Gunitis Therapy

[hatchetbearer]

Its Tax return season and you guys know what that means, but this year I'm left with a choice. a 4" Stainless GP100 .357 with bobbed hammer, or a RIA 1911. both are around the same price ($350ish.) Is this too much for either of these guns, both appear to be in sound shape, and shot very little. basically these will just be range guns, to fun shoot. just wondering what you guys would buy and why?

B.

 

[HM2PAC]

Take the GP100 and run. An RIA can be had brand new for about another $50.

 

[hatchetbearer]

So its a good deal on the Ruger? Any ideas on why the hammer was bobbed? easier to draw?

 

[HM2PAC]

No idea. I am not all that familiar with revolvers. That would make sense to me though.

 

[LKB3rd]

Hammers are usually bobbed for snag free pocket holster use, when you draw them. On a 4" gp100, I'm not sure exactly why it would be bobbed, unless someone was carrying it in a big pocket, or somewhere they were concerned about snags.

 

[bannockburn]

Both are good prices, though as HM2PAC posted, a new RIA 1911 would cost just a little bit more. I don't think you could go wrong with either one; it's pretty much up to you which way you want to go. It looks from your collection as though you already have some semi-autos; maybe this would be a good time to try a revolver. The GP100 is built like a tank, you can shoot cheaper .38 Specials through it, and Ruger stands behind their product.

 

[MrBorland]

One thing I'd definitely check is whether you can still manage to cock the hammer on the GP100. If the hammer was bobbed, the SA sear should have been eliminated, rendering the gun Double Action-Only; otherwise, one could cock the hammer and have no safe way (other than firing the gun) of de-cocking.

As mentioned, hammers are often bobbed to prevent snagging on clothing. Also, for a defense-only revolver, the gun is often rendered DAO for safety/liability reasons: the SA actions on DA revolvers are often quite light and crisp, so without a safety, it's a very bad idea to cock the hammer on a DA revolver when in defense mode, and with the hammer present, many shooters can get in the habit of cocking the hammer. What's odd is that a 4" GP100 isn't all that concealable, and if it were mine, I wouldn't limit it to defense-only.

How's the DA trigger? It's also possible someone had a good action job done on it - by eliminating the SA sear, the DA trigger can be tuned more radically, and with a light DA trigger pull that would otherwise result in a SA trigger pull that was far too light.

 

[hatchetbearer]

They weren't too big on me dry firing it, so i couldn't get a feel on the trigger, going back down in a day or two, and if i can get them to let me actually look at it using some of the little tips on the revolver thread it might follow me home, along with the .22 MP5 clone they have hanging on the wall. I'll let you guys know with obligatory pictures

B.

 

[Technosavant]

My guess is that the bobbed hammer on the GP100 is because it was used for LEO or security use. On a gun like that, liability is the only reason to bob the hammer; concealment isn't a terribly likely reason to have done that to a medium framed revolver.

 

[jhansman]

Just know that the DA pull on a GP100 can be substantial. You might want to do a spring job on it to ease that trigger a bit. BTW, I love my GP100.

 

[1911NM]

If you're looking at range use, while I am just another of the throng that would point you at the revolver. However, if 'twer me, I would put money into a new hammer as I like to shoot as much single action at the range with a wheel gun as double action. Even though I am a 1911 fanatic, the other posters do make a heck of a lot of sense regarding the new price of a RIA.

 

[hatchetbearer]

anyone have a good idea on what a replacement hammer would cost and accompanying gunsmith charges, Numrich has them for $20ish but are sold out