Has this question ever been asked? Security Six vs GP100

Greetings. I do not own a GP100 however I do own several Security Sixes.
From the members here that own the GP100 and variants, what are the positives and negatives of each?
Security Six versus the GP100.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

I base my opinion of the experience of a person who carried the revolver at all times. Over approximately 10 years, I started carrying the Sec6, switched to a GP100, and returned to the Sec6.
The Sec6 being lighter, is easier to carry 'full time' --as in every time you go outside it's on your belt/under your arm. The Sec6 is stout enough to handle 357 loads long term so nothing gained by a bigger/heavier framed GP 100 revolver.
The GP100 is somewhat bigger/heavier which may(?) improve hands on accuracy (probably doesn't have impact on 'mechanical" accuracy). If every shot is a full house 357 load, the GP might reduce recoil enough to lower shooter fatigue but that would be far more shooting than the context of every day 'chore gun' parameters.

According to many thoughts & possible reports,, Bill Ruger said he didn't make any money on the Security-Six models. They cost too much to make & to sell them he had to keep his pricing comparable to other DA's in the market. The "re-design" of a DA resulted in the GP-100 line.
The GP design is easier (cheaper) to build,, but is also a quality design.
As noted,, the weight differences are noted by those who carry a lot. But the maintenance of the GP is supposed to be easier.
However,, NEITHER model has any real issues with maintenance.
Many feel the action of the Security-Six line is a bit smoother than the GP design.
But both can benefit from a lot of shooting or an action job by someone who knows how to do one properly.

So, for pro's & con's,, it mostly comes down to individual tastes. Both are solid workhorse of a revolver.

I have a GP100 for hunting, steel plate shooting, and carry. I have a Security Six that was used as a house gun back in the 80's and sometimes carried.

I like the cylinder crane assembly on the GP100 vs the Security Six. It locks up tighter, and there is no chance of it loosening up like my Security Six did often. The Six has sentimental meaning...it was the very first handgun I purchased in 1985 and was my training gun under the wings of Ray Peet and Bill Simpson of Poway Gunworks. That's about it. Other than that they are both quality revolvers that I enjoy owning and shooting.

All except the 3 inch GP have had trigger work, and have wonderful triggers. The 3 inch is a Police trade-in....it's had a lot of use, still has OEM parts, and it's good enough for my needs.

A terrible shadowy pic that doesn't do them justice lol. The Hogue grip was replaced with an OEM large grip since this was taken. The 4 inch large OEM grips were replaced with small OEM grips. In my opinion the OEM GP100 grip is the best fit. Especially when hunting/wearing gloves.

I prefer the ergo's of the GP/SRH grip.

Contender really summed it up very well. When Ruger started the Six Series revolvers he had planned to sell a lot to law enforcement and wanted a sturdy handgun that would take any/all abuses. But - that came at a cost and to sell to LE the price had to be right. As such, Ruger did not make much from these sales amd Mr. Ruger went in a bit of a different direction with the GP100 in how it was designed, and built. Both series of revolvers are very easy to maintain and repair (if needed) and over the years many mods have come forth which make it a very versatile revolver however someone wants to use it.

A bit of a story about one of my GP100's:
I got my first GP100 in 1989 as I was shooting PPC with a group in Delaware (the Delaware Law Enforcement Marksmanship Association - pronounce the acronym :eek:) I was not law enforcement but they opened it to non LE shooters and gave prizes like they did to LE shooters (the NRA does not recognize non LE for PPC awards). I removed the barrel and put on a 6" long 1"diameter replacement barrel (from Brownells), a full length 4 position rib sight, lighter springs (8lb main spring as we all shot reloads using Federal primers (they had the softest cups), put a Hogue finger groove rubber grip on (keeps your hand in the same position all the time) and polished everything.

I was shooting a match on a Saturday and after a stage the Captain of the Maryland State Police Gold Team asked me what I was shooting (typically back then PPC guns were made from S&W Model 10's (K frame) and modified similiar to what I did to mine. I handed it to him and he heffed it, looked it all over, and dry fired it. Handed it back to me, laughed and said "I've never seen a PPC gun made from a Ruger". I told him to shoot a stage with it and gave him two of my speedloaders. He shot Stage 2 (15 yards): 12 shots (6 shots, reload, 6 shots) in 20 seconds. He was a VERY good shot, went to the National Police Week Competition every year.

He shot the stage and came back to me and said he was amazed in how well it shot and how well he shot it. Asked me who modified it and I told him "Me, with a little help from the President of the association (I didn't have a barrel removal tool). He told me that he would have to seriously consider using a GP100 in the future as well as this one shot. After the match a lot of people gathered around me and wanted to look at, hold, cycle the action and asked a lot of questions.

I WAS NOT in their league as a PPC shooter, these guys were good. A PPC match is a timed match, NRA B-27 silhouette target, 160 rounds shot a 7, 15, 25, 50 yds with reloads in every stage. A perfect score would be 1600-160X. These guys could regularly shoot 1580's and up with 140+ X's. In my 3rd year I was doing good to shoot 1200's and 90 X. But I was doing good enough to be consided for most improved (takes 3 years) the prize at that time for most improved was a S&W 4506. Alas, before I could finish my 3rd year, someone in the USAF recommeded me, by name, to join a special team to go to Egypt to help them build a new night fighter F-16 base.

Somewhere I found that when GP100 replaced Security Six, folks at Ruger noticed that percentage of 4" GP100 sold suddenly jumped considerably higher that what use to be percentage of sold 4" Security Six. Further research discovered that a number of shooters didn't like weight and balance of 6" GP100 (at that time with full underlug barrel only), so more customers turned to 4" GP100. IMO, GP100 has superbly designed mechanism, better than Security Six, and is probably stronger and more durable, especially when using full power 357 Magnum ammunition.

I had also 6" GP100 (full underlug), sold it very soon, just too heavy, as previous owner probably came to same conclusion. For the very same reason I sold Bisley 7.5" in 357 Magnum, too much steel and weight for the caliber. And 6" S&W 686. And 6" S&W M617.

After considerable "soul searching", I came to conclusion that if I want sturdy, reliable 6" 357 Magnum, without excessive weight, Security Six wins hands down. It took me some time to find right revolver with scalloped recoil shield (few with non scalloped shield had problematic barrel, see https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/ruger-security-six-is-this-revolver-ok.306049/ ) and here is the right one:



And, if I can suggest to Ruger folks (hopefully, they are watching this forum) what I would really like is 6" GP100, with barrel profile like on Security Six, or even slimmer, like on 6" S&W M27, and, of course, hammer spur like on SBH:



UPDATE: Forgot to mention; IMHO, any newly made 357 Magnum revolver must have cylinder long enough to accept Lyman 358429 when crimped in a crimp groove:

Onty,
You should try a 5" full lug GP100 - there's a big difference between it and the 6" full lug. I really like the 5" (and you can get it in both blued and stainless) Or, find a 6 " half lug GP, again the difference can be felt. But for certain circumstances, I would take the 6" full lug.

The PPC gun I shot made a 6" full lug seem light but it was a super tack driver with next to no recoil (we shot 148 grain HBWC's in front of 2.5 grains of Red Dot and Federal #100 primers). That load came out of the barrel at a whopping 700fps (but very accurately) :eek: :)

For me also the six inch full lug was mighty nose heavy. Will stick with the Security Six for that length.

Now, if I could find a blued half lug GP for sale….. I’d be a serious buyer. Sad they quit making those.

The decision to use the post grip frame that accepts different grips was brilliant. GP 100’s seem less fragile than Six series guns, but the Sixes were plenty robust.

The fixed sight gun, seems to handle better.

RoninPA said:

Onty,
You should try a 5" full lug GP100 - there's a big difference between it and the 6" full lug. I really like the 5" (and you can get it in both blued and stainless) Or, find a 6 " half lug GP, again the difference can be felt. But for certain circumstances, I would take the 6" full lug.

The PPC gun I shot made a 6" full lug seem light but it was a super tack driver with next to no recoil (we shot 148 grain HBWC's in front of 2.5 grains of Red Dot and Federal #100 primers). That load came out of the barrel at a whopping 700fps (but very accurately) :eek: :)

Click to expand...

Thanks for advice, but I will stick to this 6" Security Six. Looks like shoot very little, drag mark on cylinder barely visible. It should serve me and several generations of grandsons.

Here is another idea, 7.5" GP100 with slim barrel. Boy, this one should be perfect for half scale silhouette:

Both are tough, reliable Ruger wheelguns built like tanks, but the Security Six feels more refined and classic while the GP100 is the heavier-duty, easier-to-shoot evolution for serious .357 Magnum work.

Onty, your 6" Security six will do you and generations down the road very well. I also have several of both blued and stainless 6" in my collection and one of each are my shooters and they both shoot VERY well.

Nordicmac - "but the Security Six feels more refined and classic" I believe this is what actually caused their demise. I believe they were "over engineered" (for lack of better wording) and as such the cost to sell them to make a profit faltered. LE wants a strong sturdy firearm, didn't need a lot of bells and whistles and I think they really didn't care so much what the action felt like as long as when the trigger was pulled it fired. S&W had YEARS of basically no competition (other than Colt) and they made so many DA's that they had the machining, fit, finish, etc. down pat and could offer their product at a more reasonable cost to LE and that hurt Ruger.

So Ruger went the other direction, produce a good sturdy DA for the everyman at a reasonable cost and the GP100 fit the bill.

This has been discussed many times. I was intrigued when the Security Six was released, no side plate, a trigger group what could be removed with minimal tools, there was a lot to be admired. However, one of my main gripes was not addressed, and that is the dreaded play of the cylinder lock up, with the front of the cylinder not having any real support. When the GP100 was relelased that short coming had beed addressed. I had mixed feelings at first about the grip peg but later learned to appreciate the way it opened up the unlimited options for grip sizes and designs. The GP100 was billed as Ruger's answer to the L-frame Smith & Wesson with the only issue being that the Gp100 frame was larger and not as svelte as the Smith & Wesson.

I have an older 4" Security Six. It just fits me fine with Pachmayrs and works to my satisfaction.

Also have a ten-year-newer 6" full-underlug GP100. Wonderful gun . . . accurate and very nicely made. It's just more gun than I like to shoot. Feels heavier than its 6-oz extra mass would indicate.

Picky, picky, picky. ;)

RoninPA said:

Onty,
You should try a 5" full lug GP100 - there's a big difference between it and the 6" full lug. I really like the 5" (and you can get it in both blued and stainless) Or, find a 6 " half lug GP, again the difference can be felt. But for certain circumstances, I would take the 6" full lug.

The PPC gun I shot made a 6" full lug seem light but it was a super tack driver with next to no recoil (we shot 148 grain HBWC's in front of 2.5 grains of Red Dot and Federal #100 primers). That load came out of the barrel at a whopping 700fps (but very accurately) :eek: :)

Click to expand...

I just ordered a 6" half lug GP-100. Wish I had known they made them in 5", I'd have kept looking.

Guess it won't be a complete crime if mine loses an inch.

"Guess it won't be a complete crime if mine loses an inch." To a lot of Ruger people it WOULD be a crime to cut a 6" half lug GP100. Most all of the 5" and 6" half lug models were not made in quantities like the full lug models and many were/are distributor exclusives so as such they are limited in supply.

I would just keep my eyes open for a 5" full or half lug and not "fix" your 6". Just my opinion.

I agree, keep your eyes open for a 5 inch model. My Davidson's exclusive 5 inch full underlug stainless steel revolver is my all time favorite.

I'm a snob and absolutely prefer the Security Six over any GP100.
The GeePee's are tanky and clunky. Kind've the Checker automobiles of the revolver world.
I absolutely know also, many folks love their GeePee's, and that's great.
I have tried. My last two went back to Ruger for some mechanical corrections. One of them took them 3 tries til they finally gave up and replaced it. Those two GeePee's are now perfect, but I no longer own any Geepee's of any flavor.

Here's an article written about the dash Six guns. I think a GP100 might also survive but wouldn't want to risk it. My -Six is the only gun I have full confidence and faith in surviving, not that it will ever be given the opportunity to play.



A demonstration in one of the on-site classes, described by Chris Pollack in S. W. A. T. magazine’s November 1987 issue, reveals the kind of abuse the Ruger double-action police revolvers handily survive. Factory representative Mike Moore: … took one of the Service-Six .357 Magnum revolvers … and subjected it to tremendous abuse.

Mike began by firing six rounds of Federal Magnum ammo, then throwing the gun the length of the range. He walked to the end of the range, picked the gun up, and threw it against a concrete block wall. Then, instead of carrying it back, he threw it again.

The range walkways are asphalt with desert gravel and sand in between. Sometimes the gun landed on the asphalt, sometimes in the sand. Each time the gun got back to the center of the range, he’d check it for function by cycling the trigger six times, then load six more rounds of magnum ammo and fire it…. Everybody present was given the opportunity to abuse it. After each toss, the cylinder still rolled free and the action actually got smoother the more we fired it….

I do not believe any other double-action revolver will take this sort of punishment and continue to function…. After many trips across the asphalt, the cylinder was gouged, the muzzle crown had a bad case of road rash and the front sight was so disfigured that it wasn’t much use when shooting. But, the only thing that broke was the grips.

The screw … eventually gave out. Mike taped them back on and kept on firing. As a final test, we brought a truck onto the range, put the Ruger in front of the tire, and peeled out over it—twice. The gun was tossed about thirty feet and had a layer of burnt rubber on it, but it kept functioning, perfectly. I then fired fifty rounds of Federal .357 Magnum ammunition through it without a hitch….

I had 2x 6" Sec6 revolvers-one I never fired and the other only range fired. They just didn't have the 'feel' I wanted for longer ranges. I had a 6" GP but no 4"-the 4" I handled just seemed too heavy for the needs I had. I did carry the 6" GP some at a time when there was a bigger feline predator in the area and it had some potential for longer range due to the 'outfront' weight making for a steadier hold.
One early spring day with a bit of snow cover remaining, I was out walking fences and looking for shed antlers when I noticed a feral cat sleeping on the sunny side of a wooden fence post. Our north farm is at a highway junction which seems to be a common place to dump unwanted cats. I don't bother them if they stay around the buildings catching mice but if/when they begin straying out and hunting quail I take issue with that. Anyway, this cat had moved away from the barns and was fair game. I underestimated bullet drop on the first shot and didn't even come close enough to rouse the snoozing cat but the second shot holding at the top of the fence post was on target. When I stepped off the range, it was 229 steps. Accounting for some snow and uneven ground I'd call it a conservative 210-215 yards. I wouldn't have tried that shot with my Sec 6 at half that distance but the GP was up to the task.