Well first of all I'm a S&W guy at heart. Owned a few Rugers revos (GP's, Sixes, Redhawks) but always sold them in favor of the Smith's (still have a convertible .22 Single Six tho). I recently found a half lug GP100 locally and couldn't resist, the price was right, the revolver was mint with less than 300 rounds since new and the older gentleman was the original owner. Came with factory wood panel grips, extra finger grooved Pachmayr's, owner's manual and a few rounds left in a box. The older gentleman had bought it new in 1989, the serial shows that it was manufactured in 1988. I've never seen a half lug GP100 up here, knew that Ruger made some in the first few years of production but this version is limited.
Off the bat I found that it handles superbly, makes me remember how my K frames Smith's handled. I sold my last M66-1 after a steady diet of hot 125gr magnums (probably north of 2k rounds), the M66 developed some top strap/forcing cone erosion that didn't look good at the time so it went and so did my magnum K frames buying/shooting/collecting envy.
So I went to the range last Friday to try it out and brought along my no dash M586 for a side by side comparo. Had a couple hundred rounds of various types of ammo (wadcutters, +P's, magnums and very hot magnums reloads). Now, the double action on the GP100 is a bit stiffer than on my M586 although the M586 had a few thousands rounds through it plus an action job, the Ruger is really not that bad, as a matter a fact, I found the DA action on the Ruger to be more predictable (à la Python) which I personally like. The single action is just about the same, light and crisp. Accuracy was ex aequo, both revolvers doing sub 2" groups with wadcutters at 25 meters of the bench. After about 30 rounds through the 586 it went back in the case and the rest of the ammo went through the Ruger. Rapid DA drills at the 40 yards gongs ended with "pings" every time, it's so much lighter in hand, balances much better than the full lug L frames. This guy will last a lifetime shooting a steady diet of magnums. It won't replace any of my N frames S&W's or any Pythons but as a dedicated workhorse .357, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one!
Off the bat I found that it handles superbly, makes me remember how my K frames Smith's handled. I sold my last M66-1 after a steady diet of hot 125gr magnums (probably north of 2k rounds), the M66 developed some top strap/forcing cone erosion that didn't look good at the time so it went and so did my magnum K frames buying/shooting/collecting envy.
So I went to the range last Friday to try it out and brought along my no dash M586 for a side by side comparo. Had a couple hundred rounds of various types of ammo (wadcutters, +P's, magnums and very hot magnums reloads). Now, the double action on the GP100 is a bit stiffer than on my M586 although the M586 had a few thousands rounds through it plus an action job, the Ruger is really not that bad, as a matter a fact, I found the DA action on the Ruger to be more predictable (à la Python) which I personally like. The single action is just about the same, light and crisp. Accuracy was ex aequo, both revolvers doing sub 2" groups with wadcutters at 25 meters of the bench. After about 30 rounds through the 586 it went back in the case and the rest of the ammo went through the Ruger. Rapid DA drills at the 40 yards gongs ended with "pings" every time, it's so much lighter in hand, balances much better than the full lug L frames. This guy will last a lifetime shooting a steady diet of magnums. It won't replace any of my N frames S&W's or any Pythons but as a dedicated workhorse .357, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one!
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