Hammer from Idaho sends his very best Ruger SP-101 love titled “3.25.19” via Everyday Carry.

I do have to say his gear looks brand spanking new.  As in just unwrapped it.  Maybe he takes really, really good care of it.  Well, that and I hope he puts loaded cartridges into his SP-101 before he leaves the house.  In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to carry it loaded inside the house as well.  I do.  I imagine plenty of POTG reading TTAG do the same as well.

That’s “People of the Gun” reading “The Truth About Guns” for newbies.

I’m guessing he’s not carrying wad-cutters for self-defense, although I’ve heard from some nationally-known instructors at the Tactical Conference over the years that say wad cutters aren’t a bad choice.  “You can do a lot worse,” one of the instructors said.  “…a lot worse.”

The Ruger SP-101 .357 Talo Edition is a great little gun, especially if you get an action job on it to smooth out the trigger pull and maybe lighten it just a smidgen.  It’s accurate and virtually indestructible if you have the money and desire to shoot full-house loads all day long.

He wears a Citizens Eco-Drive watch.  The Relentless Tactical “Defender” IWB holster looks like a winner as well.  The Pokka Pen looks neat.  I had to follow the link to learn more about it.  And I added an 8-pack to my Amazon cart.  I have to wonder if he’s a firefighter, even though he says his occupation is ‘nunya’ business.  Why?  The Recycled Firefighter pocket pouch.  I suspect hose draggers would find such a product more appealing than the average Joe Sixpack.

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30 COMMENTS

  2. Solid choices, and at least the wallet has some visible wear on it.

    I personally like my pocket-9 type weapon for carry as it has 2 more rounds available in a lighter and smaller package than this revolver, but the single action from this revolver would be unquestionably more accurate than my pocket 9.

  4. There are excellent tutorials online (written, even not just videos) on doing a trigger job for the SP101. It’s a significant improvement without too much difficulty, time or money. If it’s something you think is worth doing, it’s probably worth taking a shot at it yourself.

  5. the nice thing about revolvers though is theyre at least as reliable as the ammo in them
    no failures to feed or extract or eject and so forth
    my sp 101 is the only handgun ive ever owned out of about a dozen or so that never ever ever failed to function

    • While a good revolver is usually bullet-proof (unless you let it rust- the parts inside will stop working easily) I’ve had bad luck with the quality on my SP-101s. In two cases I have had a revolver cylinder that would start seizing up after a few shots. They wouldn’t tell me what was wrong but they replaced one entirely and eventually fixed another- I suspect a bad gap tolerance. Really should be the sort of thing that would be caught in testing but I guess they did’t want to fire more than one round for cost purposes.

      • I had the same thing happen to my first new SP101: after a few rounds the cylinder would lockup completely. One time, the cylinder release button locked in the open position and wouldn’t release. Another time, the trigger itself locked up tighter than the hubs-of-u-know-what. It appeared that my crane was bent slightly, according to a 40yr experienced gunsmith I finally took it to, who advised it was beyond trying to repair. Sent it back to Ruger for the 2nd time, and they replaced it with a new one. 2nd one appears to work fine, but honestly I need to get more rounds in it before I’ll fully trust it for ccw duties. In the meantime, I bought a Ruger LCR, and really like it thus far. The LCR works great for my needs out in the country on the farm. Kudos to Ruger for standing behind their products.

  6. Other than a Bianchi Pistol Pocket, I’d tote this.

    Oh yeah, and I’d load 357 Critical Defense to get a miniscule boost in velocity over 38+P.

    😉

    • I have two SP101s in .357 Magnum, a TALO edition like this and the 4.2″ version. They are both great guns.I didn’t like grips sized for David Hogg, so I got some Badger custom grips for them, a boot grip or the TALO and a full three finger grip for the 4.2″ gun. I’ve shot several brands of .357 ammo (including Critical Defense) out of both guns. You can feel the recoil a lot more out of the snubby. I don’t know if it’s the extra 3 or 4 ounces the longer gun weighs or the larger grip or a combination of the two that makes the difference. I carry Golden Saber in the snubnose and Critical Defense in the longer gun.

  7. Anybody that can follow simple video instructions can do a trigger/action job on one themselves in 1.5 – 3 hours. I have done three Rugers myself and they all turned out fine.

  8. I still want one as a range toy.

    With watches, a lot of people show them on the EDC website and I don’t really get that. I guess I kind of consider a watch like underwear or socks and no one is showing us those.

  9. Nice set up. Not cluttered with extra fluff. Never owned a wheel gun. Been thinking about getting something in 357. Any suggestions???

    • Kind of depends what you want it for… carry, range, hiking. Used S&W from before the Clinton days are known to be great (and often have beautiful triggers- my Model 65 that I carried for work back in the day was the best trigger I’ve had in a handgun from being fired so much at the range). Rugers are good if you don’t mind the weight. Modern lightweight snubs have their place for easy carry although if you’re going to fire .357s from them it’s probably not going to be fun.

        • If you wanna carry…get a 2.5 inch Smith 19 or 13 with a 3 inch bbl.

          If it is for the range….same with a 4 inch or four bigger with a 686 4 or 6 inch.

          For sheer mechanical fun…get a 357 Flattop Blackhawk with 357 and 9mm cylinders.

          Great fun to shoot.

        • I really like both of my SP101s for carry, the TALO edition fits into a Sneaky Pete for a Glock 19 real well if I have a tucked in shirt and an un-tucked shirt or jacket covers up the the 4.2″ version real well. I like the little 5 shot guns so well I am thinking of getting a 6 shot GP100 model 1762 for open carry. I had been thinking of a Match Champion but I like the 1762 better.

        • Nice, your in Ruger and S&W territory. Good place to be, both are great. I got a 4″ GP100 and 6″ 686, I shoot the Ruger a lot more. 4″ bbl seems to be my plinking sweet spot, even though the Smith has a nicer feeling trigger I’m always worried about scuffing it up. Not sure what your planning to do with it but you won’t go wrong with either company, both have tons of options good customer service and warranties. IMO just keep it simple, snubbies for carry, 4″ for plinking/open carry and 6″+ for hunting.

        • I was right in that $700 range a few years ago when I got a great deal (closer to $600) on a 6″ 686+ (7 rounds). It has been a blast and is one of my favorite guns at the range; whenever I let someone else shoot it they’re instantly in love.

          Taking 75-100 yard potshots at steel or other non-paper targets is just hilarious. You hear the shot and then the ping a second later with those slow 38 special rounds. If I had access to a range longer than 100 yards I’d set up at 150 just to see how often I could make hits. I’m usually around 50% on a torso sized target at 100 yards with just irons, and could be better if I had more practice. It’s just an awesome gun. For me there’s no use for a 4″ revolver. Snub for concealed (which I don’t do anyway, prefer semis) and 6″ for plinking and open carry.

  10. A DA revolver, and a good one at that. Around the house I usually don’t wear pants, but if I did I’d stick an Iguana down them.

  11. Is there a particular reason why everybody is so fascinated with EDC setups?

    They are all literally the same thing over and over again, every single day. Gun, knife, expensive pen and some other garbage.

    Is there just nothing else left to talk about or something?

    • It’s easy content. You can take a photo someone else took and hope a conversation gets started about it. If you ask nicely they might refund you the money you paid to read this article.

      • I’m more fascinated on how people can manage to talk about the same 5 things repeatedly.

  12. I bought a Ruger SP101 Talo edition. For 450 brand new couple years ago when Buds had it on sale. Absolutely love it.

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