Ruger SP101 Bobbed Hammer

[CTGunner]

1. Can a Ruger SP101 with bobbed hammer, double action only, be converted to a normal hammer with double action / single action option? Would it be worth the cost?

2. I brought it to a local shop that specializes in 1911s and not revolvers (just to be fair) and asked if the trigger can be lightened. The guy working the counter, not a gun smith, said it depends. He thought they could probably clean it up but may not be able to lighten it. Is this true?

 

[9mmepiphany]

1. is it truely DAO or has the hammer only been bobbed? just switching in a regular spurred hammer might restore the SA function...but it will need to be fitted

2. is it true that they can only clean it up?...pretty likely. being able to work on a semi-auto pistol certainly doesn't qualify a shop to be able to tune a revolver. i will add that cleaning up and smoothing the action might be all you need. to optimize the action, you'd need to have it tuned and the springs balanced.

if it were mine, i'd send it to Randy Lee at Apex Tactical in Morro Bay CA

 

[CTGunner]

Thanks for the reply. It is true DAO, there is no way to lock the hammer back right now. I will look into the shop you recommend.

 

[Zundfolge]

Frankly unless this particular revolver has some great sentimental value, you'd be better off selling your DAO SP101 and buying a DA/SA one (maybe you could get lucky and find someone locally who owns a DA/SA one that would be interested in a trade deal).

 

[Rexster]

It would not hurt to ask Ruger customer service if they will do the hammer swap; I believe they will, for quite minimal cost. (Shipping will likely be quite an expense.) A word of warning: If you are going to also have custom work done, or install aftermarket springs, do the hammer swap with Ruger FIRST, because Ruger will probably return the weapon to factory condition, by removing your aftermarket/customized parts.

If you can locate a pre-owned take-out hammer, a good 'smith should be able to fit it into your SP101, and perform a trigger job. By reputation, Apex and Gemini Customs are both excellent. Jack Weigand 'smithed two of my SP101s, but he is out of the custom gunsmithing business.

FWIW, when I owned two DAO SP101s, and wanted one with a hammer, I saved up and bought myself the third one, making sure I got a smooth one by picking among quite a few I handled.

 

[Legionnaire]

Yes, the gun can be converted to DA/SA. You need a DA hammer assembly. Ruger will replace your hammer for you, but as Rexter pointed out, shipping will cost more than the fix.

That said, SP101s are not hard to work on. Iowegan over at RugerForum.com has a great manual available (often called the IBOK = "Iowegan's Book of Knowledge") for Ruger DA revolvers, and if you're any good at all with your hands, you can do a lot of work on a Ruger yourself.

Although Ruger wants to fit the hammer assembly to your gun themselves, if you can find a DA hammer assembly, it will drop in. The thing you will have to check is that the springs in your SA are strong enough to reliably fire the gun with the heavier DA hammer.

How do I know this, you might ask? A couple of years ago I went on a quest for a SA hammer assembly for my SP101. Took a couple of months, but found one. Dropped it into my SP, checked the ignition on my range and carry ammo, and was good to go. After a while, put the spurred hammer back. No problem.

I've seen posts here and there from guys who want to convert their DA to SA. I'd look around to see if you can find someone who wants to trade hammer assemblies.

Oh, Wolff sells a spring kit with a number of different mainsprings and hammer return springs. You can lighten up the trigger pull by changing the springs. Just make sure you check ignition. I'd not carry a gun for defense that hadn't had 200 flawless rounds of my chosen self-defense ammo through it. You don't want to discover your defense ammo has hard primers and your newly lightened trigger won't pop them.