Ruger SP101

Looking for a small revolver for legal concealed carry but the offerings from Colt and Smith & Wesson send your
checkbook into sticker shock? Then perhaps you're ready to take a look at the Ruger SP101. While not cheap (Good guns never are!), the SP101 will save you some bucks over those other firearms and you'll still be every bit as well armed. Maybe even more so. More on that later.

At first glance, the Ruger SP101 is a small frame, stainless steel, double action .357 magnum revolver. What does this mean to the consumer? Small frame means the SP101 is more compact and lighter in weight than a large frame revolver. Stainless steel is more rust resistant than the blued carbon steels and thus easier to maintain. Double action means the SP101 will fire either by manually cocking the hammer and then pulling the trigger (called single action) or by pulling the trigger only (called double action). Revolver, means that the cartridges are loaded into a cylinder that revolves to put each chamber in alignment with the barrel in order to fire.

This Ruger revolver is constructed like a jigsaw puzzle and can be taken apart much easier than similar sized firearms from the competition. The SP101 internal parts are big and beefy compared to other maker's guns, so the trigger pull is not as light and smooth as some may expect. For a day to day carry gun, however, the Ruger trigger is built more with reliability in mind than with target grade accuracy. After all, if your gun won't fire when you're in danger, it doesn't matter how accurate the shot would have been.

Ruger is expanding the caliber choices of the SP101 to include the new .327 Federal round as well as the .32 H&R Magnum and the .38 Special +P.

The SP101 holds six rounds of ,357 magnum ammo, so it holds one more round than the Smith & Wesson Model 60. That means you're better armed with a less expensive firearm that is still in the same realm of accuracy. I'd call that a bargain.

The following resources were consulted for this article:

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=11101&langId=-1&productId=14754&tabselected=tech&isFirearm=Y&parent_category_rn=15704

http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FAFamily?type=Revolver&subtype=Double%20Action&famlst=9