat for months, no one else was going to pay that either.
)Finally, at the same location the overpriced Mk II was at, its twin was listed at $449 and two other Mk II’s were $499. Still priced high for a Mk II by free state standards, here that price was fairly reasonable. I made the 32 mile drive to that store in late October and checked it out.
The gun was nice; Original grips with no scuffs or chips, a small scratch by the safety switch, a hint of muzzle wear on the left side, two period-correct magazines with a bit of bluing wear, there was some old oil that was congealed on the bolt, and it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.
I told the clerk that I would buy it, and I got my ID’s and wallet out. After I committed, I was told that I could pay now but I would have to come back in 12 days to start the paperwork because it hadn’t been cleared for sale yet. Rats!
I shelled out the full $$, as the store wont let buyers pay half when buying used-consignment guns, then I left and drove home. (Within a day all the MkII’s were off the consignment list, except the $699 Mk II.)
13 days later, the gun manager helped me when I made the 64 mile round trip to fill out the 4473 and start the 10-day wait
.Yesterday was day 11, so I made my third trip down there to pick up the Ruger. I showed my ID to a different clerk than the other two. He checked the computer, saw the gun was paid off and the waiting period was over, and went to the back. After about 10 minutes he comes out with a large plastic handgun case.
He sets it on the counter, cracks it open… and pulls out a Government Target model with Hogue rubber grips!
I immediately say, “That’s the wrong gun. The one I bought has a medium-weight barrel and adjustable sights.” (As I already own one of the Govt models, I certainly wasn’t looking for another!) He looks at the gun, looks at the paperwork, and reads off the serial number put on the 4473. It matched the one on the Govt target. I again said this wasn’t the correct gun, so he gets the manager. (Who was the guy who helped me when I made the second visit to the store, and took my IDs to fill out the 4473.)
They start looking over the paperwork, checking the counter for other gun tags (I saw the $699 Mk II’s was reduced now to $599!) and tried to confirm that this was not the gun I wanted to buy. I made it clear that this was not the one I looked at the prior month, it was not the one I wanted, and I was not interested in buying the $599 Mk II.
At one point during the hour long “what happened” search the managers went on, the original sales person came over. He confirmed to me that he remembered showing me the Mk II with the medium-weight barrel, and this gun in the case was not it.
I was at first thinking the gun I wanted was sold to someone else, but I was told that gun was still in the store. Then I was dreading I would have to go through another waiting period and 64 mile round trip to correct the error. (That would have made this purchase add up to over 250 miles!)
Ultimately, they confirmed by reviewing the camera footage from October that the Govt model was not the one I initially checked out and bought. They determined that somehow the tags on the guns were switched because the descriptions of these two guns in their system was so similar, so the wrong serial numbers were assigned to these two guns.
The 4473 was corrected, and as an apology they let me buy a full 20-boxcase of 9mm that was on sale and normally limited to 5 boxes per customer, plus they knocked off a bit more $$.
I took it home for a take down and cleaning, which it needed. Afterwards, it looks very good inside and out. Trigger pull averaged a pretty clean 2lb 11 oz. Not quite on the level of my Volquartsen kit in the Mk IV, but not bad IMHO.
(Pre-cleaning pics showing the shellac on the bolt
I shot the gun today at the indoor range, putting 200 Rem 40 gr Golden Bullets through it. Perfect function, with the usual Ruger Mk series accuracy out to a yard or two beyond 15 yards.
I’m not in @NIGHTLORD40K’s Mk-series collecting class, but I sure do see why he likes these pistols.
Stay safe.
Last edited:
i
was a steal too!
