Advice on Ruger SP101 accuracy

C

Colinsky

Inactive
I'm feeling crestfallen today after taking delivery of my SP101, .357, three-inch barrel. I've been renting S&W 686 4-inchers for the last six months and putting every round of .38 Special into paper plates at 15 yards, but today with my own gun, I could only put 3 out of 5 into the paper plate at 7 yards. (Shot 50 rounds)

I bought the Ruger at a San Jose gun show a couple weeks ago, after studying this Web site for months. There weren't any S&W snubbies offered, and I narrowed my search down to a Security 6, a GP100, and the SP101. The SP seemed to have the best trigger feel, so that's what I bought.

I was an avid shooter from 1961 to 1980, and even though I've shot only sporadically since then, my marksmanship has always been pretty darned good, including 300 rounds of .38 and 9mm since April. My accuracy with my brother's .38 S&W snub was very good.

The main problem was that I couldn't detect any pattern to my misses. I typically shoot low to the left with any given gun, and then I learn to compensate. But today I was spraying them all over the place.

As I paid up and left, I told the gun shop guy, "The bad guys were safe from me today."
He said everybody has a bad day now and again.

My question is, should I suspect the gun, or is it some kind of sudden-onset target Alzheimers, or what? I used the same reload ammo from the gun range that I used before, when I was very accurate. Should I try +P, or magnum ammo, for flatter trajectory?
 
I have an SP101 and have found it to be very accurate for a snub. I would just practice a little and you will probably fix the problem. I wasn't great with mine right off the bat but now that i've put around 1000 rounds through it, I can shoot it pretty well. The Ruger's trigger pull is also alot heavier than a smith's so that may have something to do with it. I also dry fire all the time to practice my trigger pull.
 
First run the checkout on the gun:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57816

If it seems OK...

Go back to the range, and "sandbag it". Don't worry about your own "technique", just shoot it heavily braced SA taking your time every shot, see what the dang GUN can do.

If it still looks like you're using a shotgun, you need to check the gun in even more detail. Or have a gunsmith do it. A screwed-up cylinder with different sized exits isn't unheard of...that'll spray all to hell and gone.

On the other hand, if sandbagging the gun shows that it's inherent accuracy is OK, then that's a confidence builder both in the gun, and the fact that you WILL eventually get to the point where you can shoot it. Otherwise, as you're in your usual hold and they're going all over, you'll have this nagging question to the effect of "is it me, or the dang GUN!?" at every range trip, it will annoy the hell out of you, it's never gonna be pleasant and it might set your shooting back.

What else...OH ya, check a different batch of ammo! It's possible to get stuff that's got slightly different powder charges for each round, you ain't gonna get the crap to group no matter what. This is especially common with range reloads but every once in a while the major ammo rollers screw up.
 
Barrel length has little to do with accuracy. The SP is as accurate as the next gun. The short sight radius on the gun and the Ruger trigger can give some people problems. The 3" barrel should help with the sight radius issue.

With the sights they are very accurate...without them they can be better.

Shoot well
 

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Well, Eric....thats better than I usually shoot with my short-barrel Sheriff's Model (3-1/2" or so) 357 Vaquero. But, I've only shot about 100 therough the Vaquero, so a lot of that is me. Feel the gun itself is quite accurate. Had a guy try it at the range a few weeks back...he put all 6 inside the 9-ring, and had never shot a SA revo before.

So, Colinsky's SP-101 is probably OK, he justs needs 3 things..

Practice....Practice.....Practice


and maybe a different ammo.
 
Excellent advice given already, especially Jim's, in other words all guns are innocent of poor accuracy until proven guilty by shooting them from a rest.

To me, the most telling part of your post is:
The main problem was that I couldn't detect any pattern to my misses. I typically shoot low to the left with any given gun, and then I learn to compensate. But today I was spraying them all over the place.
Click to expand...
If you are compensating for poor trigger technique by compensating (I assume you mean aiming a little high and right), then you haven't fixed the problem, you have only masked it. If you are adding a flerk (flinch + jerk) when firing, then you will usually get shots "all over the place". A self-test is to play reverse Russian Roulette. Load all but one cylinder, without looking turn the cylinder some and close it, and see what happens when you reach the empty cylinder. Sometimes that can be a real eye-opener when the jerking isn't masked by the shot.

Also, as mentioned, try a different type ammo of the commercial variety.

You didn't mention which caliber of reloads you're using. Are they .38 Spcl or .357 Magnum?
 
I bought an SP101 3 " at Reed's July sale. it is accurate enough but very ammo sensitive. The accuracy is excellent with Speer Lawman 38+P 158 gr tmj also very good with Blazer 158gr JHP in 357 mag. It is somewhat less accurate with Winchester 158 gr FBI loads. Some Rugers benefit form re crowning but I would check all of the things mentioned by the other guys first.
I shoot it at Targetmasters in Milpitas or at Reed's Indoor in Santa Clara.
Good Luck,
Mike
 
Don't feel to badly. These little guns take a bit more practice than most people think. I changed from an SP101 with a hammer to the hammerless version and thought that I'd forgotten how to shoot.

1. The trigger pull on the new one, DA was rough and felt longer than the 10 year old unit with a hammer. The first cylinder would have stayed in my 15" monitor, barely.

2. It had been a while since I'd shot the 2.25" stubbie with magnum loads and was pulling the muzzle down a bit as the trigger broke. I'd take a box of 158 gr. soft points with me instead of the usual 125 grs.

3. I'd started at 15 yards--should have started at 7 yards.

After a few determined cylinders the 7 yard groups were "ragged hole" size, the 15 yard line stayed under small and 25 yards was back down to the usual 3-4 inches DA.

The Ruger's smoothness and your muscles will improve with dry firing as will your familiarity with the gun.

Practice...practice.....
 
Thanks, I feel better

I'd been looking for a revolver all summer, while shooting rented 686s, and then when I gripped my first SP101, it felt like the perfect gun for me--the 686 is too big for my small hands.

I''ve been dry-firing the Ruger a lot and next weekend I'm going to shoot some +P factory rounds instead of the house reloads at Target Masters in Milpitas.

However, I was shooting real good with the .38 reloads in the 686.

One reason I chose the Ruger is that when I was a teenager back in the 60s, I had a Ruger .22 pistol that I could shoot clay pigeons out of the air with...I was expecting instant similar accuracy.
 
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