Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Today I finally had opportunity to get to the range ... first time in months. Went with a couple of friends and our focus was handguns. Over the winter months I did some reorganizing in the collection, with the result that I had three new (to me) Ruger revolvers to put through their paces.
First off was a long-sought-after four-inch SP101 in .22LR. I'd been looking for a full underlug specimen for quite a while and managed to find one last winter. Today it got its first workout. This gun hasn't been shot much. The trigger is a bit stiff, and the action not as smooth as I'm sure it will become. But it was quite accurate. We were shooting paper targets at seven to ten yards. Shooting a modified isocolese stance, I was able to consistently shoot two inch groups with inexpensive Remington bulk ammo. Had a couple of failures to fire, which I attribute to the ammo. I pulled the cartridges, rotated them in the chamber and fired again. Several failed to fire even with a second hit. Better quality ammo when I next hit the range.
Second was a three-inch GP100 in .357. THAT is one sweet gun! I have had a four-inch GP100 for many years and was looking forward to seeing what the shorter sight radius would do to my accuracy. I was impressed! Shooting both .38s and .357s, accuracy was very good ... again pretty close to two inch groups at 10 yards, unsupported. Groups spread a bit when shooting DA, and I lost one round when trying to do a quick follow up by staging the trigger. It got away from me completely. Glad there was a good backstop. But love the gun. Expect it will see quite a bit of carry use.
Last was a four-inch Redhawk in .44 Mag. I pulled the hokey (in my opinion) factory grips off and replaced them with the traditional rosewood grips. Recoil was stout, but certainly controllable. Put about fifty rounds through the gun, but was getting a bit tired by this time. Groups opened up a bit, closer to three inches, still unsupported. But the action was smooth, the sights fine, and the targets dispatched. Definitely a keeper! I expect I'll carry this one when deer hunting.
All in all, a very fun couple of hours!
First off was a long-sought-after four-inch SP101 in .22LR. I'd been looking for a full underlug specimen for quite a while and managed to find one last winter. Today it got its first workout. This gun hasn't been shot much. The trigger is a bit stiff, and the action not as smooth as I'm sure it will become. But it was quite accurate. We were shooting paper targets at seven to ten yards. Shooting a modified isocolese stance, I was able to consistently shoot two inch groups with inexpensive Remington bulk ammo. Had a couple of failures to fire, which I attribute to the ammo. I pulled the cartridges, rotated them in the chamber and fired again. Several failed to fire even with a second hit. Better quality ammo when I next hit the range.
Second was a three-inch GP100 in .357. THAT is one sweet gun! I have had a four-inch GP100 for many years and was looking forward to seeing what the shorter sight radius would do to my accuracy. I was impressed! Shooting both .38s and .357s, accuracy was very good ... again pretty close to two inch groups at 10 yards, unsupported. Groups spread a bit when shooting DA, and I lost one round when trying to do a quick follow up by staging the trigger. It got away from me completely. Glad there was a good backstop. But love the gun. Expect it will see quite a bit of carry use.
Last was a four-inch Redhawk in .44 Mag. I pulled the hokey (in my opinion) factory grips off and replaced them with the traditional rosewood grips. Recoil was stout, but certainly controllable. Put about fifty rounds through the gun, but was getting a bit tired by this time. Groups opened up a bit, closer to three inches, still unsupported. But the action was smooth, the sights fine, and the targets dispatched. Definitely a keeper! I expect I'll carry this one when deer hunting.
All in all, a very fun couple of hours!