I have been wanting a Ruger SP101 with a 3 1/16 barrell for quite sometime. Well I have finally gotten one. It is used but the lock up is tight as a bank vault and the cylinder gap is impressive. I wont be able to try it out untill this weekend. I am just wondering if there is anything I should do? I would like to smooth it out the trigger is a little sharp on the edges so I would like to round all the sharp edges the entire gun. What is the best way to smooth the edges?I know there are places and points that can be smoothed out to improve things. I know there is "IBOK" treatment but I dont remember where I have heard of that. I am open to suggestions. Thanks guys
Ruger SP101 3 1/16 now what.
- Thread starter camsdaddy
- Start date
- Status
Zundfolge
Member
If the gun is in excellent mechanical order I would just go to the range with few boxes of ammo.
I don't mean to insult you but why would anyone buy Ruger and send it to Gemini when they can get Performance Center 627 for less?
MIL-DOT
member
After trading a snubbie 101 a couple years ago, and then regretting it, I went and bought another a few months ago.( 3" this time)
I was less than thrilled with the outrageously tight action, and started researching here and elsewhere. First, it's recommended that you do about a thousand dry-fires, and Ruger OK's this in the manual. So, dry fire,I did.
But still, I was unhappy, so I ordered a Wollff spring set, and then looked to You-Tube for the installation tutorial (which I highly recommend).
The spring kit cost something like $12 bucks, and the instillation took about 10+ minutes ( and that's only because I'm an idiot).
This is an easy,very commonly performed and recommended surgery,and it fixed my Ruger up very well. Brownells and Midway, among others,have the Wolff spring kit.
I was less than thrilled with the outrageously tight action, and started researching here and elsewhere. First, it's recommended that you do about a thousand dry-fires, and Ruger OK's this in the manual. So, dry fire,I did.
But still, I was unhappy, so I ordered a Wollff spring set, and then looked to You-Tube for the installation tutorial (which I highly recommend).
The spring kit cost something like $12 bucks, and the instillation took about 10+ minutes ( and that's only because I'm an idiot).
This is an easy,very commonly performed and recommended surgery,and it fixed my Ruger up very well. Brownells and Midway, among others,have the Wolff spring kit.
WNC Seabee
Member
Another vote for the Wolff springs. They make a huge difference.
After trying a couple high dollar options, I settled on Hogue Monogrips. They fit MY hand a lot better than the factory grip.
Add a Simply Rugged Sourdough holster w/the inside out straps and you have the perfect carry gun!
After trying a couple high dollar options, I settled on Hogue Monogrips. They fit MY hand a lot better than the factory grip.
Add a Simply Rugged Sourdough holster w/the inside out straps and you have the perfect carry gun!
Wolfeye
Member
I found the trigger & trigger guard to be a little sharp on my SP101. I took a really fine oval file and *carefully* touched it up, not wanting to scratch or nick anything. Now it feels fine. After that I tried polishing up the edges with emery cloth but couldn't see any difference. I think I bought the set of files at an arts & crafts store. They're about the size of pencils.
I think Tyler Grips makes a trigger shoe that fits the SP101. They can make it more comfortable, but I'd be careful using one with highly molded holsters.
As far as slicking up the action goes, all I did was buy a bunch of good snap caps, pull the trigger a few hundred times, then clean & oil the mechanism. (It's easy to take apart so long as you go no further than what the manual suggests.) Now the action is noticeably better, but not exactly buttery.
I think Tyler Grips makes a trigger shoe that fits the SP101. They can make it more comfortable, but I'd be careful using one with highly molded holsters.
As far as slicking up the action goes, all I did was buy a bunch of good snap caps, pull the trigger a few hundred times, then clean & oil the mechanism. (It's easy to take apart so long as you go no further than what the manual suggests.) Now the action is noticeably better, but not exactly buttery.
lloveless
Member
IBOK can be bought from the classifieds of rugerforum.com
ll
ll
CDawg
Member
SP101 3" is a beautiful thing. I put the Hogue grip on mine. It makes it much easier to control in .357 magnum. I have a 2" model in .38 special only that I like with the factory grip. I guess I got lucky with the trigger pull and sharp edges thing. Both these revolvers are good to go IMHO. The trigger pull is not like my S&W's, but then again, they're not S&W's. It's more like my King Cobra that had trigger work from Cylinder and Slide. I just can't "stage" the double action on the SP's like I can the King Cobra. Single action on the SP's is fine, but not exceptional. I don't shoot much single action from them anyway. The best single action pull (out of the box) I've ever had on a revolver is on my Rossi 351, believe it or not. It is close to the King Cobra, which is a thing of beauty. I love revolvers. They all have such personality.
Chuck Perry
Member
+1 on the Wolff springs. If you're shopping grips, consider the Pachmayr Compacts. You don't hear about them often. I tried several options on mine and settled on the Pachs. They are handfilling and comfortable without being overly bulky like the Hogues.
Monster Zero
Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2008
- Messages
- 591
Take it out and shoot it and enjoy it. Use eye protection and ear protection too so you won't have tinnitus later in life. Get a good holster. Even if you don't reload yet, save your empties.
herkyguy
Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2009
- Messages
- 1,409
Hogue grips are great and so are tritium frontsights. I tried the nail polish thing but wasn't happy so I ordered the Trijicon front sight and it's great. Some reviews bashed the trijicon and favored the meprolight, but I believe Trijicon has since updated their front sight, using a longer sight, more gas, and a clearly visible white ring that surrounds that gas tube. It's easy to sight in with the white ring during daylight and in a dark room there's no missing the bright green dot. If you order it from trijicon, their website still shows the old blade sight, but I assure you the one they are shipping now is great. possibly in response to the meprolight getting better reviews. Installation is doable by yourself, but you need a good vice and cobalt drill bit. I did it myself, but a gunsmith isn't a bad idea since it's easy to ding the gun.
John Wayne
Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2007
- Messages
- 1,133
There's not a whole lot that the gun actually needs, but no shortage of products to spend money on. The gun should cycle fine out of the box, shoot to POA, and smooth up on its own with use.
Economical ideas:
If you want a smoother/lighter pull, get a spring kit.
If the grips don't suit you, change them.
Paint the front sight/rear sights.
Get some speedloaders
If money is no concern:
Have a gunsmith install a better set of sights. Fixed SS sights are not the easiest thing to get a sight picture with in broad daylight. Ramp front with tritium insert and J frame "heavy duty" adjustable rear sight would be my choice.
Have the "Ruger Billboard" removed, along with any burrs or sharp edges.
Chamfer the cylinder charge holes.
Half-bob the hammer.
Get a nice set of grips. Depending on your preference that could be fancy hardwood, stag, or laser grips.
Either way, just go shoot it!
Economical ideas:
If you want a smoother/lighter pull, get a spring kit.
If the grips don't suit you, change them.
Paint the front sight/rear sights.
Get some speedloaders
If money is no concern:
Have a gunsmith install a better set of sights. Fixed SS sights are not the easiest thing to get a sight picture with in broad daylight. Ramp front with tritium insert and J frame "heavy duty" adjustable rear sight would be my choice.
Have the "Ruger Billboard" removed, along with any burrs or sharp edges.
Chamfer the cylinder charge holes.
Half-bob the hammer.
Get a nice set of grips. Depending on your preference that could be fancy hardwood, stag, or laser grips.
Either way, just go shoot it!
The only thing I have done to my recently-purchased 3.06" SP101 is install a spur-less hammer that I got through evilbay several years ago, when they still allowed such parts to be listed. It will probably get a better front sight, perhaps one of the Small Wonder front sights from Gemini, or perhaps a Trijicon. I have snubbier SP101s, and two of them have Trijicon front sights.
I love the balance of the 3.06" SP101, compared to the 2.25" snubbier ones. It feels more "alive" in the hand, with the slight difference making it easier to tell where the muzzle is pointed. Whether one believes in point-shooting or not, if a weapon points more naturally, it will require less correction when the sights are aligned with the eyes, all else being equal.
I love the balance of the 3.06" SP101, compared to the 2.25" snubbier ones. It feels more "alive" in the hand, with the slight difference making it easier to tell where the muzzle is pointed. Whether one believes in point-shooting or not, if a weapon points more naturally, it will require less correction when the sights are aligned with the eyes, all else being equal.
Congrats on the new purchase. I did my own ghetto gunsmithing on my SP as I had a dremel laying around. Check it out. Most of what you want to do to an SP you can do yourself. The only reason I'd send my out is for a bead blast finish or some kind of a pro trigger job, but my trigger is actually really nice.
Last edited:
I think my biggest adjustment will be trigger take up and reset. I am accustomed to S&W triggers. I wont say better but different than my SP. I wonder if a spring kit would change this and make it more fluid and more of a postive reset.
Stainz
Member
Obviously, if you want a great trigger, start with an S&W 60.
Stuck with an SP-101, from my experience, find Iowegan's (Ruger forum) excellent treatise on slicking up the trigger group. The most important step is putting it in a ziploc bag to catch the spring launched plunger as you dissect it. The right size drills - for deburring & reaming the holes - are important - as is Flitz/Semichrome metal paste polish for final cleaning. You won't need to touch the hammer-trigger-sear surfaces - they wear in. You won't believe the difference. Change the springs, too. My 4" .32 H&RM went from the nastiest revolver I ever touched to super - until I noticed the oversized spent brass it produced. Just barely in spec, it was identical to the BHG SSM in .32 H&RM I had - .337+" chamber ID's. The .32 brass worked too much, resizing to .334" like commercial ammo, resulting in 2 or 3 reloads before splitting the brass. I said goodbye to .32's - and Rugers - over 2.5 yr ago. I have fewer revolvers - but only an Old Army BP revolver bears Ruger on it. The cheesy windage-only adjustable rear sight on the SP-101 was just nasty, too. Not fond of the SP-101.
Stainz
Stuck with an SP-101, from my experience, find Iowegan's (Ruger forum) excellent treatise on slicking up the trigger group. The most important step is putting it in a ziploc bag to catch the spring launched plunger as you dissect it. The right size drills - for deburring & reaming the holes - are important - as is Flitz/Semichrome metal paste polish for final cleaning. You won't need to touch the hammer-trigger-sear surfaces - they wear in. You won't believe the difference. Change the springs, too. My 4" .32 H&RM went from the nastiest revolver I ever touched to super - until I noticed the oversized spent brass it produced. Just barely in spec, it was identical to the BHG SSM in .32 H&RM I had - .337+" chamber ID's. The .32 brass worked too much, resizing to .334" like commercial ammo, resulting in 2 or 3 reloads before splitting the brass. I said goodbye to .32's - and Rugers - over 2.5 yr ago. I have fewer revolvers - but only an Old Army BP revolver bears Ruger on it. The cheesy windage-only adjustable rear sight on the SP-101 was just nasty, too. Not fond of the SP-101.
Stainz
WOw I went and shot my SP101 on Sat. The first few shots I wasnt sure. Then I got comfortable with it and it began to shine. I shot mostly 38 some wc and some LSWCHP. I shot a few 357 and that was "entertaining" untill I realized I had blood running down my hand. I am not sure if thats a nature of the beast thing or not. I will now look into a spring kit, do the IBOK treatment and change grips oh yeah and buy a holster once I decide. I guess at this point I have to choose between the Hogue and the Pachmyers. I have Hogues on my J frame and really like it but it looks large on the SP101. I have Pachmyers on my Model 13 and had on my Model 19. I like both of them alot. After seeing the difference in metal plates I want to at least be able to shoot 357 from time to time but would prefer to not be on the bleeding end. I carry IWB in the appendix posistion so the holster I will be looking for will be a low riding version
You gotta figure out where the blood came from. Did you get cut on something? Figure out what it was and smooth it out. Don't try to train to defend yourself and your family with a gun that cuts you when you shoot it.
If you haven't tried it yet, consider a Hogue monogrip. I like it much better on mine. Large or not, it gives me something to hang on to and makes one handed shooting of full-power loads totally possible. Even my smaller female friends can handle a few .357's from my SP-101 with relative comfort. The blast and flash bother them eventually, but the recoil isn't painful with those grips.
If you haven't tried it yet, consider a Hogue monogrip. I like it much better on mine. Large or not, it gives me something to hang on to and makes one handed shooting of full-power loads totally possible. Even my smaller female friends can handle a few .357's from my SP-101 with relative comfort. The blast and flash bother them eventually, but the recoil isn't painful with those grips.
Last edited:
- Status
