Modify SP101 - sights, trigger action, hammer?

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Naphtali

Single-Sixer
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
226
Location
Seeley Lake
I recently bought a Ruger SP101 357 Magnum with 4-inch barrel. Rear sight assembly is, more or less, standard design that you would have on any GP100 - perhaps a smaller version?

Front sight is the opposite of useful. It is a dovetailed-on assembly of metal that houses a cylinder of light focusing plastic. The feature I dislike most is that the illumination is entirely dependent upon a light source. With light, a bright illuminated circle. Without light, a standard pin.

In lower light, a 3-dot system would be appreciated. And were the dots using a light storing material similar to what is used for wrist watches, this is preferred compared with tritium or other self-illumination systems.
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I have an autoimmune illness that is orders of magnitude more severe than rheumatoid arthritis. My hands are unsatisfactory for doing a trigger job on the SP101. While its trigger action is not a bad one, there is room for substantial improvement - improvement I cannot do for myself. I also cannot judge whether simple spring swapping is the complete answer.
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This "improvement" is twitchy. My SP101's hammer spur is narrow and has sharp checkering. A wider spur would be useful for me, but I suspect replacing the hammer with an OEM hammer having a wide or target spur enters a place I don't want to be. Such a modification is almost certainly NOT a drop-in. Fitting would probably be required, plus an action job.

The only "fix" I thought of that might not cause more problems than it solves is a bolt-on or solder-on piece of metal similar to a Flaig's trigger shoe that does the same job, albeit on the hammer spur. The only device like that I've experienced, though are hammer extensions for traditional lever action rifles. Modifying one of them, though, is not a solution.


While this adjustable-sighted SP101 is a new offering, the basic system is long in use. Please identify gunsmiths who routinely gunsmith Ruger's double action family of revolvers.
 

Precision32

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
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629
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Ocala, FL
A quick Google search turned up this.

http://www.t-grips.com/TriggerShoeHomepage1.htm

Are you trying to improve the DA or SA trigger pull?
 

NikA

Buckeye
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Nov 2, 2014
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Yrisarri, NM- high in the Manzanos
Two thoughts:

1) The glowing material used for wristwatches depends on the age and the maker. The older radium paint and tritium inserts are generally not available to the public. I have had good luck with this, which is supposedly the brightest, longest-lived phosphorescent material available: http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_45&products_id=1079
I mixed it with clear nail polish (they offer a paint kit, but it's latex-based and probably won't hold up to solvents). The powder, which sits on my desk in a shaded area without direct sunlight, will glow for hours. Charging it up under a blacklight makes it very bright. I put it in the grooves of my work flashlight so I can find it at night and have had no issues with chipping or solvent damage.

2) Depending on the vintage of the SP-101 and your feelings about MIM, the newer MIM hammers (and triggers) are significantly less "sharp". Someone around here would probably trade you a MIM hammer/trigger set for a non-MIM one. In my experience, the Ruger MIM parts are well enough constructed to not affect the ability to do a trigger job. Spring kits, while frequently part of the answer to the Ruger trigger conundrum, are probably best paired with some smoothing. Sorry, since I do this myself, I do not have any advice on who to contact to get it done.
 

Enigma

Hunter
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Apr 17, 2002
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2,511
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Houston metro area, TX
Any decent pistolsmith SHOULD be able to do a reliable action job on your revolver, and do something about the front sight. I would imagine that he could also fabricate and attach a wider spur for the hammer. It seems like all the 'big name' pistolsmiths only want to do packages that include the most frequently requested modifications any more, rather than simply one or two mods by themselves. From what I have read about his work, Alan Harton might be your best choice of the big name guys for this work.
 

Thel

Blackhawk
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
639
Location
Pacific Northwest
As Enigma noted any decent gunsmith or pistolsmith should be able to do an action job and fabricate a front sight. The key is finding the "decent" one. A number only replace springs and an action job consists of checking tolerances and polishing the innards for a smoother action with less friction. Shims can also be added to the hammer, trigger and hammer dog while the gunsmith has the action open to reduce friction somewhat and give more reliable letoff. A decent action job will not only be lighter, but smoother with most of the creep removed in single action letoff. An SP .357 I have went from 14 lbs double action to 8.4 lbs with this done sans shims which I will install one of these days. It has the Wolff 9 lb mainspring and 8 lb trigger return spring in it. I do not get misfires. If one does the key is to maximize firing pin protrusion and set headspace and endshake to minimal specs.

A front sight can be fabricated to fit the dovetail from a blank by a pistolsmith. In my case I had one made for another model of Ruger revolver that has a McGivern gold bead profile and bead. There is a business that will make custom tritium inserts. I believe using radium is not done these days. If they could be made to fit TruGlo offers a sight setup for the SR9c that is a combo tritium and fiber optic. Somewhere on one of the boards I seem to recall someone fitted this to a 4" SP.

On the older SPs the hammer was cast. In the past a number of gunsmiths used to weld up the thumb pad and recut to the desired width, profile and checkering pattern. I do not know how well the MIM parts take to welding. Perhaps someone familiar with them can ellucidate on this.

As another poster noted some gunsmiths like only doing packages. Anyhow, I would check the following:

Bowen
Magnaport
Ten Ring Precision
Dave Clements
Pinnacle
The Action Works (AZ)
 

Naphtali

Single-Sixer
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
226
Location
Seeley Lake
Cogent, useful replies. Many thanks.
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My revolver has hollowed trigger that is, I believe MIM version. Hammer is cast.

NikA: Does your "2)" suggest that newer SP101s like mine are likely to respond to smithing bearing surfaces of the lock work? Check this link for interesting discussion of front sights. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-smithing/459416-red-ramp-insert-tips-pics.html This month's American Rifleman featured an article on Ruger's newest Redhawk version. While I have no interest in Redhawks, the front sight shown appears to be the same dovetail configuration as that of my SP101. I'll query Ruger after the holiday. If it is, its red insert will be fixed my way. Then I'm partway home.

Precision32: Both manually cocking and trigger cocking modes are spongy. Trigger cocking is smooth heavy. On my "better" days I can work it a few times. Manual cocking as single action mode is very spongy with a heavy, almost counter-intuitive.

Thel (Reed??): Now I have a decent idea of what need be done. With your information, I suspect that when I was whole, I still would not have wanted to do this action-trigger job myself.

Having typed that, as far as I can determine, my SP101 is the most carefully finished and assembled for barrel/cylinder/cylinder bolt/ratchet I have handled. It is close to my Freedom Arms Model 97s in that regard. To me this means that the action job will yield huge benefit in fulfilling revolver's potential.
 

NikA

Buckeye
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Yrisarri, NM- high in the Manzanos
My 2) suggests that, unlike other companies' previous employment of MIM, Ruger's MIM parts seem to be of high enough quality to alloy polishing/finishing/altering of the bearing surfaces of the parts. As such, my only concern with these parts (MIM or cast) would be their appearance, e.g., if I were trying to put together a set of SP-101 variants that were made pre-MIM parts. Mainly, in the context of Ruger, I think worrying about MIM vs. cast parts is best reserved for true aficionados and collectors, and any user should be confident in Ruger's engineering of their manufacturing processes.

I personally have worked on smoothing 2 SP-101s with MIM internals, in addition to a number of cast internal Rugers. I did not find the process or results to be significantly different, other than the smoothness of the cocking serrations and trigger edges on the MIM parts.

I am familiar with that sight construction method as I have considered doing it on weapons I own. I think there are better options for you SP. I don't know what recent version of the Redhawk AR wrote up, but all the recent versions I know of have had the plunger-style red ramp insert, which will not be compatible with your SP without significant modification. You might ask Ruger the dimensions of the front sight cut on SP-101s to see if another manufacturer already produces something that is compatible and acceptable to you. For my casual use, I find that carefully applied nail polish is durable enough and accomplishes my objectives. If I had access to machine tools, I might think differently; I just can't see paying someone to do something I don't really need and could do for myself.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,142
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Lake Lure NC USA
Just to add a little info here.
We have a good member here that is familiar with working on the DA line of Rugers. Moreso the "Six" series of DA's,,, but isn't lost in the others. Maybe he can help you a little.
Look for RoninPa.
 

Thel

Blackhawk
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
639
Location
Pacific Northwest
As NikA notes I doubt the front sight off a Redhawk would work due to height and dovetail along with base width as suspect the Redhawk rib on the barrel is wider. If I recall the RH in American Rifleman was the new 4.2" .45 Colt/.45 ACP one. Within limits one can modify the dovetail in the barrel to fit other sights. Brownells and Bowen offer a number of sight blanks that, perhaps, could be adapted by modifying either the sight and/or the mounting area on the barrel. Here is an article on a custom front sight:

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=200636

Given your preference for a luminous front sight the gunsmith should be able to fashion from the sight blank a McGivern configuration but instead of a gold bead could drill and fit a metal bead that could be painted with luminous paint. I had Alex Hamilton of Ten Ring Precision in TX make a gold bead McGivern front sight for a Speed Six so he should easily be able to do so for the SP101. Bowen should also be able to do so.

If I recall MIM parts are somewhat harder than the cast parts so should have a lower coefficient of friction. If your hammer is cast as you note than the thumb pad should be able to be welded up and a new one of the desired configuration fitted. Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision used to do this but, unfortunately, he retired. Indeed, he had a picture on the web of one he fashioned for a cast Redhawk hammer.

I believe, even if one is not going to do the action job themselves, it is good to know what all can be done so as when conversing with potential pistolsmiths one can determine if he is the right one for the job and what he knows.
As noted RoninPA is one to consult here and on the other board perhaps Varminterror.
 
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