Bought my first revolver.

I own a couple of revolvers but both were inheritances.

Today I picked up my first brand NEW revolver. Picked out a Ruger SP-101.

The first time I pointed it the sights aligned perfectly on target with no adjustment of grip. Not believing it, I then tried it a dozen more times in the shop and said "ok.. this one is mine."

I've *never* picked up a gun and had it point dead-on like that, every single time. It's like it was made perfectly for my hands/grip.

I see some quality range time in my near future...

skidder said:

Congrats! Nice choice. One of the greats.

My SP is my meat and taters weapon.

Got any pics?

Click to expand...

No pics yet.

Heading out in the morning to give it a run. Plan on getting intimate. Got a couple hundred rounds to send downrange. We'll see how many I can get through before my fingers get frozen and ice cycles form off my nose. Gonna be a cold day.

BP44 said:

A country in a hi capacity frenzy and you bought a revolver.......:banghead:

Well done, that is a nice little packing gun I wouldn't rather have anything else honestly.

Click to expand...

I got the 3" model, BTW. They had the little snubby but it didn't feel quite right when I held it.

The only trouble I ran in to so far is when I brought it home and showed my wife, her eyes lit up and she thought I bought her a new gun!

Sooner or later she'll figure out that the rounds from the 38 snubby she keeps in the kitchen cabinet will fit and she can shoot the SP101 without the additional recoil of the 357. (She has tiny little wrists, 38 is about the most she can handle)

I figure at some point I'll have to buy another, because she'll take this one.

50 shots of Winchester white box JHP, 7 yards.

Still getting used to the trigger.

(Double action is a LOT different feel than my semi-auto handguns)

Also, I shot 50 rounds of Remington 125gr 38 Special SJHP +P.

I had ONE casing (of 50 fired) split right down the side. Is that supposed to happen sometimes with 38 special? Was a real pain to eject the spent shells that time.

Oh, and... for the record..

I really like this gun. Sure, reloading is slower than what I'm used to. But it was nice not having to crawl around in the slush picking up shell casings, like my less fortunate friend who was shooting his 1911.

I got in the early habit of putting it in the inside pocket on my Carhart coat when changing targets, perfectly comfortable, fits perfectly, and had the side benefit of keeping me warm.

(It was ~20 degrees and somewhat windy where I was shooting today).

Some questions.

Will dry firing on empty cylinders hurt the gun? Should I put in empty casings when doing so? Or buy some snap caps?

This double action pull REALLY throws me off, I'm shooting low and left by a few inches when firing on double action, even giving it my maximum attention (good group, but off center) . When I fire single action it's centered perfectly. When I try rapid fire with double action I'm all over the place (but rapid fire with other handguns I'm centered and hold good groups).

I'm assuming with sufficient practice I can learn to tame the double action. (Something which wouldn't hurt, regardless, because some of my semi's are SA/DA and I'm always off on the first shot on THOSE too..)

Yup I found the "dry fire is OK" thin on the bottom of page 13 tonight, I'd overlooked it. I also found that it's drop safe, which was another question I had (if it needed to be carried with an empty chamber, answer is no).

I will add - cleaning revolvers is surprisingly involved. I sat down thinking "this won't take long"... next time I looked up 45 minutes of brass brushing and cleaning had passed ... It's like cleaning 5 guns at once!

(Another note.. when I put it in the inside pocket of my Carhart, I found that I don't notice it to the point I forget it's there.... think this revolver is going to be a "constant companion" this winter.)