SP101s now have MIM parts

- and they're all the better for it.

I just picked up a sweet shooting 3", and I noticed the hammer and trigger are skeletonized to an extent. They're MIM parts. So far, it's an absolute plus. The trigger is nice and rounded on the edges, and the hammer is no longer the thumb-chewer that cast SP hammers had been until very recently.

Honestly, it was a nice surprise. I knew the new four incher had a MIM hammer, but I didn't expect it on the three incher.

Best of all. The Ruger Billboard is on the underside of the lug.

My 3" is the same way. Works just fine and with MIM, it's shown that if the part is flawed or weak then it shows up very quickly. After a few thousand rounds I'm quite confident in the gun. It's a keeper.

Great to hear a positive point regarding MIM parts....
we mostly fear change, and look to the "good ol' days" often, but for the most part....change is good!

There's nothing wrong with MIM parts.

I always wondered at people who get all upset about MIM parts in a firearm that they'll probably never use for self defense, but they unquestionably accept MIM parts in their automobile that they risk their life in several times a day.

If you fly in an airplane, guess what?

Congratulations on your new sp101, a very fine revolver. I have owned, and still do, several revolvers utilizing MIM parts. I have never had a problem with any of them, and their actions have rivaled those of many of my revolvers containing all forged steel parts.

Having said that, our revolvers are a very personal thing to many of us, and we are quite concerned about their appearance. You can't see the MIM parts used in your automobile or the airplanes that you fly in, so appearance in those applications are not a concern. Maybe the revolver manufacturers will work at making the outward appearance of their products "traditional", or maybe we will just get used to the new look of the MIM parts that we can see?? :wink:

Old news.
Denis

DPris said:

Old news.
Denis

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You must be great at parties.

The very life of.
Ruger's been putting MIMs in the SPs for over 2 years now.
Denis

My December 2013 Test Fired SP101 with 3 Inch barrel has the MIM Hammer. I did not notice the Trigger being Different than the older one I have when I did the trigger job on it. The new Hammer has less Drag Area on the sides to rub. I like the looks of the older Polished Hammer, However from a functional point of view, the new MIM Hammer has to improve the stock trigger pull.
I normally just install .005 Shims on the Hammer Dog when doing a trigger job. My new MIM Hammer was too tight for the .005's. I have not put a Feeler Gage in it yet to see what size Shims I will need for the new Hammer.

From what I can tell Ruger Revolvers have been improving even more the last couple years.

My brother bought a new Super RedHawk 44 Magnum 9.5 Inch last October. It had some changes. The Crown was much improved. At first I was not impressed with the Non-Quick Change front sight. After thinking about it a little more, I changed my mind. The new front sight can be replaced or taken completely off for us Optical Sight Hunters. You cannot just remove the old style sight on a SRH. And if you knock it off, back to the factory for repair.

Ruger keeps improving their Revolver Line. Now if they will fix us up with a 10mm/40 S&W GP100 I will be a Happy Camper.

Bob the Revolver Guy

Drastic,
My post was a bit abrupt.

Lets put it this way:
Over 2 years ago, Ruger began the switch to MIMs in the SPs, including hammers & triggers.
Aside from a brief period using up some existing leftover cast parts, the transition was completed some time ago, and there was & would be no reason to use a mix of MIM & cast between SP barrel lengths.

Once the switch was done, Ruger would be expected to use the same MIM parts for all SPs to simplify vendor orders & in-house inventory processes.

No reason to use MIM in a four-inch & cast in a three-inch.
If your three-incher is new, your surprise at the shorter barrel length having MIM parts was mystifying.
Why would you not expect MIMs in it?

There have been multiple discussions of this transition.
The "skeletonized" dimensions, as also discussed elsewhere, are a result of the reinforcements to hammer & trigger needed by the MIM material/design.

One very clear benefit, as you note, is the lack of "sharps" on both parts.
Ruger says MIM formulations have advanced substantially in the years since S&W started using their MIMs heavily, and what Ruger specifies with their vendors is essentially "latest gen", as applied to their applications.

There are many "grades" of MIM, when done right it can function perfectly fine & I have confidence in Ruger's use of it.
Denis

DPris said:

There are many "grades" of MIM, when done right it can function perfectly fine & I have confidence in Ruger's use of it.
Denis

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+100. I remember when S&W started using MIM parts in their revolvers several years ago and to read the S&W forums you'd think the world had just ended. All sorts of dire predictions were made about breakage, failures, etc., etc. Well, yes, one occasionally did break but, when you dug a little deeper, you found the previous forged parts had about the same miniscule failure rate too.

By now the panic has subsided and you don't hear much comment about the MIM parts. They have proven themselves in service and are a non-issue. I'm certain Ruger's use of MIM parts will have the same successful history.

DPris said:

Drastic,
My post was a bit abrupt.

Lets put it this way:
Over 2 years ago, Ruger began the switch to MIMs in the SPs, including hammers & triggers.
Aside from a brief period using up some existing leftover cast parts, the transition was completed some time ago, and there was & would be no reason to use a mix of MIM & cast between SP barrel lengths.

Once the switch was done, Ruger would be expected to use the same MIM parts for all SPs to simplify vendor orders & in-house inventory processes.

Click to expand...

Interesting history. I did not know that. Thanks.

I'm always a bit amused when anyone comments on the dreaded MIM parts being in a Ruger, and questions their strength and quality. I am old enough to remember when Rugers, with all their investment-cast parts, were regarded by some as "pot metal junk" (NOTHING could rival forged and machined parts, you know). My, times do change, and manufacturing techniques, but people never do...

Ruger started using MIMs somewhere between 12 & 15 years ago, the first was the M77 rifles' extractor.
Since then, they've expanded MIMs pretty much across the board, to at least some extent.
Denis

Nice to see a mostly positive post regarding MIM parts. If change is a major issue for some, they're going to have a rough life from now on. The socialists are gaining in numbers and they simply want to run your lives for you.

MIM will be a mouse fart in a hurricane by comparison.

One of my two S&W .500 Mags has MIM parts, the other doesn't, both have outstanding triggers and zero issues. Don

drastic_quench said:

DPris said:

Old news.
Denis

Click to expand...

You must be great at parties.

Click to expand...

Well put! :mrgreen:

sorry to toss a wrench into the works but could someone enlighten the un-informed as to what exactly "MIM' parts are and what does MIM stand for.
thank you in advance :?:

lipofsky said:

sorry to toss a wrench into the works but could someone enlighten the un-informed as to what exactly "MIM' parts are and what does MIM stand for.
thank you in advance :?:

Click to expand...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Metal+Injection+Molding

pisgah said:

lipofsky said:

sorry to toss a wrench into the works but could someone enlighten the un-informed as to what exactly "MIM' parts are and what does MIM stand for.
thank you in advance :?:

Click to expand...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Metal+Injection+Molding

Click to expand...

Thank You for the response, I appreciate the time you took to find and provide the information.
I knew the good people here would come to the aid of the un-informed.

I have a 6 year old SS New Vaquero that I'm sure has a MIM hammer & trigger.