First gun, now what?

J

JRLaws

New member
Hey guys, first off I want to say great forum here.

I've wanted a good revolver for some time now and had a super deal fall in my lap today ($300 for a 6 inch stainless Ruger GP100). The friend who sold it to me said he had fired it about 20 times and doesn't know how many times its first owner (his uncle) had fired it. The gun locks up tight and I couldn't miss with my 6 test shots, but looks like it has never been cleaned. This is my first handgun so I'm not sure what I need to do. A thorough cleaning is in order, but how much of the gun needs to come apart for this and what else might I need to do? Thanks for your advise!
 
Welcome to TFL!!! :)

Congrats on your new firearm. Since you already have fired the revolver and it functions perfectly then just give it a good cleaning and all will go well ;)
 
For a basic cleaning you don't need to remove anything. The grips would'nt hurt. Rugers don't have sideplates and there's really no reason to remove the cylinder.
 
Thanks for the help! I downloaded a copy of the manual from Ruger (why didn't I think of that first) and cleaned my new pretty. Wow, what a great gun! The trigger pull is just a tad heavy, relative to my father's Buckmark, but a joy to shoot. After 48 rounds today, I'm completly hooked. Short of sending the gun to a smith, could I tune it in any way?
 
Usually Rugers slick up from use- after 500 rounds you'd hardly recognize it, it's so smooth. Since you don't know how many rounds it's fired, its impossible to say how much better yours will get.

Brownell's sells replacement hammer/trigger return springs (its a set) for somewhere around $6-$10, which are very, very easy to install, and greatly lighten the pull.

Sometime Rugers will feel too rough with the reduced power trigger return spring, but that can also improve with use...lots and lots of use (Rugers get better with age/ use); also, its possible for the lighter hammer spring to not hit all primers hard enough to detonate- again, that can also improve with use, but if you're relying on this gun for personal protection, shoot it alot after lightening the springs with the ammo you'll be relying on, just to insure reliability.

I understand you've downloaded the owner's manual- by disassembling the gun you'll see how easy it is to replace the two springs.

Enjoy!
 
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