New Ruger SP101 22LR - Very Disappointed

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kemper

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First off, let me say that I own over 30 Ruger firearms and they are my favorite firearm manufacturer, BUT I bought a new SP101 in 22LR yesterday at
my LGS. It looked great in the store. Fit and finish were nice. I have owned & been shooting three single six revolvers and all of them are very accurate. I also own a Ruger MKII pistol in stainless and a slab side target MK II in 22 LR.
The semi-auto pistols are also very accurate

I did not own a double action 22 LR revolver so I went home after my purchase and shot almost 100 rounds out of my new SP101 22 revolver
with four different types of ammo (Remington, Federal, CCI & Winchester).
I shot the revolver freehand and off of a rest at 15 and 25 yards at my backyard range. ACCURACY WAS TERRIBLE.
They talk about some guns shooting MOA, this revolver couldn't shoot
Minute of Cookie Sheet. No joking, the 8 shot groups out of this revolver were ALL over 15 inches and some were bigger than that. I was very disappointed.
I'm not kidding when I say that my North American Arms mini revolver shoots better than this $500 SP101 revolver in 22 LR. It was a joke.

I have heard it said that only accurate guns are interesting, well this is the
most uninteresting gun I have ever owned. Needless to say, I took the revolver back to my LGS today and traded it for a Ruger LCP 380 and a S&W 642 Airweight in 38 Special. My LGS was very gracious and allowed me a full credit toward the other guns even though I had shot the revolver and it wasn't new anymore. We looked at the barrel while at my LGS and there was barely any rifling in the revolver barrel. Has anyone else noticed this ?

Besides a S&W Model 17 does anyone else have any recommendations for a good and accurate double action 22 revolver ? I really don't care about the name as long as it is reasonably accurate out to 25 yards. Is this too much to ask out of a double action 22 revolver ?
 
Something has to be wrong with the specimen. I had an older Ruger 22lr revolver which I stupidly sold, it was very accurate, boringly accurate. My beef with all DA rimfire revolvers is the heavy triggers, more or less the nature of the beast.

In any event, I've bought a few rifles in the past that patterned rather than grouped, it happens. Sorry you got a bad one, at least you have a great dealer.
 
kemper

I have a used S&W Model 34 (LNIB), with a 4" barrel that is very accurate, though the double action is not as smooth and as light as that found on a Model 17. Single action is light and crisp and does well with CCI MiniMags and Wolf Match Target. Found it at a local gun shop and paid about $400 for it a couple of years ago. If your looking for an older Model 17 or Model 18 in decent shape, be prepared to bring a lot more money to the table as a quick look on Gunbroker will confirm.
 
First let me say that I've heard this before on the Ruger forum and while I've owned three SP's they all ran with the expected accuracy of a snub nose. I recently purchased a Rossi Plinker after seeing one at a show while it is not a Ruger as far as being built like a tank it is well made and has given me a new respect for 2nd shelf revolvers and I get pretty decent groups out of it (after adjusting the rear site) I am also a big Ruger fan but I avoided a .22 SP. for just this reason. The Plinker ran me 350$ + fees I've ran close to 500 rounds and they all went bang!
 
Ruger appears to be more interested in shipping > 2 million guns / year now than doing any quality control. I had a new Blackhawk I had to send back for a new pawl.
 
This seems to be true for some late model runs I have two Ruger Mini 14's (580,581) but the 582 run I've heard has been problematic Ive have had zero issues with either of mine. The SR22 has come up a few times as well QC is apparently slipping over at Ruger.
 
Truth be told, the more guns you make, the larger the number of problems there will be at the same QC percentage point. It's not just Ruger. S&W has been having entire shipments of revolvers returned after inspection at the dealerships.

There may be another reason why the rifling looks like it isn't deep. Did you clean and lube the revolver before shooting it? If not, the preservative may have bound lead, and you filled up with lead in the rifling.

I just purchased a Ruger American Rimfire Rifle, in .22 WMR. When I looked down the barrel during pre-purchase inspection, it was full of odd little things. They cleaned out completely after a wet patch, a 5 minute soak, and dry patches. My Ruger GP-100's barrel looked the same.

Shops today rarely clean a gun. Most make sure that the serial numbers match the box, and the invoice, and that the gun isn't broken in half. Little more. Two LGS have on-site gunsmith's, who check the various guns before they are placed on the shelf. This helps, but is reflected in their price.
 
I'm sorry to hear about that, sounds like a bad specimen. I picked one up about 2 years ago that has been fine.

I agree that it might have something to do with manufacturers making everything as fast as they can for about 3 years now. Seems like anecdotally there are more instances of "lemons" out there lately across the board, but that's just what I've noticed online and nothing scientific.

It's to the point where I worry a little nowadays when I buy something new. Fortunately I have not had any issues thus far. I think if the market cools off a little, that will help out.


It's great that your LGS was so gracious on working with you to get something else. I bet Ruger would have made it right for you, but you came out very well anyway so that's really good. For a recommendation, if you wanted another double action revolver about the same size and weight I would go with a S&W model 63. Hopefully lightning won't strike you twice - good luck.
 
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Anytime someone makes a post like this, so boob comes along and says" my xxx(insert gun model here)has been a great, accurate gun.

I bought an SP101-22 8 shot, shortly after they came out. My SP101-22 is very accurate. Obviously something was wrong with the OPs revolver, not the whole line of the SP101-22. I have many 22 revolvers to compare it to, and it is as accurate as any of them. Shot offhand, my SP101-22 is as accurate on Coke cans, as my 4" 617.

Ruger has been smashing as many guns out the door as humanly possible. That means long hours at the factories, and new employees. There have been some growing pains. I recently bought a Stainless Single Six that had to go back to Ruger because the Long Rifle cylindrer would bind up. Ruger has been building the SS since the 1950s. You would think they would know, by now, how to build them, but things happens.

I know the OP has passed his revolver on to another owner, but I would have sent it back to Ruger, and let them have a crack at making it right. Every gun that goes back to the factory is closely inspected, and hopefully that info makes it back to production, so the problem doesnt continue.

I really like my SP101-22. With a 5 minute spring change from Wolff, and a few thousand rounds downrange, it has a superb trigger, is beautifully proportioned, and finished, and will be shooting long after Im dirt.
 
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Based on comments on THR and other forums the lack of quality control is across the board with all three of the manufacturers. I brought a Taurus M-941 that shot the same way your Ruger did. However since I like the concept of the gun I returned it to Taurus and they replaced it free within a week. It now shoots 1 3/8' 8 shot groups at 10 yards. Like weblance I would have returned the gun to Ruger for repair. I suspect that like my Taurus they would have replaced with new one.
 
Without spending the money for a Smith, it will be hard to find a nicer .22 DA for the money than the Ruger (your bad example excepted of course). The Rossi is pretty decent, as is the Taurus 94 if you get a good one. I am a fan of most Taurus revolvers, but the rimfires seem to have a disproportionate number of problems compared to their centerfires.
 
Not saying this is the case but, it reminds me of the experience my buddy had with his new Ruger Single 10 a few weeks ago. He picked it up on Friday and asked me to meet him at the range the next morning. I looked it over and was impressed with the fit & finish. I really liked that gun and decided I needed one of those too. That was until I shot it. Eight to ten inch groups at ten yards was about the best we could do. Several targets showed "key hole" hits. Then he tells me it shot a lot better the night before when he was on the way home and stopped by a local indoor range................. At that point I asked if he had cleaned the barrel before shooting it. His answer was, "No, it's a new gun, should be clean." (He has several firearms but I think he bought then all used.) I'm real sure he didn't read the owners manual.
The barrel looked like a "smooth bore". The forcing cone had huge flakes of lead. We could hardly get a brass brush down the bore. Soaked it in Hoppies and scrubbed until it was clean. It shoots very tight groups now.
I know the gun was test fired before it was shipped but then it gets a coat of really good preservative to protect it from rust during shipping and storage. Don't shoot it out!
 
Was this a brand new SP or a used one? Or perhaps the employees of the LGS took it out for some shooting and used some Thunderbolts or other real soft lead rounds that filled in the grooves. I think I would have tried to fix the SP before trading it away. BUT, your gun, your time, your decision. Enjoy your new toys.
 
Two of the three Rugers I have bought in the past year have had to go back to Ruger. Of those two one was actually fixed.

My father's new birds head Bearcat looks like it is heading back now as well.

These days it seems 22lr DA revolvers are as scarce as hens teeth in these parts. The SP101 being about the only new option I see locally. A used Smith 17 might be the worth the extra search.
 
I'd send it back. Something is obviously not sized properly, probably tight chamber throats or something. I've got an old Rossi 511 that will put 6 Federal Automatch rounds into an inch at 25 yards. Cheapish gun, but a real shooter and never really wanted anything else in .22 revolver 'cept maybe a NAA mini master or a Single Six or a Bearcat. :D

Seriously, I'd have Ruger look it over. Something must be amiss.
 
Send it back--Ruger should take care of you. I've got one of the new 8 shot SP101s and it's a great shooter.

I'm sorry you got a lemon, that's never fun.
 
kemper said:
Besides a S&W Model 17 does anyone else have any recommendations for a good and accurate double action 22 revolver ? I really don't care about the name as long as it is reasonably accurate out to 25 yards. Is this too much to ask out of a double action 22 revolver ?
Click to expand...
S&W has a 3" M317 that weighs only 12.5oz and holds 8 rounds. It's on the costly side buy it's a really nice revolver.

If you want something that's a little heavier the S&W M63 is all Steel and weighs 26oz. It also has a 3" barrel and also holds 8 rounds.

Charter Arms has a Pathfinder line of .22 revolvers that come with 2", 4" or 5" barrels but I have not shot them so I can't comment on their accuracy. They hold 6 rounds and weigh 19oz and 20oz.
 
tubeshooter said:
I bet Ruger would have made it right for you, but you came out very well anyway so that's really good. For a recommendation, if you wanted another double action revolver about the same size and weight I would go with a S&W model 63.
Click to expand...
My sister got a Ruger SP-101 .22LR recently which she hasn't yet fired. It's a beautiful gun with gorgeous wood and rubber grips. My problem with the gun is that Ruger has whittled away the grips leaving just a stub. Meanwhile, they've thrown the weight to the front and have thus changed the balance of what I like in double-action revolvers.

SampW317_1.jpg

This Smith 317 I got in a trade. Eight shots, it's a great plinking and kit gun. Got it in a trade and at
first wanted to get rid of it. The other gun I got in the trade was the real one I wanted. Now I wouldn't let
it go for anything.


Rossi511.jpg

When my Smith 63 was stolen from my apartment building, I replaced it with
two Rossi 511s. I knew I'd never be able to find another 63 back in the 80s,
and the Rossis were very much recommended as kit guns. Actually, they were
both slightly more accurate than my 63, slightly heavier and was a good
replacement. I ended giving one to a good friend years later and he loves it.
Even with six shots, it's preferable to the Ruger SP-101 .22LR because, to me,
the balance is better.
 
My problem with the gun is that Ruger has whittled away the grips leaving just a stub.
Click to expand...
I really like the look of the Ruger grips on the 8 shot .22LR SP101 but they were too small for me. Before I even bought the gun, I got a Hogue rubber grip for it. It's a great fit for the gun and for me.
 
weblance said:
Anytime someone makes a post like this, so boob comes along and says" my xxx(insert gun model here)has been a great, accurate gun.

I bought an SP101-22 8 shot, shortly after they came out. My SP101-22 is very accurate. Obviously something was wrong with the OPs revolver, not the whole line of the SP101-22. I have many 22 revolvers to compare it to, and it is as accurate as any of them. Shot offhand, my SP101-22 is as accurate on Coke cans, as my 4" 617.

Ruger has been smashing as many guns out the door as humanly possible. That means long hours at the factories, and new employees. There have been some growing pains. I recently bought a Stainless Single Six that had to go back to Ruger because the Long Rifle cylindrer would bind up. Ruger has been building the SS since the 1950s. You would think they would know, by now, how to build them, but chit happens.

I know the OP has passed his revolver on to another owner, but I would have sent it back to Ruger, and let them have a crack at making it right. Every gun that goes back to the factory is closely inspected, and hopefully that info makes it back to production, so the problem doesnt continue.

I really like my SP101-22. With a 5 minute spring change from Wolff, and a few thousand rounds downrange, it has a superb trigger, is beautifully proportioned, and finished, and will be shooting long after Im dirt.
Click to expand...
Actually, I passed the revolver back to my LGS who did the right thing by taking it back
IMO and I heard them say they were going to send it back to Ruger. I was back in the same LGS yesterday and the revolver was not back out for in the display case
 
Kernel said:
How's the muzzle look? The slightest imperfection can cause the inaccuracy you describe.
Click to expand...
The muzzle looked fine. The only thing that did not look right was there appeared to be
very little rifling in the barrel. I know a lot of 22 rim fire guns don't have deep rifling anyway, but the rifling in this revolver barrel was almost non-existent.
It was probably just an isolated case on that particular revolver, it certainly won't
keep me from buying Ruger products in the future, BUT life is too short for inaccurate
guns
 
Snubshooter said:
Was this a brand new SP or a used one? Or perhaps the employees of the LGS took it out for some shooting and used some Thunderbolts or other real soft lead rounds that filled in the grooves. I think I would have tried to fix the SP before trading it away. BUT, your gun, your time, your decision. Enjoy your new toys.
Click to expand...
It was a new SP101 in 22 LR.
 
It is not "nonsensical" Thunderbolts and some Aguilla are so soft that they lead the ENTIRE barrel, I had it happen to a MkII. It looked like a smooth bore after 200 rounds. As to gun store employees, I KNOW they use the merchandise.
 
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