French proofed rst4 and rst6

[Rickkling]

Ok all knowing gurus, here’s a interesting one (or two)
I have just purchased, (from another ROCS member), but haven’t received yet, a rst4 and a rst6. Both guns have French proof marks, and letters from ruger stating such.
Sn. 16-66142 and
Sn. 16-57892
The seller didn’t have much info, and a several google searches have found nothing.
I also went through the three ruger books I have and found nothing.
Does anyone know the story on these?
Thank you for your time,
Rick

[chet15]

Foreign proofed Rugers are tough to find in this country... of course, they would have be be re-imported.
I think if somebody is specializing in a certain Ruger series, autos, Bearcats, flattops or whatever, a foreign proofed gun is a need item to complement the collection.
Just remember however... that foreign proofmarks are added after the gun left the factory... kinda like somebody stamping their SSN on the bottom of a grip frame, except having something official like foreign proof marks is pretty neat.
I've heard of English proofs, French proofs, Spanish proofs, German proofs... really, any country probably proofs the weapons that are entering their country.
As a point of interest, Luger collectors are especially fond of the different country proofs that can be found on most models, and high values usually go along with something unusual.
Chet15.

[T.A. Workman]

From a RCA Journal,

[outta_ammo]

For what its worth, the importer/distrubtor for Ruger in France is https://www.humbert.com/fr/, part of Beretta Holdings.

Not sure how long they've been importing Rugers but they've been around since ~1930 so it's possible they brought your guns in.