How much is a target grey SP-101 worth?

[RyanM]

Just curious. I have no plans on selling mine just yet, although a friend has had his eye on it ever since I got it.

It's basically in like new condition, other than scorch marks/fouling on the front of the cylinder, and a trace of copper fouling in the bore. Those are cleaned up easily enough. Two of the chambers lock up like a bank vault, three wiggle side to side just the tiniest bit. Next to no endplay, and an entire box of 100 Remington 125 gr SJHPs hasn't made it any worse. You can really just barely feel it. Timing is pretty much perfect as far as I can tell. No gas cutting on the top strap at all yet. Basically the kind of wear you'd expect from about 100 rounds of .38 SPL and 200 .357s.

Has a Wolff 8 pound trigger return spring and a 9 pound hammer spring. Trigger return is positive, and it reliably ignites CCI primers. Not a single failure to fire yet. Trigger pull is about 8 pounds, with no/minimal stacking.

These things seem to be pretty rare. Ruger no longer makes them with this finish, and Lipsey's no longer sells them. I've never seen one for sale online, ever, and it seems like when someone gets really lucky and finds one used in a gun store, it's priced like a regular SP-101.

 

[461]

I doubt the Target Grey would add much to the value of the piece unless it was to a bigtime collector and then it would have to be unfired and the bigtime collectors all ordered one the minute it was announced anyway. I've got a GP-100 in the target grey and really like it, finish still perfect even after a few thousand rounds and some holster time.

I would price it the same as any other SP-101 in excellent condition, I'm thinking of selling my .357 SP and put a value of $350.00 on it but that is simply the lowest price I would part with it for and not any book price form anywhere.

 

[MillCreek]

Somewhat off topic, but what exactly was the Target Gray finish anyway? A type of coating? I have never seen one in real life, only in pictures.

 

[Cosmoline]

The finish is a Ruger proprietary treatment. The only SP's coated with it were part of a special order by a wholesaler down south. I've been EXTREMELY happy with mine. The coating is durable and makes the stainless all but immune from tarnishing. I've been pretty abusive to mine and it hasn't even been scratched. I would absolutely pay more for a treated SP-101. But I suspect the market will only give them an increased value in years to come as others start to realize that it's not just a cosmetic finish.

 

[Chrontius]

Since before you got it. ^_^

Anyone think we could find a distributor willing to place another special order?

 

[RyanM]

Somewhat off topic, but what exactly was the Target Gray finish anyway? A type of coating? I have never seen one in real life, only in pictures.

I should mention, most pictures really don't do the finish justice.

http://www.gunblast.com/images/Ruger_SP101/MVC-017F.jpg
http://www.gunblast.com/images/Ruger_SP101/MVC-015F.jpg

Those two do a fair job of capturing the color.

 

[arizcowboy]

I'd say it's worth $250-$300. Double action Ruger revolvers have little collector value at this time.

 

[Cosmoline]

That's changing. I've seen the value of the Security Six line increase dramatically over the past few years. A target grey SP is one you want to hang onto if possible. Assuming Ruger never offers the feature as a standard option, it will be worth more and more down the line. Rugers are really underrated.

 

[Dollar An Hour]

Have seen Target Gray on Ruger SRH's, and it's a cool-looking finish.

I don't think your SP is worth much more than any other SP *yet* but maybe someday. My .22lr 2-1/4" SP was rare as hens teeth and it wasn't really worth much either.