SP101 recoil with full .357

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That's a good question. I bought one 2 months ago and have yet to fire it. Gonna go this weekend. Will probably start with 38 special then go up to 38 special +p and try 357 so I can get a feel of all these rounds. Also with each different load I'm going to see what kind of groupings I get at short distances. Can't wait.
 
With the stock grips, I found mine to be pretty harsh on the hands. With the Hogue that is currently on it, it is pretty easy to shoot.
 
I fired a number of Remington 125-gr. SJHPs (stock #R357M1) in mine. The kick was manageable, albeit barely. The report and blast were like a thunderclap, though. Even a heavy small-frame revolver like this is much better served with "medium velocity" .357s.
 
It kicks but it's manageable. It depends on how big your hands are and, more importantly, what your grip technique is like. You need to work on draw and grip technique to get good groups.

I've put several hundred rounds through mine: .38 lead ball, .38 +p, .357 semi-jacketed, and Hornady critical defense rounds. Any .38 load is a breeze with this gun. Fun to shoot. +p ammo is a little snappy, but not a problem. Your groups will get bigger with .357 loads, but you can still put them center mass with a little practice. The Hornady ammo makes this thing a hand cannon.

I shoot at 7 yards double-action most of the time. I also practice drawing and shooting in a hurry from about 6 feet, sometimes without bringing it up to get a perfect sight picture. I still get groups about 8 inches wide. Good idea to practice this draw and shoot technique with snap caps first.

Now, for grips. The stock grips work just fine and they are good for concealed carry; they don't grab clothing. I swapped them for the Hogue monogrips. The recoil is a little less and my grip on the pistol is better.
 
The recoil is not bad at all if you're comfortable shooting magnum revolvers. The blast and flash is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. I have shot a lot of snub revolvers and I will never understand the logic of trying to increase the performance limitations of a 2 or 3 in barreled gun by shooting +P high velocity ammo in them. The bullet has left the gun before half of the powder has burned off. It's pretty much all show. But lots of folks seem to love the concept. Running a lot of those loads in a revolver is also going to induce forcing cone erosion and flame cutting of the top strap. And that's not an internet myth, I have seen it happen time after time. I would much rather launch at least 200 grains of bullet and if it only achieves 900 fps out of a 3 in. barrel I figure that's plenty of power and much less wear and tear on the gun. Snubs are much easier to get accurate hits with using 135 to 158 grain loads than the 125 grain flamethrower stuff. My 2 cents.
 
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My other handgun is a .45 and I shoot .30-06 for fun so many I'm not a fair judge. Shooting the stock grips and 158gr .357 mag, I didn't think it was bad at all.
 
huh

You all must be 98 pound weeklings:neener: just kidding...

I shoot nothing but big boys in mine. I don't even notice the kick. very manageable. I find it easier to shoot with magnums in it then a 38 with +p's in them.


steve
 
I have a Rossi 877 and I found the weight of the bullet is critical when it comes to felt recoil. I can shoot 110 gr .357 by the box; however, one time I purchased some 158 gr wadcutters and it was the equivalent to holding a handgranade. 18 shots and I couldn't make a fist.
 
I enjoy and trust my SP101 and practice regularly. I would describe the kick as potent but most certainly acceptable.
 
I have an SP101 with the 3" barrel and crimson trace grips on it and the .357 loads are manageable. My wife hates shooting them but they are very manageable. I do have to suggest not shooting the CCI Blazer Non reloadable aluminum cased .357's through your SP101 I shot a box of them through mine a couple of days of ago and they had issues extracting from the cylinder. The casings would expand and get stuck. Just a suggestion. I love my SP101 and will never get rid of it.
 
very subjective, as is any question about perceived recoil.
Honestly, it's not bad. the biggest difference between .38spl and .357mag in the SP101 is the delay in reaquiring sight picture with the big boy loads. The recoil with magnums is not particularly snappy or slappy, certainly not painful, but there is quite a bit of rise that adds a second or two to aimed follow up shots. My experience, YMMV.
 
it thumps the hand pretty good but its manageable. as far as im concerned, the big fireball is the only downside. with such a short barrel, a more mid-level load would probably be best
 
totally subjective, for certain
stiff out of 3", but not really harsh
(just that one extra inch does make some difference, believe it or not)
mostly depends on how you feel about full power 357s out of any medium frame steel revolver

but it's nowhere near the brutal bang out of an "airweight"

and you only have to fire five to decide for yourself
 
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Buy a box of Remington .125 grain Golden Sabars for a milder .357 defensive round and .38 spl for pratice and you should be fine.
 
I work with my hands all day and have a strong grip, medium sized hands. The grips on my 2.25 DAO 101 are the Ruger logo Crimson Trace overmolded rubber grips that I can get a good three finger grip on. My carry ammo is a medium/high handload (Barnes XPB 125 gr with 14.5grs of n110, chrono says bout 1175fps) stout but manageable. I would never consider a 38 of any sort. Saying that half the powder is wasted is ridiculous, the 357 outa a short barrel is vastly superior to any 38 round outa the same barrel. If you have a 357 shoot 357's!!!
 
I work with my hands all day and have a strong grip, medium sized hands. The grips on my 2.25 DAO 101 are the Ruger logo Crimson Trace overmolded rubber grips that I can get a good three finger grip on. My carry ammo is a medium/high handload (Barnes XPB 125 gr with 14.5grs of n110, chrono says bout 1175fps) stout but manageable. I would never consider a 38 of any sort. Saying that half the powder is wasted is ridiculous, the 357 outa a short barrel is vastly superior to any 38 round outa the same barrel. If you have a 357 shoot 357's!!!
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And out of my 9x19 3" 14 ounce 11 shot pocket auto, I get less recoil and muzzle flash, way less, while getting 1262 fps out of a 115 grain JHP XTP over 6.4 grains of Unique....just sayin'. :D I have one short (three inch) barrel .357 left, a Taurus 66. I get something like 1330 fps IIRC from a 140 JHP using 17 grains of 2400 in that gun. I have done tests from the SP101 2.25", 3" Taurus, 4" Security Six and Taurus, and 6.5" Blackhawk and I've determined that in short barrels, 140 grains works a LOT better. The heavier the bullet, the slower it accelerates down the barrel and the more of that pressure peak it captures before exiting and less of the pressure is turned to flash. There is a marked difference in a 125 grain load and a 140 from the 2.25 and 3" barrel as far as muzzle flash and the 140 performs a WHOLE lot better. I don't mess with 125 grain bullets any longer. They're tough on forcing cones and just not the optimum bullet weight in a short barrel. To give an example of what I'm talking about, I load 13.8 grains of AA#9 behind a 180 XTP for hunting in my 6.5" blackhawk and get 1400 fps. That load is still clocking 1300 fps in the 2.25" SP101. It drops from 785 ft lbs to 660 ft lbs in the short barrel. I could get no more than just shy of 400 ft lbs in my hot loads in the SP101 with the 125 grain bullet and the muzzle flash was the stuff of holiday celebrations. :rolleyes:
 
OK McGunner how is the recoil outa that lil pocket nine.... thats what this thread is about. How would someone compare that pocket nine recoil to the Recoil outa a sp101
 
I have an sp (2.25in,dao,hammerless)with stock grips and curent carry load is corbon 125gr mags.I have no problems with the recoil,but the most (carry rounds)I have fired in one session is 15.With target 38spls,my son was shooting my pistol at 7yrs old.If I could do it over again,I would go with a 3in barrell to gain a little more preformance from the loads and I don't see where the extra 3/4in. would be an issue for c/c.
 
I also have the 2.25" in DOA. My hands are medium/small, and the ONLY thing I don't like about full house .357 loads is, the back of the trigger guard tears up my middle finger. I love the stock grip as far as CCW goes, but would really like to swap to badger grips or something that takes up the space behind the trigger guard. Other than that, I didn't find shooting the .357's uncomfortable. I do enjoy shooting 158gr more so than the 125gr's and have changed my load out accordingly for self defense as the gun is my EDC.
 
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So, I went to the range today and shot a few .357 rounds outta a SP101. I shot one handed and basically just let the gun rest on a sandbag and jump with the recoil. The load was a 125 grain Zero JHP over 10.0 grains of Power Pistol...pretty much a mid-range load according to my Speer #14 manual. The starting load is 9.5 and the max load is 10.5.


http://s1108.photobucket.com/albums/h406/ColtKingCobra/?action=view&current=MVI_1569.mp4&newest=1

http://s1108.photobucket.com/albums/h406/ColtKingCobra/?action=view&current=MVI_1579.mp4&newest=1
 
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OK McGunner how is the recoil outa that lil pocket nine.... thats what this thread is about. How would someone compare that pocket nine recoil to the Recoil outa a sp101
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I get less recoil and muzzle flash, way less, while getting 1262 fps out of a 115 grain JHP XTP over 6.4 grains of Unique....just sayin'.
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Just to repeat myself. The 9x19+P trick is 35,000 CUP pressures (I think, IIRC) while using much less of a faster powder in a smaller case (more efficient). But, with a heavier bullet, the .357 pulls away even in short barrels and adding barrel length to the 9 doesn't get you much where the .357 starts to shine to the point that out of my carbine, it's a friggin' .35 Remington light (165 grain cast gas checked SWC at 1900+ fps).

So, all in what you want, but when comparing short barreled carry guns, I tend to favor the 9mm +P as a caliber to the light bullet (125 grains or less) .357. If I'm going to carry the .357, I'm going to carry a Speer 140 JHP in my 3" Taurus, pushes nearly 600 ft lbs from that gun vs 410 for the 9x19 from the Kel Tec. I really don't think I need another .357 revolver with less than a 3" barrel, either. I don't see the SP101 as a pocket gun and the 3" barrel really helps. ANY extra barrel helps the .357, but 3" is still quite concealable on a belt, especially if you're carrying IWB. The SP101 is the LIGHTEST gun I'll carry in the caliber, maybe a J frame. But, I shot a 12 ounce Scandium J frame with a 180 grain load and, well, nope, not for me, thanks. I tolerate recoil just fine if I have enough gun to soak it up, shot .45-70 in a Contender before and shoot heavy .45 loads in my Blackhawk, but they have some beef to 'em. I'll admit, though, the .45-70 will wake you up...:D
 
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As previously stated, the small grips make the "hot" loads uncomfortable IMO.. but if you were defending yourself, it would not be noticed
 
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