Ashley front sight on Ruger SP101??

Jim T.

New member
Has anyone done this on their .357? How do you like it? Does it shoot to point of aim and with what load? Could you post a picture? Do you know what sight model was used e.g. for a S&W 640?

Thanks
 
Ihave one on a 640, and am well satisfied with it. It shoots well with the loads I used before it was installed (Win. 110 gr "white box" and Rem. 125 gr. "med." velocity).

"Point of aim"...you may have to redefine that a bit. Mine shoots POI if I hold 1/2 the dot in the rear notch, and sight at 6 o'clock on the bull - no lateral spread, but you will have to find a new vertical POI, probably. They are not target sights, on a five shooter, but some fairly good work can be done with them out to 25 yds.if you take the time to relearn a new sight picture. For "quick and dirty, up close" they have no equal, IMO.

Call Ashley - they know which of their sights work on what guns.
 
ashley

did the ashley fit into the slot where the original smith blade was without modification? If work was needed ......how much work
 
The mounting blade/body is slightly oversized and has to be filed down slightly. Mine was the right width, but I had to reduce the bottom by stroking it on a fine file, try and fit, for about two dozen strokes. There is no hole for the mounting pin, as the holes are not standardized, even with the CNC machining. Ashley includes instructions, but I drilled with a proper bit and a cable Dremel tool (no drill press available), broke the bit, and had some clean-up along the ramp. If I had another to do, I'd have no problem, but the drilling is absolutey a case for a small drill press, or a lot more caution than I used.
 
Jim,

I thought about doing the same to my SP101 (3" 357), and corresponded some with Ashley on the subject. The following may be useful:

-The part number for the Standard Dot Tritium is 10-2046P-180-4 ($60).
-The part number for the Big Dot Tritium is #10-2046P-205-3 ($60).

The following recommendation/description was provided for the Big Dot. Personally, I'll go with the standard dot someday to maintain a little more sighting precision, but I can see that the Big Dot would be best for strictly defensive use:

As this is a defensive handgun the Big Dot Tritium is the one that will perform the best under stress. Recommendation is for a gunsmith to open up the notch rear sight by continuing the existing half groove on the top strap right out the back or the notch sight. This will create a " gutter " to sit the Big Dot Tritium down into. Ruger's R&D dept has actually looked at this and agrees to this recommendation. You can shoot using the notch rear sight - but it is actually much faster with the notch opened up to a groove. A gunsmith will use a 5/16" ball nose endmill to groove along the top of the strap.

If you elect not to do this then the technique you will use for speed will be similar to skeet shooting with a beaded rib shotgun. For accuracy you will pull the tritium vial down into the notch - with the vial representing the point of impact.
 
Thanks for the replies. I am glad 22shooter you mentioned opening the sight channel as I recall reading somewhere this was recommended but had no further details about what to do to the sight notch. Guess I will think a little bit about the tradeoffs of Big Dot vs. small and then off to the gunsmith the SP goes.

Jim
 
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