Can we get some info on the sp101 22lr.
Thats one Id like to try someday.
In what way? Price? Shoot-ability?
I have always wanted one.
Im curious about this one too.......
My vintage rimfire SP would bind when I first got it. I traced the problem to a rough machined edge on the blast shield which would catch the deformed edge of fired cases. Took five minutes with a Dremel to smooth out. Works flawlessly now.
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My comments are based on a sample of one so please keep that in mind.
The one I owned for about a year and a half had a lot of issues. It was one of the newer releases with a 4" barrel, not the older version that NIGHTLORD40K has pictured.
First, I realized shortly after buying it that it had a canted barrel that was off by 3-4 degrees. I was not paying close enough attention the day I bough it partly because I made a trade I was very happy with. I traded a Sig Sauer P556 pistol for the Ruger in question, along with a S&W 686+ Talo edition, for which I have another thread going right now. That gun also has a slightly canted barrel. In any case, the barrel cant on this Ruger was very noticeable and I'm still kicking myself for ever buying it when there was a really nice Smith 617 sitting right next to it. Too many guns changing hands, and I made two serious errors. At least the 686+ is a good shooter.
So a canted barrel was first. Then, I took it out and shot it, and the extraction was difficult to the point that I almost needed a mallet to hit the extractor rod. Eventually I would have bent it. I was actually hurting my hand trying to get spent cases out of it. So after some discussion here on THR I decided to hand polish the chambers with Mother's Mag Polish. That took care of that issue, but it's not an issue that ever should have come up.
Then there was the rear sight. I had to have it jacked way over to the left side to get it to hit POA. Like WAY over. Maybe it was a result of the barrel canting, but I didn't like that.
The trigger was pretty gritty compared to my 357 SP101, even after I'd put 700-800 rounds through it. I figured it would continue to smooth out with more use, same as my other SP101, but what was worse to me was that the small frame and action of this gun means a stiff hammer spring is needed and therefore the trigger pull is really quite heavy when compared to a larger framed revolver, because there is less leverage in the action and hammer length. I have gotten a little too used to a nice smooth and light trigger pull. So I just never warmed to the trigger. I know I could have put in a spring kit, but it kind of aggravated me that the gun had so many issues, AND I now needed to spend more money on it?
And finally, there are just not as many grip options for the SP101 as there are for other medium and larger framed guns. I tried multiple grips and I never did find one that made shooting that gun fun. I tolerate this issue on my 357 SP101 because it's a handy gun, and the first handgun I ever bought, but it's far from optimal for me. I'm 6'3" and 200 lbs. So I have large hands, but they are very lean. So basically this gun and lack of grip options I liked just never made it optimal for me.
So poor fit and finish, poor finishing from the factory, poor trigger, jacked up sights, and I just plain bought the wrong gun for me. I should have gotten the Smith 617 and been happy. The Ruger disappointed severely for me. A big part of it was bum workmanship from the factory, but a big part of it was just that I didn't buy a gun I really should have.
So other people's experiences are likely very different than mine. I sure wouldn't buy another one though. It just doesn't suit me, but I thought I was going to love it. If I was going to buy a 22 lr revolver, I'd buy a 617, 17-3, or maybe one of the newer GP100's. If Colt came out with a new 22 LR revolver, I might go for that too.
The happy ending is that I got good trade in value on it and came home with a Dillon 550B reloading press and ditched a gun I didn't like.
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Traded for a Glock 26.
