plane old GP100

Status
Not open for further replies.

adelbridge

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
1,107
Location
Texas
I let go my first Ruger GP100 6" about 13 years ago to the day. Found this one at the gun show last weekend with no warning label stamped into barrel and classic grips. Took her to the range today for the first time and it shoots as good as my first one. Off hand shooting at 30 yards indoors. I have a Python and a 27 but for some reason the GP100 is my best shooter plus I can load .357 stout for hogs. I always missed that GP100 the most out of all the guns I horse traded. I feel warm and fuzzy inside today.

photo1_zpsc67c611c.gif
 
Glad to see you reunited with a platform that works for you!
I've always loved the GP100. It just handles any load like it could shoot 'em all day every day, and .38s feel like nothing. Great for training new shooters.
 
Great revolver, congrats. I am curious, your post implies that your Ruger hog loads are more than a Python or Smith 27 can handle. Is that really what you meant?
 
very nice shooting! i prefer the shorter bbls, but have to agree that the GPs are very fine guns.
 
The GP CAN handle hotter loads longer than the Python. The action is much more durable.
Denis
 
NICE, I feel warm and fuzzy too !! The GP100 is built
Like a brick s@&t house. Soaks up the hottest loads.
Glad to see a reunion and enjoy it all over again!

SEMPER FI
 
I am curious, your post implies that your Ruger hog loads are more than a Python or Smith 27 can handle. Is that really what you meant?

I considered this on two levels,

first the common consensus that rugers are built stronger and lower cost of replacement.
and no I am not expecting revolver to blow up from marginally hotter loads. I remember taking a buddy shooting with my first GP100 and a bucket of reloads, he had just had dental work and couldnt handle full house.
 
I 100 percent agree. I love my LCR in .357, my little .22 for plinking but I really love my GP100. My girlfriend with Carpal Tunnel Sndrome can shoot a cylinder of .38s or two and still not feel wrecked in the wrists.

I will teach my boys ow to shoot handguns with this gun, and it will be in the family or decades.
 
The 27 is a beefier gun overall, but I think the GP could probably beat it over the long run.
The 27/28 is based on a design developed in the early days of smokeless powder & at a time when people didn't shoot as much.
It's certainly more durable than the K-Frames, but I wouldn't take any bets on it outgoing the GP that was designed for today's loads & shooting.
Denis
 
So I have the old fixed sight model with just the front sight. I want to replace the black front blade. All I can find are sights for the later adjustable sights GP100 with the plunger pin on front sight. Mine has a center punch pin. Any suggestions?
 
PO,
Dunno, I'm too lazy right now to dig one of the 28s out in the basement vault & compare. :)
It's not entirely the frame size or the cylinder that determines longevity.
Denis
 
I let go my first Ruger GP100 6" about 13 years ago to the day. Found this one at the gun show last weekend with no warning label stamped into barrel and classic grips. Took her to the range today for the first time and it shoots as good as my first one. Off hand shooting at 30 yards indoors. I have a Python and a 27 but for some reason the GP100 is my best shooter plus I can load .357 stout for hogs. I always missed that GP100 the most out of all the guns I horse traded. I feel warm and fuzzy inside today.

photo1_zpsc67c611c.gif
I too miss my old GP100. I've since replaced it with a 627 but it remains, by and large, the only gun I've sold that's caused me regret.
 
Ruger makes outstanding products, though they've made some bad decisions (including the warning on the barrel and the .357 Maximum). Back in the 80s, magazine writers published many articles on the S&W 66 and the Ruger Security-Six. Both of these fine guns could be carried easily into the field and used as hunting or trail guns. Those articles ceased abruptly with the advent of the S&W 686 and Ruger GP-100, which are fine range guns, but lousy outdoor pistols.

I have a 6-inch 686, and I'd put it up against any Colt Python tuned or untuned. But for cross country trips, hiking and camping, I'll take a medium frame .357 any day. The heavy frame guns like the Python/686 are fine for movies and walking dead serials, but a 6-inch medium frame 66/SS are outdoor gems. They are lighter, have impressive power and are great against black bears. If you don't have a .357 because it's too heavy, well, bears have to eat too.

SW686_1.gif

RugerSecurity-Six_2.gif
 
Makes me want a second one to compliment my blued 6" that I've carried in the woods over the years.
 
That Ruger side plate-less design must be something to make a cast GP-100 frame stronger and more durable than a forged N frame 27, and I have my doubts that a 27 was designed to be shot less. You would think that the old Smiths were being made of pot metal when the Ruger boys get in tune.

I'm calling Ruger hype on this one. A Redhawk .357? Maybe, not certain. GP-100? You've been steeping a little too long in the kool-aid IMHO to claim any appreciable advantage to a hog hunter for the GP-100 over a 27 except weight or handling. I'd be willing to bet no practical advantage over a Trooper Mk III either. Pythons do have that necessary periodic lockwork maintenance.
 
Last edited:
No, this subject comes up with incessant regularity.

I do no Ruger Kool-Aid & own several examples of revolvers from both Smith and Ruger.
The basic S&W DA revolver action WAS designed at a time when people shot their guns far less than many do nowdays. Nowhere did I say it was "designed to be shot less". In the 1930s, virtually nobody put 10,000 to 20,000 rounds of full-bore .357 Magnum loads through an N-Frame Smith. Nowdays, more enthusiastic types may consider that a requirement in a .357. It wasn't when the N-Frame was first introduced.

The basic S&W DA design has been more successful in keeping up with the times than its contemporary V-Spring Colt was, largely due to improved metallurgy and a more durable design to begin with, but neither was designed from the ground up IN KEY AREAS to deal with the stresses & pressures of extended Magnum uses like the Ruger Security-Six and GP Series guns were.

My comments are based on conversations with gunsmiths who've worked on both types, running from normal repair issues to full-blown custom work, over a period of many years.

I own Smiths that do certain things for me, I own Rugers that do other things for me. Those include .357 & .44 Mags.
I possess no single-sided all-inclusive loyalty to either company.
But- I will say if I were allowed only one .357 Magnum DA Revolver & one DA .44 Magnum revolver, both would be Rugers. I would expect the Rugers to handle hotter pressures far longer before requiring maintenance, and I would feel far more comfortable about the safety margins built-in in terms of cylinder & frame strength.

I say that as one who carries a very nice four-inch Smith 629 .44 Mag for many ATV excursions in non-bear country, and a very nice four-inch Ruger Super Redhawk IN bear country. I have a beautiful 1952 pre-Model 27 with 6.5-inch barrel that no factory Ruger ever began to equal in fit & finish, and a nicely customized Smith Model 28 four-incher. One of the Ruger GPs loaded with Buffalo Bore heavy-weights travels the back country with me when a .357 Mag goes along.

Small snubs, the Smiths get the nod.
Auto-pistols, M&P over any of the current Ruger pistols.
Rimfire revolvers? Love my minty Smith 34, but the Ruger SP 4-incher sees the trail dust.

And so on.

Back to the topic at hand, what truly separates the Smith DA from the Ruger DA isn't just the frame size, or the frame method (forged vs cast), it's how the guns are designed to handle stresses & wear.
The Ruger is simply designed to do a better job.
Ask any good gunsmith with years of experience with both designs which one will go out of time first. And that's just the most common issue.

Nothing I've said should be interpreted to mean I'm calling Smiths junk, which I never have. They are not. Rugers just tend to be more durable over the long run with hotter loads & higher pressures.
Denis
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top