Ruger Security-Six: Remembering the Past 

Immediately stopped what I was doing to watch this when I saw the notification. I’ve been collecting Security Sixes for 15 years. Absolutely love this line of revolver. At one point I had over 40 of them. I’ve since slimmed the collection down quite a bit to include some of the rarer and nicer examples. Another excellent video, keep them coming

I've owned a few Security-Sixes over the years and I've always compared them to Smith and Wesson's Model 19/66 in overall size and weight. However, Security-Sixes never suffered with the reputation of flame-cutting of the top strap, forcing cone erosion, frame-stretching nor shooting loose after a steady diet of magnum loads. I think Ruger missed a great opportunity by not bringing out the Security-Six in .22LR like S&W did with their K-frames. Although I have a few more refined .357's, it's my stainless steel Security-Six with a 6-in. barrel that I take with me into the woods.

My first .357 was the Security-Six. I purchased this Ruger in April 1973. As a cop, we were authorized to purchase our own .357 for duty carry. The S&W Model 10-5 was our Department-issue. A medium frame, blue steel, fixed sight service revolver with a 4-inch standard barrel and chambered in .38 Special. That was pretty much the standard for many agencies at that time (1973). It was during this time that many agencies were going to the .357 for duty use. More power was the cat-calls for the .357 Revolver. Many agencies did purchase .357's for their officers, but large agencies usually had liberal Democrat Mayors and council members, therefore they had to stay with the .38, because their bosses were the willy-nilly type. More concerned with the outlaws safety over their officers! Thank goodness I was not in such a department ruled by liberal Democrats. After my April 1973. purchase of my Security-Six, I went to the PD Firing Range and got acquainted with my new revolver. I shot mostly mild .38 wadcutters before shooting a few magnum rounds. This Ruger was a first production model, one of the 150-XXXX serial number frames. A blue steel, adjustable sight, and a 4-inch standard barrel were its features. The small walnut service grip panels were a good fit to my hand. Shooting .38's through it was fun, not so the .357 rounds. There was substantial barrel roll when firing magnums, so much it was hard to stay in the "kill zone" of the B-27 Target we shot qualification on. It was hard to stay on target because of the recoil. In 1973 there were no Pachmayr or Hogue rubber combat grips available, but there was the Herrett Grips. Herrett made a lot of their walnut "Shooting Star" Target Grips. These grips really accented my new Security-Six and these grips greatly reduced the barrel roll of my Ruger using magnum ammo. There was a cutaway on the left grip to allow speedloader reload. These Herrett Shooting Star Grips were the best you could get at that time, even up to today with early model Security-Six revolvers. The 150-series frame was soon altered to a shape that didn't recoil as much as the earlier model. I carried that Security-Six off and on in a 40+year cop career. This Security-Sox of mine was a silent partner and witness to some of the best and worst times that I had while "serving & protecting". Well built, rugged, easy to break down and clean, and perfect for uniform law enforcement, the Security Six. I paid a little over 100-dollars for my Security Six and a box of magnum ammo for practice.

Had an early model. Bought it new in 1974. Traded it in on an AR-15. Wish I still had it.

My example is a Police Service Six, 4 in. bbl fixed sight SS. Built like an anvil. Now I gotta go date it. Great info. I learn something every time I watch Andy's reviews, especially when he reviews an example I have. Great channel!

Have one is stainless, very good revolver!

I enjoy your videos. You should have many more subscribers. Keep up the good work and informative videos!

Darn fine revolver!

My Security Six is a first year production (150 serial number prefix) with a 2.75" barrel. Interestingly, it's got fixed sights. I found it in a pawn shop in Junction City, Kansas, in 1993, setting alongside a 4" Security Six. Both had belonged to a deceased deputy sheriff, having been the last duty weapons he'd used. At least that's the story. They both had old Ajax faux-stag grips which looked sexy, but weren't terribly comfortable in the hand. I bought the 2.5" thinking I'd just find some aftermarket grips for it. Took two years to find them because Ruger changed the grip frames after the first year of production. I didn't buy the 4", which I regret to this day.

The amount of writing on the roll stamp is due to a lawsuit stemming from user misuse in the early 70's.

I just bought a 1979 Security Six 6" stainless new in yellow box. It has factory rubber grips which I hate. Can anyone fill me in on why and what model had rubber grips? They seem to have produced both wood and rubber grips at the same time. Why?

I must be living in the past, current EDC is a model 15-3 combat masterpiece stoked with FBI load.

..had one in or ca 1975...

So it's over-built because its cast instead of forged.