Ruger GP100 44 special

Funny...this 696 sat on the shelf of a local gun shop for over a year before I finally "took it off their hands" after the price was reduced to a point I just couldn't refuse:



Now the Ruger GP100 in 44 special is looked forward to with great anticipation. Makes one wonder why the 696 wasn't successful.

Go figure...
 
For you the Ruger adds nothing & I'm not trying to talk you or anybody else into buying one.
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I have nothing against it, it just does nothing that my Smith and Wesson does not do better. Essentially the same size, weight, cost, quality and capacity.

I've explained about what the appeal would be in the new Ruger to me & others.
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Must have missed that.

The Charter may be good enough for you, but it's not for me.
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It would serve a niche, for a small, light 44 special. Neither the Smith 69 or Ruger GP 100 fit that niche. I understand what you are saying about the quality and I agree. It's about options for many people.
 

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Seems like some folks want to type cast the 44 SPL. Its a versatile cartridge.
The cartridge case headstamped "44 SPL" is just a bottle that will hold powder,a primer,and a bullet.
It CAN be a wonderful target round,a plinking round,an 850 fps ,240 gr SD,police,or hunting round.It does all of those well.
And,in general,firearms manufacturers have made guns engineered to the 18,000 psi 44SPL.

But I disagree with the blanket statement "If you want a 44 Magnum,get a 44 Magnum. I have a 44 Magnum.

Reloading manuals have tiers of pressure within one cartridge.

Historically,the 45-70 was loaded for the Trapdoor Springfield.Folks enjoy the BP pressure level 45-70 in Sharps and Rolling Blocks,too.

If shooters realize more potential in an 1895 Marlin or a Ruger # 1,do we tell them "If you want a .458 Win Mag,get a 458 Win Mag?"

No,the load manuals say "Ruger only loads"

The loader/shooter just has to respect the engineering of the gun.

Remember where the .44 Magnum came from.Elmer,and the +P .44 SPL.

There is nothing wrong with a 1050 or 1100 fps,or so,240 gr 44 SPL load in a Lipsey,or this new GP 100,or a S+W 696 .Perhaps a little more.

That's NOT "making it a 44 Magnum" It IS a useful,safe level of performance IN THE RIGHT GUN. Not a Charter Bulldog.

There is a lot of useful territory between the extremes.Its not about Black Powder pressure versus 44 Magnum pressure.There is a lot of grey area between.
I'm happy the gun manufacturer,Ruger,in particular,has offered us .44 SPL guns on .357 frames .I also like the S+W 696.Great gun!
I had a Taurus 445.Good gun.(NOT a +P gun)I gave it to a woman who travels alone.

For myself,when we get down to a Charter Bulldog,I'm also a 1911 guy.So,what does the Bulldog offer over an Officers Model? Or a 45 Shield?

I get it,some prefer a wheel gun. For myself,I have chosen an M+P 9 C. Its slimmer,just as light,and holds 12 rds 9mm.

But in the woods,5 rounds 44 SPL loaded to 1050 or 1100 fps with a 240 gr Hard cast Keith is a package.
 
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Nanuk,
I've been on three forums discussing this gun, thought I'd explained it here.

The Ruger has no lock, it has no two-piece barrel.
Either or both of these would be a deal-killer for me.

I prefer the Ruger rifling over the Smith rifling, for use with lead.
The Ruger is more durable & will take longer to develop any timing issues than the Smith.

The overall package in the Ruger is preferable over the Smith.

I do not want a .44 Mag any smaller or lighter than my Smith 629 Mountain Revolver.
I do not want to shoot .44 Specials in a .44 Mag.

I do not always need a .44 Mag, and when I do I have several to choose from that include Smiths and full-sized Rugers in Red & Black.
When I want or need a .44 Mag I'll carry a .44 Mag.
Denis
 
I agree with model12win,,,44spl is a reloader cal,,, and you can make hit different places with different loads

I have a taurus 445l,,, I like the gun but hate the clingy grips,,, I changed original ribber to hogue rubber,, they are better but still clingy,,,, cant get wood for it or I would

as for the sights,,, none of my carry guns have adjustable sights,,,, I just prefer fixed for that,, once you get them dialed in they usually stay,,, just me

and I shoot them,,,, but not at long range,,, mostly15yrd and in,,,, that is a carry gun for me,,, if the perp is farther than that you better have a dang good reason to shoot

who knows maybe ruger will make it both ways

I like everything about it but those two things

ocharry




I am a big ruger fan,,,, I have more than several,,, lol

ocharry
 
Hi,
I am not trying to sell anybody on anything.

I do reload.
In my .44 Spec Ruger Flattop I have a 250 hardcast that travels at 1050.
That's a boost from traditional factory figures, without getting up near Magnum figures that I don't always need or want.

That gun shoots that load. Period.

In my .44 Mags, I don't want to either inventory two different loads, one full-bore Mag & the other loaded down to .44 Special levels, or deal with changing the sights back & forth.

My various individual Magnums are sighted in for one magnum load in each case, which means the Smith 629 gets a jacketed solid, the Redhawks get a Garrett heavy lead load, and so on.

I do not shoot .38 Specials through my .357s.
If I want to shoot .38s, I use a .38.
No sighting changes, and no crud buildup in chambers that needs to be scrubbed out before Magnum loads can be chambered again.
Just like .44 Spec/.44 Mag.

I've also reloaded for .45-70, and use specific loads for specific rifles.
I don't load light for playing with one rifle & load heavy for serious purposes in the same gun.
One load, one rifle, one purpose, one sight setting.

If I want a heavy 200-grain .30-caliber, I'll find that load for one .30-06 rifle.
If I want a light 30-caliber, it'll be one load in the .308.

And so on.
I am not trying to sell the Ruger.
My preferences are my own.
I'm just stating why the .44 Spec GP appeals to me.
It doesn't have to appeal to the majority, or a Smith fan, or an existing Smith owner of the .44 Mag model compared to the new Ruger.

If you don't want one, don't spend the money. :)
Denis
 
Denis,

I can't argue with anything you said, I just personally have no use for a heavy duty special. I do not reload for it, but I will be loading some 44 Russians to try with moon clips in my 69, yes it is cut for moon clips. I run it in IDPA, nope not gonna win but it is fun.
 
44 Special - 250gr at 1200ft/sec.

45 Colt - 250gr at 900ft/sec.
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I am curious as to how you will get 1200fps from a 3" barrel 44 special? That sounds more like a 44 mag load. People trying to load this gun to those pressures is probably why Ruger hasn't brought one of these out in the past even though there have been many request to do so. If you can get 900-1000fps with a 240gr bullet from this gun you are probably still on the safe side. The 44 special was never about speed but a big chunk of lead in a controllable gun.

I hope they make a 4" barrel version with a half lug and the original rubber and wood insert grips. And a fluted cylinder.
 
^ I don't remember who said that, but I remembering reading it and saying, "There's a .44 fanboy who just doesn't get it."

Between .44 Special and .45 Colt, if I was given a choice between the two in the same revolver, I'll take the slightly larger .45 Colt because it's a lot easier to get a specific load of factory .45 Colt over .44 Special. If I want standard cowboy ammo, that's easy to get and it costs the same or less. If I want some defensive ammo, .45 Colt blows .44 Special away. Winchester makes Silvertips, PDX1, Speer has the gold dot, CCI even loads a Gold Dot in an aluminum case for .45 Colt, and Federal has a lead semi wadcutter with a hollow point... there's just so much more for .45 Colt over .44 Special. Wincheter makes a PDX1 load for .41 Magnum and .45 GAP, but not .44 Special. That's very telling.

Unfortunately, most .45 Colt revolvers are single action army clones or in .410 revolvers, but my point is if I could choose between a GP100 or a Charter in .44 and .45, it's .45 hand down.
 
As I keep saying, it's no one specific feature, including even the caliber, that sells this GP to me.
It's the entire package.

I can easily achieve 250 at 900 (or slightly higher) with .44 Special in a 3-inch barrel, which gives me "standard" .45 Colt power levels, in a package size that appeals to me, and a much more durable gun than the Charter .44.

I can't get a 5-shot .45 Colt in that size DA revolver from anybody else, and I don't want .44 Mags in that size package.

I had no interest in a .44 Special till Lipsey's did their Flattop, and it was the whole package, not just the caliber, that caused me to buy that gun.
Same deal here.
Denis
 
Truthteller,perhaps you are referencing something I said.
I did not intend to say 1200 fps could safely be achieved from a 3 in barrel.
While the "safety" of it can be argued,Elmer Keith was achieving 1200 fps from a 6 in bbl in the 1930's.
I will provide a link to an article in from "Handloader" magazine that backs it up.
As far as a "44 SPL fanboy who does not get it" you seem to be putting yourself above Brian Pierce and Elmer Keith as "44 fanboys" or maybe you don't know as much as you think you do.Ross Seifred is another Lipsey Ruger "44 Fanboy",and he loads hotter than I do.
Elmer figured out that in the guns he had to work with,the cylinders for the 45 Colts did not have the cylinder wall thickness to take higher pressures.He could outperform the 45Colt with the 44 SPL for that reason.
The 45 Colt version of the S+W model 29 44 Magnum is the Model 25-5
The cylinder bolt is on center in the N frame Smith,so the cylinder bolt cut is in the thinnest wall of the chamber. At that point,there is only .016 thickness of steel in a 25-5.

Increasing the cylinder diameter scales up the whole gun. Going to a five shot cylinder allows the cyl bolt cut to be between the chambers.

In a single action,extraction/ejection is no problem.Are you aware that the rim dia is ,for practical purposes,is the same between a 44 SPL/Magnum as it is for a 45 Colt? The 45 Colt does not have a lot of rim.And its a long case to extract.Point is the extraction/ejection of cases from a DA in 45 Colt is less reliable.It is possible for the ejector star to jump past the rim of one or more cases during ejection,tying up the gun.Likely? No.Possible? Yes.

Go ahead and enjoy what you like.IMO,the 45 Colt in a Bisley SBH is the way to go for a big bore hunting gun.

But for us "44 fanboys",as DPris says,its the package.A big bore on a .357 frame. The essence of what a sidearm might be.
And yes,in my Lipsey or this new GP100that would be a 240 gr bullet at 1050 to 1100 fps,

http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/44_Special_Articles/Brian Pearce on the 44 Special.pdf
 
DPris my point about Ruger building it in a 100 without sights does not mean I don't want the one shown, what I want is for Ruger to build it as is and a 4, 5, 8 inch then copy the Thunder Ranch in a 5 shot special. I will buy each and every model 44 special Ruger builds. I already have all in the Blackhawlks.
 
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Jerry,
No lock.
One-piece barrel.
Longer life before going out of time.
Not a Magnum.
Don't have to deal with the carbon ring left by shorter Spec loads.
Don't have to switch sights around between two loads, Spec & Mag.
And, not a Magnum. :)

Oz,
I was just addressing the fact that no matter what Ruger does, somebody'll want it different. :)

Stay tuned for another barrel option.
Denis
 
what does this new Gp100 offer over the 696?
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No lock.
One-piece barrel.
Longer life before going out of time.
Not a Magnum.
Don't have to deal with the carbon ring left by shorter Spec loads.
Don't have to switch sights around between two loads, Spec & Mag.
And, not a Magnum.
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I think there is some confusion here. The S&W 696 was a 5 shot 3" "L" frame in 44 Special made in the 90's. It was discontinued around about 13 years ago do to lack of sales. The one I bought brand new had been languishing in the LGS's display case for 2 years.

I believe after the initial "I got to have it cause it something new" crowd gets one then the sales for it will also languish. Unless you are a reloader, 44 special is an expensive chambering.

Jim
 
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