More GP100ism

[mec]

After a fairly long spell of shooting other revolvers and pistols and ignoring my GPs, I have done a couple of short range sessions that demonstrate that I can lay in a reasonable level of usable accuracy without reconditioning myself to the revolver. This varies among gun types with some requiring constant practice to stay at a practical level of competence. It can be a useful attribute when practice sessions are few and far between or components and ammunition are two scarce for routine shooting

These times come about fairly often. During WWII the production of civilian guns and ammunition came to a virtual standstill. In the Vietnam Era, quality control among the revolver manufacturers became less reliable and the companies were giving military and police guns priority for routine service and repairs. When the consumer products safety commission came into being, they immediately began studying the possibility of banning all handgun ammunition as too dangerous. They were hit with massive telephone protest and Congress took gun regulation out of their MOS but the threat caused shooters to hoard ammunition and primers to the point that they became very hard to find for several months. When the Democrats passed the Brady act and the AW Ban, there was another run on primers that left the shelves empty for quite a while.

The GPs tend to hold up very well and require little or no attention from the gunsmiths. They are not quite as amenable to match grade groups as the Smith and Wesson revolvers but come close and are just as controllable with full loads as with target velocity ammunition. The bullets I/ve been loading in bulk are the bevel based 158-grain semi-wadcutters sold by Rucker, Houston, Meister and Oregon Trail. They are more accurate than bullet theory generally attributes to bevel based bullets and cut a nice wadcutter profile in paper targets and various things with four legs. Although they've taken something of a back seat to the flat nosed Cowboy bullets, you can still get them from most sources right now. They are accurate in loads ranging from standard velocity .38 special through 1400 fps magnums.
I like 14 grains of 2400 with standard primers:
6" GP 1419 fps 707 ft/lbs 56 fps spread (10 rounds)
4" GP 1337 fps 627ft/lbs 52 fps spread

 

[grimjaw]

Just taunt me with pics of the half lug, why don't you.

Thanks for the info, mec.

jm

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

The half lugs don't really do it for me like they seem to for most people, I prefer the full lug. I shall soon have a 6 inch to go beside my 4inch in the safe.

I like that 1.1 inch group, BTW.

 

[Jim March]

On some Rugers the rear sight is loose enough that it shifts shot to shot. Bowen and Reeder both make all-steel higher-quality rear sight replacements. Bowen has both "rough country" (extra tough) and a target grade model. I've heard a number of cases now where these actually transformed a Ruger.

The other big gain for cheap on a Ruger is Taylor Throating to eliminate any possible constriction at the point in the barrel where it screws into the frame.

Finally: make sure the grip fits your hand. Tune the gun's ergonomics to you. I have an odd criteria on this: since I shoot from the Weaver and derivative holds, I want the barrel of the gun to line up inline with my strong-hand forearm bones when I hold the gun one-handed naturally. In other words, as seen from above, draw a line backwards from the barrel. Not only should this line run parallel to your forearm bones, it should run right down the middle of them. That puts the recoil straight back into them.

That's when a gun feels good to me. And in that gun's case I'd get there with the smaller factory grip from the fixed-sight guns, not that bigger variant stock on the adjustable GP100s.

 

[mec]

Most people do want the full lug over the half. I suspect that's the major reason they seldom (if ever, anymore) make runs of the half lug. Anyway, me liking something is something of a kiss of death. A few years ago, I wrote up the Ruger Bisley .32 Magnum. Right after It went into print, I got a letter from Ruger ".... Nice article. We've dropped the Bisley in .32 H&R."

Then, a couple of years ago, I wrote up the Half Lug. I called it "Maximizing the GP. Morphing the Ruger DA into an All Weather, Full Gorilla Target Revolver. " The magazine must have thought this was a bit much and retitled it, "Maximum Boogey GP." I had had a little trouble getting the revolver as they were out of them at the time but made up a batch inside a couple of weeks. As soon as the article came out, they disappeared from the catalog and I don't know if theyve ever made them since. I like the Ruger sight picture and can see them fairly well without the low powered drugstore glasses I need for most shooting. I had used Bowen's first sight on sever revolvers and found them to cover the same range of adjustment as the factory sight. They have finer and more positive adjustment, are all steel and present a rear view the same as a good high standard .22 target pistol . The sight blade width and hight are the same as the factory sights and at least as usable.

 

[Jim March]

The half lug 6" GP100 points as "quickly" and is as "lively" in the hand as a full-lug 4" GP. Which to ME is high praise indeed.

Of course, any full lug stainless gun is VERY easy to "bob".

 

[2ndamd]

The GP100 is my favorite handgun bar none.

And you have a mighty fine looking GP100. I like that halflug.

 

[Sniper X]

I had a 6in GP100, blue, with full underlug. I scoped it and with match grade .38spl swc's it did a few sub 1in groups at 20 yards off the bench. Of hand was about the 3in range. I used a Bushnell 2x magnum scope. After a while I hated that scope and put a Burris 1.5~4x on it and loved it. Looked funny with a stainless scope and blue gn though....couldn't find the Burris in blue or black.

 

[mec]

I've used the Weaver 1.5-4 on a couple of rimfire handguns and liked it alot better than the 2x I started out with. Two power made things look farther away rather than nearer !? and I couldn't pick varmints out of the brush near as well as I could with 4x.

 

[slick6]

Well, I like the half lug GP100's much better than the full lug models! I got spoiled on owning several of the older(Classic)revolvers with half lugs-including the earlier, Ruger Security and Service-Sixes. The way I view this, is that everybody and their brother, owns a full lug GP100-and, I like to be different, to have been able to join the select few, who were lucky enough to have owned one of the harder to find half lug GP100's! I never cared for the "Blocky" look, of the full lug barrels! And, I preferred the easier handling of the half-lug models, as well! The only GP100 that I'll accept with the full lug, is the four inch barrel length-because, for this shorter barrel length, the extra weight is a plus! But, the full lug on the six inch barrel is just too unwieldy to suit my tastes! To each his own, as the old saying goes!

 

[Waywatcher]

I actually like the full lug on my GP100 4", but then again I am young and I also like Glocks.

 

[mec]

I have to admit that one reason I picked the half lug is that I like the way it looks. Still, the barrel is almost bull barrel in weight and it hangs steady. It's like Brother Dave Gardner said, " Man does not live by bread alone. He Must Have Peanut Butter!" I also have a full lug 4" and like it too.