Where Ruger Really Shines?

I have been a S&W fan for over 45 years, and have owned several, as well as several Rugers. My first Ruger was a NM in .41 mag, serial number I think was 41-00032. Bought it in June or July of 1973. Sold it...worst decision I ever made. Anyway, my revolvers that I shoot mostly now are the .44 Spec Blackhawks, the flat top in .45 Colt/.45 ACP, and a 50th Anniversary Blackhawk Flat Top in .44 mag. As for DA, well my 7.5" Redhawk for 90% of shooting the heavy stuff, but will occasionally take a M29 out. My favorite carry revolver is my 3" fixed sight GP-100. I shoot some Colt SAA's for fun and some other Smiths for nostalgia, but still go back to Rugers as every day use.

For me, H&K are the pistols that answer the question asked in this thread.

YMMV

Call me biased, but I truly believe the Ruger GP100 is one of the finest revolvers ever made.. I've put nuclear loads through my 6" stainless version that would turn a S&W into a puddle of lead. And my GP100 burps, and asks, "Is that all you got ya Pansy? Come back when you have some real ammo.."

GP100 said:

Call me biased, but I truly believe the Ruger GP100 is one of the finest revolvers ever made.. I've put nuclear loads through my 6" stainless version that would turn a S&W into a puddle of lead. And my GP100 burps, and asks, "Is that all you got ya Pansy? Come back when you have some real ammo.."

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You may be a little biased. The GP100 looks to me like Ruger's copy of the classic S&W design, and is essentially a slab-side Redhawk. I'm sure it's a fabulous piece and can eat Kryptonite for breakfast, but it doesn't stand out to me as unique or better than S&W.

I have been shooting Smiths since the police academy used to train us with model 10s. The first one I ever shot had the firing pin stress crack on a timed string leaving me with a paperweight. With a lot of use the ejector rod gets so loose they will wobble and the shells with drop under the ejector star and jam up. The short stroke action make them hard to "stage" for accurate double action shooting. And I will concede they did look prettier in blue for a long time but no more. I can pick up a smith in any store for the last 30 years and find fit and finish flaws on every one.
Enough ranting- My Ruger revolvers have just never broke and we know they're the strongest and fair looking and I have yet to see a GP-100 that is not a tack driver- What's not to like?
As for flagships in Rugers?
Gp-100 best 357 I can think of.
MK .22 pistol line- Shut down High Standard and gutted Smiths sales for years.
Blackhawks and Single Sixes- They probably own 95% of single action market.
Yes, no other company dominates in as many totally different markets.

Getting back to the original title of the thread, let's not forget the Hawkeye...

Jim

William B Ruger was not John Moses Browning. He didn't really invent new types of firearms. His was the ability to see the potential in existing designs. He borrowed from Colt, S&W, Luger, Nambu, etc and made something more durable, robust and just better. Time has proven the success of his vision. JMHO

Fox Mike said:

I would say that perhaps Smith and Colt have better 'fit and finish' but for pure dependability and ruggedness, Rugers shine.

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Mike, you took the words right out of my keyboard. 8)

Highstandardguy

Excellent point!

Jim