Ruger "WARNING" billboard on revolvers - kiss of death to collectibility?

[W.E.G.]

Are there any BILLBOARD Rugers that have appreciated in value?

Is the presence of the BILLBOARD on newer Rugers the primary reason for the rise in value of non-billboard models?

 

[Surefire]

I definitely hate the warning message on new Rugers, but what can you do...

I hate the locks on S&W even more!!

Yes, I believe the billboard on Rugers should have some affect on collector value. Who wants PC/legalize on their gun?

 

[1980]

I have one of the new billboard warning message rugers. In deciding between the redhawk and the SW629 the SW lock problems certainly helped me chose the Ruger, but the paragraph is very ugly and unnecessary. I have seen enough posts about how to remove the SW lock but nothing about removing the warning on the ruger barrel. Wondering if it is possible and if anyone has done it with good results?

 

[Zundfolge]

I've seen many stainless steel Rugers with the billboard buffed off ... looks nice (of course a blue one would require a refinish).


Its gonna be a long time until the billboard era Rugers are anything close to "collectible" but I imagine when they are, removal of the billboard is going to devalue it slightly.

Even then, we're talking about Rugers, not Pythons. Even the more collectible of the Rugers today aren't all that valuable (not that they aren't good guns ... just not collectible).

 

[cottonmouth]

You can have the warning removed and for the Smith there is a plug you can order to fill in the key hole and replace the lock, just ordered one for a 500.

J.B.

 

[Guillermo]

Rugers are fine guns but not collectible because they still make them

for the Smith there is a plug you can order to fill in the key hole and replace the lock

plugging the hole does not repair the scar on the company that capitulated with the enemy. Even with the plug it might as well say Benedict Arnold & Mata Hari or Smith & Clinton.

I would sooner send Handgun Control a check

 

[savit260]

You can have the warning removed and for the Smith there is a plug you can order to fill in the key hole and replace the lock, just ordered one for a 500.

It's nice that Colts never suffered these indignities.

 

[TwoNiner]

Its ugly but better than a lock. I'll never buy a new S&W thanks to the ILS. I'm sticking with Rugers and used S&Ws.

 

[CajunBass]

It's nice that Colts never suffered these indignities.

Yea, it's MUCH better that Colt just not make revolvers (or much of anything else either) now.

 

[heeler]

Exactly just what does the billboard say??

 

[rattletrap1970]

Hell, who's to say in 50 years all this anti gun crap gets trounced. Then to find a gun with that silly warning might make it worth more. You never know. If you had a unopened bottle of booze from the prohibition era, that might be worth money too. Not because it's better booze, or it's old, but because it survived through some messed up times.

 

[Guillermo]

rattletrap is an optimist

 

[Zundfolge]

Exactly just what does the billboard say??

BEFORE USING GUN-READ WARNINGS IN
INSTRUCTION MANUAL AVAILABLE FREE FROM
STURM, RUGER @ CO.,
SOUTHPORT, CONN. U.S.A.

Some of the short barrel guns shorten up that copy.


Here's a photo (I linked it instead of posting it with image tags because its huge)
​

 

[rattletrap1970]

LOL, If you knew me you wouldn't say that!

 

[Guillermo]

the warning says

DO NOT PUT LIVE AMMUNITION IN THIS FIREARM
ENGAGING IN SUCH A RECKLESS ACT CAN RESULT IN DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT AND OTHER SERIOUS INJURIES.
INSTRUCTION MANUAL AVAILABLE FREE FROM
STURM, RUGER @ CO., SOUTHPORT, CONN. U.S.A. AND MUST BE READ​

 

[rattletrap1970]

I'd like to see somebody get dismembered with a .22
That would take a crap-load of ammo.

 

[rocinante]

I have matching stainless ruger new vaqueros except one has the prominent billboard while the other has it more discretely on the bottom of the barrel. I think the billboard is uglier and totally unnecessary. It is a firearm not a toaster.

 

[Cosmoline]

Ruger is a young maker compared with Colt or S&W. For collectors there's interest in the early single sixes, the early blackhawks, etc. not so much for the lack of warning but just because there are a number of rare subtypes. For later handguns, there's growing interest in the "Six" line of double action revolvers as shooters. Likewise there's a premium for oddballs such as the .357 Redhawks because you can amp up the power so much.

There are also a variety of strange contract guns Ruger made for overseas use, such as the Security Sixes in .37 S&W.

 

[18DAI]

No not in my opinion.

Hell, there are people who think the wind up two piece barrel S&W's will be collectible. Anything is possible. TJ

 

[conhntr]

i bought the "new vaquero" blue model specifically because the billboard is under the barrel and does not bother me. i will not buy one with the billboard on the side; so thats one less person in the market and a slightly lower value.

however these mass produced guns arent ever going to be collectible so dont worry about it. what is the most that any regular production run ruger has increased in value?

have any kept up/ passed inflation?

 

[LoneCoon]

I'd like to see somebody get dismembered with a .22
That would take a crap-load of ammo.

It'd get tedious, I imagine. You'd have to use one of those 50 round drums for the 10-22, and even then you might need a reload.

 

[savit260]

Yea, it's MUCH better that Colt just not make revolvers (or much of anything else either) now.

Colt still makes revolvers

and they don't have locks or billboards.

 

[rattletrap1970]

No I mean with a Single Six.

 

[SwampWolf]

I don't blame Ruger or Smith & Wesson, or the ladder makers for that matter, for over-reacting in terms of warning labels nearly as much as I do the bottom-grovelling trial attorneys who spend their careers making loads of money off our litigious-happy society; a society that has absolved wrong-doers' acts by diluting the concept of personal responsibility and has rewarded those who file frivolous lawsuits by punishing manufacturers for stupid acts committed by their customers. Scissor makers don't put warning labels on their scissors-they just rounded off the points. :banghead:

 

[bob.a]

Personally, I refuse to buy any pistol that has one of those warnings. Ugly and stupid have no place in my collections.