I have had 3 over the years so far.
This is a 2.25 in 38 Special with Letts style Fancy Grips by Altamont. It has a Gemini Customs Little Wonder front sight with Red Fiber Optic insert. It has been tuned to perfection, and has both Springs and a Full Shim Package.
Business view of the Little Wonder front sight in Red
SP101 in a Rocky Hill Leather Pancake. Also shown is a Big Creek Kydex Speed Loader Carrier with a J Frame/SP101 Jet Loader in it.
A 3.06 inch SP101 in 357 Magnum. Again with Letts Style Fancy Grips by Altamont. She has Hammer & Trigger Shims, and Springs. This one has the Gemini Customs Little Wonder front sight in Green Fiber Optic. Holster is again a Rocky Hill Leather Pancake.
Rear view of the Gemini Customs Little Wonder sight in Green.
My 2 Cents
The SP101 is a little heavy for pocket carry. Get a good leather Pancake holster, and you will love it.
I recommend keeping a reload with you when you conceal carry. The J Frame Jet Loader is a perfect fit for the SP101. I know of a couple sources for them, Power Custom, and Pistoleer. I make the Big Creek Speed Loader Carriers for them. I have started carrying my reload on my Left side just behind centerline and my Cel Phone infront of it. If I carry 2 reloads the other one goes infront of the holster strong side. For BUG Matchs I carry 2 infront of the holster, and the third weak side behind center. The Jet Loaders are a little salty, but worth every penny. They are small, and lightning fast to reload with. It is basicly a Competition Speed Loader made for concealed carry. I have I believe 10 of them for Match Use.
The SP101 needs a little TLC, just like any other quality revolver.
Read this a couple times:
http://www.sp101trigger.com/index.html
This is about as good a guide as I know of for slicking one up.
Below is the link for Trigger Shims. They also carry the Spring Kits. Might as well get both at one time and save on shipping.
http://triggershims.com/ruger_double_action.html
You need a few tools to work on one. Someone on this site sells a home made Plunger Tool. It is very handy for removing the Trigger Guard. No instructions to use it provided. Remove the Hammer and insert the plunger tool through that opening from the top. Works very well.
Drill Bits: Get the Hex Head one for a Quick Attach Chuck. They give you a good gripping surface to turn them BY HAND. I have 1/4", 13/64, 3/32, and 5/64. That should take care of the SP101 as well as the GP100. Use the bits to debur and slick up all the drilled holes BY HAND ONLY.
You will need a Feeler Gage to determine what shims to install. I normally use a .005 on the Hammer, and .003 for the Trigger. I used .005 Hammer Dog shims on the 2.25 Inch Older SP101. They would not fit on the brand new production 3.06 SP101.
I do a lot of my polishing with Wet or Dry sand paper glued to craft pop sickel sticks. I start out with the Rough Stuff 400 grit, and then go to 800 and 1000. Check the auto body isle at Wal Mart for the sand paper. I believe they keep it down to something like 2000, but I have never went that fine so far.
Also a good Arkansas Stone to polish flats on, like the sides of the Hammer, Trigger, and Hammer Dog.
NOTE: about the Hammer Dog. Do not mix up the Hammer Dog Spring. It is the same size as one of the trigger group spring.
GO SLOW just slick things up, DO NOT Change the shape of anything.
Some whine about the weight of an SP101. I also have a 442 Pro that is light weight. Its in the gun safe. I daily carry the SP101. It is heavy enough to Shoot Well. That cannot be said about an Airweight revolver. Airweights are not fun to shoot at all, and are hard to shoot well.
Enjoy your SP101. You might even add to the herd. They have made them in 22, 32 H&R, 327 Federal, and 9mm over the years.
I foolishly traded off my 2.25 Inch 9mm years ago before the internet, and an endless number of custom holster makers were at my finger tips. I now have a 2.25 Inch 22 on my want list for a practice snub to go with my LCR22.
Bob R
