Trying to Decide Between a Ruger or S&W .357

F

FLA2760

New member
Hi Everyone
I am trying to decide between a Ruger SP101, (5shot .357) 3'' barrel ($515.00) on Ruger web site); and a Smith &Wesson 649 5shot shrouded hammer.357, 21/8" barrel ($651.00 S&W web site). The Ruger weighs 27oz and the Smith weighs 23oz. This will be a car gun with occasional house/CCW duty. I own several S&W .38s and I am satisfied. I have never owned a Ruger bit I have heard good things. Someone said I should also consider the Taurus Tracker model 627 in total titanium with a seven round capacity and a 4 " barrel. The taurus is $688.00 on their site. The 4'' barrel would be a little big I think for CCW in Florida where I live. I like the seven round capacity though.
I have a Taurus model 94 in .22LR and so far (about 300 rounds) it is ok.
So what do you recomend? Thank you.
Steve :confused:
 
I have owned S&Ws, Colts, and Rugers, as for price, durability, ease of stripping for cleaning or repair its Ruger all the way. I have never worn one out, and never had a failure to fire with decent ammo, excluding a reload or so with bad primer. Ruger parts are readily available and mostly easy to replace excepting the barrels and other gunsmith needed jobs.

S&Ws are generally fine, accurate weapons but generally priced above my budget. Colt's 1911 and its clones by others are generally happy choices.

Ruger for my use has been always good quality, affordable and I love them but the others mentioned are super guns also.
 
I own an sp101 and I love the 3" barrel. I find that too short of a barrel makes it hard to detect any lateral movement as you pull the trigger. That doesn't happen with my ruger.

I have shot only one other snubby, some italian made POS in .38. I have no experience with snubby smiths.

My trigger is very shootable in DA. I can keep a 3" group at 30ft with 1 shot per second. SA recreational shooting leaves me with 1" groups. I literally made a + sign at the range the other day that was maybe 1" top to bottom, side to side.

I shoot full power .357 in it and carry federal hydrashock .357 ammo. I've put about 2000 rounds thru it, about 1800 .357 and 2-300 .38's. It is all I could ask for in a small revolver.
 
Don't care for small frame guns of any type, however, I do need a couple of those little suckers for summer carry. I think the last thing you need to consider when purchasing a gun is whether or not you're going to wear it out. I have Smiths, Rugers, Colts and Tauri. Here is a pretty nice Taurus M85 .38Spl. +p with a 3" barrel. My summer carry. Less than 20Oz. Oh yeah! IMHO Smiths are worth the extra money. ;)
attachment.php
 
Get the Ruger. It will never wear out and you can blast any hot load you want. They are TOUGH guns. Smiths are nice but don't take fine tuning as well as they used to. If ya want something inexpensive, give the Charterarms a try. I did and I'm very pleasantly suprised. They have lifetime warranties, a quick simple action and are lightweight.
 
I got the Ruger SP-101 with the 3" barrel over the Smith a while back and have been nothing but pleased. I use it as a bedside gun and have full assurance that it will work if it is ever needed. It is also a lot more fun to shoot at the range than the 2" snubbies. The extra inch of barrel makes a huge difference to me. I just put some new grips on and have really enjoyed owning it. It is heavy for such a small gun so if you plan on carrying it concealed, you might want to look for something a little lighter. It is very sturdy and beefy which helps soak up a lot of recoil. Of course, the Smith is a Smith.... Either way you end up with a great revolver.
 
I just put a deposit down on a new 3" SP101 yesterday. It will be my first revolver. I've been renting a 2" SP101 at the range and enjoyed it. I will admit that I've tried a few Smiths (Mod.10 & 686) and I did like the triggers better. The Ruger has that little hitch before the hammer falls (staging) that the Smith doesn't have. I'm curious to see what my SP101s trigger will be like out of the box and whether or not I'm going to need a gunsmith to work on it. Part of my decision was that I didn't like the idea of the internal lock on the Smith. Another factor was how solid the Ruger felt.
 
Dear FLA2760

Recently had much the same problem. Three inch Ruger or S&W? Both are simply excellent guns. I finally decided to get the Smith. Reason? It just felt better in my hand - nothing more complicated that that.
 
re Ruger or Smith

Hi Everyone
Thank you for your replys. I am more than likely getting the Ruger SP101. I will let you all know how I make out. Thanks again.
Steve :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top