What's the fascination with Consecutive Serial Numbers

[McCandless]

I can't see where consecutive serial numbers add any value or desirability to Rugers, Piettas or Ubertis.  if configuration is the same, one seems to be like any other.

Does it mean anything in the manufacturing process?  Is one more like the other than one 10 numbers different?

 

My SASS Vaqueros of course are consecutively numbered, and so are my pistols from the Colt Custom Shop... I didn't order them that way, but the Colts   have special roll marks and caliber, (when that was available), so they were probably made together.

 

So, other than on collector-value firearms, what's the hub-bub, bub? 

[Lead Friend, SASS #53635]

Consecutively numbered pistols are neato. I have three pairs and would have more if I hadn’t sold off a few others over the years. In a sport that requires a pair of pistols it’s just another detail that adds to the fun. It appeals to my sense of order.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Well ... Actually ... to be perfectly frank .. Frank.  It's just that some folks like em that way.  For eons, sellers of collectibles have touted consecutive numbers.  Mechanically .. consecutive means nothing.  There is no actual likelihood the guns were assembled by the same technician, on the same day, in the same month, one the same line, etc.  The frames come down the line and the tech starts pulling parts and putts a gun together.

Making consecutive guns "feel" alike is a royal PITA.  Some folks however, specifically ask for that.  Very dificult to actually do.  No two SAs go together exactly alike.

 

If you happen to like your guns consecutive, go for it.  I do.  Just don't expect it to add any real value to a pair.  Maybe a dollar or two.  Also, don't expect any mechanical sameness.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

In the old days, two firearms with consecutive serial numbers might have been fitted and assembled by the same assembler.

 

At this time, assembling a firearm was a bit of an art, with many of the parts needing final fitting by a skilled assembler.

 

Those days are pretty much gone now, particularly at Ruger, where the guns pretty well go together with no final fitting needed. So it really does not matter anymore if the same guy built the guns or not.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Easier to remember the serial numbers when reporting them stolen?   

 

Back when manufacturers changed a lot of part design mid way through the life of a model of gun, it made it easier to make sure you got the right replacement part that could fit either gun.  But still no guarantee a new part would fit without some adjustment.  So, not much real value any more.  
 

Good luck, GJ

[Deadeye George]

So the consensus is that it doesn't matter one iota, and yet 99% of the time when someone is selling a pair of guns, "Consecutive serial numbers" is usually put up front or in bold text just before the very proud asking price as if to imply added value!

 

Kinda like asking $99.99 for an item instead of $100.00, it's a gimmick that works.

 

[Warden Callaway]

I have a pair of Pietta 51 Navys that are consecutive numbered.   Bought them at Cabelis and the salesman went back and picked out a pair with consecutive numbers.

 

I have a pair of Uberti Cattleman that came as a matched set with same serial numbers just an R and L prefix difference. They seemed to be well matched and I was very impressed with them right out of the boxs. 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

45 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Well ... Actually ... to be perfectly frank .. Frank.  It's just that some folks like em that way.  For eons, sellers of collectibles have touted consecutive numbers.  Mechanically .. consecutive means nothing.  There is no actual likelihood the guns were assembled by the same technician, on the same day, in the same month, one the same line, etc.  The frames come down the line and the tech starts pulling parts and puts a gun together.

 

The only time I owned a consecutive pair of guns (Colt Series 70s) there were noticeable differences in the way the two were put together. I highly doubt they were made the same day. Manufacturers will number the frames together, but then they go their own separate ways and end up being built by different people and even on different days of the week.

[Catlow4697]

Don't you know the guns shoot better with consecutive numbers .

I had a shop owner comment on the consecutive serial numbers of the Stoeger shotguns I bought.

I said that I wasn't paying more than quoted price

[Warden Callaway]

3 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

I have a pair of Pietta 51 Navys that are consecutive numbered.   Bought them at Cabelis and the salesman went back and picked out a pair with consecutive numbers.

 

I have a pair of Uberti Cattleman that came as a matched set with same serial numbers just an R and L prefix difference. They seemed to be well matched and I was very impressed with them right out of the boxs. 

 

I didn't pay a dime extra for the consecutive numbered Piettas mentioned above.  I didn't even ask or expect consecutive numbered guns. The salesman just did it.

 

With the matched set of Uberti Cattleman,  I think I got a better deal than buying two separate guns. 

 

Last year I bought a Taylor's Smoke Wagon Deluxe that was in stock and had to backorder a second. There are a few thousand serial numbers different.  The newer gun had a step milled inside the frame that locked up the hammer when the hammer screw was tightened down. Got with Taylor's and they said it was a design change. 

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

56 minutes ago, Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 said:

Howdy

 

In the old days, two firearms with consecutive serial numbers might have been fitted and assembled by the same assembler.

 

At this time, assembling a firearm was a bit of an art, with many of the parts needing final fitting by a skilled assembler.

 

Those days are pretty much gone now, particularly at Ruger, where the guns pretty well go together with no final fitting needed. So it really does not matter anymore if the same guy built the guns or not.

This says it all right here. In the days when it might take weeks or months to make a single firearm, consecutive numbers "might" mean they were built one after the other. No guarantee even back then. Now there is none at all.

16 minutes ago, Deadeye George said:

So the consensus is that it doesn't matter one iota, and yet 99% of the time when someone is selling a pair of guns, "Consecutive serial numbers" is usually put up front or in bold text just before the very proud asking price as if to imply added value!

 

Kinda like asking $99.99 for an item instead of $100.00, it's a gimmick that works.

 

Yeah pretty much. And it does work. In fact, when I bought an EMF engraved great western 2 recently, they told me I could get consecutive serial numbers if I wanted. Even with what I just said above, I nearly said yes. I didn't need a second gun so what was the point?

7 minutes ago, Catlow4697 said:

Don't you know the guns shoot better with consecutive numbers .

I don't know if they shoot better, but I have heard that with the game we play, it helps you remember which gun is your left and which is your right.

 

 

[Catlow4697]

Sorry my Rugers of witch I have around 40!or more don't know their left from their right

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I suppose if you had an SAA with a 7.5" barrel, blued with a CCH frame, .45 Colt, wooden grips and a US stamped on the side that was serial number 123456, and then another one was nickeled with a 4-3/4" barrel in .44-40 and ivory grips and was numbered 123457, that it would be historically "interesting" but that's about all it would be.

[Deadeye George]

15 minutes ago, Redwood Kid said:

...........I don't know if they shoot better, but I have heard that with the game we play, it helps you remember which gun is your left and which is your right.

 

 

Well heck if that's the case, just spray paint one grip green and one grip red! And if you forgot which was which, you could paint your holsters to match the grip colors.  Be a lot easier to just look down than trying to read a serial number without your reading glasses!

[Warden Callaway]

 

I had a pair of NMV that were not consecutive number set.  Functional the same but one polished different than the other.  I think you can make out the sides of the hammer on one is raw cast while the upper one has a hammer with polished sides. Several other places were left unpolished on one and not the other.

 

 

Traded them for a pair of Cemerron Lighting in 32WCF and 32H&R.  One has a long ejector and the other has a short ejector.  Cemerron couldn't explain. They said they all came with long ejectors. 

[Three Foot Johnson]

I've got at least three sets of revolvers that are consecutive, but I didn't pay a premium for them. One set has a third one that is only nine numbers away - gotta have a backup, ya know.
I'm always looking for a third consecutive number to the three sets I've got. It would be kind of cool to have. All three set sets are rather limited, so you wouldn't think it would be a big problem, but I haven't come across any of them yet.
Armijager 1873 .38-40's - my three are the only ones I've ever seen chambered in .38-40. Two consecutive and a third one nine numbers away.

Ruger convertible stainless Vaqueros .40 S&W/.38-40, with a 3rd one 77 numbers away.

Ruger .44 special 4 5/8" stainless Vaqueros - five, two of which are consecutive, two others that are only seven numbers apart from each other, and a third one 433 numbers away. There are two different prefixes, which I guess indicates they spanned two production years, but the rest of the s/n's are 1575 numbers apart... as there were only 503 made in this configuration, I guess there were a thousand or so frames made into something else before they got back to the .44 special run.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

I didn't buy my cowboy guns for their value down the trail.  I bought them to play cowboy and have fun.  

 

Hope everyone's guns appreciate in value but for me the 'here and now' is what's it all about

 

 

[Yul Lose]

I’ve got this set of Old Armies that are consecutive serial numbers, I like em anyway.

[Dantankerous]

None of my guns have serial numbers.

 

Uh, whoops.

 

I probably should not have said that.

 

 

 

[John Henry Quick]

58 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

I’ve got this set of Old Armies that are consecutive serial numbers, I like em anyway.

 

Atually Yul, I don't think you like them as much as you think you do, so you should probably give them to me.  I'm concerned about you being burdened with guns that you really don't like... 

 

 

[Lead Friend, SASS #53635]

I’ve never paid extra for consecutive numbers. All I did was ask for them

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

6 hours ago, John Henry Quick said:

 

Atually Yul, I don't think you like them as much as you think you do, so you should probably give them to me.  I'm concerned about you being burdened with guns that you really don't like... 

 

 

 

Mebbe he will throw in a guncart also.

[Texas Lizard]

12 hours ago, Deadeye George said:

Well heck if that's the case, just spray paint one grip green and one grip red! And if you forgot which was which, you could paint your holsters to match the grip colors.  Be a lot easier to just look down than trying to read a serial number without your reading glasses!

He might be color blind....

 

Texas Lizard

[Rye Miles #13621]

Consecutive serial numbers are a bit more rare therefore you can ask more for them. Unless they're Colts you probably won't get a heck of a lot more!

[Buckaroo Bubba]

My old model vaqueros are consecutive. I think it's neat. Yes, the one that ends in #3 goes in the left holster, #4 goes in the right holster... I am OCD like that..

[Mack Hacker, #60477]

I have several sets of consecutive revolvers, but have only paid extra one time.  Guns can have both use value and collector value. The trick is to recognize potential for collector value before it establishes itself.  For a brace of consecutive guns with established collector value, the value of two might be increased by as much as 50%.  In a case where there are three, it may be even more.   

 

Now for the the interesting part for those of you still with me. I mentioned that I did once pay extra for a consecutive  pair.  I have a somewhat strange collection of 1958-1960 Ruger Bearcats. Since they regularly fetch .10+ times their original price, I believe they have an established. collector value. Recently I was very willing to pay a little extra for  a 1959 gun giving me a consecutive pair purchased 1500 miles and 51 years apart

 

 

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

Years back Colt was selling an intro revolver I forget the name.

Anyhow, at a cada show I see a consecutive pair.

They couldn't have looked more different.

I suppose I could have bought em and kept the nice one

and shipped the clunker back for major rework.....fergit  that.....

Best

CR

 

[Texas Bart]

11 hours ago, Buckaroo Bubba said:

My old model vaqueros are consecutive. I think it's neat. Yes, the one that ends in #3 goes in the left holster, #4 goes in the right holster... I am OCD like that..

Makes perfect sense to me. Odd (5) on the left, even (6) on the right. It's so obvious everyone should understand the logic.

[Boomstick Bruce]

I bought an iver Johnson second model 32 hammerless at a gun show in va back in 04, I moved to main in 07 and shortly after won an auction for another iver Johnson second model 32 hammerless from a seller in CA... when the cali gun showed up it was one number lower than the one I bought in VA! I sold them as a set a year or so later for $600 on auction arms!!!!

 

btw my stainless taylors/uberti remingtons are nearly consecutive numbers, off by 12 numbers and I do the left/right thing too, the one has the grip screw head facing right, the other left, so they are left and right (they are in my avatar)...

 

my next set of guns, a pair of engraved 75's, will be consecutive number guns or ordered with custom ser#'s

 

 

[Sgt. Saywut]

I bought a pair of Beretta Laramies from a fellow here on the Wire, but nothing was mentioned in his ad about the serial numbers.  When I received them, I realized they were consecutively numbered. 

 

My reaction?  “Cool.”  Nothing more. 

 

It’s actually something of a mental millstone to sell firearms that are consecutively numbered.  You almost “have” to sell them as a pair, which can be harder than selling them separately.  I remember a few years back when someone was selling two M1 Garands that were consecutively numbered; granted, such a pair of Garands would be rare, but his asking price was astronomical.  People oohed and aahed, but no one plopped down the premium for what was nothing more than a number stamped onto the receiver. 

[Buck D. Law, SASS #62183]

Quoted wrong person. 

[Buck D. Law, SASS #62183]

On 5/8/2018 at 2:58 PM, Yul Lose said:

I’ve got this set of Old Armies that are consecutive serial numbers, I like em anyway.

Oooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. Identical twin cylinders to boot. Please tell me you're a gunfighter. . . because those pistols were meant to be together as frequently as possible. They are beautamous ! 

[Yul Lose]

36 minutes ago, Buck D. Law, SASS #62183 said:

Oooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. Identical twin cylinders to boot. Please tell me you're a gunfighter. . . because those pistols were meant to be together as frequently as possible. They are beautamous ! 

Yes I’m a gunfighter, not a good one but I have fun.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Heck Yul,  With a pair of Ruger Old Army like those, you don't have to be good.  Just show up  

[Cusz M. Dutch SASS Life 55326]

On Tuesday, May 08, 2018 at 12:27 PM, J Bar Binks, #47015 said:

I've got at least three sets of revolvers that are consecutive, but I didn't pay a premium for them. One set has a third one that is only nine numbers away - gotta have a backup, ya know.
I'm always looking for a third consecutive number to the three sets I've got. It would be kind of cool to have. All three set sets are rather limited, so you wouldn't think it would be a big problem, but I haven't come across any of them yet.
Armijager 1873 .38-40's - my three are the only ones I've ever seen chambered in .38-40. Two consecutive and a third one nine numbers away.

Ruger convertible stainless Vaqueros .40 S&W/.38-40, with a 3rd one 77 numbers away.

Ruger .44 special 4 5/8" stainless Vaqueros - five, two of which are consecutive, two others that are only seven numbers apart from each other, and a third one 433 numbers away. There are two different prefixes, which I guess indicates they spanned two production years, but the rest of the s/n's are 1575 numbers apart... as there were only 503 made in this configuration, I guess there were a thousand or so frames made into something else before they got back to the .44 special run.

 

tried to match up a set  between 3 different guys and 6 or 7 guns and the serial number spread does not seem to agree with the number actually claimed produced.   Makes you wonder if when they ran a special order  if they just went down and grabbed a basket of frames and put them together.