Dismayed by revolver quality generally, with very few exceptions

[1168]

Man, sure reading of so many Colt King Cobras breaking hammers. And trigger return springs and transfer bars. And a couple firing pins. All with low miles. Then getting the gun back & the hammer breaks again.

Mine is around 1300 rds roughly and it's been fine.

Guys examine the insides and say the parts are all chintzy. (Undersized)

I was hunting for a GP100 but I recall how the 3" .44 round-butt I had was just on the side of "too big" to CC.

I've decided to get an SP101. I've a couple before. They are very close to the size of my King Cobra and only weigh about an ounce less. Still in the sweet spot of easy practice & carry yet tames the .357 enough.

I'll polish up the internals & lighten the hammer spring a little.

Will get a 3". Preferably adjustable sights. A 6-shot .327 is tempting but I'm leaning to a .357 5-shot.

Please purchase a 4”, target sight, .327 SP101 so Ruger keeps selling them long enough for me to get one too.

[Ron3]

Please purchase a 4”, target sight, .327 SP101 so Ruger keeps selling them long enough for me to get one too.

Sorry to disappoint ya but I ordered a 3" .357 Lipsey model 15707.

I was interested in the 4" but that's a little long to CC and it seems nobody makes such a holster for it anyway.

I'll probably start with an 11 or 12 lb hammer spring. (I try to only use Federal primers) and then do some polishing. I'd like to leave the return spring alone.

I think the return spring is 10 lbs. There are 8's and a 7.5 lb available but no 9 lb. I remember trying an 8 lb in a gp100 or sp101 many years ago and it was too weak. As in I'd release the trigger and sometimes feel it return afterward. Like a "hangfire" trigger return. No thanks. I understand polishing can make everything work easier, though.

The gun won't see anything under 140gr bullets. And Enforcer powder is as slow as I go.

[1_click_off]

I am eying the Python combat elite for a boat/swamp sidearm.

[1168]

Sorry to disappoint ya but I ordered a 3" .357 Lipsey model 15707.

I was interested in the 4" but that's a little long to CC and it seems nobody makes such a holster for it anyway.

I'll probably start with an 11 or 12 lb hammer spring. (I try to only use Federal primers) and then do some polishing. I'd like to leave the return spring alone.

I think the return spring is 10 lbs. There are 8's and a 7.5 lb available but no 9 lb. I remember trying an 8 lb in a gp100 or sp101 many years ago and it was too weak. As in I'd release the trigger and sometimes feel it return afterward. Like a "hangfire" trigger return. No thanks. I understand polishing can make everything work easier, though.

The gun won't see anything under 140gr bullets. And Enforcer powder is as slow as I go.

JM Custom Kydex made my GP100 RDS holster, and it wasn’t listed. I agree that 3” makes more sense, and is about the same overall size as a G17, IIRC.

[Ron3]

I got the SP-101.

Everything looks good. Cleaned it up and installed a Wolff 10 lb hammer spring. I didn't take it down & clean it out / polish anything, though. Need to see how it shoots, first. The 10 lb hammer spring brought the trigger pull down from really heavy to just heavy. About like a typical S&W factory weight.

Cylinder ends all measure .3565" dia. best I can measure them, anyway.

Cylinder gap (checking a few points, hammer cocked me pulling cylinder rearward to hammer down me pushing cylinder forward) ranged from not quite able to get a .007" feeler in to not quite able to get a .006" in. So basically .0055 - .0065". I couldn't get a good bore measurement.

The adjustable rear sight is nice. I painted the really tall front sight fluorescent orange on top of white. Love that tall sight!

Bonus: It fits my new model Colt King Cobra holster. Nice!

It would be cool if the hammer spur was rounded.

My longest reloads, 187 gr, fit the chambers with a little room to spare, even.

[Andyd]

Raymond Sassia was a French cop who had trained with the NYPD when that PD still used revolvers and upon his return to France Sassia was in charge of firearms procurement for the GIGN. He ordered 500 S&W M19-3 with fixed sights and a three inch barrel and those guns did not hold up well to the daily shooting. They procured some Ruger revolvers and manufactured a slightly modified version of the SP101 with a six round cylinder, the MR88, and with the heavy influence of Sassia Manurhin developed the Manurhin MR73.

The original MR73s made in Mulhouse, Alsace are virtually indestructible.

[1168]

Raymond Sassia was a French cop who had trained with the NYPD when that PD still used revolvers and upon his return to France Sassia was in charge of firearms procurement for the GIGN. He ordered 500 S&W M19-3 with fixed sights and a three inch barrel and those guns did not hold up well to the daily shooting. They procured some Ruger revolvers and manufactured a slightly modified version of the SP101 with a six round cylinder, the MR88, and with the heavy influence of Sassia Manurhin developed the Manurhin MR73.

The original MR73s made in Mulhouse, Alsace are virtually indestructible.

Do you know where one would get a RDS mount for a MR73? I do wish the Trauch polymer grips were more readily available for other brands, too.

I took apart my GP100 recently and cleaned up the insides a bit with a stone. I always hear about how Rugers are full of burrs. Mine wasn’t as bad as anticipated, and there were no major imperfections on any friction surface. None of which I stoned. Most or all of the important internal parts are stainless, which is great for me. Forgot to measure for shims. It seems surprisingly well-fitted for a gun that probably has little or no hand-fitting, and mass production QA/QC. So far, internal work seems unnecessary, though I did replace the springs with slightly lighter ones, to see how that goes.

There’s probably a SP101 or two in my future, since the GP100 seems to be very durable, with more than good-enough action feel, and of course the RDS helps with precision.

Shot my 2006-ish Cimmaron/Uberti fake Colt 1873 this morning. It still works beautifully.

P&S Modcast has an episode on snubbies from last year that touches on some of this, and one of the speakers seems to have inside knowledge of S&W efforts to un**** themselves for 2024. Another speaker seems to think Taurus, of all brands, is starting to get a grip on quality in a world with few experienced revolver-fitters. Hopefully Smiff’s work on the UC models has taught them something that they can apply to other models, and if Taurus really does have no-fitting revolvers figured out, maybe Smiff (and other brands) can learn something from them, as well.

I might have already mentioned that P&S Modcast has a good episode on .357, also.

[gaijin]

I hate to say this 1168- but there is a special level of HELL reserved for those that put RDs on a Manhurin Revo.

[1168]

I hate to say this 1168- but there is a special level of HELL reserved for those that put RDs on a Manhurin Revo.

Why? Revolvers are uniquely suited to high degrees of precision for a handgun, and are well suited to handgun hunting. In fact, I’d bet the first optic you saw on a handgun would have been a scoped revolver, back in the day. GIGN even had a scoped Manhurin. I’d say banging steel or murdering feral swine at ~100 yds with unmodified post-40 eyeballs is well within the fun factor of a nicely made .357.

It’s a reversible modification on most revolvers that have adjustable rear sights, such as SP-101, GP100, Blackhawk, Redhawk, and J-Frames on up through the S&W line. I also wish someone would make a plate for a Kimber K6.

Nostalgia isn’t always the way you remember it….when I was a kid, lots of Boomer-gen hunters owned scoped Smiths, and it was normal.

[artoter]

Raymond Sassia was a French cop who had trained with the NYPD when that PD still used revolvers and upon his return to France Sassia was in charge of firearms procurement for the GIGN. He ordered 500 S&W M19-3 with fixed sights and a three inch barrel and those guns did not hold up well to the daily shooting. They procured some Ruger revolvers and manufactured a slightly modified version of the SP101 with a six round cylinder, the MR88, and with the heavy influence of Sassia Manurhin developed the Manurhin MR73.

The original MR73s made in Mulhouse, Alsace are virtually indestructible.

Nice gun.