[357wheelgunner]

I just picked up a very slightly used (25 rounds) SP101 hammerless, and I have a few questions, having only owned S&Ws before this.

First off this revolver feels tough as nails. The salesman told me that rugers did well in a test where wooden dummies were pistol whipped with various carry guns. I told him that when wooden dummies attack I'll be back for another ruger :rolleyes:

My first question is that the ejector rod wiggles around making a jingling sound in my pocket. Is this normal for an SP101?

My next question is the trigger action. The trigger seems to stick a little when it is reseting. Is this normal as well?

My third question is does anyone carry one of these in your pocket?

And fourth, is a 125 gr. .357 goldensaber a good round out of this weapon? I figured I'd be better off with lighter bullets than I usually carry in my 4" k-frames (158gr Gold Dot .357). What do you think?

My last question is what should I do with a new ruger as far as an initial cleaning goes?

This is a tough looking/feeling gun, and I don't expect the elegance of a Smith. We'll see how it does at the range this weekend. I do see this pistol spending a lot of time in my waistband.

[P95Carry]

Ejector ''wiggle'' - normal - regretably!!

Prior to a break-in phase - trigger probably not too sweet. Useage and dry fire will improve things.

Pocket carry? - no. Mine when carried is hi-ride belt slide - sits nice and tight to body. IMO just too much weight and bulk for pocket.

Ammo? I usually go to Cor-Bon 140's but I reckon you need to try several brands. I actually favor a std 158 bullet weight but hard to get SD loads with that these days - it seems.

Initial cleaning? _ reckon if chambers and bore clean - shoot it. At some point later learn a full takedown at which point a jusicious polishing of engaging surfaces can be useful.

You have a ''tough as nails'' piece there - now go shoot the snot out of it! :p

[JohnKSa]

If the trigger remains slow to reset after some dryfiring, the previous owner may have replaced the trigger return spring with a lighter weight spring. Ruger will send you a new factory weight spring--probably for free if you tell them yours isn't working right.

[Elmer]

In that 2" barrel, you may find that a .38 special load, designed around short barrels may perform better for you, with certainly less flash and recoil.

[stormyone]

I love my Sp101 2 1/4". My favorite round to shoot and carry is the Gold Dot 158gr 357s. I do have a Hogue rubber grip on it that helps a lot more then the original grips in controlling recoil though. I would highly recommend it.

[magsnubby]

I second the Hogue's. They're way more comfortable than the factory grips. I put a pair of nice Mustang walnut grips on mine. It didn't take much to convince me that the Hogue's work much better.

[logical]

If you find you like the package and want to move on to love...send it to www.geminicustoms.com for their package

[BigBoar]

I gather some Rugers are slow to reset in that some of the trigger parts need polishing such as the plunger. If you are interested here is a link to a discussion on how to tune up the Ruger. Iowegan posts on the Ruger Forum and S&W and is a retired gunsmith:

http://www.rugerforum.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/001028.html

If tuned correctly, the SP-101 can be made light and smooth (e.g. about 8.25 pound double action) while firing magnum primers and also use the light trigger return spring and 9 pound hammer spring. If the various surfaces are not polished then heavier springs will be required. Teddy Jacobson used to do SP-101s but is sort of retired now (his site is http://www.actionsbyt.com ). Another outfit that might get it light and smooth is
Apex Tactical at: http://www.apextactical.com/ .

[pezo]

I have 3 ruger da revos' gp's and sp' s all of the ejector rods "wiggle" however none have ever had problem with trigger returns, Id have it looked at and corrected.

[Diamondback]

Incidentally......I believe Tactical Forums and Ammo Labs will soon be releasing their latest snub wooden dummy pistol whip results using 10% calibrated cedar. I fully expect the little Rugar SP101 to top the list...with the Rossis coming in a close second ! Naturally, the Marshall and Sanow street results will differ....rumors have it they tried to "torch" the project. All in all a "knotty" subject.:p :D

-regards

[Magnum88C]

First off this revolver feels tough as nails. It is.

My first question is that the ejector rod wiggles around making a jingling sound in my pocket. Is this normal for an SP101? Perfectly normal.

My next question is the trigger action. The trigger seems to stick a little when it is reseting. Is this normal as well? No, it's not normal. It either hasn't been fired much, or there's a problem (probably a small problem). Best thing I did for the trigger pull on my SPs was to get a set of snap caps and snap the hell out of them, then put a case of ammo through them.

My third question is does anyone carry one of these in your pocket? I do sometimes do this, although it mostly rides in an IWB holster.

And fourth, is a 125 gr. .357 goldensaber a good round out of this weapon? I figured I'd be better off with lighter bullets than I usually carry in my 4" k-frames (158gr Gold Dot .357). What do you think? I carry with either a 158-gr. Gold Dot or 158-gr. Hydra-Shok.

My last question is what should I do with a new ruger as far as an initial cleaning goes? As suggested above, make sure the chambers and barrel are clean and lightly lubed, maybe some graphite or lube in the inner workings.

I've found all of my Rugers prefer heavier bullets (I believe the proof load for these is a 158-gr bullet, used to be the Hydra-Shok, but I don't know if that's changed). Mine will do 3" at 10 yards with 158-grain loads, 125s do about 4.5". YMMV

[Kor]

The SP101 that I used to own, and should never have sold, would also stick during trigger re-set, but only if I over-lubed the trigger group during cleaning. If I put only ONE drop of Break-Free on the trigger-pivot pin, it was fine; if I put ANY more oil than that in the trigger group, or the cylinder-stop, the trigger would stick and not re-set all the way. BTW, this only seemed to happen during dry-fire, NEVER in live-fire - maybe the recoil kept the lockwork parts from getting set just so to lock up, or something.

And, just so you know, the gun remained box-stock for the 8 years I owned it, the springs were factory OEM, and I dry-fired that gun at least 100X/day, EVERY DAY, for the first 2 months I owned it, I liked it so much. I actually got the firing pin to peen up a small ridge around it's hole in the breechface from that much dry-firing.

Back to point - since the trigger problem seemed to be caused by over-lubing, I just learned to avoid the problem by not over-lubing the gun, and presto - no more problem. Try dry-firing the gun with no lube or VERY little lube in the lockwork, and then add some more lube and see if you notice a difference.