Year of man. on ruger rifle

[rex6666]

Need to pick someones brain, just a little.
1st how do you tell the year of man. on a Ruger M77?
i am looking at a M77 red pad that is very clean, way clean
the Side of the receiver has a red tint like a 06 i bought new in 73.
this rifle is a 270 with a 3x9 Leopold(clear) they have a $550.00 tag on it
what is the rifle worth.

[BlkHawk73]

  Two choices...call Ruger's records dept or use thier webiste to find the date.  Remember manufacture date and ship date could sometimes be years apart.

[rex6666]

OK
i thought their would be a number in the ser# that would tell manufacture
date. i did not write the ser# down

[Rangr44]

Ruger doesn't use a numeric or alphabetical "code" within the serial number to date it's production, like Browning & other makers - the entire model (Mark I, Mark II) & serial number is needed for a DOM.

As posted above, with those, the DOM can be found on Ruger.com under "product services" / "serial number history" /Model......etc.

Also as posted, a call to the Ruger Cust Service Dept will give you the actual shipping date/comfig - both of which may differ from what you may think.

The "plum" coloration is desireable to Ruger collectors, and probably makes that rifle a tang-safety Mark I.
Depending upon what exact M-77 config ( 'R'/"RSI"/"RL"/"DLZ"/etc), it would be worth every bit of the asking, and more.

For instance - I have sold two, very rare DLZ's (blued/brown lamo stocked ultra-lights) for $750 (each) more than two years ago - and haven't seen any since.

.

[rex6666]

I went back last nite to buy it and as my luck goes it was gone.
it was a tang safety, red pad just like the one i had only mine came with sites
this one did not Marked RUGER M77 on receiver no mark I or II bluing was perfect
stock was good very few marks. I knew when it said "take me home" i should
have listened.