Is the Ruger GP100 the Greatest Double Action Revolver Ever Made?

And profit is profit. Sure, more profit is better, but if Colt made one dollar profit on each revolver sold they would not have stopped making them.
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That's just not true. I DO however agree with a lot of your last post.


USFA up until very recently made a seriously great, top notch single action revolver. One that in all respects is even nicer than the Colt SAA. They sold every one they made with people waiting in order to get one.

They sold at a premium price. They could probably ask whatever price they wanted. Some costing multiple thousands of dollars. People were willing to pay the price to get one.

They stopped making them in order to focus on a new plastic .22.

There are tons of reasons businesses do what they do. Profit is clearly one of the main reasons, but so is loopy/misguided management along with a host of other reasons.

Colt simply chose to focus their resources on other things. S&W quit making single action revolvers likely for similar reasons ;)
 
I have 8 or so Rugers, two of which are GP-100's, couple of Blackhawks, and several Redhawks, only one Colt DA that I would shoot, and even I know that Ruger isn't the top dog in excellence.

That said, I purchased mine for the "built like a tank"reason so I didn't have to get upset dragging one of those really nice Smith's or Colt's through the junk I usually hunt, and work in and around.

I know for a fact it would have broken my heart to have found a nice Smith in the water soaked moldy leather holster sitting in the bottom of my friends kayak after a month or two. The ol Redhawk came out with nary an issue, well after several hours of scrubbing anyway.
 
And profit is profit. Sure, more profit is better, but if Colt made one dollar profit on each revolver sold they would not have stopped making them.
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A business that followed your advice wouldn't be around long.

Let's say it costs Colt $300 to build a revolver (admittedly low, but it makes things even worse if I use realistic numbers).

They sell it to the wholesaler for $301, making your $1 in profit.

That means that they're getting a return of 1/300, or .3%, on their investment.

They could put their money in a savings account and make 3 times as much.

Whether you like it or not, companies are in business to make money. A company that doesn't optimize it's resources won't be around long.
 
I totally disagree that the python sets the standard. As far as trigger pull goes, there is nothing sweeter than a S&W K frame. The Python and Anaconda I fondled the other day (two used guns that the seller wanted $1500 EACH for!) didn't have as nice a trigger pull as my Model 65 does.
 
All these different excuses for Colts DA revolver demise, the bottom line is that if they would have built a competitive product they would still be in the DA revolver market.
 
Yep. If you charge 75% more for a product, it better be 75% better, at the very least. I remember reading an article about the S&W Model 10 and the Colt Official Police and the S&W won the contracts because they were $10 cheaper. You would think Colt would have learned something from that. Glock being used by 70% of police departments has sure helped their civilian sales.
 
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True. for me the best .357 of all time is the S&W 19/66. Not as stout as the 27 or 686/586, but since my shooting has always been 95% .38 anyway, it doesn't really matter. Wish I still had my 19 and 66.

Now the Ruger Six series beats the GP in my opinion. Stronger then the K frame S&W, yet it's the same size, nearly as strong as the GP, yet lighter.
 
I think it is the best .357 magnum full-sized double-action revolver one can find for the price currently being produced. Here's mine:

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Envious?

You should be.
 
I never warmed up to the GP100s, I did really like the Security Six. I'll take a pre-lock S&W L-frame, a 686+, specifically, please! As a matter of fact, I own only two 357 revolvers. One's a nice pre-lock S&W 66, the other a S&W 686+. I believe I'm well equipped with 357 Mag handguns.
 
The 686 is a great revolver. I have owned two. if I was going to shoot .357 exclusively, I would have kept them. But they're too beefy to be a 95% .38 shooter, which is why the 19/66/13/65 revolvers beat it for me. As for the 686+, there's just something about a 7 shot revolver that seems wrong to me.
 
I traded my 4" 686 PLUS yesterday for this NIB 2008 vintage GP100. I never warmed uo to the 686. I never cared for its trigger, and didnt shoot it as well as my 4" GP100. I wanted a 6" for some time.

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The difference between a 686 and a 66 is that much? I've got both, I think it's more a lug barrel thing or not. Mine are both 2 1/2" inchers though.
 
The 686 handles completely different then the 66. Not as noticeable in the 2.5 inch models, but the gun is fatter and heavier.
 
The difference between a 686 and a 66 is that much?
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Different enough to notice, but not all that much different IMO.

The 19/66 is a better handling gun IMO, but not by miles.

It's like comparing a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton truck. Yeah, you notice the difference, but it's not remarkably different.
 
That's a pretty good explanation savit, after all grip size is the same. I would think as the barrel gets longer the differences would become more and more apparent.
 
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