Smith vs GP100 first hand

Guy B. Meredith

New member
Okay, so now I to check into what you are talking about in terms of trigger. The last time I tried a Ruger revolver was before I bought my 686+ and learned about shooting and guns and then acquired my PC 627.

I am visiting Lewisville, TX for company training and dropped by a range (Bullet Trap in Plano) where I could rent revolvers and get in my required fix for the weekend. I decided to take this opportunity to check out the Rugers and rented a 4" GP100.

In dry firing the trigger pull is considerably different from the Smith and has a load up of resistance about mid pull. After a while I began seeing this as heavy takeup for the first part and then regular pull. That is how I proceeded to treat it.

Aside from the fact that I got a bit of a surprise on the first shot from not paying attention to the fact that they had handed me .357 magnums and despite the fact I was shooting with glasses that had one sweet focus spot 1/4 inch wide located where I have to tilt my head way back to get the front sight in focus, things went pretty well.

I did end up getting most rounds into a 2" circle at 7 yards (about 1 round per second per range rules) which was pretty amazing given I couldn't see, was smarting in the web of my hand from recoil and was sorting out the trigger.

Seriously, I don't think the trigger is all that bad once I got used to the idea of treating the first portion of the pull as takeup. Just disconcerting to have takeup at that high a pull weight. Maybe the action was polished from use as a rental gun, though I would expect inferior performance because of that fact.

Accuracy must be awesome as I wasn't doing much to help in that department--sort of like the "you couldn't miss if you tried" feel of my MKII. Grip and weight felt good.
 
Just recently bought a 4 inch GP myself. Before I even shot it I took it completely apart and polished with a dremel. Changed hammer spring to wolf 12lb spring. At the range 2 days ago. Practically placed one shot on another at 21 feet. Even with 357 loads very comfortable to fire. Also placed hogue mono grip on. This is a great gun. I really like the two stage trigger action. You can still smooth stroke it to loose the two stage action.
 
Yeah, I just played the trigger like a stock MKII. The second half is smooth enough.

I was surprised by the grip bite in the web of my hand. It is a quick bite and at first had the impression that I was getting flame out of some place and developed a flinch. The flinch was consistent, though, as most of 20 or so rounds went into a 2" hole at 7 o'clock. Later I lost the flinch and grouped another 15 or so in a smaller hole at 10 o'clock just outside center.

At least they all grouped.

I have Hogue monogrips on both my Smiths and never have experienced the sharp bite in the web.
 
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