Driftwood Johnson
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Howdy
Anybody who is used to reading my posts probably knows that I am a dyed in the wool fan of Smith and Wesson revolvers. I have over three dozen of them, to tell you the truth I don't really know how many. The oldest was made in 1863, the newest in 2003.
I am also quite impressed with Ruger single action revolvers, I must have a dozen of them; a few Three Screw Blackhawks, my old 45 Colt/45 ACP convertible Blackhawk, plus several Vaqueros, old model and new.
But for some reason I have never owned a double action Ruger. I remember back when the Security Six first came out in the early 1970s, I thought they looked like pretty neat revolvers. But for some reason I never bought one. As time went on, my collection of Smiths grew by leaps and bounds, but I never thought too much about buying a Ruger double action.
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Last Saturday I stopped into a local shop and there was a nice looking GP 100 in the display case. One of the things I liked about it was the barrel underlug was half length. I really don't care for the modern trend with most Double Action revolvers towards full length underlugs. The price was right so I took it home. Checking the Serial Number on the Ruger website I found out it was made in 1997.
I did not get a chance to fire it last weekend, so I spent a good deal of time this week just getting used to it. It certainly is not a Smith and Wesson, the differences in design are too many to mention. Not that that is a bad thing, I long ago recognized Bill Ruger's genius for firearm design, using manufacturing techniques not available when many of the great old designs of his competitors were first designed.
I had some time yesterday and decided to take my new GP 100 out for a spin. I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of it to a couple of 357 Smiths. I selected my wonderful old Model 19-3, that I bought brand, spanky new in 1975, and a Model 28-2 that was made in 1965.
Here are the three revolvers, top to bottom Model 19-3, GP 100, and Model 28-2. A fairer comparison would probably have been with a S&W L frame revolver, since they are probably a bit more similar in size to the Ruger. But I don't own any L frames. So I chose the K frame 19 and the N frame 28 because the barrel lengths were the same (six inches) and all were wearing their original factory grips.
For ammo I brought a couple of boxes of Remington 38 Special 158 grain lead Semi-Wadcutters and a box and a half of Federal American Eagle 357 Magnum 158 grain jacketed soft points. Nothing special about the ammo, just some factory stuff I had laying around. I set up my targets really close, about 15 feet (just because that is where the close in target stands are located at my club). I did all my test shooting off of a sandbagged rest. The first groups were all fired single action.
Please don't take me to task for how limited my testing was, I just wanted a simple comparison, with a couple of boxes of factory ammo off a rest. Nothing super sophisticated or all inclusive about my range test. And please cut me a little bit of slack because my eyesight is probably worse than anybody reading this, so the accuracy is not as good as some others might be able to do.
Here is the first group of targets. In case you can't read my scribbling, there were all fired with the 38s. Six O'Clock hold, five rounds each. Left to right, GP 100, Model 19, and Model 28.
This group of targets were all shot with 357 Mags. Again, left to right, GP 100, Model 19, & Model 28. In all fairness, that low shot with the Ruger was a flyer, poor trigger technique. For some reason the Model 19 group is really low, but that is five shots into a 'clover leaf' shaped group, all five touching.
What can I say? My Model 19 has the crispest, smoothest trigger of the three. I just squeeze it lightly and it fires. That terrific single action trigger is probably the biggest reason the 19 grouped so well. In my probably very biased opinion, the Model 28 had the 2nd best trigger of the three, with the Ruger coming in a close third. I will say, cocking the hammers between shots, the Model 19 is also the crispest and quickest. Not disturbing the sight picture at all.
After target shooting from a rest I stood up and did some double action 357 Mag shooting with all three revolvers. Nothing for accuracy, just to see which revolver was the most comfortable to shoot relatively rapid fire double action with factory grips. I had expected the rubber grips of the Ruger to be the most comfortable to shoot. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Goncalo Alves oversized target grips on the Model 19 were the most comfortable. They seemed to transfer the recoil to my hand with the least impact. The Ruger grips came in a close second for comfort, and the Magna grips of the Model 28 were allowing the trigger guard to bite my fingers a little bit. Let me add that the ultra smooth double action trigger of the Model 19 probably added to the comfort of shooting it. None of the guns had a bad DA trigger, but the Model 19 was the best. Super silky-smooth.
After that, I sat down and kicked a couple of tin cans around on the 25 yard berm until I ran out of 38 Special ammo. Yes, I wound up shooting the Model 19 the most, because I just like it the best.
All in all, a couple of very enjoyable hours at the range. Nothing wrong with the Ruger, I'm glad I bought it. But I still like Smiths best.
Yes, I am biased.
Anybody who is used to reading my posts probably knows that I am a dyed in the wool fan of Smith and Wesson revolvers. I have over three dozen of them, to tell you the truth I don't really know how many. The oldest was made in 1863, the newest in 2003.
I am also quite impressed with Ruger single action revolvers, I must have a dozen of them; a few Three Screw Blackhawks, my old 45 Colt/45 ACP convertible Blackhawk, plus several Vaqueros, old model and new.
But for some reason I have never owned a double action Ruger. I remember back when the Security Six first came out in the early 1970s, I thought they looked like pretty neat revolvers. But for some reason I never bought one. As time went on, my collection of Smiths grew by leaps and bounds, but I never thought too much about buying a Ruger double action.
************
Last Saturday I stopped into a local shop and there was a nice looking GP 100 in the display case. One of the things I liked about it was the barrel underlug was half length. I really don't care for the modern trend with most Double Action revolvers towards full length underlugs. The price was right so I took it home. Checking the Serial Number on the Ruger website I found out it was made in 1997.
I did not get a chance to fire it last weekend, so I spent a good deal of time this week just getting used to it. It certainly is not a Smith and Wesson, the differences in design are too many to mention. Not that that is a bad thing, I long ago recognized Bill Ruger's genius for firearm design, using manufacturing techniques not available when many of the great old designs of his competitors were first designed.
I had some time yesterday and decided to take my new GP 100 out for a spin. I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of it to a couple of 357 Smiths. I selected my wonderful old Model 19-3, that I bought brand, spanky new in 1975, and a Model 28-2 that was made in 1965.
Here are the three revolvers, top to bottom Model 19-3, GP 100, and Model 28-2. A fairer comparison would probably have been with a S&W L frame revolver, since they are probably a bit more similar in size to the Ruger. But I don't own any L frames. So I chose the K frame 19 and the N frame 28 because the barrel lengths were the same (six inches) and all were wearing their original factory grips.
For ammo I brought a couple of boxes of Remington 38 Special 158 grain lead Semi-Wadcutters and a box and a half of Federal American Eagle 357 Magnum 158 grain jacketed soft points. Nothing special about the ammo, just some factory stuff I had laying around. I set up my targets really close, about 15 feet (just because that is where the close in target stands are located at my club). I did all my test shooting off of a sandbagged rest. The first groups were all fired single action.
Please don't take me to task for how limited my testing was, I just wanted a simple comparison, with a couple of boxes of factory ammo off a rest. Nothing super sophisticated or all inclusive about my range test. And please cut me a little bit of slack because my eyesight is probably worse than anybody reading this, so the accuracy is not as good as some others might be able to do.
Here is the first group of targets. In case you can't read my scribbling, there were all fired with the 38s. Six O'Clock hold, five rounds each. Left to right, GP 100, Model 19, and Model 28.
This group of targets were all shot with 357 Mags. Again, left to right, GP 100, Model 19, & Model 28. In all fairness, that low shot with the Ruger was a flyer, poor trigger technique. For some reason the Model 19 group is really low, but that is five shots into a 'clover leaf' shaped group, all five touching.
What can I say? My Model 19 has the crispest, smoothest trigger of the three. I just squeeze it lightly and it fires. That terrific single action trigger is probably the biggest reason the 19 grouped so well. In my probably very biased opinion, the Model 28 had the 2nd best trigger of the three, with the Ruger coming in a close third. I will say, cocking the hammers between shots, the Model 19 is also the crispest and quickest. Not disturbing the sight picture at all.
After target shooting from a rest I stood up and did some double action 357 Mag shooting with all three revolvers. Nothing for accuracy, just to see which revolver was the most comfortable to shoot relatively rapid fire double action with factory grips. I had expected the rubber grips of the Ruger to be the most comfortable to shoot. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Goncalo Alves oversized target grips on the Model 19 were the most comfortable. They seemed to transfer the recoil to my hand with the least impact. The Ruger grips came in a close second for comfort, and the Magna grips of the Model 28 were allowing the trigger guard to bite my fingers a little bit. Let me add that the ultra smooth double action trigger of the Model 19 probably added to the comfort of shooting it. None of the guns had a bad DA trigger, but the Model 19 was the best. Super silky-smooth.
After that, I sat down and kicked a couple of tin cans around on the 25 yard berm until I ran out of 38 Special ammo. Yes, I wound up shooting the Model 19 the most, because I just like it the best.
All in all, a couple of very enjoyable hours at the range. Nothing wrong with the Ruger, I'm glad I bought it. But I still like Smiths best.
Yes, I am biased.