New Blue Ruger .357 SP101 Snub Announced

Those photos always make me drool......

Drail said:

Those photos always make me drool......

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X2

Not the rumored alum. alloy SP-101 that they have been whispering about for a few years.

The steel carbon gun is 26 ounces, same as a stainless.

No real advantage for me unless I want the Hawkeye (type) blue and the fancy grip inserts.

Nice looking SP, but doesn't offer me much.

I like Rugers. Have had a GP100 and currently have a stainless Service Six and an SP101 in .22. I never liked the two toned look of blued revolver and stainless hammer and trigger.

But why can they still offer the Lett style grips on the SP101 guns, but not on the GP100 guns? The huge Hogue grips on the GP’s are an abomination, especially on the 3” version, which completely throws off the looks of the revolver. The Compact Lett grips on the 3” GP that Hickock45 shoots in his video look perfect.

And I agree the finish on these newer Rugers should not even be called “blue”. It’s dull black. The older Six revolvers in blue were much nicer.

CZF said:

Not the rumored alum. alloy SP-101 that they have been whispering about for a few years....

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It's already on the market, Ruger calls it the "LCR".

Homerboy said:

But why can they still offer the Lett style grips on the SP101 guns, but not on the GP100 guns? The huge Hogue grips on the GP’s are an abomination, especially on the 3” version, which completely throws off the looks of the revolver. The Compact Lett grips on the 3” GP that Hickock45 shoots in his video look perfect.

And I agree the finish on these newer Rugers should not even be called “blue”. It’s dull black. The older Six revolvers in blue were much nicer.

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The Lett style insert grips are available from Altamont.

People often confuse the finishing process itself and the metal prep beforehand. "Blue" has been more "black" universally since WWII. `Tis the nature of the hot salt blue process that everybody uses.

Lipsey’s Royal Phoenix produced in 2010 in a quantity of about 500 units with high polished blue and polished SS trigger and hammer. Original grips were Hogue figured smooth wood with finger groves. I switched grips to Eagle checkered rosewood and The front sight has been changed to fiber optic. The original sights and grips are stored to reinstall if desired.
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CraigC said:

The Lett style insert grips are available from Altamont.

People often confuse the finishing process itself and the metal prep beforehand. "Blue" has been more "black" universally since WWII. `Tis the nature of the hot salt blue process that everybody uses.

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Yeah. But nobody likes those Hogue grips. Sucks having to pay extra to put the Lett grips on. If they can come stock with the SP then why not stock with the GP?

Personally I wish they all came with the walnut Ropers but we can't have everything we want.

CraigC said:

Personally I wish they all came with the walnut Ropers but we can't have everything we want.

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Me too. But there’s a big price difference in rubber Lett grips and Walnut Roper’s. And since they already use the Lett grips on the SP’s they must have some sort of deal with them. The Hogue grips are awful, especially on the 3” version.

I like blued guns but the blueing on this gun looks thin and not very pretty. Needs a higher polish and a bit deeper blue in my opinion.

It's a Ruger man. What I find really amusing when people complain about Ruger's finishes is if you have ever worked on any Ruger revolvers the first thing you notice inside them is absolutely no de burring was done. I don't think they even have a de burr dept. Just removing all that machining trash improves the DA trigger pull significantly. They are built to a price point and they are what they are. Personally it doesn't matter to me because I am going to tear the gun completely down and clean up the interior surfaces anyway. It's just funny to hear complaints about the exterior finish quality by people who have never seen the inside of one.

I saw a new production GP100 yesterday that had a very nice blue finish, well black really but you all get the point. I'm guessing the pictures aren't doing it justice.

I don't get it.

So many times a new gun will come out with a blued or cerekote finish and people will say "If only they made that in stainless steel, I'd be all over it !"

It's because people have been led to believe for many years that stainless steel is "better" than carbon steel in every aspect. That and "SHINY!!!" Same reason guys like to hang 50 lbs. of chrome parts all over their motorcycle. Ask any machinist what they think about working with stainless steel. I'll pick carbon steel any day, especially for knives.

I would buy a Ruger SP 101 .357 Mag. Blue.