I recently purchased a Ruger SP101 snub nose revolver and after having some range time and carry time with it I think I'll do a little review.
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This gun is all stainless steel with a 2 and 1/4 inch barrel I believe. It weighs in at about 22 ounces unloaded. The grip is rubber with plastic inserts.
Fit and Finish:
This gun is really nice and is built like a tank. the finish is excellent and on par with other guns in its class like Smith and Wesson. The cylinder locks up nicely and very tight. when I shake the gun I don't hear any rattling. Though I do think that Ruger could have blackened the grip screw to have a more uniform appearance on the grip. However this gun is not made to win any beauty contests it is made for one purpose...putting holes in bad guys. I did notice that the trigger had a sharp edge that hurt my trigger finger when shooting I think this will need to be rounded off a little for my own comfort. The gun does come with a lifetime warranty.
I give the gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 in fit and finish.
Ergonomics: The gun fits nicely in the hand I am able to get a very high grip on the gun without any bite from the hammer. The rubber grips absorb the recoil very well even If I think the grips are ugly as sin. I was going to get a set of Badger Grips for the gun but after shooting the gun and feeling how well the grips on the gun handle I may just leave them alone. The gun is easy to point and get on target and more importantly to keep on target. The controls are all in the right place and easy to get to quickly. This is my first time using a push button type cylinder release as opposed to the smith slide forward design and I had to get used to pushing in. It feels allot like the mag release on most semi auto's and after using it I think I am beginning to like it. I notice on some smith's that the slide forward design sometimes jumps back and bites me in the thumb but not this design good job Ruger. I do have to say that I'm not thrilled with the ejection rod. I notice that you really have to pop the rod to get full ejection on the first go round to avoid partial extraction. I know, I know it is a shortened rod because it is a snuby. I also noticed that sometimes a shell casing close to the grip with get stuck on the rubber. I may shave the rubber down with a dremmel to keep this from happening in the future.
I give this gun 3.5 dead bad guys out of 5 for ergonomics.
Carry ability:
I have carried this gun for a month now in a pocket holster, in a OWB leather holster. My preference would be for the OWB carry of this gun. I have not tried IWB but for me I have never felt any real difference from IWB and OWB and this gun would carry great IWB as well as OWB. I use a Looper Leather CCW reinforced belt and the gun sits well. Even though it is heavy I don't notice the weight. I guess it is because I usually carry a 40 oz 1911 and am used to the heavyness of it. Now pocket carry is not as good as a Smith and Wesson airweight type revolver made of unobtainium
and other expensive rare earth metals. Pocket carry with this gun was a little cumbersome and I noticed that the top of the grip just barely stuck out of my pants pocket. I also did notice the weight with this mode of carry. Also the rubber grips did tend to grab my pocket liner when being deployed. I think this gun is just to heavy for ankle, but would be fine in a fanny pack, or any other mode of carry.
I this gun 3 dead bad guys out of 5 in this catagory.
Firepower:
This gun only have 5 shots so you had better make your rounds count...witch you should do with any gun even a hi cap semi auto. But the upside is you get 5 rounds of .357 magnum. I'll take 5 rounds of .357 Magnum over 10 rounds of 9mm any day. For most people in a CCW role 5 shots in the cylinder with a Bianchi Speed strip or speed loader in another pocket giving 5 shots and another 5 shot reload would fill the need for most people as a primary CCW gun. I hear all the auto guys always say 5 shots isn't enough...well if I was going to war and I was going to be putting myself in harms way I would agree. But for most engagements for most people 5 shots of .357 will more than get the job done if they put their rounds on target. and if they don't put their rounds on target...at least the bad guy will be deaf and blind from flash and boom
.357 In my opinion is one of the best rounds for the armed citizen. It is very versatile and proven in gunfights over and over again. also you can easily reload .357 for cheaper shooting practice. If you don't like the heavy recoil of .357 you can shoot less snappy .38's and .38 +P making a .357 revolver very versatile as a defensive gun and a practice gun.
I give this gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 in this category.
Accessories:
This gun has been around for a while and you can find after market wood, plastic, and rubber grips easily. Holsters are easy to find for it by all major manufactures and custom leather makers. CT makes lasers grips for the gun as well. and you can also change the front sight blade because it is pined in witch is something you cannot do with most smith's of a similar size.
I give this gun 5 out of 5 dead bad guys in this category.
Shooting impressions:
shooting 125gr sjhp .357 in this gun was...an experience. there is noticeable recoil and after putting about 75 rounds downrange the web of my shooting hand was red and sore. Now having said that I can also say that the recoil is allot better in this gun than most lightweight Smith .357 and .38+P guns I have shot. I attribute this to the guns solid construction of steel and not aluminum, scandium, or titanium. Yes this gun is heavy for it's size but it is what I call good weight and makes the gun inherently a good shooter for rapid fire engagements. I will be changing the front sights of the gun as I don't like the ones on the gun now...I'll probably change them out to XS big dots or some other night site that gives good contrast. I think night sights on a defensive gun are a must.
But having said that...This gun shot very well in tests I put it through. since this is a combat gun I only ran it through combat drills. All drills were done from concealment draw at ranges out to 15 yards. All targets were blue man sized targets with scoring rings. All shooting was done double action.
The first drill I did was the double tap from draw in under two seconds from 5 yards...one shot was in the x ring and the other was in the nine very close to the X.
The second drill I did was a 5x5x5x5 or five shots at five yards all within 5 inches in five seconds. this was also done from draw and fire. here are the results of that drill and I'll let you all come to your own conclusion on how the gun performed.
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Next I attempted the same drill at the 15 yard line and here are the results.
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I next attempted to head shots at 15 yards with the SP101 using a semi rapid fire two hands and this is how it preformed.
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I feel that the gun does shoot a little low from point of aim and I don't know how to fix that perhaps after I put new sights on it will shoot better point of aim. It may have also been the ammo I was using I only used Remington 125 gr sjhp for this testing.
Overall I think this is a great CCW gun or a BUG for law enforcement. It would also serve well as a truck gun as it is stainless steel and will take years of abuse without wear on the finish.
Overall I give this gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 as a CCW choice.
Does anyone else have any experience with the SP101? Let me know what you think of it.
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This gun is all stainless steel with a 2 and 1/4 inch barrel I believe. It weighs in at about 22 ounces unloaded. The grip is rubber with plastic inserts.
Fit and Finish:
This gun is really nice and is built like a tank. the finish is excellent and on par with other guns in its class like Smith and Wesson. The cylinder locks up nicely and very tight. when I shake the gun I don't hear any rattling. Though I do think that Ruger could have blackened the grip screw to have a more uniform appearance on the grip. However this gun is not made to win any beauty contests it is made for one purpose...putting holes in bad guys. I did notice that the trigger had a sharp edge that hurt my trigger finger when shooting I think this will need to be rounded off a little for my own comfort. The gun does come with a lifetime warranty.
I give the gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 in fit and finish.
Ergonomics: The gun fits nicely in the hand I am able to get a very high grip on the gun without any bite from the hammer. The rubber grips absorb the recoil very well even If I think the grips are ugly as sin. I was going to get a set of Badger Grips for the gun but after shooting the gun and feeling how well the grips on the gun handle I may just leave them alone. The gun is easy to point and get on target and more importantly to keep on target. The controls are all in the right place and easy to get to quickly. This is my first time using a push button type cylinder release as opposed to the smith slide forward design and I had to get used to pushing in. It feels allot like the mag release on most semi auto's and after using it I think I am beginning to like it. I notice on some smith's that the slide forward design sometimes jumps back and bites me in the thumb but not this design good job Ruger. I do have to say that I'm not thrilled with the ejection rod. I notice that you really have to pop the rod to get full ejection on the first go round to avoid partial extraction. I know, I know it is a shortened rod because it is a snuby. I also noticed that sometimes a shell casing close to the grip with get stuck on the rubber. I may shave the rubber down with a dremmel to keep this from happening in the future.
I give this gun 3.5 dead bad guys out of 5 for ergonomics.
Carry ability:
I have carried this gun for a month now in a pocket holster, in a OWB leather holster. My preference would be for the OWB carry of this gun. I have not tried IWB but for me I have never felt any real difference from IWB and OWB and this gun would carry great IWB as well as OWB. I use a Looper Leather CCW reinforced belt and the gun sits well. Even though it is heavy I don't notice the weight. I guess it is because I usually carry a 40 oz 1911 and am used to the heavyness of it. Now pocket carry is not as good as a Smith and Wesson airweight type revolver made of unobtainium
and other expensive rare earth metals. Pocket carry with this gun was a little cumbersome and I noticed that the top of the grip just barely stuck out of my pants pocket. I also did notice the weight with this mode of carry. Also the rubber grips did tend to grab my pocket liner when being deployed. I think this gun is just to heavy for ankle, but would be fine in a fanny pack, or any other mode of carry. I this gun 3 dead bad guys out of 5 in this catagory.
Firepower:
This gun only have 5 shots so you had better make your rounds count...witch you should do with any gun even a hi cap semi auto. But the upside is you get 5 rounds of .357 magnum. I'll take 5 rounds of .357 Magnum over 10 rounds of 9mm any day. For most people in a CCW role 5 shots in the cylinder with a Bianchi Speed strip or speed loader in another pocket giving 5 shots and another 5 shot reload would fill the need for most people as a primary CCW gun. I hear all the auto guys always say 5 shots isn't enough...well if I was going to war and I was going to be putting myself in harms way I would agree. But for most engagements for most people 5 shots of .357 will more than get the job done if they put their rounds on target. and if they don't put their rounds on target...at least the bad guy will be deaf and blind from flash and boom
.357 In my opinion is one of the best rounds for the armed citizen. It is very versatile and proven in gunfights over and over again. also you can easily reload .357 for cheaper shooting practice. If you don't like the heavy recoil of .357 you can shoot less snappy .38's and .38 +P making a .357 revolver very versatile as a defensive gun and a practice gun.
I give this gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 in this category.
Accessories:
This gun has been around for a while and you can find after market wood, plastic, and rubber grips easily. Holsters are easy to find for it by all major manufactures and custom leather makers. CT makes lasers grips for the gun as well. and you can also change the front sight blade because it is pined in witch is something you cannot do with most smith's of a similar size.
I give this gun 5 out of 5 dead bad guys in this category.
Shooting impressions:
shooting 125gr sjhp .357 in this gun was...an experience. there is noticeable recoil and after putting about 75 rounds downrange the web of my shooting hand was red and sore. Now having said that I can also say that the recoil is allot better in this gun than most lightweight Smith .357 and .38+P guns I have shot. I attribute this to the guns solid construction of steel and not aluminum, scandium, or titanium. Yes this gun is heavy for it's size but it is what I call good weight and makes the gun inherently a good shooter for rapid fire engagements. I will be changing the front sights of the gun as I don't like the ones on the gun now...I'll probably change them out to XS big dots or some other night site that gives good contrast. I think night sights on a defensive gun are a must.
But having said that...This gun shot very well in tests I put it through. since this is a combat gun I only ran it through combat drills. All drills were done from concealment draw at ranges out to 15 yards. All targets were blue man sized targets with scoring rings. All shooting was done double action.
The first drill I did was the double tap from draw in under two seconds from 5 yards...one shot was in the x ring and the other was in the nine very close to the X.
The second drill I did was a 5x5x5x5 or five shots at five yards all within 5 inches in five seconds. this was also done from draw and fire. here are the results of that drill and I'll let you all come to your own conclusion on how the gun performed.
[Broken External Image]
Next I attempted the same drill at the 15 yard line and here are the results.
[Broken External Image]
I next attempted to head shots at 15 yards with the SP101 using a semi rapid fire two hands and this is how it preformed.
[Broken External Image]
I feel that the gun does shoot a little low from point of aim and I don't know how to fix that perhaps after I put new sights on it will shoot better point of aim. It may have also been the ammo I was using I only used Remington 125 gr sjhp for this testing.
Overall I think this is a great CCW gun or a BUG for law enforcement. It would also serve well as a truck gun as it is stainless steel and will take years of abuse without wear on the finish.
Overall I give this gun 4 dead bad guys out of 5 as a CCW choice.
Does anyone else have any experience with the SP101? Let me know what you think of it.
