Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. TAFFIN TESTS Continued from page 26 used market and the demand for the old Peacemakers and higher prices walked hand-in-hand. Ruger read the situation and made two landmark decisions. He would introduce a new single action and he would also chamber it in America’s favorite and most affordable cartridge, the .22 Long Rifle. Ruger did not just copy the Colt Single Action Army, except for the shape and size of the grip frame. During the run of what we now call 1st Generation Colt SAAs some were chambered in .22, making them quite heavy and bulky for the cartridge. Bill Ruger downsized the cylinder and mainframe to more closely fit the .22 Long Rifle, modernized the action by replacing the leaf mainspring and trigger/bolt springs with virtually unbreakable coil springs, while the two fragile arms on the bolt itself were replaced by a solid bolt actuated by a coil spring operated plunger on the hammer. The flat hand-spring was also replaced by a coil spring. The most fragile parts on the original Colt Single Action were the hand-spring and the bolt spring, and Ruger’s modifications made the Single-Six virtually unbreakable. In fact, Ruger set up a demonstration at the NRA Show with the machine cocking and dry firing a Ruger SingleSix 24 hours a day. During the show the machine broke — the Single-Six did not. As a further improvement to the original Colt SAA, Ruger flat-topped the frame and replaced the hog wallow rear sight trough with a rear drift sight adjustable for windage, set in a dovetail. Even though my first Single-Six cost $63.25 when those in our group were averaging 90 cents an hour, it was still a bargain compared to the prices commanded by pre-war Colts. We couldn’t have afforded to shoot those old Colts even if we did manage to scrape up the asking price. I did come up with a beautiful Colt Single Action .38-40 six months later with a price tag of $90 and definitely could not afford the cost of ammunition. Each time I shot it my rounds were rationed to single-digit numbers, not the hundreds of rounds I go through now. In order to be able to offer such an excellent, virtually indestructible revolver for the price, it was necessary for Ruger to come up with new manufacturing techniques. Previous to this, most mainframes were forged — Bill Ruger introduced investment casting. He also took shortcuts by having the two-piece steel grip frame of the Colt replaced by a one-piece aluminum alloy affair. Early guns also had flat loading gates instead of the beautifully contoured gate of the WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 77 Notta’ Copy