I'm having a problem with my new Ruger SP101.

F

FoghornLeghorn

New member
It's a Ruger SP101 DA only (i.e., spurless hammer).

I bought if for my wife. The original grips were much too small so I put some Hogue fingergrooved grips on it.

But when I took her to the range today, she literally could not pull the trigger back. And I'll admit, it wasn't all that easy for me. And I'm 6'6" tall and 227 pounds. I'm pretty strong.

What are the options for lightening the trigger pull without the risk of light primer stikes?

I'm not familiar with the innards of the double action Rugers. I took one apart once (my GP 100) and I remember that it took me a month to get it back together. (Not really, but it was difficult.)

A Wolff replacement? What poundage?

Remove some coils from the spring?

I know it hasn't been broken in yet, but as stiff as it is, that could take a really long time for not very good results.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
Ok, I just took my Hogue Grip off and looked at my SP. I'm thinking you could have bent the Clip that the Screw goes into to hold the Grip on or you got too long of a screw and it's binding on the rod in there. It's hard to tell without seeing it. Take the Grip off and have a look. Make sure the gun is not loaded and pull the trigger. The flat bar in there with the spring on it will pass through a metal piece and there should be nothing in its way. Hope you figure it out.:confused:
 
Mine too wears Hogue grips and the pull is no different from when it wore it's factory grips, but I could see where a problem might occur with the installation of the Hogue's.

It's probably a simple matter of reinstalling the grips.;)
 
Yeah, I put the originals back on. No difference.

I guess I just found myself a new, nother, carry piece.

Now back to shopping for her carry gun.
 
I've got the same gun and the trigger pull is smooth and even. Typical DA trigger. If it is that tough to pull the trigger, you've got a problem somewhere. If anything, call Ruger and get a return label. Describe your problem and let them take a look at it. Their customer service is top notch. They'll take care of you.
 
Yeah, I put the originals back on. No difference.
Now back to shopping for her carry gun.
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I think your first instincts were correct. I had an SP101 in .357 that needed a lighter mainspring, and a polished mainspring strut. Get the 3-spring kit from Wolff and try the lightest one and see how it ignites primers. If it goes bang reliable, stop there. If not, go to the next heavier spring. Note: There is no "correct" poundage...every gun is an individual.
 
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Make sure you didn't get the hammer strut or the hammer strut seat in backwards.
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putting this piece in backwards causes the hammer strut to push at a slightly different angle. While you got the hammer strut out polish it to remove any rough areas or burrs. Mine has a tooling stamp of a "c" on the 'right hand' side near the top when it is installed correctly.
Wolfe spring kit I bought had 12;10;8 pound hammer springs (I believe 14 pound is stock). It also included two reduced trigger return springs. Replacement is very quick and easy for anyone with the most basic skills. I put the 8 pound hammer spring in with the stock trigger return spring and started noticing lite primer strikes, uaing factory ammo. Going back up to 10 seemed to fix that. These are very good guns, don't give up on it!

I have not dealt with Ruger support yet but I understand that if you send a gun to them it comes back in factory stock condition so remove any custom springs you have installed first.
 
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It's your gun but it would seem like the best option would be to give Ruger a call and send it back so they can go over it. They'll make it right.

Then if you want to play around putting other springs,etc. in it . . that would be your option. I certainly wouldn't give up on it. If you wife likes the feel of it for a carry piece, take the time to get in touch with Ruger and see what they say.

You could spend $$ on putting other springs in it, etc. and still have to send it back to Ruger. If you do, it will be returned with their parts in it, not yours.

Rugeer has excellent customer service.
 
Replacing grips does not involve pulling out the hammer strut. You buy it new or used? I guess it could have shipped from the factory backwards. They're churning em out at a ridiculously high rate so I guess weirder things could happen.

Before going through the rigamaroo of sending it in for service I'd either take it back to the place you bought it and ask to compare it to another if they've got one, or pull out the strut and inspect it yourself.

I found the sweet spot for hammer springs on my a Ruger revos is the 10" one. Was getting erratic ignition with the 9". Before you swap out the hammer spring I'd spend a weekend dry firing it a few thousand times to get the parts to marry with each other.
 
Thanx for all the replies.

She's just going to go back to using the GP100. She only needs something for in the car when she's traveling to her dad's house or her sister's house. Then she'll take it in the house.

Where she works is strictly no weapons. Their sign even has a picture of a knife. So they really mean, no weapons.

(I actually wanted the SP101 for myself anyway.)
 
If it is difficult for you to pull I think it must have something binding pretty good. That is going to cause increased wear and more than likely an eventual failure. I certainly wouldn't carry it if kept in that condition.
As said before, it is your gun though.
 
If it is difficult for you to pull
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It's not difficult for me. At the range I merely observed it's a really strong trigger pull. But not bad enough to indicate there's anything wrong with it.

I would liken it to the DA mode on my DA/SA Sig 226.

I also noticed that, when she's pulling the trigger, the particular hogue grips I put on it, moves her hand to a less-than-optimal position for pulling the trigger. Instead of pull straight back, her index finger is sort of pulling up as well.

I took the grips back, but there's nothing wrong with the gun. I posted this same inquiry on other threads. The DA SP101 has a strong trigger pull.

Thanx for the responses.
 
how different is the trigger pull now from when you examined it before you bought it? if there is a substantial difference then something got misaligned when you put on new grips or there is a mechanical failure somewhere. the trigger pull should lighten or smooth out from the day you bought it with each range outing.
 
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