Ruger DA .357 Questions

3

300lbGorilla

New member
Soooooo... I've NEVER shot a revolver before. Started with 20 guage shotguns (semi-auto and pump)... skeet shooting. Then a Glock 22 and a Ruber 10/22. Then out of shooting for a couple of years.

Getting back into it... and then some. A buddy and I are both really into it. I went shooting with him and his wife a few days ago and he had rented a Ruger DA .357 for her to shoot using .38 Special.

So, I got to put six rounds through it... the single action was busted (hammer wouldnt' stay back), but I still put all six shots in a really good group... three right on top of one another. I was quite pleased. It had a four inch barrel and I'm pretty sure it was a full-sized frame.

So, here're the questions. Would this be a good gun to get next? (I already know the answer) I'm sure there are differing opinions on brand superiority, but can I go wrong with Ruger? Should I check out other manufacturers? What would be equivalent guns from other manufacturers?

At this point it's a toss up as to what I'd get next. It IS going to be either a revolver chambered in this round OR a Sig. I have to wait until August either way (one handgun per 30 days rule be damned!). I guess I'm basically asking for you all to convince me that a revolver is the only choice for my next choice, though I will need to shoot more to be sure... boo hoo ;).
 
E

Eric Larsen

New member
(Pocket watch going back and forth) Listen to the sound of my voice (typing :D ) You are getting very sleepy and very relaxed!
Ok.....at the count of 3 you will awake refreshed, alert and will proceed to the nearest "good" gun store and purchase a Ruger GP100 4" 357 rev. :D :D :D
Ok.....the Ruger is a solid solid gun and I seriously doubt anyone will tell you different. Just dont get one that you cant shoot s/a :eek: They are a very well made and quality gun, period.
Other choices are out there...similar sized S&W's even the Taurus 357 Tracker would suit you well. The best thing for you is go a a wheel friendly gun store and drool, play and decide which you like. Even better if you have a range locally that rents guns..go shoot a couple of whatever you can find. Very Very helpful.
IMO, you cant go wrong with a GP100....Shoot well
 
S

Scarborough

New member
Hold on gorilla. Go back to sleep. It's a nice used Security Six that you want to buy. O.K. wake up and get out there and get it before Eric puts you under again.;)
 
S

Sisco

New member
Ya can't hardly go wrong with the Ruger. Use the search function in this room for GP100 or Ruger and you'll find all you need to know.
 
4

4V50 Gary

Staff
flinching

Want to cure flinching? Not to say you've got a problem but it's easier to cure with a DA revolver as opposed to a pistol. The Ball and Dummy exercise entails loading the revolver with both live rounds and spent shells. It's done randomly or by someone else and the shooter concentrates on a smooth trigger pull. When the shooter flinches, (s)he'll know about it and self-correct him/herself.

Besides that, revolvers are just darn fun to shoot and I still enjoy hauling them out to the range for a workout session.

On that particular Ruger, it sounds like the single action notch of the hammer is worn (or someone bobbed the tail of the trigger). It's an easy fix.
 
3

300lbGorilla

New member
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll check into the Security Six.

Gary, a buddy and I actually load up each others' mags with dummy rounds... it's made a huge difference in both of our abilities.

It seems I'm turning into a bit of a Ruger guy... already have two, looks like the next will be one, too.

Interesting.

Again... THANKS!!!
 
J

Jim March

New member
I'll betcha the SA trigger mode on that gun didn't break, it was deliberately disabled. Some people do that, for a variety of reasons, most commonly to prevent anybody claiming later that you cocked the gun into "hair trigger mode" before shooting somebody.

This is sometimes done without bobbing the hammer, sometimes with.

It wouldn't terribly shock me if a range did this for safety reasons.

I've never heard of a Ruger SA sear "breaking".

The rental gun you shot might have been the older Security/Service Six. They were good guns, lighter than the GP100, not as strong - a steady diet of hot .357s can stretch these. The GP100 is seriously tough for it's size, it's probably the smallest .357 made that can take a steady diet of monster hunting loads if you want. It might be tougher than the S&W L-Frames, because it has solid lockup at both the crane (front) and rear of the cylinder. It's at least as tough as an L-Frame S&W, and possibly as strong as the N-Frame which are bigger.

The strongest .357 DA revolver ever made was the Ruger Redhawk in .357. That gun was designed as a .44Mag and is stronger than any S&W or Colt. Once the GP100 shipped, the Redhawk .357 was dropped as "overkill" - we have at least one pro ammo developer around here that uses rare .357 Redhawks as "unbreakable test beds". It's very unlikely this was your range beast, it's a big ol' sucker and has enough "cult following" to command a good price used.
 
T

tog

New member
i still wish they would make a 357 redhawk with a 7 or even 8 shot cylinder, hell, i would take one in a 6 shooter,, that would be one fine hunk of metal, and btw i think redhawk are really cool lookin
 
N

Nekron

New member
.357 Redhawk

I have one of those with a 5.5 inch barrel. It is definitely an excellent example of over-engineering; I think that's why I like it so much. I put a set of Hogue Pau Ferro grips without finger grooves on it and it feels great. Looks pretty as a picture, too. :cool:

Funniest thing I've ever done with it?: Shot a cylinder full of .38's through it once. Haha, it was like dry-firing, only louder! :D

John
 
T

tog

New member
well is went out today and got me a full lug 4inch gp100-gonna go blow some stuff up with it tomorrow? anyone know of a good brand of speedloader and where to get it? also why in the heck did they put the disassembly pin inside the grips so it would rattle around? i took it out and put it in the bag that holds the lock, it still rattles a little from the safety transfer bar but not much, what a nice gun, thought it might be too small for my hands but the factory grips fit great, we'll see how it shoots and what it likes
 
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Jim March

New member
Right, it'll eat from S&W L-Frame 6-shot (models 586/686) speedloaders, or Colt Python speedloaders. Avoid speedloaders marked for the 686+, that's a 7-shot (mentioned in case you buy online or mailorder).

The HKS "twist to release" speedloaders are the most common, and work OK but not great. Safariland-type "push to release" are faster, and what pro competitors use.

Dillon has some Maxfires in stock, which are an oddball:

http://dillonprecision.com/template/p.cfm?maj=52&min=0&dyn=1&

At $10 for two, you can afford to play with 'em :).

The nice thing about these is that they'll often clear factory grips where something else won't. They're a "push in, pull to the side to release" system. See also www.speedloaders.com

Here's the really fast type:

http://dillonprecision.com/template/p.cfm?maj=52&min=3&dyn=1&
 
T

Tim Croley

New member
I bought my KGP141 last week at the Montgomery gun show. I have only had time to put 40 rounds throught it, but I am really pleased with it.

I am in the process of getting a set of grip inserts from Lett and an orange insert front sight from Ruger.

I looked at a Taurus Tracker, but the Ruger just seemed the best way to go. If the Taurus had been lots cheaper, I might have bought it, but I hate those hammer locks.:(

You can't go wrong with the GP100!:)
 
T

tog

New member
ok, thanks for the info on speedloaders, will check it out, now about the front sight,, why is it black, my redhawk came witha n orange one that i like very much, any ideas on adding color to the gp100 sight? cheapwise? or do i need to get one from ruger somehow? if so, how? and how much??
 
J

Jim March

New member
If you have any interest in "combat uses" for this baby, I recommend not screwing around with orange plastic, and going straight to an Ashley Outdoors (now called "Express Sight Systems") Tritium setup. See also http://www.ashleyoutdoors.com - I recommend downloading the .PDF catalog.

If that's a fixed-sight GP100, a Tritium front dot alone will run $60...if you've got adjustable sights, it'll be $90 for a combination of front Tritium dot and and a replacement rear blade in a shallow "V" with a white stripe vertical bar at the bottom.

Either way, you'll have a choice between small dot and big dot, this refers to the size of the white enamel area around the Tritium - it's the same Tritium lamp either way.

Big dot is for fast target layout in a day or twighlight fight, at the expense of some fine accuracy at the range. The small dot will be more precise by a little bit.

A *lot* of fights happen at low light levels. You need at least a Tritium front. Ashley does the best Tritium fronts out there, bar none, by surrounding the tritium with white enamel and then a thin black metal outline around that. WAY better than Trijicon's answer when there's light out, and still better than Trijicon in the dark because the Tritium tends to illuminate the white enamel some.

I would go with a small dot front, myself, because I like accuracy. You can also combine an Ashley front on an adjustable GP100 with a 1raggedhole ghost ring apeture sight at the rear...see also www.oneraggedhole.com - for $25 with two hole sizes included, it's cheap to play with and combines well with an Ashley Tritium up front. I would paint white marks on four points on the ghost ring rear, either in an "X" pattern or cross. I'd experiment with whiteout at the range before doing it in white enamel.

Good sights MATTER.
 
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tog

New member
forgive me if i am a little dense, but went to the ashley outdoors site, found ruger pistol sights and the gp100 was not one of them, what would be the front sight only to get ? and how woule i install it myself? or would i need to get someone with some skill to do that?
 
J

Jim March

New member
Download the catalog in .PDF form!

It's in there, but it's not in the .html web-form section.

Or just call AO at the phone contact.
 
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