Ruger SP101 DAO-W/HAMMER

Hi Folk's, I was at the LGS yesterday and noticed they had a SP101 that was DAO but had a hammer which I thought at first glance resembled a 1911 commander hammer. On a closer look I had little doubt it was a hammer from a P-series (P90?) Ruger pistol. It didn't look bubba'd & the store owner swore it was factory. Chambering was .38 special. It would not stay cocked but functioned fine otherwise. Any ideas? -Dave

I think a call to Ruger is in order. A DAO revolver with a hammer sounds like a bad idea.

charlesappel said:

I think a call to Ruger is in order. A DAO revolver with a hammer sounds like a bad idea.

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Ruger offers a SP 191 DAO that has a spotless hammer (not sure if I'm misunderstanding you). Back in the day most agencies that had their service revolver rendered DAO had the manners spur removed. No different than the LCR or S&W 442/642/640 have a hammer but it's shrouded or internal if you will.

But have never seen a Ruger with a spur hammer DAO so when you find out please update, curious of its origins.

I will see what I can find out. Everybody in the store was in agreement about how senseless it seemed. A buddy of mine bought a used SP101 on Wednesday from a different store & it has a standard spur hammer. What got me to even take a second look at this one was what I thought was a commander hammer on it -weird.

Well, I googled SP101 W/commander hammer & it came back as a special "Department of state" edition. Supposed to be a double action gun. So, apparently the one I handled is broke. Guess it's the real deal.-Dave

KSP-821 / DAO- There ya go

I don't know about that particular SP, but there are definitely DAO revolvers that have hammers with spurs. So holsters with a retention strap could be used

azleite said:

"Department of state" edition.

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^ ^ This ^ ^

It's the Department of State model. (Not U.S. Dept. of State but one of the state's Dept. of State.)
It is DAO in .38 spl.





Terry T

charlesappel said:

I think a call to Ruger is in order. A DAO revolver with a hammer sounds like a bad idea.

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Doh! What I should have said was that a DAO revolver with a hammer spur sounds like a bad idea. It might be useful for carrying in certain holsters but, if someone mistakenly decides to cock the revolver, what happens when they release the hammer?

IF one's finger is OFF the trigger and one tries to cock a DAO hammer AND it slips, a Ruger will not fire because of the transfer bar safety - the trigger lifts the transfer bar into place in front of the firing pin. :shock:
Terry T

Terry T said:

IF one's finger is OFF the trigger and one tries to cock a DAO hammer AND it slips, a Ruger will not fire because of the transfer bar safety - the trigger lifts the transfer bar into place in front of the firing pin. :shock:
Terry T

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Good point.

They were issued in Ohio. Mine had an inventory control tag under the plastic grip insert from Ohio. Great trigger, I like DAO on these than my regular DAO 101.

Oh, Wow! I've been waiting for a lead such as this. :shock:
I've never looked under my grips. :shock:
Now....need to find someone who worked at the Ohio Dept. of State to verify.
Thanks,
Terry T

"lfpiii",
I checked under the grips on mine and found nothing.
Can you photograph your Ohio inventory tag and post it here?
Thanks!
Terry T