Ruger SP101 w/ 3 1/6" Barrel Review

[JoeWilliams]

RUGER SP101

I've had my little Ruger since around the beginning of April, now, and have put 1200 rounds through it. The ammo has been a wide mix of factory and hand loaded .38 Specials and .357 Magnums. At this point, I feel confident discussing it, and recommending it without reservation. There have been zero malfunctions. You pull the trigger, the gun goes bang every time, without fail. Empty cases eject cleanly, though the extractor is shorter than the cases and you must press it firmly to kick them out.

Many may compare this gun to lightweight snubbies and pocket revolvers, but I do not think that is an accurate comparison. The SP101 is too big and heavy to be compared to them. What it is, is a very nice compact gun, one that rides easily on the belt and hides well, but is also big and heavy enough to tame rounds that are unpleasant and/or hard to control in the smaller revolvers. The heavy construction also contributes to an extremely rugged and durable gun. As the pic below shows, the barrel has a heavy and full length lug, and the stock grips are a thick rubber.

The barrel lug gives the gun a distinctly nose heavy feel. This helps settle the gun on target, helps the gun point better for me and, combined with the nice grips and overall weight, makes for a very controllable gun. It's also surprisingly pleasant to shoot with loads that are not fun in the ultra-lightweight revolvers. .38 Special +P loads are downright easy to shoot, standard pressure .38s are total pussycats and a TON of fun. My hand loaded .357s consist of a 158 grain cast bullet moving at 900-950 fps, and this is a load that is a lot of fun to shoot. 110 grain .357s are controllable, but do wear my hand out fairly quickly. I've read reviews where folks have said they find the SP101 to be controllable with full power .357s, and a couple masochists have even said they found it pleasant. Maybe for them. Not for me, though I have yet to try out Remington's 125 grain Golden Saber load. This is a reduced power load, and quite similar in velocity to a hand load I tried that was controllable and one I could practice with. Recoil isn't the only issue with the .357s. With the 110 grain and full power 125 grain loads, muzzle blast was pronounced and even distracting. A couple videos below may help you evaluate what the little gun is like with some different loads.

Shooting Winchester .38 Special SXTs


Shooting my .357 Magnum 158 grain cast bullet reloads


Shooting 110 grain Winchester White Box .357s


Shooting Speer 125 grain Gold Dot JHPs. No fun at all, at least not for me!!

This is a really accurate gun. It shoots well with about all ammo. With good ammo, it shoots very well, indeed. It does have a tendency to shoot 2 to 3 inches low with many loads, regardless of velocity and bullet weight. One reason I've chosen the Winchester SXTs as a carry round is that it shoots to point of aim. I've also come up with hand loads that do, also. I usually shoot this gun at 10 yards, though I did recently take it out to 25 yards to see how it did. The gun did fine... the shooter has decided he needs to practice a bit more at longer handgun ranges In addition to providing most satisfying results when target shooting, the gun delivers when I'm practicing rapid fire, from the draw, no matter how I'm using it this has proven to be a gun that is easy to get hits with.

My personal best group with this gun so far


50 rounds strong hand from 10 yards


And weak hand


This video and picture show how well she hits even in more dynamic shooting


This is the target after 50 rounds of the above:

The gun is really easy to clean. For routine cleaning, you just treat it like all revolvers. Scrub the bore, scrub the cylinders, and get the gunk off the parts you can reach. I think the bore must be quite smooth, because it cleans easily, and despite a pretty fair chunk of lead bullets down the barrel I've never had any leading problems. For more thorough cleaning, it takes down almost as easy (almost, I said) as a semi-auto. The manual is descriptive, and it only took me a minute or so to have it apart. Putting it back together is a bit more of a pain in the butt, because you have to get the pawl and the transfer bar lined up correctly. For me the pawl was no problem, but the transfer bar kept wanting to get jammed up. Even so, getting it back together only took two or three minutes. Below, she is pictured broken down, and all spic and spanned before reassembly.

As with all guns mine has a couple flaws. For the most part, I consider them minor.

When I got it, it was very well finished, with the exception of a small spot on the muzzle just below the front sight. Looks like a stain, or a polishing burn perhaps. No amount of cleaning has caused it to go away.

The trigger has smoothed up nicely, but it'll never compare to a S&W. Out of the box the double action pull was gritty, but that is gone now. It is still a long and comparatively heavy pull, and not particularly smooth. It's got a distinct stage just before hammer drop. This can be useful to fine tune a shot if target shooting, but I'm trying not to get into that habit. When doing rapid fire work, I do not notice it. The single action pull, on the other hand, is quite nice. It's crisp, clean, and as light as I want it to be. The trigger pull is a bit odd, though. It's very close to the palm of your hand. I was taught to use the pad of my finger to pull the trigger, but that's simply not feasible with this gun. I have to use the first joint. When the trigger pull is complete, it almost feels like you've got your hand completely closed.

You might also note in the above pictures that the trigger guard is basically touching the knuckle of my middle finger. With most of the loads I shoot, I do not notice this, even after a couple hundred rounds. With heavier recoiling loads, though, I assure you it is most noticeable. After getting my knuckle rapped a few times, I'm quite ready to go back to lighter loads.

The edges of the trigger are also pretty sharp. When I first got the gun, I'd actually thought about paying to have the edges rounded off (my mechanical abilities are such that if I took a Dremel to it I'd probably cut the thing in half.) Fairly quickly, though, it became something else I do not notice.

The most bothersome thing to me is the sights. They are relatively small, but in good light, or against a light target, they work very well. However in dim light, or against a dark target, the front sight can disappear fairly easily. I've considered taking some of my wife's nail polish to it to see if that resolves the problem, but most of the time the sight picture is so crisp and clean I hate to mess with it. I'm kind of torn here.

Finally, the gun's stats:
Weight: 27 ounces
Length: 8" (with 3 1/16" bbl)
Height: 4.5"
Width: 1.349"
Twist: 1:18 3/4"

To sum up, I've been smitten with this gun from the first shot. For me, it meets my needs very nicely. It's a wonderful carrying gun, camping gun, fishing gun, hiking gun, and fits just right in the survival back for the plane. It's flaws are few and minor, it's virtues many. It's a tough, rugged, versatile, dependable, reliable little gun, and has become one of my all time favorites out of the many I've owned. For those who are looking for a compact gun capable of handling powerful ammo, and can live with the 5 shot limitation, I recommend it without reservation.

[Bearhands]

A most excellent post/report/videography! Thanks very much. I 've been "jones'n" for the exact thing for some time now..... and according to my wallet, you're not helping!

[knight0334]

Damn nice job!!

[RoyJackson]

Thank you...very good review!

[Koli01]

Great report!
May I ask?
Why did you choose a sp101 w/ 3 1/6 bbl over a gp 100 w/ 4 bbl?

Just asking.

[normanvin]

Good report......

[JoeWilliams]

Originally Posted by Koli01

Great report!
May I ask?
Why did you choose a sp101 w/ 3 1/6 bbl over a gp 100 w/ 4 bbl?

Just asking.

I found it a good compromise between the smaller, lighter snubbies and a full sized gun like the GP100.

I needed a kind of "do it all" gun. One that would be adequate for carry and personal defense, while also being pleasant to carry while hiking, fishing, camping, and one that would be nice to take target shooting. Smaller snubbies are harder to shoot, and I don't particularly enjoy the experience. I chose the 3" barrel over the 2 1/4" barrel because it's much easier to shoot well without sacrificing much in the way of concealibility, and you actually gain a good bit of power. I chose the SP101 over the GP100 because it is smaller, more compact, and lighter. The full sized gun does have the extra shot, but I decided it was worth sticking with 5 shots in return for the reduced size and weight.

[stevieb92]

Great write up and thorough review!!!

[Koli01]

Originally Posted by JoeWilliams

I found it a good compromise between the smaller, lighter snubbies and a full sized gun like the GP100.

I needed a kind of "do it all" gun. One that would be adequate for carry and personal defense, while also being pleasant to carry while hiking, fishing, camping, and one that would be nice to take target shooting. Smaller snubbies are harder to shoot, and I don't particularly enjoy the experience. I chose the 3" barrel over the 2 1/4" barrel because it's much easier to shoot well without sacrificing much in the way of concealibility, and you actually gain a good bit of power. I chose the SP101 over the GP100 because it is smaller, more compact, and lighter. The full sized gun does have the extra shot, but I decided it was worth sticking with 5 shots in return for the reduced size and weight.

Very good! Thanks.

[RickD]

Thanks for a great review. Just picked up a used one with the 2 1/4" barrel. Smooth as silk, feels perfect in my hand. Great gun!