GP-100 finish

[Tim Whittaker]

I'm going to buy a 3 or 4" gp-100 within the next 2 weeks, I fully plan to run only hot (real hot) magnums through it (the kind that would make WS2 proud) My question is, Is there any difference in strenght between Stainless and the blue GP's? If I go with the blued, I'll probably have it Hard Chromed (rust preventative measure) Thanks for your insight. .........Whit

 

[RWK]

Whit . . .

Our friend C R Sam has posted a couple excellent comments re the strength or ordnance versus stainless steels (available through the TFL archives). In general, blued ordnance steel is somewhat stronger, while stainless is more corrosion resistant. Both are likely adequate for virtually all purposes.

Ruger's GP-100s, however, present a slightly different situation because: (a) their stainless alloy is stronger than most and (b) all GP-100s are "bank vault" strong.

Obviously, a hard-chromed blue GP-100 is the "best of both worlds": ordnance steel strong and stainless steel corrosion resistant.

Sam, your expertise would certainly be valuable here.

 

[Tim Whittaker]

I found a 'smith not too far from where I live. I'm going to have him smooth the trigger and give it a de-burring, and get rid of any milling marks. I'm still not too sure of the finish. Stainless or blue. .......Whit

 

[Chad Young]

Faced with the same decision, I made a purely subjective decision: I thought the blue looked more "serious."

Good choice of revolver, by the way.

Oh, for lots of fun, I recommend a 125gr Remington Golden Sabre over 18.5gr of Winchester 296 powder. Use a magnum primer and a heavy crimp. These loads went through my chronograph at about 1650 fps.

 

[Tim Whittaker]

Chad,

What kind of platform do you use? That is about what I'm looking for out of the Ruger. For awhile there, I had thought of a 3" 44 Mag. but was strongly told that there isn't anything fun about touching off one of those. Thanks. .......Whit

 

[WESHOOT2]

"STRONG LIKE BULL"

I own two stainless 4" GP's; recommend.

Go ahead, make me proud.


ps I use a 357 Redhawk for 'completely stupid' testing, but loads are DEVELOPED in GP