I kinda wondered how the nay-sayers would respond to this thread.
How many of y'all have handled one?
I have.
How many of y'all shoot competition,, where the 9mm revolver in 8 shot is THE gun to use?
I do.
S&W makes a 8 shot 9mm & it is the gun most often used in competition, and lots of shooters love it. How many of us prefer Rugers over S&W?
I do.
As for the short cylinder,, and the "look of it. How many study the design & the costs to produce one?
I have.
How many here have spoken with the actual designer of the Super GP in 9mm?
I have.
Now,, the cylinder was shortened for a few reasons. One,, to reduce the expense of building a whole new frame design. Use the current frame size,, AND use a sleeved barrel to extend through the frame to the cylinder. The bullet jump is no different than any other revolver.
Second,, by using the proven GP platform,, and adding the short cylinder,, it can prevent many folks from trying to "customize & build something it shouldn't be used for,,, creating a dangerous situation."
And while the barrel is actually 6" long,, it appears shorter by the fact the barrel passes inside the frame to the cylinder. Thus,, it give good accuracy,, AND balances quite nicely. The angled slots help the weight issue so it's not TOO muzzle heavy for a competitor.
I didn't feel any excessive endshake in the one I handled. I WILL check the one that we'll be auctioning at my FoNRA event tomorrow night for any issues. I wonder how the comment above was determined? Have you, (arfmel) handled one to determine that?
So for those who do not compete in pistol competition,, or pay any attention to those games,, I can understand the reluctance at owning one.
But,, thanks to competitions,, (ICORE & USPSA, IPSC, etc.) MORE people are getting into guns. And the 8 shot revolvers are IN DEMAND! In USPSA,, a stage can not require more than 8 shots from one position. Also,, quite often,, a mandatory reload is required between positions,, or during after an 8 shot string. So,, a 6 shot revolver shooter,, (such as myself, currently,) may have to fire 6 shots, reload, fire 2 shots, make a mandatory reload, then continue. The 8 shot revolvers eat us alive on our times due to the more frequent required reloads.
Another good thing is that it will accept & perform using any of the current, several offerings of moon clips by different makers.
Everyday street carry? It's not a good choice.
Hunting,,,? Again,, not a good choice by most hunters.
At home self defense? Very possible. The 9mm is now enjoying an abundance of good quality SD ammo choices. Plus,, practice ammo is also inexpensive & abundant. And for those of us who prefer the reliability of a revolver over a semi-auto,, it can very well be a good home defense gun.
Target shooting, informal? Again, it's built to be accurate & can be quite fun at the range for those who like the 9mm caliber, but do not compete.
But for those of us who want to beat out the S&W revolver shooters by using our beloved Rugers instead,, it's a long awaited gun.
I will own one or two of them before it's over. I have one on order,, and I may also try & win the auction tomorrow night on ours!
Oh,, and BTW; For the competitors,, Hogue is in the design stage of an extended & easier cylinder release latch for it too! It will work in all GP's from what I was told. I do LIKE that feature as well.
And,, I've already been discussing a competition holster designed just for this gun too with one of the serious holster makers.