Ruger SP101

Supposing I'm biased, but this is what I've found from carrying one.

They're not pocket guns unless you have truly cavernous pockets.

They're the most comfortable small .357 to shoot, although that may not be saying much, depending on how comfortable you are with recoil.

They have decent sights and are actually pretty accurate.

They're most at home as a belt gun.

Love mine. Sturdy, accurate, comfortable. A little heavy. Nice looking.

if you're looking for a lightweight pocket gun, you might do better with a 642.

however, it is a great gun to own. it's my go-to carry piece at a great price, it's accurate, comfortable to shoot more powerful loads with, and i think it looks nice to boot. i don't mind that it's a belt gun, and i actually appreciate the bit of extra weight. you'll find a lot of SP101 fans on THR and very few that have any first-hand complaints about one.

Madcap_Magician said:

They're not pocket guns unless you have truly cavernous pockets.

They're the most comfortable small .357 to shoot, although that may not be saying much, depending on how comfortable you are with recoil.

They have decent sights and are actually pretty accurate.

They're most at home as a belt gun.

Click to expand...

These observations pretty much jibe with mine. It is comfortable to shoot with .38 Specials and mild .357 loads like the WWB 110-gr. JHP. Full power .357s, especially some 125-gr. JHPs like the Remington, have considerable kick and roar.

I'm in as of this morning.
I decided last month when I finally gave up on getting back the 442 I gave the lady last year to 'see how she liked it'. Since I wanted another snub I decided I might as well go 357 and went with the SP because: heavier than the J-frame and smaller than the K-frame.
I carried it all day in a Simply Rugged Silver Dollar Pancake worn IWB and by mid-afternoon I forgot it was there. I've been wearing a Glock 27 and a S&W CS45 and this SP disappears compared to them. Tonight I went out for a few minutes with it in a pocket pouch (also Simply Rugged) and it wasn't near as bad as I expected, not a whole lot more than my KT P11.
So suddenly I'm a true believer. I have a variety of loads for my Model 65 and I'll try them all but I'll probably end up sticking with Gold Dot 125s. I use Hornady FTX 140 for the K and 110 38s for the J so those might work too. Time will tell.
Bottom line is it's going to be hard on my 40 and 45 to become closet queens after being so close. This Ruger packs like a dream.
cb
Oh yeah . . . I don't see the problem about the trigger. This one seemed pretty fair NIB and I've been dry-firing a few hundred tonight and it's getting even better. A ways to go before it compares to the old S&W 65 but not really much worse than the 442 (which doesn't get much play).
I'm not much for dressing up weapons but I like this baby so much I might buy her a set of those Ajax pearl inserts if I stay with the stock grips. I bought an XS Big Dot sight for it and might eventually get Crimson Trace, we'll see how the point'n'shoot works out when I settle on a load and get a few hundred through it.
cb

I have a SP101 3". It's my favorite carry piece. I usually pack my DW CBOB going to and from work, but if I'm going to be out and about shopping or running around on the weekend I pack the SP101. I have the 3" and had a custom job done on it by Mike Morganti at Gemini Customs.

http://www.geminicustoms.com/

I basically had the stainless steel package done to mine with the Hybra Porting, but had them leave the hammer spur rather than having it bobbed. The Hybra Porting makes a huge difference in recoil on .357 loads. Still stout, but not too punishing.

The only downside is that while I like the longer barrel, there aren't a lot of holster options unless you get one custom made. Right now I have a cheap IWB holster and a Kirkpatrick Leather mini paddle. They're OK, but I have a Milt Sparks PMK on order for it. Kramer also makes a a couple of holster for the SP101 3" that look good. If you go with a 2", there are tons of holster choices.

I have an SP101 in .327 Federal Magnum. As my hands are eroded by rheumatoid arthritis, I needed (1) a revolver for days when I can't rack a slide (few but they do happen) and (2) a round that would be sufficient without causing my hands undue misery (including a decent trigger).

The SP101 qualifies on all points. Finding a holster has been a challenge :banghead: and I have a Coronado Leather gun purse coming (hopefully sometime before the Last Judgement....) and a Don Hume holster which I probably won't see until fall sometime. I can carry it in my Jagwear if need be, but I prefer to be able to carry it IWB and it can be done with a good belt and a good pair of blue jeans. (Keep in mind, many if not most ladies' summer clothing designs have either insufficient fabric strength, no belt, or fabric too lightweight for easy IWB carry).

Nice gun, nice trigger, hard to find the perfect ammo but that's what I get for needing the baby magnum

Jan

Love mine too. Hogue mono grip and a Wolff spring kit on a 2.25" barrled one. Carries well. Always goes bang.

My friend has the 3" in .357 magnum, probably the same one your looking at. overall a solid gun which fulfills a nice niche, but know that it has pretty bad recoil with .357s.
I mean its fun to shoot if your like me and enjoy heavy recoil but for practical purposes it'll take you a ridiculous amount of time to bring your arm back down, realign the sites, and send off a follow-up shot, so I would not recommend using .357s for CCW or HD use with this gun. of course that's just my .02 which is very limited in the area of handgun shooting (not old enough to buy one myself just yet).
Using .38s its soft as a feather.

I have a 2 1/4" Sp101 and i love it. I actually find it easier to conceal and carry than my glock 26 IWB. It has turned into my primary CCW.

I carry a 2 1/4" SP101 as a BUG on my weakside.

I love it. It would be hard to find a smaller or lighter .357 Magnum that I would want to shoot. I got rid of the .357 Magnum J-Frame because it hurt to shoot it with my "fullhouse" loads. The SP101 doesn't hurt.

BikerRN

one gun

If I could only have one handgun, out of the many that I have , I would probably choose the Ruger SP101 for my "all around gun". I have not heard anything bad about it since its inception 20 years ago. What's not to like about it? And it is reasonably priced. BUY ONE

Love mine....fav small frame .357 but I have never shot a .357 out of it....only +P
.38's

I really love mine and I think I am going to love it more here in a month or two.

I just sent her out to Hamilton Bowen for this package:

http://www.gunblast.com/Bowen-SP101.htm

I hope to have it back in a couple of months and will report here.

As a bone stock gun it is great.

Matt

I love mine. Like it way better than the model 60 and 642 that I shot. Way better. I think the hogue monogrip is an excellent accessory.

I have two of them. Both are bone stock 2 1/4 models except for the rubber Houge mono-grips they wear. one is DAO, the other is SA/DA.

Both have digested several thousand rounds of full snort 357. The first one I bought tried to unscrew the barrel at about the 20,000 round mark. Ruger had it right in about 2 weeks, and no problems since. It's been shot enough since then to wear out 2 sets of grips.

The second one has shown no problems at all, but it is nearly due for it's second set of grips.

If I had chosen one of the wood options, they'd both still be on their fist set of grips. The rubber ones are great at helping control the recoil of full snort loads, but they do wear out, and have the occasional habit of hanging up on cloth, kinda like a pencil eraser would.

FWIW: I don't use spring kits. Too many folks reporting light strike issues, especially with the light hammered DAO models. Just polishing the internals a bit and a lot of dry-fire has smoothed them up nicely. They are smooth enough now that some folks I've let shoot them assume I've put in a spring kit.

I love mine. Its got a pretty decent trigger for a stock gun. Mine is a 3 inch model and I agree finding a holster can be a pain in the butt. Its actually fairly darn accurate with its short barrel and makes .357s manageable in a snub. Ive never shot any full power mags but some of the "light mags" are easy on the hand.

It is a GREAT gun IMO,and is the gun I carry everyday.Very easy to conceal,shoots great (at self-defense disstances)and packs one hell of a "punch"even tho it's a snub (357 rounds)Just enough weight to make even the mag. loads (cor-bon 125's,158's)not that bad to shoot, IMO anyway

yup

"Can any one tell me if they are good guns."

Yes, they are.. it just don't get much better than that
bought one NIB for milady way back when they were still a brand new thing

(IIRC Ruger didn't even stamp "357" on 'em back then, but "everybody" who could get their hands on one was running 357 JHP thru 'em anyway, no reason to reason to fear that, although I have never held any other "38" revolver that I myself would say the same of, and would never recommend that anyone do that)

me (being awfully fond of the lady), would never let her hold a firearm in her hand that I did not believe was anything but more-than-merely-trustworthy

it still is her "rely upon", but she is kind enough to let me shoot it now & then
(her backup being a S&W 66 whist I do my range day thing)
38+P JHP out of a 3" barrel is no trivial matter

not a pocket-carry for most folks, but carries real well IWB
pretty much takes a 16 pound sledge hammer & some sweat to "hurt" a SP101

If I could only have one handgun it would be a 3" .357 SP-101.
Small enough to be convenient, large enough to be shootable, versatile enough to load light .38 rounds for new shooters or full-power loads for carrying in the woods. How can you beat that?

For those needing a good holster for one, try Simply Rugged out of Wasilla, Alaska.

I've had a 2&1/4'' DAO one since 2001 when the shall issue law passed here. I had it ported and that does decrease the muzzle flip. Dry fire really improved the trigger. I used to shoot it a lot but now when I go to the range it always seems to end up on the girlfriends bench. She even likes it with full power .357.

I have carried a 2.25" nearly everyday for going on 7 years. If that answer question. Otherwise, yes they are fine guns. If I were going to replace mine it would be with the 3.0625" and that's not to say there is anything wrong with the shorter barrel. Buy you a new one and run a couple hundred rounds through it and it's nearly as slick as a S&W.