Ruger factory records
Who holds this maker's production records today, whether a serial table exists at all, and what it costs to have the archive read them.
Ruger is the model citizen of production transparency, and also the reason this site exists. It publishes serial-history charts by model and runs a lookup that returns the model, product line, caliber, production status and ship date for a serial. It is careful about what the charts mean, saying the figure is the approximate first serial number shipped that year and should be used as a point of reference only. For guns older than its electronic records, Ruger still takes letter requests.
Can a serial number date a Ruger?
Yes — the maker publishes a table, so a year can be estimated from the serial number against a source you can check yourself. The date is only as precise as the gap between two published entries, and manufacturers do not build in strict serial order.
Reference work
Ruger & His Guns — R. L. Wilson.
The lookup covers only makers that publish their own browsable chart — and it says which, and cites the threshold behind every result.
Open the serial number lookup