Opinions on Ruger Speed Six

[357smallbore]

I own a 2 3/4 in SS Ruger Speed Six 357
Born on 1983 date. I love this gun. Balance, carry, reliability, accuracy and built like a vault. These guns are hard to beat I think. Who has experience or owns one and can agree it's a damn fine piece.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Doesn't get much better than a Six Series Ruger.

 

[KYamateur]

I used to own the same one except mine was the police six. Very solid and super easy to break down and reassemble. They are excellent revolvers.

 

[Ironicaintit]

First firearm I ever handled was a stainless speed six. Still have it! Been a Ruger fan ever since. A photographer I am not

 

[357 Terms]

I miss my 2 /3/4 inch.
I did contour a 4in Service six grip to fit a Speed grip.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

I had a rare 3" Postal Inspector Speed Six. It was a Grail gun for me, and I regret selling it a lot.

 

[beag_nut]

I have never been close to a Speed Six in "real life". Can someone tell me the differences between it and a GP100? Externally they look very similar.
Not trying to derail this thread.

 

[UncleEd]

The Speed Six, Service Six and Security Six are "K-frame" sized,
duplicating more or less the S&W Model 10, Model 19/66. The
GP100 is "L-frame" size, comparable to S&W 586/686 size.

 

[Pat Riot]

I have an opinion about a Speed Six…I am a knucklehead for not buying the one I saw a couple of years ago for $500.

It was a 2 3/4” model with a bobbed hammer. Looked great. Felt solid. I went home to think about it. It was gone the next day.

 

[PapaG]

Am down to one Security Six, 2 3/4". Tank tough. My SP101, 3" is about as close to the Speed Six as one can get today.
Skelton wrote an article long ago about kidding a pair of Speed Sixes as deep cover carry guns.

 

[racepres]

The Six Series Rugers are incredibly Stout... Decidedly Not yer mama's K-Frame..
Kinda like saying a 357 Dan Wesson is a Mid Frame!!!!
Flame On!!!!!

 

[Bush Pilot]

The Six series of Rugers are probably my favorite revolvers. Years ago I got on a kick of buying every configuration I could find and put together a sizable collection. I haven't shot them in years but i can't bear the thought of selling or trading them away.

 

[Coyote3855]

I have a stainless Speed Six with the 2 3/4 barrel. Great gun. I am something of a Ruger fanboy with several handguns and a Mini 14 in the safe. The Speed Six is my fishing and woods loafing gun.

 

[Sistema1927]

They build tanks like Ruger Six-series revolvers.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

I have never been close to a Speed Six in "real life". Can someone tell me the differences between it and a GP100? Externally they look very similar.
Not trying to derail this thread.

One of way of thinking about it would be the Six-series guns are like K-frame size with better toughness for .357 loads.

 

[Rexster]

I have never been close to a Speed Six in "real life". Can someone tell me the differences between it and a GP100? Externally they look very similar.
Not trying to derail this thread.

According to old interviews with Bill Ruger, the Security/Speed/Service Six were quite expensive to manufacture, so, were not very successful, financially, for the company. The GP100 was designed to less expensive to manufacture. There are many similarities, externally and internally.

I own and use both. The original-pattern GP100 grip fits me very well, and does an excellent job of mitigating the effects of recoil, so I tend to shoot my Speed Sixes less often.

 

[BrotherMaynard]

I am fond of my '86 vintage 4" Security Six. I picked it up last year and it has proven to be worth every penny of the princely sum ($450) I paid for it.

 

[bannockburn]

Back in the day I had several Security Sixes along with a Speed Six but somehow I let them get away from me. The Speed Six was a stainless model that was one of my favorite revolvers to take along on backwoods hikes.

 

[BBarn]

The Security/Service/Speed Six series were great revolvers. The GP100 is a little stronger and more rugged at the expense of additional size and weight.

Unfortunately Ruger no longer provides any parts or service for them. But due to the excellent design, they seldom need service or replacement parts.

 

[beag_nut]

Thanks for the info about the differences, people!

 

[d2wing]

My favorite handgun, 4 ich Security 6.

 

[RKRCPA]

I'm rather fond of mine!

 

[DR505]

Solid, dependable, utilitarian service revolvers with adequate triggers.

 

[golden]

In my opinion, RUGER made a mistake by dropping the Security Six. It was meant to compete with the S&W model 19, but is a stronger gun with only a barely noticeable weight increase. I can use the same holster for the model 19 and the Security Six.
I have had several and the blue 4 inch is my favorite and one of my favorite revolvers. I bought mine use when a gun shop employee showed to to me. They wanted $349.00 for it, used. It had PACHMAYR Gripper rubber grips. Not a real beauty, but the trigger had been worked on and was so smooth, I bought it on the spot and took it to the range. It shoots well, firing any .38 Special or .357 magnum load.
If RUGER ever put it back in production, they should sell it only as a Champion Match style revolver, with a properly smooth trigger instead of the gritty one on my GP-100's. It would be a match for the COLT Python in desirability, at least to me.

The GP-100 came later and was supposed to replace the Security Six, but never did. I have one of the early stainless steel, fixed sight models with a 4 inch, non- full underlugged barrel. It is slightly heavier by a couple of ounces and bulkier than the Security Six and while a good gun, is not as easy to carry because of the extra weight. The standard GP-100 is too heavy to use as a carry gun, unless you go to a snub barrel, then you lose some of the power advantage of using the .357 magnum round.
No thank you.

Just my experience

Jim

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I have never been close to a Speed Six in "real life". Can someone tell me the differences between it and a GP100? Externally they look very similar.
Not trying to derail this thread.

The biggest differences are that the GP100 has its 3rd locking point at the front of the crane, rather than the end of the ejector rod, and a "stub frame" under the grip rather than the full steel perimeter gripframe of the 6 series. These changes made the lockup a little stronger and precluded the need for Ruger to make both square and round frames for various applications.