Value of "U.S." marked Ruger MKI 22 pistol.

C

Crosshair

New member
I've come across a Ruger MK1 pistol with US government markings. I was aware that the gov acquired MKIIs for marksmanship purposes, but was unaware of them using MKIs.

I'll get some photos up shortly, but dose anyone have any idea as to what the value of these are and how many of these US government marked MKIs exist? I would guess it is in 90% condition as the bluing shows quite a bit of holster wear.

Thanks all.

Edit: Here is the photo of the US markings.

USMK1-1.jpg
 
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Does it have threaded muzzle? The military used silenced 5 1/2" bull Mk I's in Viet Nam. Just the thing for duck hunting.
 
Hi - I collect these and can offer some info:

About 6,000 Mk-1's produced for the military under 6 different contracts during the period 1956 - 1967.

US marked guns were produced concurrently with normal production Mk-1 and usually fall into one of the following blocks of serial numbers:

75845 - 79945 (almost all in this range were US-marked)
150036 - 150058
191528 - 194069
301316 - 302750
304532 - 305751
319447 - 320570
327476 - 331744

All guns identical with the exception of the last two groups listed above, which had 1/8" tall serial numbers (all others had 1/16" tall serial numbers).

Value-wise, these generally sell on the various auction sites in the $450 - $600 range, depending on condition. Add more if any original paperwork/packaging is included or a fctory supplied muzzle brake. Yours looks to be in very nice condition so yours should fall at the higher end.

What serial number range is yours?
 
Thanks a bunch Mr. Ed. That is very helpful.

The S/N on mine is 761XX, which would put it in the first production batch. Almost within the first 300 made actually.

Here is a photo of the whole gun. It's a little dark, but it's the best I can do with the lighting I have. (The flash makes the photo even more of a mess.) It is indeed in good shape with a bit of holster bluing wear. Now that you mention it, it is in rather nice shape vs the other MKIs I have and have seen. Not as nice as my MKIIs, but they are a lot newer, where this specimen, according to your data, is over 50 years old. (Hey, I could have bought it with my C&R.:rolleyes: )

USMK1-2a.jpg
 
Very nice, indeed! Just some other, 'FYI' info on these:

Given the fact that the majority of the US Mk-1's were produced under the 1st contract, finding one of the other contract pistols is considerably harder. I've seen examples of 2 of the other contracts (besides the 1st) but I have no idea if, in fact, all of the other contract pistols even made it out of the military and into civillian hands (I believe it was sometime in the early 1970's that the govt put a stop to this -- for handguns, anyway).

Also, there are some (probably not many) US marked Mk-1's out there that were factory overruns and were never shipped to the govt, but later released by Ruger through normal distribution channels. This can be verified by contacting the Ruger records dept and requesting a factory letter. They will look up the serial # and confirm when & where the gun was shipped. If they say "shipped to a government agency", then you have a pistol that was issued to the military. I mention this point because some diehard collectors :) don't consider the overruns to be genuine military surplus.

If you decide to contact Ruger records, the phone # is 603-865-2424, or you can submit your request online here:

http://www.ruger.com/footer/contactEmail.html
 
I'll contact Ruger, but considering that this gun was one of the first ones shipped it is probably unlikely that it was an overrun. Still good to double check.

Now that I think about it, 6,000 made but how many made it to the surplus market? :confused: They could be more rare in the public market than my .357 Mag Redhawk. (5,000 made according to the info I have.)
 
And even in the remote chance that yours is an overrun, I doubt it's value would be diminished because it is in such good shape.
 
Ruger serial number

I am somewhat confused about the serial numbers posted earlier. My Mark I from the 1970's has a serial number of 12-61127. That does not fit with any of the numbers posted.
 
Colt 15 looks like yours would have been around 1974. You can also call Ruger or put in a request and they supposedly will tell you more accurately, meaning to do this myself.
 
Again, nice looking specimen that appears to be in all-original condition. Many that I've seen are 'beaters', from years of heavy use/abuse by the military. Some of these pistols supposedly made their way to Vietnam for use by the 'tunnel rats', so they would have seen some serious abuse there. Also not uncommon to see pistols that have been modified (probably by the armorers) with different/threaded barrels, drilled/tapped holes, etc, etc.
 
Yes, as far as I can tell it is 100% original. Thank you a bunch for your input, you have been very helpful. Good to hear that the gun is worth quite a bit more than what I paid for it. No plan on selling it though. I like having rare guns like these. I'll take it with to my gun-show table to put in the "Not for sale, just showing off" group.:cool:

There is one guy who has a whole table devoted to rare Ruger single action variants. Rare as in, "One of two produced" rare. The "Least rare" gun he has IIRC is one of 1000 produced. All have original boxes and papers.

I asked him how much one particular specimen was worth and he said, "Don't know, there are only three of them and nobody has sold one since the 80's." I'll have to take pics if he is at the show this weekend.
 
When I was Running the NG Marksmanship Program, I obtained the ruger pistols (4 Per BN & Spt Companys) and H&R Model 52s or 5200s (10 per BN & Spt Companys).

All had the "US" markings.

They were for the Units Marksmanship programs for train up, getting shooters for the State Teams.

They were to replace the Hi Standard Pistols and Win Model 52s and 513Ts.

The 513s we converted to "practice" biathalon rifles.
 
Glad I could be of some assistance. Now, you'll want to find the orig govt issue tech manual that was used by the military for these guns: TM9-2316, dated December, 1956. There are plenty of re-prints out there in 8-1/2" x 11" size, but the originals measure about 9" x 6". They're out there, you just need to keep your eyes open.
 
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