Ruger SP101 .357 4 in

Just purchased a Ruger SP101 357 mag 4 in barrel. My wife is unable to squeeze the trigger in DA and even in SA she has trouble pulling the hammer! I read on the internet that most people replace the springs with 10# ones. I am not that expert on taking the gun apart, so my question is woukd I have issues with local gunsmiths if I furnnish the springs for them to replace them? I hear there are warranty issues and that Ruger will not cover the gun anymore if the springs were replaced? I really don’t care about the warranty, but are there any any other reasons such as safety for the gunsmith to turn down the job? I live in the Phoenix metro area. Please advise especially if you know any gunsmiths in my area.

 

I installed an Mcarbo kit in mine and it came out very nice, much easier pull double action.
It wasn't very hard to install except one of the springs was a bit too long and it didn't function correctly. After taking it apart about 15 times, I figured out the issue.
They have videos on their site and on YouTube detailing the installation. Check that out to see if you are up to it.
https://www.mcarbo.com/ruger-sp101-/-gp100-trigger-spring-kit.aspx

 

Trigger jobs are the bread and butter of most gunsmiths, so there won't be anything out of the ordinary in asking one to lighten things up. It won't really matter whether you provide the springs or not. Make sure to inform him of your particular situation. Also be aware that such things can decrease reliability; if the gun is meant for defensive purposes, you'll want to let the gunsmith know that as well, in addition to firing a hundred or so of your preferred defensive rounds after the work has been done.

Ruger will still work on the gun afterwards, but won't necessarily warrant it in all situations. For example, if the gun becomes unreliable after the work, Ruger will be happy to fix it, but they'll charge you for it. On the other hand, if something goes wrong which clearly is not related to the gunsmithing, Ruger likely will take care of it on their dime. At least, that has been my experience.

 

Springs are one of the easiest solutions and sometimes the best solution when working with guns. I am surprised more people don't replace them with ones more suited to themselves or the cartridge being used.

 

I’d think a quick spring kit is the best start of things. See what that does first. MCARBO makes nice kits. I grabbed a SCCY CPX2 on a lark a while back. It had the worst longest trigger I’d never seen. In went a trigger kit and trigger and it made it plenty decent considering what it had to work with. Springs can make a big difference and they’re cheap and easy to install…..unless it’s in a SCCY

 

In addition to Mcarbo, there's the old standby of Wolff:

https://www.gunsprings.com/Revolvers/RUGER/SP-101/cID3/mID52/dID234

The SP mainspring is relatively easy to remove: take off the grips, cock the hammer, slip the leg of a paperclip through the bottom of the mainspring strut, pull the trigger and then remove the captive mainspring assembly.



One of the downsides to the SP/GP design is the extent you need to disassemble the revolver before you can remove the cylinder to clean its front face -- I just had my .32 H&R SP101 at the range today and it's definitely more work to clean than my S&Ws.

 

Any decent gunsmith could lighten the trigger pull for you. They would probably lighten the springs a little and polish a few internal surfaces.

I'm mechanically inept, but I can change out a revolver mainspring to one that's a pound lighter in roughly five minutes.

 

I didn't just swap to lighter springs. I also did the classic trigger job DIY. Imo it's important to do a trigger job with lighter springs to guarantee ignition of the primer. Ruger revolvers can be a little gritty and the heavy factory springs guarantee ignition. I should have done the hammer shims but I'm fixing to do them soon. All three of these have lighter springs and a trigger job. Small, medium and large.

 

Ruger must have changed their policy on this in recent years then. A number of years ago if you sent a gun in for any kind of service if it had non OEM parts in it they removed and replaced them with OEM before returning the gun. DAMHIKT.

 

Ruger's stance has not changed. Your statement is in no way opposite from their policy.

 

Way off topic…my wife faced the same problem after I bought her a 686 (her choosing, and in fairness - was unable to squeeze the trigger weak handed). She later asked for a 1911…

 

And welcome to the forum

 

Many years ago, my aging parent couldn't pull the trigger of her .38 Special SP-101 in DA mode. I took it to a nearby smith but he wouldn't lighten the load due to "liability concerns". He did offer to let me do the work using his tools, which is what I did. I snipped a little bit off of the coil spring, reassembled the gun, tried it, but it was still too heavy a pull. I just went back in and snipped another single coil off of the spring until I got it down to the point they could handle it.
Now, as that was over 10 years ago, the gun now resides in a drawer next to my bed instead of theirs as they couldn't even cock it for single action mode any more.

 

I did the poor man's trigger job on one of my sp101s. 500+ dry fires. Smoothed up nice. No assembly required

 

I think you should watch some YouTube videos, buy a spring kit and tackle it yourself. Unless you’re TOTALLY incompetent mechanically, you can do it. You’ll enjoy it and have a new skill that’s transferable if you ever get a GP100 or Super Redhawk.

I did mine about ten years ago with the Wolff kit and instructions from Iowegan. Polished the internals and sides of the hammer and radiused the corners of the trigger while I had it apart. I really like the gun now; wouldn’t have kept it without the trigger job.

It’s less fiddly to work than the S&W 19 I just changed springs on, even though the S&W has a removable side plate. The old Smith didn’t need any polishing of internals though; just the change of a couple of worn-out springs.

 

They are very easy to change the springs. Takes like 15 minutes.

 

The only headache you may have is pulling the lower part of the receiver (with the trigger) open to get to the trigger return spring. That one action can be a bit of a hassle the first time you try it, it can take a bit of finagling to get the sliding piece to move inward enough to pull the receiver down and apart.

Once you have done it a time or two it is easy.

I am sure you will be just fine doing it yourself.

Stay safe.

 

QUICK UPDATE JAN 10, 2020:
Took it to Wright Armory in Phoenix, had springs replaced and gun rough areas smoothed. SA now pulls at 2.5lbs from original 5.0lbs. DA at 11lbs from original
of over 14-15lbs. A happy wife is a happy life!11

 

Aside from the above suggested gunsmith work, I'd recommend that your wife get a good hand exerciser. Hand strength can be significantly improved over time, and it doesn't take a lifetime. Too, stronger hands/fingers will serve her well in other aspects of her life. Rod

 

That's my complaint about the SP101: It's a pretty decent revolver if you replace the grips and springs.

I have a couple that I've fixed up okay, but I'd prefer a revolver that's a good shooter right out of the box.

Ruger SP101 9mm by Tallball posted Mar 6, 2021 at 1:49 PM

 

I haven't shot mine in a year. I better take it out and see what I think. Thought it was ok as is.