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Ruger Mark I

Pyscodog

Gold $$ Contributor
I picked this little jewel up the other day. The pistol is nice and tight and shoots really good but.......there's not much blueing left. Metals good with no rust just years of use. Best I can tell, it was made in 1969. Thoughts about refinishing or just leave it alone? I have no idea of value so I'm not sure what refinishing would do to the value. It is a fun little pistol to shoot and with the short barrel makes it a good candidate to carry when deer season rolls around or fishing.
 
No pics?

They ain't worth a helluva lot. If you want to refinish, have at it. You won't gain much over good looks. Shoot it as is and enjoy.
 
I picked this little jewel up the other day. The pistol is nice and tight and shoots really good but.......there's not much blueing left. Metals good with no rust just years of use. Best I can tell, it was made in 1969. Thoughts about refinishing or just leave it alone? I have no idea of value so I'm not sure what refinishing would do to the value. It is a fun little pistol to shoot and with the short barrel makes it a good candidate to carry when deer season rolls around or fishing.
Nothing wrong with wanting your guns to look nice...even older ones with no exceptional monetary value. Just a matter of pride and satisfaction too. A lot can be done by yourself on those old Rugers. Here is one I restored for my son's friend. Though by no means a gunsmith, I do like to 'tinker' with them and can't stand to see an orphan!

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Not a lot needed other than a little time. Polished all metal (can be done with progressively finer grits of abrasive papers if you don't have a polishing wheel) and multiple applications of Oxpho Blue. The trick with Oxpho Blue is to apply to warm metal and use multiple applications/steel wool buffing. You will notice that the metal will take the blueing at different rates. Don't panic about 'streaking'. The finish will become less blotchy with each application and buff off. Repeat until the entire surface is an even coverage.
 
I used Oxpho on a shotgun receiver once. Turned out really nice but there wasn't rust or pitting to deal with. The Ruger's metal is pretty good, just not much color anymore. Its old looking, may just leave it that way.
 
I've had really good results with the Belgian Blue from Brownells. It's a hot water bath kind of thing.
 
I was just telling my BIL about my Ruger Mk1. I didn't know a lot, except I knew it was a target, but had "homemade" wood target grips. Found the Ruger sn chart mine is a '58. Pretty good blueing, excellent shooter. Grip is a little tight for my size fingers, I think I'm going to start watching for some factory target grips.
 
Even though the blueing is not the best, its still very accurate and fun to shoot. I have a large coffee can full of mixed 22 ammo and it doesn't seem picky about what you feed it. But I did a little searching and the Mk 1's I saw actually had Mark I stamped in the barrel assembly. Mine just says Ruger. (No number 1.) Best I can tell, its an early 1969 model. Any reason for not having the Mark I stamp?
 
17- was 1982 last production year. Maybe why no Mark 1 marking? Pre 71, post 71 for frame and magazine changes. A100 on frame under the grips post 71. Dog thought the pics were yours. But A100 still works. I just picked up 3 pre 71, 9 shot Mark 1 magazines(button on the right side) with the original boxes.
 
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I believe the MK1 designation was for the Target Model with Adj. Sights. The original 4" barrel models
were called "Standard" models I think? The 6" version with plain sights was called ? I Don't Knowhat?
I had a 6" barreled one that was used on a fishing boat off the Washington Coast. It was pretty nasty looking on the outside, but fine bore, so I cold blued it with Birchwood Super Blue. I then converted it to a MKII style with a last shot hold open. I also converted my personal MKI 6" + barreled model to MKII
style with bolt hold open, as I couldn't stand the non bolt hold open of the original.
 
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My mags a 9 shot, button on the right. Serial is 10-29xxx with a 4"barrel, none adjustable sights.
 
I also converted my MKI Target, and 6" Standard(?) to use MKII style mags by thinning out the left inside "swell" in the grip frame to allow the MKII mags to be used. You can use the 10 shot magazine in the MKI style guns with the MKII style frames with no mods to the frame; just change the button to the left side of
the mag.
 

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