Ruger seems to me to still have the same old wood policy they have always had: if you buy one sight unseen it's like entering a drawing. Sometimes you get lucky and get a serious beauty; sometimes it is just plain....plain.
Back when I was buying #1s fairly often I made a point of being there when the gun box was opened up by my FFL because I knew he would be tempted to keep the very best wooded guns for himself and order me another one!
My pistol-gripped GL has nice figure on both sides of the stock, my brother's straight-gripped one has one side spectacular, the other side pretty plain! Both are inletted well and have the grain laid out well in the grip area, which is important in a light magnum gun like that.
I won't even say what he got this pair for, right after the end of production....robbery. I think they must have sat in the shop for a year or more before he made an "offer they decided not to refuse." He WAS an old and frequent customer.
