Ruger GP-100: Customize or no?

L

Leif

New member
Hello everybody,

It's been a while since I last posted, but I have a question I cannot resolve using the "Search" function. :)

I purchased my first handgun earlier this year - a used Ruger GP-100 with a 6" barrel. I really enjoy shooting this revolver, but I find that it really is too large for my intended purpose, which is as a camping/hiking handgun (I know - I should have thought that through before I bought it). So, my thoughts are turning to downsizing, preferably to something along the lines of a .357mag revolver with a 3" barrel.

So, which would be a better choice, especially in terms of cost-effectiveness:

1) Sell or trade the GP-100 to fund the purchase of a GP-100 with a 3" barrel or a SP-101 with a 3 1/16" barrel, or

2) Have a custom shop shorten the barrel of the GP-100 to 3" (think mini-Alaska-ization).

I imagine that with choice 2, there are a fair amount of 'hidden' costs of which I am unaware, and as I am unfamiliar with the nuances of custom work, any insight here would be helpful. My interests in handguns largely are utilitarian, so I'd like to keep it to one revolver at the moment rather than trying to master and maintain multiple handguns.

Thanks!

PS - I'm sure I'm neglecting or forgetting some options or alternatives, so present them if you like.
 
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Sell it and use the funds to buy the one you want. Any money you put into modifying it will be lost when you eventually sell it (assuming you do).

Chris
 
Sell or trade but consider something like J-frame as well.

Sell or trade but consider something like J-frame as well with something more than the 1-7/8 barrel of course.

Nothing makes a better Kit-Gun than a Kit-Gun so to speak. You may or may not want adjustable sights depending on your intended use.
 
you get a smoother, sleeker and lighter fixed sight frame and shorter grips on the gp100 3" model. :)
 
By the time you pay to get the barrel shortened may just as well sell or trade for what you want.I had one with the six inch barrel and just didn't like the gun that well,got rid of it and got a 4 inch that I do like.Have never liked a heavy long barrel gun with that full web.:)
 
So, the consensus says choice 1.

Thanks everybody ... this is pretty much what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure.

OTOH, I just found a 44mag Mountain Gun for a ridiculously cheap price (or so it seemed to me), so maybe I'll have to get both and completely contradict my first post. Hmmm, decisions, decisions ... :)
 
Something just throws me off about having a long-barrel 357Mag and a shorter barrel 44Mag. Something just tells me it should be the other way around. The smaller 357 for hiking and camping and the 44Mag for hunting. The S&W Mountain Gun isn't exactly going to be a whole lot of fun to shoot with full-house 44Mag loads and ammo isn't very affordable unless you reload. I could maybe see the 44Mag as an all around gun that can be used for all of your purposes, hiking camping and woods defense. In your neck of the woods a 357Mag should be adequate for anything you're likely to find. The only advantage that the 44Mag would have would be hunting big-heavy game like Elk and for defense against big bears. The 357Mag has been proven to be sufficient for defense and even hunting average sized American Black Bear. Alaskan defense would be another story entirely. For that I wouldn't even trust a 44Mag.
 
My thoughts:

I have a GP-100 6" so my opinion is biased.

Don't sell your first gun, period. That's for starters... :D Someday you'll wish you hadn't have sold it or traded it off.

Second, you could get the shorter grip for the 3" gun and put it on the 6" gun...it'll fit.
Or try a different grip. I like the Hogue rubber grip, but I think they make one in nylon that isn't so 'sticky'.

Third, the 6" bbl. is really good with a .357! There may be a way to carry it when hiking that won't be a pain. I like shoulder holsters.

Lastly, hold off on getting rid of the gun for a while. That way you won't make a rush to judgment and get rid of it too soon.

Good Luck!:)
 
I agree, BusGunner. The 6" GP100 is an excellent gun and extremely balanced. The 6" really takes advantage and utilizes the 357's power potential. A lot of powder gets wasted in the shorter barrels, leaving a lot of blast and flash. It also tames the recoil and flash of hotter loads. A
6" gun shouldn't be terribly hard to carry, although holsters are harder to find. Something just felt off for me about having a 357Mag with a longer barrel than the
44Mag. It just doesn't seem right to me. If you have quite a few guns that would be ok, but the 44Mag works really well with the longer barrels as almost all the loads for it are hunting loads.
 
Thanks for the extra input, BusGunner007 and cje1980. I tend to agree that .44mag probably is a little more than enough for anything likely encountered in the eastern woods (I'm thinking bear but not wanting to turn this thread into another bear-gun thread); I just was more surprised than anything to see a Mountain Gun with a 3 as the first digit of the price the other night - sort of a "holy cr@p, I can actually afford that for a change" moment.

I also agree that the 6" barrel does indeed work well on the GP-100. However, it's the whole pack and holster bit that is giving me problems. I really doubt, though I must say I haven't tried the combination, that a shoulder holster is going to work with a pack; the various straps are going to start interfering with each other somewhere along the line, causing entanglement, chafing, etc. A belt holster in just about any position seems to interfere with the hip/kidney pad of the pack, no matter what design. I've read suggestions about 'tanker' style holsters or thigh holsters, but these seem to be available only for semiautomatics or are pricey custom pieces, which begs the whole question of whether or not a smaller gun with greater holster choices would be more appropriate; also, I'm not certain how comfortable they would be for hiking. The Safepacker seems to be the best option so far, but last time I checked, they didn't make one for a GP-100 with a 6" barrel.

Thoughts?
 
My thoughts.
As mentioned above, forget about shortening the barrel on your current 6". Sell it and buy a more appropriate one for your intended use or make some modifications to your current hiking/camping gear so you can keep the same good gun. Maybe carry it in a VERY easily accessed (or modified to make it so) location in/on your pack when hiking but holster it more conventionally around camp? Is concealment a concern? I'd guess you could easily attach many non-concealment holsters in a convenient location to the frame of your pack. I also agree that neither a shoulder holster nor thigh rig will work well with your setup, too much sweat, binding and chafing to be comfortable and effective. Yes, I spent many days hiking/road marching carrying all kinds of stuff so I know where you're coming from. Think about and explore your options and you'll come up with a good one:) But, along the way, don't forget why you're out there in the first place. Man I love this country.
G
 
My father, as a national park ranger, carried a substantial pack with his duty belt in the backcountry. You set up your pack so that the kidney belt rides just above the gunbelt, the kidney pad may cover part of it in back.

It sounds more difficult than it is, he covered alot of miles without any problem.
 
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