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OldePhart

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...my hands aren't 30, any more.

Went to the range today with the new SP-101. Fired 25 or 30 rounds of commercial .357 (125gr JSP and 158gr Gold Dot). By the second cylinder I was not having much fun anymore. By the last cylinder I was beginning to flinch and decided that was enough. A couple of hours later and hands still are reminding me that they aren't getting younger.

Time to find a good 38+P load...or maybe scrounge up some Gold Dot bullets and develop a hand load that is maybe hotter than +P .38 but with less flash-bang than the commercial .357 stuff.

It didn't group badly with either ammo...about 2" at 20' free-hand...which is about as good as I shoot any handgun. Does shoot left of center by about 2" though...more so with the 125gr than the 158gr.

I won't worry about POI until I find a good 38+P carry load...
 

Jimbo357mag

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That's why they make the GP-100. :D

I seldom shoot 357mags in the SP, but it's good to know you can if you want to. :D :D
 

OldePhart

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Yeah. Honestly, if the .38+P version had been available with the 3" barrel I'd have probably chosen that, though...I kind of suspected I wasn't going to want to shoot a lot of .357 in this small gun but I wanted the 3" barrel because both .357 and .38 really lose "oomph" at 2".

I hate dealing with carbon build up from shooting short ammo, though. That's why I'll probably try to work up a good .38+P or slightly hotter load in a .357 cartridge.

I might need to go back to the way I used to shoot revolvers years ago...the "tea cup" hold. It was how I was trained to shoot and how I shot 4" .357's for years. When I switched to .40s in semi-auto I retrained myself to use a "proper" two-handed push-pull stance. I think maybe for revolver I need to return to that tea cup hold - just let the right hand push up some and drop back onto the left palm for quickly falling back on target instead of trying to "tame" the recoil with brute strength.

Since I actually find this more comfortable to carry than my Glock 26 I guess I will have to try to sort all that out over the next few weeks when I have more more than 15 minutes to spend at the range. LOL

John
 

DGW1949

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The original "357 Magnum" was a heavy, N-frame S&W with an 8-3/8" barrel.

I'm thinking that there might have been a reason (or two) for that. :lol: :lol: :lol: .

Just sayin'.

DGW
 

OldePhart

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DGW1949 said:
The original "357 Magnum" was a heavy, N-frame S&W with an 8-3/8" barrel.

I'm thinking that there might have been a reason (or two) for that. :lol: :lol: :lol: .

Just sayin'.

DGW
A-yep! Back when I was younger I shot a lot of commercial .357 stuff in a 4" k-frame and pretty much ignored the recoil, though. Oh, well...I guess getting old and weak beats the alternative. LOL
 

GunnyGene

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OldePhart said:
DGW1949 said:
The original "357 Magnum" was a heavy, N-frame S&W with an 8-3/8" barrel.

I'm thinking that there might have been a reason (or two) for that. :lol: :lol: :lol: .

Just sayin'.

DGW
A-yep! Back when I was younger I shot a lot of commercial .357 stuff in a 4" k-frame and pretty much ignored the recoil, though. Oh, well...I guess getting old and weak beats the alternative. LOL

I suppose you have considered different grips. Just thought I'd mention that. :) My .41 mag is much easier on my hand with Hogue grips than with the factory grips, as is my wife's Model 60 Smith.
 

OldePhart

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That's a good point. My model 19 has worn some Pachmyr rubber grips almost from day one. The grips on the SP101 are already rubber, though, and I'm afraid going to much thicker rubber would make it less concealable.
 

Chuck 100 yd

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My first Ruger DA was (still have it) Security Six .357 shortie,love that gun.
My next is a 3" .357 SP 101. Man what a difference in recoil!!! Two more Sp's and a handful +1 GP 100's later the Security Six is still my baby but the GP's get shot the most.
With the SP in my pocket loaded with full house .357's I feel more than adequately protected and just like when shooting a Bear or Elk, when the gun goes into action, I never feel the recoil, I only feel it when at the range. Have fun!
 
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My favorite load for the SP is the Remington Golden Saber load in .357 Magnum. A pretty good review of various loads for the SP101 was by the late Stephen Camp:

http://hipowersandhandguns.com/Ruger%20SP101%20Report.htm

Even with the 3.16" barrel the Remington load(125 grains) is 1189 FPS and not a punishing load.
 

OldePhart

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Thanks for the link Wendy - that's my son-in-law's favorite load for his SP101...guess I better give it a try.

I'm also thinking about ordering some of the Buffalo Bore short barrel ammo...supposed to be somewhere between .38+P and .357 but not so much flash-bang from short barrels.

Jack I'm using the stock grips right now. If I can find some that have a bit more meat at the back without being too blocky I'd certainly give them a shot.

Honestly, what I'd really like to do is find a 9mm cylinder for this puppy. 9mm performance doesn't fall off as fast in shorter barrels as the .357 does. I almost had them send me an LCR in 9mm but decided I'd had enough of being an early adopter... :)

John
 

OldePhart

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Yeah...I didn't even consider the LCR in .357...if I'd decided on an LCR it would have been the 9mm. Didn't go that route for two reasons...1) done being a beta tester for new Ruger designs and 2) it's just ugly. :)
 
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OldePhart said:
Thanks for the link Wendy - that's my son-in-law's favorite load for his SP101...guess I better give it a try.

John

Very welcome! The Golden Saber load is easy to shoot and has 9mm ballistics from a snub nose revolver that is more than a bit more powerful than .38 Special(even +P loads) but not as hot as full power .357 loads. There are more than a few mid range .357 loads/short barrel .357 loads out there that have become popular.
 

GunnyGene

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OldePhart said:
That's a good point. My model 19 has worn some Pachmyr rubber grips almost from day one. The grips on the SP101 are already rubber, though, and I'm afraid going to much thicker rubber would make it less concealable.

There's always trade-offs with everything. Maybe someday someone will invent the perfect gun. :wink: :)
 

OldePhart

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Thanks phonejack. That makes sense as that's exactly what I put behind 155gr plated flat points in .40 S&W for IDPA...it's not a mouse fart but has much less "snap" than most commercial loads.
 

OldePhart

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GunnyGene said:
OldePhart said:
That's a good point. My model 19 has worn some Pachmyr rubber grips almost from day one. The grips on the SP101 are already rubber, though, and I'm afraid going to much thicker rubber would make it less concealable.

There's always trade-offs with everything. Maybe someday someone will invent the perfect gun. :wink: :)

Heh, heh. Yeah. I don't want much...just .454 Casul muzzle energy from a 6"L X 4"H by 1"W pistol with a fifteen round magazine that groups 1" at 50 yards and has no muzzle blast or felt recoil... LOL
 

GunnyGene

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OldePhart said:
GunnyGene said:
OldePhart said:
That's a good point. My model 19 has worn some Pachmyr rubber grips almost from day one. The grips on the SP101 are already rubber, though, and I'm afraid going to much thicker rubber would make it less concealable.

There's always trade-offs with everything. Maybe someday someone will invent the perfect gun. :wink: :)

Heh, heh. Yeah. I don't want much...just .454 Casul muzzle energy from a 6"L X 4"H by 1"W pistol with a fifteen round magazine that groups 1" at 50 yards and has no muzzle blast or felt recoil... LOL

I reckon till then we'll just have to be satisfied with buying a wide selection of firearms that are designed for a specific use. I'm good with that, except for cost and storage space. :mrgreen: :wink:

Gotta wonder tho, if the cavemen of old had more than one club. :lol:
 

OldePhart

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@GunnyGene when I went spelunking in Australia I came across hieroglyphics that translated to: beware the neanderthal with one club for he probably uses it very well. :lol:
 
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