Opinions of the Ruger SP101 .22?

[JohnKSa]

I have not yet run into a Ruger double action revolver that would lock up if shot fast in DA. But it is certainly true that if you don't release the trigger far enough forward between shots, the next trigger pull will won't do anything other than waste effort.

Most of the time, when the trigger is not allowed to travel far enough forward on the return, the next pull will just let the trigger move all the way to the rear without doing anything at all. However, if you get things just right (or just wrong, I guess) you can end up with a situation where if you pull the trigger, it will abruptly stop short midway through the pull and the action will feel like it's locked. It can be something of a surprise to the shooter if that happens, but it's really not a problem--simply releasing the trigger fully will immediately clear the apparent lock and return the gun to normal function.

There's actually a warning in the manual that not fully releasing the trigger can cause the revolver to not fire on the next trigger pull.

This "feature", by the way, is another reason I'm not a fan of putting reduced weight trigger return springs in the Ruger DA revolvers.

 

[Waspinator]

I have shot that 1991 Sp101 I posted above fairly rapidly and I did not experience any type of lock-up. So, perhaps it was as John suggested that the trigger was not being fully released or maybe it was a problem to that specific gun that was mentioned?

 

[DPris]

Have a .357 & a .22 in the new 4.2 barrels.

Quite like both.
The .357 gives full 4-inch velocities in a lighter package for the outdoors & I bought the .22 for its quick ejection & easy reloading. No intention to shoot it double-action.
Trigger pulls tend to run quite heavy & are not for kids or anybody else with lesser hand strength.

Found I can easily tolerate the fiberoptics.
I prefer the adjustable sights, sold both of my fixed-sight SPs.

Replaced factory grips on both current SPs with Hogue wood.
Denis

 

[gyvel]

To Venom:

It would lock up in rapid double action

How badly? What happened to it? I am curious because the 90s ones interest me far more.

It remains a mystery to me. Two trips to Ruger didn't fix it, so I apparently got the proverbial lemon, possibly an out-of-spec or "stacking tolerances" problem.

What would happen is that during rapid double action fire the trigger would lock up solid. It required cocking the hammer to release it.

Although I was newly retired from my gunsmithing job in FL, I did nothing more than "field strip" it to see if there was something obvious. There wasn't, so, being a brand new gun, I elected to return it (twice) to Ruger who were unable to correct the problem. That soured me on Ruger DA revolvers, and I haven't had one since.

 

[JohnKSa]

..."stacking tolerances" problem.

I can sort of picture in my mind what was probably going on. It would happen if the trigger pivot pin were just a hair too far away from the hammer pivot pin. It's hard to imagine how that kind of thing would happen but it would be really hard to fix without just replacing the gun.

You might be able to kludge it by replacing what Ruger calls the "hammer dog" with one that was longer than spec, but I wouldn't guarantee it. I'm not that good at visualizing the 3d interaction of parts to feel fully confident that it would work.

 

[gyvel]

It was kind of an ego deflater since I have figured out some pretty knotty problems in my day. (Don't want that to sound like bragging; Most of them took a long time to figure out.) Since the gun was new, I didn't want to chance voiding any "warranty" that might exist, so I left it up to Ruger to solve the problem. They didn't after two tries, and that's why I just got rid of the gun.

It was a bit of a disappointment, too, since I have a fondness for .22 revolvers in general.

 

[Micahweeks]

If we're talking about the one that looks like the 4.2 inch .357 but without the underlug, then yes. I've shot one. It's not bad. The trigger is really no different than what I expect from most Ruger revolvers. I'm sure it gets nicer as you shoot it. I find it to be fine, though. I'm used to shooting several different guns with heavier triggers, though, so I think it's fine. Other than my 1911s, I don't normally shoot anything single action. I probably will buy one of these in the future to plink garden varmints with since .357 is too expensive (I gotta learn to reload eventually). Gotta finish the work on my project gun first, though. I think it's a good revolver for the money.

 

[JohnKSa]

I took my new SP101 to the range today and fired 200-300 rounds through it. Most of the shooting was done DA because that was more fun, but I did some SA shooting as well.

In spite of the already mentioned DA trigger pull weight, I can honestly say that it was not an issue on the range. I'll admit to having done some extensive dryfire practice with it in the week or so I have owned it, so I was already accustomed to the pull weight. Maybe that helped. By the way, the manual states that the gun can be dryfired without internal damage--very good news. You'll want to put in some dryfire time to get used to the DA trigger.

I was having too much fun to slow down and really concentrate on trying for itty-bitty groups, and I was shooting at a range where the maximum distance was only 15 yards. So I don't have any measured bragging groups to show. What I found was that at 7 yards, it was easy to make 2-3" groups, even shooting pretty fast DA. At 15 yards, it was no problem to keep a quick DA group inside the 5" bullseyes on the range-provided targets.

This gun is everything I hoped it would be and more. I found the DA trigger to be virtually a non-issue at the range even though I was expecting it to make it difficult to get good on-paper results due to the pull weight.

Best of all, I was shooting cheap bulk-packed .22LR ammo and never had a single issue. My wife was shooting her new SR-22 semi-auto and had several failures to feed, even with ammo that the gun tends to like. It was really nice for me to not have to even think about what kind of ammo I was poking into the SP101's cylinder.

If I lived in the country, this little revolver would be on my hip every time I walked out the back door, and I'd go broke buying .22LR ammo. Not only is it the perfect plinking gun, it's also accurate enough to do anything you'd want from a utility .22LR pistol.

If I had bought a gun like this years ago, I doubt I would even own any other .22LR handguns today.

Note: I decided to measure the DA trigger pull again given how easily I was able to manage it at the range. It does seem to have lightened somewhat with the dryfiring and range use.

I can now get all the way through the DA pull without the luggage scale registering more than 14lbs. Still pretty stiff, but better than the 15-17lbs I was measuring before via the same method.

I think that one of these days I'll go ahead and disassemble the trigger group to smooth it out as I've already done with the hammer linkage.

 

[JohnKSa]

Took the trigger group apart tonight and did some polishing. This work didn't make as much difference as was noted after cleaning up the hammer linkage, but a few spots really benefited from the attention.

The trigger return spring tunnel and the spring "cap" that engages the trigger plunger received most of the attention. I polished the outside of the cap where it rides in the tunnel and then polished the inside of the tunnel.

I also spent some time polishing the left edge of the trigger because I could see some marks showing contact with the trigger housing frame during the pull. I used a square ceramic file to do a little bit of smoothing on the inside of the trigger housing frame where the trigger was rubbing.

After the work, the DA trigger pull weight now peaks around 13lbs to 13.5lbs. Still definitely not a light trigger, but workable and smooth. Did I mention I really like this little revolver?

 

[bbqbob51]

I bought an SP101 8 shot 22lr a few weeks ago. I was in a local shop that was having a one day 10% over cost and they had one sitting there in the gun case, it looked beautiful. The price was $543, quite a reduction from the msrp of $699 and the best I've seen locally and couldn't resist. This revolver is a very handy size and is a great looking handgun with a nice finish.
I managed to get out and run a few rounds through it last weekend. I set up some cans about 30' away and it hit them very well. The DA trigger pull is very heavy and not particularly smooth, especially compared to my S&W 617 but the SA pull is decent. I do anticipate it will smooth out with use and to not plan on a trigger job until I have shot the crap out of it.
What I cannot figure out is why they seem to think they have to have such a heavy trigger pull out the factory door. Is it because they worry about reliable primer ignition? If Smith and Wesson can do it then they should be able to also.

 

[DPris]

As mentioned repeatedly all over the Internet- Stiff springs are necessary in this gun for reliable ignition.

This is not a Smith & Wesson.
Denis

 

[Rogervzv]

I have the SP101 .22LR. Fit and finish are superb. The trigger will always be stiff, but it will smooth out pretty fast. This is a very good and accurate gun.