GP 141, *&* 586, - Blue or stainless?

P

pilon

New member
I want to enter the world of revolvers and have disided on Ruger GP 100 or *&* 586/686 with a 4 inch berell, but don't know what finish should I chose. I wouldn't carry it much - perhaps 20-50 times a year - for backup while hunting big game.
Is there a diference in streinght?
Does blue finish come off easily when carried a lot?
Is there a difference in triger pull?

Like you probably notised a haven't got much idea on six-guns but I promiss will be a good student.

Thanks and keep up the good work.
 
Ruger - built like a tank, affordable
S&W - built to last, better trigger
Stainless - less maintenance than blued
Wear on blue - for the use you've stated, it'll probably take a long time to significantly reduce the amount of bluing.
 
I personally like the Ruger, and with some dry firing the trigger does smooth out quite a bit. You can also have a trigger job done on it and smooth it out even more.

Either finish will do you just fine, but as the post above stated, it is a bit easier to keep a stainless clean than a blued finish.
 
I have both, in 4 inch and stainless. The Smith has a smoother trigger, but not by much in the single action mode. The Smith is better finished, the Ruger still bears some machining marks in the internal interfaces. The adjustable sights on the Smith are a little smoother and refined, the Rugers are definately adequate. The front sight on the Smith is contrasting red with two white dots on the rear, the Ruger is a black, or plain blade up front with a white outlined "horseshoe" for a rear sight. Targets are easily acquired with both. Grips and "feel" are good to excellent on both revolvers. Ruger definately has a price advantage. Customer service is excellent from Smith (turn around on a model 60 was 10 days from dropping off at FEDEX till return to my door). Customer service was slow (5 to 6 weeks) for a Ruger P944 I had returned (giving Ruger the benefit of the doubt, I did return it in November when they may have been overburdened with hunting rifles and scatterguns).

I don't think you can go wrong with either. Both will last a lifetime and will give you a great deal of pleasure on the range as well as make great defensive weapons. If you have the extra money, go with Smith for the finer finish. If not, the Ruger is still an excellent weapon you can be proud of. I would not part with either of them.
 
To me, there is something not quite right about a revolver in the GP-100 family dressed in blue. A Python in blue is beautiful, but not a GP-100 - gotta be in stainless.
 
strength of carbon steel vs. stainless stell

Thanks for your help.
I do favorit *&* trigger over Ruger's, but Ruger sitts better in my hands and it ought to be stronger - so I heard, and costs less wich is important to me.
I will primarily shooting heavy loads, but only few hundreds per year.

Is there a difference in strength of carbon steel vs. stainless stell. I tought that carbon steel is more solid and takes beatting of max P loads better then stainless?
Is that worth considering?

Thanks for your help and for making me feel welcome.
 
If youre not gonna shoot er much, thou/year or so, then I say go with whichever tickles your fancy.

Were you to go shootin it a thou/mo or so, then I would definately go with blued Ruger or 586. My reasons pretty thoroughly hashed out in attached thread, first post subjective and a later post with a tad of metalurgy.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=66624

My personal choice would be a 4" model 19 Smith but that's just me.

Sam
 
Pick whichever finish you prefer looking at. On the stainless, the scratches will show easily, but deep ones will atleast be the same color as the rest of it.

You shouldn't have any concern about any negligable strenght differences there might be. You won't go wrong with either gun or either finish. The price of a new stainless GP-100 should be somewhere around $350. That's a lot of bang for the buck.
 
Pick the candidate you like best . . .

I own two Ruger KGP-141s (the all stainless, four inch barrel GP-100) and I am VERY pleased with them. But, you simply cannot go wrong with any of the four options you are considering.

Blue (carbon or ordnance) steel is theoretically marginally stronger than stainless, whereas stainless is more corrosion resistant than blue steel (of note, Ruger's stainless alloy is supposed to be stronger as well as rust resistant). However, with normal use and minimum care, any of your four choices will function beautifully and last literally lifetimes. It is a VERY rare user who will "out shoot" the durability of any of these revolvers, particularly if .38 Special loads are the mainstay of the weapon's "diet".
 
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