Well, given that today was the big Six-Oh birthday, and given that I just took ownership of a gently-used Ruger GPF 340, I decided to cut the day short by two hours and head for the range with the GP. I picked this revolver up as a consignment sale at Turner's Outdoorsman. The price was outstanding and the idea of a half-underlug GP100 was too much for my powers of resistance (never great anyway when it comes to guns).
For those of you who don't know, the GPF 340 is a somewhat rare model of the GP100. It features fixed sights, a half-underlug barrel, 4.2" barrel, and mine is blued. (There is an SS version.) I picked this one up from the LGS consignment shelf, and it was clearly neglected, but not at all abused. Some very tiny (very tiny) nicks on the front cylinder face and under the trigger guard, but otherwise the gun is absolutely pristine. The gun was "dry" i.e. had not been cleaned and wiped down for a long time. However, she cleaned up very nicely and I am quite happy with the condition and appearance of the revolver. Anyhow, what really matters is how it shoots.
I am always a little leery of fixed-sight guns because if the sights on the darned things are off, it is a PITA to deal with. (Drifting sights on pinned front sight revolvers is no joke IMO.) Anyhow, off I went to the range.
Well, color me shocked. The sights were RIGHT on the money. My second shot was a bull's-eye (my first was a flyer, off slightly to the left; probably I jerked the trigger.) On single action the revolver is deadly accurate; there is no doubt that Ruger got the sights exactly right. I was shooting at 25 feet, which is probably a good self-defense distance. I was shooting economy range-reload ammo. (My local range does a VERY good job with its reload range ammo.)
The front sight is a simple ramped black sight, and my targets were black, so this did not make things easy but hey, the bad guys may be wearing black with black ski-masks too... you never know. I would have preferred a red-ramped front sight, but this sucker is so accurate with the sights as they are I probably will not mess with the front sight.
The double action trigger is a typical GP100. Pretty smooth but with a very noticeable second stage, which I actually like. No complaints about that.
The gun is extremely handy given the 4.2" barrel with the half underlug. Recoil is no problem (I was shooting 38 specials; not .357 Magnum).
Anyhow, another fun Ruger to play with, or zap Zombies with. Here she is for those of you who enjoy gun ****.
For those of you who don't know, the GPF 340 is a somewhat rare model of the GP100. It features fixed sights, a half-underlug barrel, 4.2" barrel, and mine is blued. (There is an SS version.) I picked this one up from the LGS consignment shelf, and it was clearly neglected, but not at all abused. Some very tiny (very tiny) nicks on the front cylinder face and under the trigger guard, but otherwise the gun is absolutely pristine. The gun was "dry" i.e. had not been cleaned and wiped down for a long time. However, she cleaned up very nicely and I am quite happy with the condition and appearance of the revolver. Anyhow, what really matters is how it shoots.
I am always a little leery of fixed-sight guns because if the sights on the darned things are off, it is a PITA to deal with. (Drifting sights on pinned front sight revolvers is no joke IMO.) Anyhow, off I went to the range.
Well, color me shocked. The sights were RIGHT on the money. My second shot was a bull's-eye (my first was a flyer, off slightly to the left; probably I jerked the trigger.) On single action the revolver is deadly accurate; there is no doubt that Ruger got the sights exactly right. I was shooting at 25 feet, which is probably a good self-defense distance. I was shooting economy range-reload ammo. (My local range does a VERY good job with its reload range ammo.)
The front sight is a simple ramped black sight, and my targets were black, so this did not make things easy but hey, the bad guys may be wearing black with black ski-masks too... you never know. I would have preferred a red-ramped front sight, but this sucker is so accurate with the sights as they are I probably will not mess with the front sight.
The double action trigger is a typical GP100. Pretty smooth but with a very noticeable second stage, which I actually like. No complaints about that.
The gun is extremely handy given the 4.2" barrel with the half underlug. Recoil is no problem (I was shooting 38 specials; not .357 Magnum).
Anyhow, another fun Ruger to play with, or zap Zombies with. Here she is for those of you who enjoy gun ****.
