Took The Ruger SP101 out again

[black sunshine]

Well today I decided to Completely take my new SP101 apart and polish up all the internals.
I didn't change any springs or anything .
I just wanted to familiarise myself with it and polish up any burs ...
First off, I love how simple it is to do a full disassembly, something has to be said for The modern revolver design.
Not to take anything away from my beloved S&W's, but ruger has got it going on..
No screws to mess with, or tool needed..
Ok, enough about that .
After I got it all warmed up, I got the sights all sighted in nice nice .
getting about 3" groups at 25 Yards with 38 Specials, and Im contistantly hitting 8" steel plates out to 60 Yrds , if I do my part ....
Fun Fun Fun .... I only wish I had a place at my range that I could do some real long range silhouette shooting,,,,, Did I say that this gun is fun To Shoot already ....
Then I pulled out the 357's And I was Pleasantly surprised how the sturdiness of this gun soaked up the recoil very well .
I have no qualms about shooting 357 Magnums in this gun ...AT ALL...
So Now for my final thoughts.
Am I Happy with My purchase - Hell Ya, Its more than I expected.
Would I recommend it - UUHH, Yah, If your Looking for a 5 shot 357 Mag revolver In a (small-ish) over all package .
Features I like - Let first start by saying It feels very durable, I think the fit and finish is adequate, Stainless = low maintainance, good adjustable sights, nice grip, minimal rollmarks (just enough) and the fact that the are roll marks, and not laser etched, I like the full underlug, It gives the gun nice lines (Profile), it handels even the hottest 357 Magnum loads with no proplem, and finally, the price I think is fair. I payed $769, Here in Canada, at my local gun shop, were I was able to hold it, and visually go over, nearly every part of it, Which is invaluable to me.
Things I don't like so much-Really Nothing , I might get a Hogue mono grip, but the factory grip installed if fine, It look good and is comfortable, even though I cant get my baby finger on it, But that why I bought the gun,
(because it was a small revolver) so duh...
The only other thing is the trigger, and it ant even that horrible .
I did clean it up a bit, but it really wasn't that bad to begin with .
In fact before I even touched it, It broke very clean, and the cylinder locks up tighter than any one of my Smiths.

 

[SUPER TENERE]

Rugers have always been built stronger than Smiths, even the little SP101. Of course the GP100s are even stronger still and then there are the RedHawks. I like the Smith triggers better but so does everyone. Had a 3 inch SP101 back in the day before they became popular. Sold to a pal who still has it. Ate up 357s all day long. Rattled your fillings though. You have to love the way they come apart without tools. Have 3 Stainless Ruger handguns now and love them all.

 

[pisces-guy]

I'd consider putting in 5 mil stainless shims on both sides of your hammer, it makes the hammer's action very smooth and eliminates the slop.
I fired both American Eagle .38s(with softer Federal primers) and Hornady hollow points, which have harder primers, out of my SP-101 with a 10 pound Wolff hammer spring,
and it performed perfectly, no failures. No need to have the stock 14 pound spring in there and have a stiff double action trigger pull! The final thing was replacing the grip with a Hogue, and that lets me get a good grip and just soaks up the .357 recoil. I put the old parts in a Ziploc bag in case I ever sell it, so there's no drawbacks whatsoever...give the mods some thought, they're cheap and make the gun world class.

 

[black sunshine]

So were do you buy these 5 mil shims and springs

 

[Real]

Well today I decided to Completely take my new SP101 apart and polish up all the internals.
I didn't change any springs or anything .
I just wanted to familiarise myself with it and polish up any burs ...
First off, I love how simple it is to do a full disassembly, something has to be said for The modern revolver design.
Not to take anything away from my beloved S&W's, but ruger has got it going on..
No screws to mess with, or tool needed..
Ok, enough about that .
After I got it all warmed up, I got the sights all sighted in nice nice .
getting about 3" groups at 25 Yards with 38 Specials, and Im contistantly hitting 8" steel plates out to 60 Yrds , if I do my part ....
Fun Fun Fun .... I only wish I had a place at my range that I could do some real long range silhouette shooting,,,,, Did I say that this gun is fun To Shoot already ....
Then I pulled out the 357's And I was Pleasantly surprised how the sturdiness of this gun soaked up the recoil very well .
I have no qualms about shooting 357 Magnums in this gun ...AT ALL...
So Now for my final thoughts.
Am I Happy with My purchase - Hell Ya, Its more than I expected.
Would I recommend it - UUHH, Yah, If your Looking for a 5 shot 357 Mag revolver In a (small-ish) over all package .
Features I like - Let first start by saying It feels very durable, I think the fit and finish is adequate, Stainless = low maintainance, good adjustable sights, nice grip, minimal rollmarks (just enough) and the fact that the are roll marks, and not laser etched, I like the full underlug, It gives the gun nice lines (Profile), it handels even the hottest 357 Magnum loads with no proplem, and finally, the price I think is fair. I payed $769, Here in Canada, at my local gun shop, were I was able to hold it, and visually go over, nearly every part of it, Which is invaluable to me.
Things I don't like so much-Really Nothing , I might get a Hogue mono grip, but the factory grip installed if fine, It look good and is comfortable, even though I cant get my baby finger on it, But that why I bought the gun,
(because it was a small revolver) so duh...
The only other thing is the trigger, and it ant even that horrible .
I did clean it up a bit, but it really wasn't that bad to begin with .
In fact before I even touched it, It broke very clean, and the cylinder locks up tighter than any one of my Smiths.

What s&w do you have? Just curious i have a 686 and was wondering how the gp100 compares.

 

[black sunshine]

I have a model 19 -4 with the pined and recessed cylinder , a 586 4.2" barrel (same as your 686 but mine is blued and comes with wood grips),
I have a 627-0 model of 1989 and a k22 masterpiece .
I cant speak for the quality of the gp 100 but my SP101 is quickly becoming my go to gun .
regardless of the fact that S&W have superior triggers.
People that do own The GP 100 all seam to be very happy with them .....
dont take me the wrong way, trigger, fit n finish, and the style of S&W revolvers to me are still for more appealing .
but Im I Awe of the ruggedness, dependability, accuracy, quality, ease off maintenance, and price of the ruger revolvers.

 

[pisces-guy]

So were do you buy these 5 mil shims and springs

I'm telling you, once you've put the 5 mil shims on each side of the hammer and polished the hammer spring shaft and put the 10 pound spring on there, and the 8 pound trigger return spring on the trigger, then given everything a light spray of G96 silicone lube, you'll be shocked at the action! Triggershims.com will set you up with the 5 mil shims for the hammer, and you can order the Wolff spring kit which includes a 9, 10, and 12 pound hammer spring and 8 pound trigger return spring, from Brownells.com. You'll get a discount if you are or were in the military or police force. I went straight to the 10 pound hammer spring as I'd heard it was the ideal weight that lets you shoot all American factory ammo reliably, and it was perfect with both the soft primer American Eagle .38s (Federal) and the harder primered Hornady Critical Defense hollow points. From what I understand, if you were strictly going to shoot American Eagle .38 target ammo and other Federal ammo, you could even go with the 9 pound hammer spring. I didn't want to limit my gun though...and it runs beautifully and smoothly with the 10 pound spring. Believe me...it's night and day from when I took it out of the box!

 

[pisces-guy]

I have a model 19 -4 with the pined and recessed cylinder , a 586 4.2" barrel (same as your 686 but mine is blued and comes with wood grips),
I have a 627-0 model of 1989 and a k22 masterpiece .
I cant speak for the quality of the gp 100 but my SP101 is quickly becoming my go to gun .
regardless of the fact that S&W have superior triggers.
People that do own The GP 100 all seam to be very happy with them .....
dont take me the wrong way, trigger, fit n finish, and the style of S&W revolvers to me are still for more appealing .
but Im I Awe of the ruggedness, dependability, accuracy, quality, ease off maintenance, and price of the ruger revolvers.

Compare the S&W trigger to the SP-101 after the polishing, shims on hammer, lighter springs, and G96 spray before reassembling. I'll bet you'll be surprised!