GP100/SP101 Meaning?

[rammerjammer]

What does GP100 and SP101 actually mean?

Is the GP supposed to be General Purpose and SP Special Purpose?

I figure that the 100 and 101 difference is just meant to have something easier than having the same # for ease of reference/marketing.

 

[Jeepnik]

Actually GP means "good" pistol. SP is "small" pistol. And the Security Six is simply a better gun they replaced with simply a "good" pistol.

 

[22/45 Fan]

And the Security Six is simply a better gun they replaced with simply a "good" pistol.

The Security Six was replaced by the GP-100 for the same reason S&W replaced the K-frames with the L-frames. They had problems tolerating a steady duiet of full power .357 magnum ammunition.

 

[GP100man]

GP = General Purpose

SP= Special Purpose

 

[Jeepnik]

And the Security Six is simply a better gun they replaced with simply a "good" pistol.

The Security Six was replaced by the GP-100 for the same reason S&W replaced the K-frames with the L-frames. They had problems tolerating a steady duiet of full power .357 magnum ammunition.

Doesn't mean the GP is better, just heavier and bulkier. The Security Six is a joy to carry and handles the .357 just fine for the amount of shooting most folks do with max loads. I won't ever sell my Security Sixes, but will never buy a GP. Likewise, I'll keep my Speed Six, don't need the extra bulk of the SP.

 

[Glupy]

Doesn't mean the GP is better, just heavier and bulkier. The Security Six is a joy to carry and handles the .357 just fine for the amount of shooting most folks do with max loads. I won't ever sell my Security Sixes, but will never buy a GP. Likewise, I'll keep my Speed Six, don't need the extra bulk of the SP.

Wonderful answer Jeepnik!

The concept of the Security Six not being able to handle a steady diet of 357s is unsubstantiated by my experience. But mine are only 35+ years old so it is 100 years too early to know for sure.

Glupy

 

[22/45 Fan]

The concept of the Security Six not being able to handle a steady diet of 357s is unsubstantiated by my experience. But mine are only 35+ years old so it is 100 years too early to know for sure.

OK, but it's round count, not age that matters. A lot of S&W Model 19s are older than that and still in great shope but weren't fed a huge number of .357 full house 125 gr loads. How many of these very intense .357 rounds has your Security Six been subjected to?

 

[Erich]

I recall (managed a gun store at the time the GPs were finally hitting the shelves en masse) that the word from the Ruger reps at the time was that the GP was designed to require a whole lot less hand fitting - thus making it less expensive to manufacture. Tied into that was the fact that S&W had brought out their L-frames (there was a bit more necessity over in Springfield - their Ks' forcing cones were definitely having problems with the hot 125-grainers that were de rigueur for LEOs at the time) and that marketing concerns dictated that Ruger do likewise.

That said, I've owned both various ________-Six DA Ruger .357s AND GPs AND SPs. I mostly shoot reasonably hot magnums (typical loads are 14.0 grains of 2400 with a magnum primer under a 158-gr hardcast LSWC and 9.7 grains Blue Dot under a 180-grainer, not to mention max loads of Lil' Gun under whatever 158- or 180-grainer I've got that week) from my .357 revolvers (that's why I own them), and I've never had a Ruger so much as blink at these loads. I don't know whether the Security/Speed/Service Six revolvers would have a problem with the fast 125-grainers (I don't play with those), but they sure don't have an issue with constant use of heavy magnums - at least in my experience.

Which is not to say that I agree with Jeepnik's positions (and I totally concur with GP100Man's factual recitation in answer to the OP's Q): I, myself, prefer the GPs to the older guns, mainly for the modularity of the things (and for the lack of concern about parts availability). And the 5-shot SP is undeniably smaller (therefore less bulky) than the _________ Sixes (and is still heck for strong - it gets the same magnum loadings as all my .357s).

Still, there's nothing wrong with the _____________ Six-series guns. Whichever you prefer is a fine choice.

 

[HiCap]

Shouldn't the GP and SP be GR and SR, since neither are pistols but are revolvers

HiCap

 

[Rumrunner]

Erich is correct. Ruger said he never made any money off the Security Six due to production costs. The Six series are my favorite but I have an Sp101 and Gp100 as well and they are great guns also.

 

[Sal1950]

GP = Great Pistol
SP = Super Pistol.
Sal

 

[GP100man]

The Six series of revolvers had more hand fitted parts than a Python !!

Labor intensive & time consuming + trying to stay competitively priced = lower profits.

I for 1 am glad the company pulled thru & have really redefined/refined there DA revolver line up . They are staying busy on new projects/products , just recently the 1911, a takedown 10/22 bolt rifle styles & controls, a new 22 auto pistol, the sp101 4" 357.

So the company does`nt make a few of us happy by not offering our "dream revolver/rifle/pistol or shotgun but I see there not sitting on there hands either !!

Rant over!

PS: I would really like to see a Ruger revolver to counter the S&W 617 !!

12 shot 22lr. on a GP frame ???

 

[Pale Horse]

PS: I would really like to see a Ruger revolver to counter the S&W 617 !!

12 shot 22lr. on a GP frame ???

I would love a .22lr GP. I have a 617 and love it, it comes with me on every range trip and has thousands of rounds through it. The only gun that I would get rid of my 617 for is a .22lr GP, and I would make that trade in a heartbeat.

 

[Lost Sheep]

And the Security Six is simply a better gun they replaced with simply a "good" pistol.

The Security Six was replaced by the GP-100 for the same reason S&W replaced the K-frames with the L-frames. They had problems tolerating a steady duiet of full power .357 magnum ammunition.

Got a source for that little tidbit of (possibly mis)information?

I don't mean to be argumentative, but just disagree with the assertion and want to check it out.

Lost Sheep

 

[Lost Sheep]

Shouldn't the GP and SP be GR and SR, since neither are pistols but are revolvers

HiCap

Before auto-loading handguns were invented, all revolvers were pistols. (Sam Colt many times called his product a "revolving pistol", but sorry, I don't have citations, but I have seen the advertisements in photographs of the period.)

The meanings of words do change over time, but the old meanings do not go away.

Lost Sheep

 

[Erich]

Agreed: revolvers a subset of pistols, which is another term for "handgun". The word "pistol" goes back to at least the sixteenth century at which time it meant "short firearm".

 

[Knuckles]

Agreed: revolvers a subset of pistols, which is another term for "handgun". The word "pistol" goes back to at least the sixteenth century at which time it meant "short firearm".

yep' 8)

 

[HiCap]

My understanding is that a pistol is a single chamber hand gun and a revolver is a multi-chambered hand gun. Semis would be pistols and revolvers would be revolvers and not pistols.

HiCap

 

[Lost Sheep]

My understanding is that a pistol is a single chamber hand gun and a revolver is a multi-chambered hand gun. Semis would be pistols and revolvers would be revolvers and not pistols.
HiCap

That is one of the meanings that have come to exist. It is not the only meaning.

What would you call the pistol known as the "Duckfoot"?

Definitions are flexible and change over time. At one time the term "45 Long Colt" did not exist and there was only the "45 Colt" cartridge at one time. At one time the term "revolver" did not exist. When revolvers were invented, the term "revolving pistol" came to have meaning. It has been shortened to "revolver" just as "45 Colt" has been lengthened to "45 Long Colt".

To be perfectly explicit, we would refer to things such as "Semi-Automatic Pistol", "Revolving Pistol" and "Single-Shot Pistol".
I do note that substitution of the word "Handgun" would leave room for the term "Pistol" to morph into a meaning of ONLY "semi-automatic handgun", but that does not eliminate the original meaning of the word "pistol" (to which knuckles referred).

How many southwestern old west aficionados would willingly do away with the evocative and poetic term "pistolero"? Show of hands?

Etymologically, revolvers were (when they were invented) and continue to be a subset of those firearms described as "pistols" until we change the way the language evolves. It is the nature of language to evolve slowly and retain archaic definitions, however individuals feel about it. Until the great mass of people all agree that a definition is dead, words continue to have multiple meanings.

That is just the way it is.

Lost Sheep.

 

[HiCap]

Duck foot is a multi barreled pistol. A two barreled pistol is a double barreled pistol. A revolver is a multi chambered pistol. So you could say it is a subset of pistol. But a pepper box? A duck bill? Pistols?

HiCap

 

[Jeepnik]

And getting back to the original reason for the thread, what does Ruger say the GP and SP mean? Afterall, they make them, so it's really up to them, isn't it?

 

[Lost Sheep]

And getting back to the original reason for the thread, what does Ruger say the GP and SP mean? Afterall, they make them, so it's really up to them, isn't it?

Good point, Jeepnik. It was an interesting detour (I hope) and I have put forth my side of the debate and have finished.

On the original question, I have no idea, though I have a number of the "handguns".

Lost Sheep

 

[wildcatter]

I also do not know what it stands for but do know one thing, if you use loads in a model19 Smit an wishon you use in a Security six, it not only won't last, but will probably come apart. For years I fed a Security six a steady diet (10's of thousands) of 13.5 grains of 2400 and a self cast 174 grain SWC, it shot as good as the GP-100 I traded it on and still have today, the heavy barrel 4" GP is very tame compared to the 4" Security six, the Security six is one of the strongest 357 ever made, exceeding Colt's and Smiths of the time, the Model 27 Smith would not handle hotter loads than the Security of the same time even though it was built on a N frame, the same thing smit used for the anemic 44 mag the famous Harry used. If memory serves me right Remington manufactured a Med. loading just so you wouldn't were a N frame out, I don't recall any such loadings made for any Ruger! There are many times I wish I still had that Security six back, but at the time I traded it with kids in grade school and other responsibilities, the new GP came at a premium I was willing to pay at the time.

 

[Erich]

Amen!