New Ruger SP101

[Pistolero]

Just thought you may be interested in a brief report on the Ruger SP101 in .22 LR.

Clearly not a gun I will be casting for but it is good looking, good handling and pretty
accurate, too. I have several S&W revolvers which vary between very accurate (.22/32 Target,
essentially a 'non-Bekeart' Bekeart model) to a Model 17 (post K22) that is medium crummy
in accuracy while being very nice to look at. The Ruger doesn't seem to be quite as
accurate as the 22/32 Heavy Target, but beats the M17 by a mile.
Handy, Ruger durability seems guaranteed, and nice trigger out of the box. Grips could
be a bit larger, may look into some replacements, but the stock ones are easy on the
eyes and nice enough. Real good sights, too, fiber optic front with the proper flat top
post. Those microscopic black corners above the green fiber optic rod are amazingly
critical to a good sight picture. I replaced the round top front FO sight and horrible
V-notch rear on a S&W 317 to make the sights usable on that cute little airweight, but it
is so shockingly light that it is, while reasonably accurate, very difficult to shoot well,
with a 3" bbl and all of about 10 ozs. wt.

The Ruger outdoes all but the 22/32 Heavy Target which I lucked into for a good price,
and have never seen another for sale.

If you are looking for a .22 revolver, give this Ruger a close look. Of course, I can load
.38 Spl cheaper than most .22 LR ammo now, but I don't expect that to last forever,
and have a lot of .22 LR on the shelf.

 

[waco]

Thanks for the report! I have been looking into buying a .22 wheelgun. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the Ruger. I have been looking at older Smiths. I don't care much for the Smiths price!
I might have to handle a Ruger next time I see one.
Might I ask how much you paid for it?
Thanks.
Walter.

 

[Pistolero]

Sure. It is technically used, but literally NIB except for half a box the previous owner put
through it. Got it a a small town gunshow with about 6 tables for $525, IIRC. I thought
that was mighty good, given that MSRP is $719. Dealer special ordered it, took a deposit
and the person who ordered it forfeited the deposit when he wouldn't pick it up, for
whatever reason. The small dealer tried it out himself, but decided to clean it and
try to recoup his money, and admitted to shooting it a bit. Sorta like getting a repoed car.
Seller just needed to get his money out of it, so wholesale less deposit...... he probably
made a bit on it. Don't know what the deposit was.

There are some on GB for the low to middle $500 range, plus shipping and transfer
fees, of course.

 

[waco]

I will definitely check one out.

 

[freebullet]

I'm guna be honest I was thrown for a loop when I opened the thread and it's about a 22. You did a fine write up on it though.

I am still kicking myself for passing on one in 357 several years ago for <300$. It was scuffed and begging to be smoothed out and I still regret not buying it. Everytime I see the price on one it reminds me.

 

[Pistolero]

SS cleans up really nicely with a green 3M scuff pad.

Sorry to disappoint with the caliber. ;-)

Bill

 

[williamwaco]

Thanks for the report! I have been looking into buying a .22 wheelgun. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the Ruger. I have been looking at older Smiths. I don't care much for the Smiths price!
I might have to handle a Ruger next time I see one.
Might I ask how much you paid for it?
Thanks.
Walter.

For 60 years I would not look at anything but Smiths , and the Colt Python.

Three years ago I bought my wife a little Talo engraved Ruger 5 shot snubbie because she loved it. It was really pretty.

2 and one half inch 5 shot .357. I thought it would be a nightmare to shoot. Well it was a delight. I was on a 25 yard range and the first cylinder were all in the 9 ring clustered around the X. I own and love 4 J frame 38s. I have never in my life put 5 consecutive shots in the black.

Since then i have bought a Ruger 6" .357 and a 4" .327.

If you get one, you will not be disapointed.

 

[KHornet]

Kinda hard to not like Rugers. Have a few myself. Met Mr. Ruger at an NRA convention years back. Fine gentleman, very friendly, soft spoken!

 

[9.3X62AL]

VERY tempted to pair up 4"-ish SP-101s in 327 Federal and 22 LR. Gotta say that those RayBar/FireSight red tubes up front are about as off-putting to me as a Poly-Choke on a Win Model 12 or Ithaca Model 37, but it's good to know that nice, square edge contours are present......and the dovetailed OEM thing CAN be pushed out and REPLACED. I wasn't real keen on a 327 Federal at first, but the scarcity of what I REALLY want (a decent 32 SWL at fair pricing) is pushing me into the 327 camp more and more. And, who DOESN'T like shooting 22s?

 

[Pistolero]

Al,

The rod in the front sight is a bright green, not red. The tiny black, metal corners visible means that you can do a
normal sight picture, you still have a flat top with black to work with, the green dot could be covered with a
shot of sight black if you prefer, but I encourage you to at least look at what they have. I am a bit old fashioned
myself on pistol sights, and these work well, easy to find the green dot in poor light, but you still can make a proper
sight picture with the black edges around it. Not dramatically different than a white dot sight, but brighter.

I despise the round top plastic rod sights on a pistol, and the V notch rear exacerbates the unuseability. As I mentioned,
I couldn't hit anything much with the S&W 317 as it came from the factory with round top "fire" sight and
V notch rear, until I changed to a flat topped "fire" sight on the front and a normal square notch in the
rear. Same worthless sights first came on my S&W 329, tried for quite a while to make them work and finally
gave up and replaced them. Tried them again on the 317 and again gave up.

Handle the guns and see what you think, you may like them.

Bill

 

[9.3X62AL]

I'll give them a good test-drive once I can lay hands on an example in the flesh. What you say makes a ton of sense. HAVE SIGHT PUSHER--WILL TRAVEL

The first order of business will be to create some space in the safe and some working capital in the wallet. Hate it when reality intrudes upon reverie.

 

[Pistolero]

Good luck! My gun safe overflowed some time ago, and at this point things are hopeless
until I buy another, larger safe or make a big gunroom.