You can imagine the confusion when a law enforcement agency did a NCCs check for a stolen gun. Many models are lumped together with the same prefixes, such as Security-Six, Speed-Six, and Service-Six, which were all in the same family. After they ran out of two digit prefixes, they went to three digit prefixes but still maintain unique prefixes for each model. BATF didn't like that so when the new law went into effect in late '68, Ruger started using a different two digit prefix on each model. 123-99999 to 124-00001, or it could be a totally different series.īack before the Gun Control Act of 1968, Ruger used the same serial numbers on all different models so it was possible to have a Standard Pistol, Bearcat, Hawkeye, 44 Carbine, Mod 77, 10/22, Single-Six, Blackhawk, or a Super Blackhawk, all with exactly the same serial number. Once a serial number gets to 99999, the next series is used. Each series is unique to a specific model. Each two or three digit prefix is called a 'series'.
