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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 190
Campfire Member
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OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 190 |
Local gun shop has a used 2" SP101 for $395. How are they for reliability? It would be for my wife and she doesn't want a semi auto. She shot the S&W BodyGuard in 38 and the Ruger LCR in 38 but preferred a heavier gun. She liked the size of my boss's S&W model 60 but that wasn't for sale.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,008
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,008 |
My 16 year old daughter has an SP 101 .357 for home defense. It doesn't have a ton of rounds through it, but it works fine. Perfectly actually. We bought it for the extra weight so that light .38 Spcl handloads would feel extra nice in the recoil department. We put Crimson Trace grips on it. She loves that gun.
As long as you don't mind an exposed hammer, I'd say go for it.
Last edited by Waders; 03/17/15. Reason: fixed typo
Wade
"Let's Roll!" - Todd Beamer 9/11/01.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 12,192
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 12,192 |
Hot loads with cold hands sting a bit. Don't visit the range in winter. Other than that it's a great little gun.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 10,573
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 10,573 |
It is an awesome gun if the trigger pull is not a hindrance. I would have her dry fire it before buying. I carried a 3 inch model for about 3 years.
"Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" - Abraham Lincoln
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,726
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,726 |
I think they are great guns. Grips are a little small for my hand so I put a Hogue Rubber grip and they change the angle. Much easier to control the mag rounds. Mine are all 3" guns. Love them.
NRA LIFE MEMBER GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS ESPECIALLY THE SNIPERS! "Suppose you were an idiot And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,812
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,812 |
Local gun shop has a used 2" SP101 for $395. How are they for reliability? It would be for my wife and she doesn't want a semi auto. She shot the S&W BodyGuard in 38 and the Ruger LCR in 38 but preferred a heavier gun. She liked the size of my boss's S&W model 60 but that wasn't for sale. I have a 2 1/2" SP 101 and I like it very much. Easy to shoot and hit with in my experience.
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,339
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,339 |
Very nice revolvers. No worries about reliability, pull the trigger and it'll go boom.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 59,055
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 59,055 |
Local gun shop has a used 2" SP101 for $395. How are they for reliability? It would be for my wife and she doesn't want a semi auto. She shot the S&W BodyGuard in 38 and the Ruger LCR in 38 but preferred a heavier gun. She liked the size of my boss's S&W model 60 but that wasn't for sale. Can't go wrong with the SP101.. I've got two - had 'em for years - and they've performed perfectly every single time.. I'm sure you know you can run .38 Spec through it if she finds the magnum a bit much.. And it can be in that platform; stout .357M loads in the SP can make a few people wish they had padded gloves on.. But as to reliability - I cannot think of another revolver of that size being any better..
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69 Pro-Constitution. LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651 |
Wife has a SP101 in .327 Fed. Excellent gun.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 68,922
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 68,922 |
Very nice revolvers. No worries about reliability, pull the trigger and it'll go boom. ^^^This^^^
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 973
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 973 |
I bought an sp101 with the 4 inch barrel. I bought it for multi purpose, range, defense, for the wife.
It does recoil quite a bit with 357 mag loads, but isn't insane. My wife shoots light 38 special loads out of it and seems to do ok with it. she has small child like hands and although she thinks the gun is heavy, she can actually grip it.
I had issues shooting extremely dirty hand loads out of it. The grime would get under the cylinder spindle and bind up the cylinder. I changed my loads to something cleaner and no problems since.
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 823
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 823 |
Wife has a Smith Model 60, I have an SP101. What that really means is she has 2 guns that handle the same, take the same speedloaders, and she grabs whichever one she's closest to. No matter what else I have on me, she can get to something she's used to. Both are fired more with wax loads than real ammo. It's the only kind of practice she can do, regularly. Tried to get her going with several autoloaders; she never could operate them consistently. The Ruger took action work, even for my use. Now it's as easy and slick as the Smith, almost.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 18,265
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 18,265 |
Mine is the hammer less 2 inch or so barrel. Just a bit heavy, but works fine.
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 56
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 56 |
It's my first choice for a female customers with little experience and who can't rack a slide. They respond very well to a trigger job (polish, shims, springs in that order).
Like all Ruger products, they're a finely built tank. I've NEVER heard of one wearing out, out of time, or breaking.
Don't be afraid to change the grips, Hogue or something will make a BIG difference in felt recoil.
Hornady has come out with a new 90gr self defense ammo in 38spl made for women. Low recoil but it still uses their Critical Defense FTX bullet technology. It's easy to see on the shelf - pink trimmed box.
If it's for social work order one w/o adjustable sites so it will be less likely to hang up and come clean out of pocket or purse.
The choice of hammered or hammerless is another discussion.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 32,044 |
I like mine but hated the factory sight and grips changed both . If she can't get it done with five shots in her home then get her a Pump Shotgun in 410 ga
A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 80
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 80 |
I carried an SP101 as back-up during my tenure in law enforcement. I also sometimes carried it off-duty. I thought it was a fantastic piece of equipment. Mine was an accurate shooter. I shot it quite a bit when I had it, too. No problems of any kind, but I didn't expect any, based on my then prior experience with a Security Six. I'd probably want to try the trigger pulls on a few if a shop has more than one in inventory, and choose between them based on the one with the smoothest pull, but unless the quality control has taken a serious digger, I don't think you can go wrong with an SP101.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,058
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,058 |
Not mentioned yet, but if 5-shots don't work you can be assured whopping bad people in the head with one will not harm the gun...
�When in doubt, I whip it out.� Uncle Ted
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