Ruger SP 101 .357 mag for women?

Great gun. Which Cabelas had one of these in stock?

I'd have no problem recommending a 3" .357 SP-101 as a defensive handgun for a woman or anyone else who needs a good handgun.
I own two, both with 3" barrels (although one is for sale now - but the other one is staying!). I've found them to be very comfortable to shoot with Hogue grips with both .38 Special and mild .357 loads. I carry Speer 135 grain short barrel loads for general concealed carry. I also shoot a fair amount of full power factory and handload .357's and although the blast and recoil are unavoidable, the gun is still manageable.
I've taken several friends, including many women, shooting for the first time at college and no one has found the SP-101 to be uncomfortable. And I personally liked them so much that when I got the chance to buy a second one just like my first, I took it! Yes, it was impulsive and I'm trying to sell it now, but I still really love them.
I don't think the 2.25 inch version would be terrible either, but there will definitely be more recoil and blast because of the shorter barrel. Also, the .357 is not at its best from such a short barrel. A lot of the power is wasted because there isn't enough barrel to burn enough powder. The SP-101 is not a lightweight as far as snubbies go anyhow, so to my way of thinking, there is no real advantage in going with the shorter barrel.

Having said that, you're going to have to let her choose what she likes. It may well be something totally different than what you want her to use.
I ran into this with one of my best friends when she bought her first gun. I advised her on several good options, let her shoot all the guns I could lay hands on, and in the end she chose a Walther P22. She wanted it because it is cheaper to practice with and it fit her hand well. I really wish she'd chosen something more substantial, but she didn't. So I did some reliability testing with it, set her up with a few boxes of CCI mini-mags, and practice with her as regularly as possible - which is the best I can do.

I have the S&W Model 60 with the 3-inch barrel and my wife found full-house .357 Magnum loads to be more of a handful than she wanted. Incidentally, my wife also loves her Walther P22 but also has a Browning BDA .380 as her SD gun.

$50-$60 to check out a suitable self-defense handgun is a lot less expensive than $450-$500 for a purchase that might not be suitable.

Kick is fairly substantial for Magnum loads in the SP101, but the longer, 3-inch barrel helps. Don't forget, there are some very capable .38 Special loads out there that are much more controllable, especially considering that most sources recommend multiple shots in self-defense scenarios. It's important to remember the snubs are among the most difficult handguns to master and lots of practice is required. A gun that is unpleasant to shoot is a gun that won't get fired often enough for mastery.

Avoid the Ruger LCR .357 and S&W J-frame Scandium and Titanium revolvers. They are all too light. Even an S&W Airweight with +P ammo can be punishing to a woman's hand. (Frankly, they can be punishing to a man's hand, as well). Steel is your friend.

Ask her
before she buys those diamond ear rings for you...

My ex-wife carries a Glock 22 as a duty weapon and is certified with her p238, so she shoots and is good at it. She rarely shot my sp101, didn't like the kick and snort of the magnum rounds. I never load or buy 38's so I really cant comment on how they shoot outa the lil Ruger, I just know that an experienced female shooter prefered somthing besides my magnum snubbie.

I have one at home for the wife. She can't handle the magnum loads because of her carpal tunnel so I keep it loaded with some 38 special SD loads just in case she would need it.

I have a very nice SP101, 2.25", spurless hammer model. I bought it in virtually new condition at a local gun shop. It came with all the items Ruger packs new in the plastic box. One of the items in the box was the original sales receipt. It had been sold brand new three months before to a female.

Now, I'm not saying the previous owner returned the gun because she couldn't handle a .357 Magnum. That would be politically incorrect and wrong. I am saying the previous owner found something about this gun that she did not like and she found it rather soon after buying it.

I'm a pretty big guy and I'm usually not particularly recoil sensitive. But the SP kicks like a mad mule on steroids with full power .357 Magnum loads and has a helluva muzzle blast. You should expect that because it's small, has a short barrel and it doesn't weigh much. The original grips and the Hogue Monogrips I tried were too hard to absorb much recoil. I changed out the grips to Pachmayr Compacs. That improves the recoil but it still kicks and snorts.

I discovered immediately that after several cylinders of full loads, I developed a flinch. I found it difficult to shoot accurately after that. The gun handles better with medium magnum loads and lighter weight bullets. It handles even better with .38 Special +P or standard .38 Specials. This begs the question as to why buy a .357 Magnum in the first place if you only intend to shoot .38 Specials in it? Well, the SP will handle .38 Specials all day long, every day until the day after Judgement Day. I don't think the typical Airweight S&W will do that.

Speaking of Airweight .38s, most people find prolonged shooting of .38 Special +P loads to be pretty uncomfortable in the lightweight S&W .38 Airweights. The recoil and blast from the SP101 with Federal and Remington 125 JHP .357 Magnum full power loads (historically, the two best self defense rounds) are much more pronounced than +P's in an Airweight. Maybe if you trained frequently with full power magnums, you could train yourself to the recoil and blast and maintain good accuracy. But look at the price of a box of full power .357 Magnum ammo these days. It's kinda costly. 'Course, you could always handload but, if you did, you would probably come up with a lighter load for range use anyway.

So, I'm with Shadow 7D on this: ask her. And ask her after she goes to the range and shoots a few cylinders of full power magnum rounds along with some of the hotter .38 Specials. Otherwise, you probably bought yourself a new gun instead of her.

In reality she would carry at least +P .38 but should be able to fire off .357 as well.


In reality you need to find out what ammo she can handle accurately. Being able to fire off and hit something with are two diffrent things. She may be able to handle the 357 maybe not. Won't know until she shoots it.

Ask her
before she buys those diamond ear rings for you...

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Said it all. Next up you can go shoe shopping for her, too. 8)

my fiance is pretty recoil sensitive and does not mind shooting standard or +P .38s out of my 3" sp. however, she does NOT like shooting .357s of any flavor. too much blast and recoil for her tastes.

My wife has tried a 2.25" SP, a 3" SP and a S&W 642. She settled on the 642.

The extra bulk and weight of the SP were contributing factors as well as the overall ergonomics for HER hand. We tried with Eagle Secret Service grips, the stock grip and a Hogue grip. She just never felt comfortable with the SP.

That being said, let her do the shopping.

I bought a 3" barrel SP 101 for my daughter a few years back. I find the SP 101 manageable with full charge .357s, but if your wife has problems with the recoil, just step down to .38 Special. Let her experiment to see how much recoil she can tolerate.

Specifically, I am looking at kick from .357, +P .38 spec. and regular load .38

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This brings back memories. I was going to teach a lady to shoot a snub
revolver once with a 2in barrel. For the record it wasn't a "Ruger" but
the weight was very similar.

We started shooting plain old .38 specials and she was complaining
about the recoil. She never got a chance to try the .357's which
would have probably given her quite a shock. I say rent one first
before buying. Let her pick what fits best.

Being able to manage the first shot is different from being able to put rounds on target. If the recoil is such that she has to attempt to "manage it" then that alone could affect her training and practice with the gun.

With that said, I have known two women who enjoy shooting the SP101, using 38spc loads. While it's not as easy to carry as an airweight J-frame, it's much easier to shoot.

I would rather have your wife be able to put multiple rounds on target using 38+p ammunition and have never fired a 357 round out of that gun, than having her blast through a few 357 rds and be able to manage the recoil.

If you can't afford the range fee, maybe you can find a THR member near you who will let you try theirs out. Buy a box of .357 and a box of .38 Special and give them half of it as compensation. That gets you more shooting and a new friend for less than $60.

My mom owns and occasionally carries a Ruger SP101. She can shoot .357s but does much better with .38+Ps so that is what its loaded with. Regular .38s for practice. She doesn't mind the weight and does ok with the recoil, trigger pull is pretty heavy though and may be the deciding factor for your wife.

im 6'0" 230-pounds and i normally carry my SP101 .357 as my PD gun, with crimson trace rubber over-molded grips the recoil is managable for me when i shoot my .357 rem-golden speer's,,, HOWEVER if you dont want to give her a bad taste for those small-frame revolvers i would start her out on some .38 FMJ's first.. my wife DID NOT like the re-coil from the .357 but when "told" her the .38's were alot lighter to shoot she agreed to try it and actually likes to shoot mine as well as her Glock-26 equally (might just be in her head ?)

Try the SP101 in 327

If she wants to put more power downrange, and less in the web of her hand, try the 327 Federal cartridge. The 85g bullet at 1400 fps is a sweetheart to shoot, and the 115g at the same speed out of the Ruger still kicks less than a 357 mag.

Recoil from the SP101 with .357 Mag is similar to an Airweight shooting .38's. I had an 70-something couple in a class once that came back just to shoot the different .38's and .357's. They ended up purchasing an SP101.

Is she a shooter? If not, try getting her some range time with rental guns, starting with a .22 and going from there so she gets accustomed to it. It costs more this way, but since she will be depending on this thing to possibly save her life, that usually justifies the cost.

If she is already a shooter, let HER pick out HER gun and what SHE wants to shoot in it. Rent various guns, maybe even a lesson from a third party (they listen to them better) and let her decide from there

Whatever it costs to rent one it would be wise to do so and let her try it. Unless you are angling to keep it yourself if you buy one and she doesn't like it. Then you'll have to buy her another gun that she will like. So, it seems like $50 well spent to rent one at the range. Just make sure you let her shoot std. pressure .38 at the same time because I doubt she will enjoy full house .357.

If she wants to practice alot with it I dont recemend it the kick will hurt your wrists after about10 round. Its a beautiful gun I use it as my carry gun. It is more user friendly to practice with 38 special rounds

As an NRA instructor who has taught a lot of women's self defense classes I would strongly recommend you get her a .38 Spl. if she's going to use a revolver. While there are a few women who don't have a problem with the excitement of a .357 Mag round launched from a snub most of them do. (a lot of guys do as well) Almost all of the women in our classes have little or no trouble with a .38 snub. Another reason I suggest considering a .38 Spl. snub is she will be more receptive to the idea of practicing with it than a .357 that intimidates her. This will give her a lot more confidence in her abilities with it. My personal opinion is chambering a snub revo with a .357 Mag. will get you a LOT of flash and recoil which is unnecessary and is pretty much a waste ballistically. Don't get me wrong, the .357 is a great round but you need more bore length to get any real advantage. If you decide to look into .38 revolvers you should get an all steel model, the ultralight alloy frames kick as much as a .357. My wife carries a S&W Model 36, it's small enough she is more apt to have it when she needs it and powerful enough to inflict damage on a target. We bought her a SP 101 .357 when they were first introduced and she won't shoot or carry it hardly at all. These are simply my opinions and reccomendations.

Easy to shoot with all .38 Special loads and low end magnums, some magnum loads can be strenuous. Within the limitations of a five-shot revolver, the SP101 is a shooter's gun, not "carry much and shoot seldom."