What type of customization for my GP100?

[Angelo]

I have a GP-100 ss with 4" barrel (full lug). I was wondering what some good things to do for improved accuracy and/or reliability? I'm not familiar with many custom terms so please bear with me. Some things I was interested in knowing about are: Re-cut crown to 45 degrees and polish bore, re-cut forcing cone 11 degrees, complete action job (street reliability) and chamfer revolver chambers. I was looking at Actions by T's website and was wondering which of these things would be good to have done. The gun is somewhat new so there's no wear and tear. Also, no work has been done yet....it's completely "as is" from the factory.

Any suggestions from experienced revolver fans?

Thanks!

 

[Jim March]

In my opinion, if it's a fighting gun, night sights can be key.

The other major thing is a grip that fits your hand. There is a smaller Ruger grip for GP100s that have fixed sights, that can be swapped onto your adjustable-sight gun. It's about the size of the SP101 grip. Or go completely aftermarket, or the factory grip may fit you.

After that, a spring kit *may* help the trigger, or a bunch of dryfire . But what you really should do is analyze the accuracy, and decide if that's where the gun needs work. Usually you get more practical milage out of "ergonomics and sights" issues than working on the gun's raw accuracy.

 

[caz223]

Chamfer cylinders is mostly for fast loading with speed loaders.
A street action job is nice, and will help you be more accurate, but the gp100 doesn't really need it to be accurate.
It's better to learn to hit with the gun as is, than to do an action job to it.
Spend the $150.00 on ammo, and practice with it.
Or better yet, spend the money on training.
I can't agree more with Jim March.
If the sights and grips aren't to your liking, take of them first (As long as you're gonna keep the gun.).

 

[Tom B]

Have a gunsmith do a trigger job. I stay away from spring kits as you are asking for reliability problems and I use all my revolvers at one time or another for defense. Re-crowning the barrel may or may not increase accuracy depending on the condition of the original barrel crown. Experiment with different loads to see which are most accurate in your revolver.

 

[braindead0]

I agree, grips and sights.. I've got xpress big-dot tritium on mine and it made a world of difference. Works great for IDPA, took a bit to get used to them in steel plate shooting (2" wide x 4"tall plates at 30ft dissappear! ;-)

 

[mtnbkr]

A Taylor Throat by Jim Stroh of AlphaPrecision (alphaprecision.com I think) did wonders for my GP100. I also had the endshake removed at the same time. On my own, I gently polished the trigger assembly and added lighter springs.

A Taylor Throat is basically opening and extending the throat to slightly over caliber diameter. Extending it removes the constriction where the barrel threads into the frame. This has the benefit of stabilizing the bullet better before it hits the rifling.

Jim Taylor's (of Sixgunner.com) dad "discovered" this modification when they were reparing a revolvoer with a severely worn and cracked throat. For more info, go to Sixgunner.com and dig through the articles.

Chris

 

[Z_Infidel]

The modifications I am in the process of making on my GP-100 include:

Big Dot tritium front sight.
Bowen heavy duty adjustable rear sight (shallow V notch).
Lett hybrid grip with finger grooves.

Perhaps I'll report back when finished.

 

[Angelo]

Night sights are something I do want. I like the ones Trijicon makes but they seem to be a lot more $$ for the GP100 than for any other gun on their price list. I wonder why that is? Some of you seem really happy with the Big-Dot front sight. Do you think there's an advantage with those over the 3 dot Trijicon sights? The xpress sights sure do have a better price!

I'm actually happy with the stock grips but I did order Lett "silver black" inserts to replace the factory wood ones.

caz223: You're probably right, I should save the $150 for ammo. A training course will definitely be in my futere, I just don't know when right now. Maybe after all that is said and done 'll get an action job.

One thing I've been wondering about; should i have a gunsmith look it over to check for endshake, lock-up, the cylinder gap, etc...? Or maybe it's best to say "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

Thanks!

 

[9mmepiphany]

before my ex-wife left with it, i had considered a gp-100 as a duty gun (this was a long time ago). the things i had planned to have done to it include:

1. action tune (mine was gritty and the cylinder was spinning that smoothly)
2. dehorn rear sight
3. bevel chambers (it takes the same speedloaders as the python and L-frame
4. bevel edges of hammer and cylinder release
5. round face of trigger and bevel rear edges (they are very sharp and pinch)

i wouldn't bother with re-crowning the muzzle (45 degrees seems a bit steep) unless it has a accuracy problem. i think you would see more effect from throating the barrel...i had that done on my match python

 

[braindead0]

The big-dot sights for the GP do not come with tritium for the rear sight, I don't even think it's available. That's probably where they save the money, the rear is just the blade.

I'd guess the trijicon sights include an entire new rear sight, which means I think you need to drift out a pin to remove/install. The big-dots are easy to do-it-yourself install.

 

[Jim March]

Somewhere I heard there's a "pro-express" setup for the GP100/Redhawk/SRH already available, or about to ship, but not in the catalog at www.ashleyoutdoors.com yet.

I'd go to that site, look up their phone number and call 'em. What you really want is "an adjustable Pro Express setup, tritium front and rear for the GP100 with a factory adjustable sight".

Ashley's rear tritium consists of a vertical tritium bar. You "dot the i" with that and the front dot. All reports call it a very effective setup.

I'd recommend the smaller Ashley front dot sight, myself. The tritium tube is the same small dot or big, what changes is the white enamel outline size. Longer-range accuracy is better with the small dot and the GP100 is capable of that, in spades...but you'll pick up the big dot faster in a close-range mess. They both work, take your pick.

One way of adjusting the big dot setup: set it so that the center tritium core is what needs to be placed exactly in the "V" rear for a dead-on shot. Then when taking a quick shot against a close assailant, put the ball in the "V" and you'll shoot a hair high, so aim for the belly button.

 

[Jim March]

Hey, just ran across something neat:

If you want a "classic three-dot tritium setup" for the adjustable-frame GP100 (and Redhawk/SRH), Meprolight has these:

http://www.arizonagunrunners.com/Products/HescoMeprolight/hescomeprolight.html (click on "Ruger")

Mind you, I'd personally rather have the Ashley-type front and rear Tritium but, these aren't half bad and at $91...

 

[charleym3]

I have Meprolight sights on my main GP 100. Best price I've found new is at Arizona Gun Runners $91. I like them very well.

A spring change is good thing as long as you don't over do it. 10 lb mainsprings have been totally relaible in my guns. Others have reported different results. Reducing the trigger return spring weight has an amazing effect on the trigger pull. More so than the hammer spring.

I too like the compact grips better than the large ones, but I would much prefer a rubber boot grip design. I just can't find one that I like.

Chamfering the chambers for speedy reloads is also something that I do to my carry gun.

I plan to firelap the barrel at some point, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Good luck. You've made a fine choice.

 

[Jim March]

Arizona Gun Runners also has the Trijicon sight setups for GP100s. They use too many frames for me to give you a link, you'll have to browse in from:

http://www.arizonagunrunners.com/Products/Trijicon/TrijiconIndex/trijiconindex.html

Good news: you have your choice of green, yellow and orange rear, and Trijicon seems to put more of a "white circle outline" around the tritium than Meprolight.

Bad news: $229.25 .

If Ashley is shipping the Tritium adjustable rear for the GP100 yet, they'll be around $150 total (front and rear). If available, those are a better buy than Trijicons. But the Meprolights don't look half bad either.

 

[Poohgyrr]

FWIW, I really prefer a matte finish on a defense gun. My stainless snubs have a bead blast type refinish that goes a longway in not reflecting light at night. For giggles, I also like the cylinder front beveled and the trigger face beveled & polished.

Here is a link to some ideas for you to think about: http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=15634

I'm saving to send a 3" snub to Berryhill for this same treatment.

Whatever you decide, it's a lot of fun.....
Best.