We’ve been long-time fans of Ruger’s SP101 revolver. Read our review here. It’s everything a packable .357 should be. Now, apparently since it’s #WheelGunWednesday, Ruger’s announced a new addition to the line, a blued alloy steel SP101 with a 2.25-inch barrel.
We think she’s a beauty.
Here’s Ruger’s press release:
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is pleased to introduce the blued Ruger SP101® chambered in .357 Magnum. This five-round, small frame, blued double-action revolver is manufactured from alloy steel, features a 2.25” barrel, integral rear sight and ramped front sight.
“As the first blued alloy model in this family of revolvers, this new configuration sets itself apart from other SP101s and makes for a great compact and rugged carry firearm,” said Chris Killoy, Ruger President & CEO. “We have had several customer requests for this new model and we are pleased to add it to the lineup.”
This 26-ounce revolver can be fired in either double-action or single-action mode, and includes Ruger’s triple-locking cylinder that locks the cylinder from the front, rear and bottom for reliability and durability. The rubber grip assures positive control while reducing felt recoil and the transfer bar mechanism provides a measure of security against accidental discharge.
For more information on the Ruger SP101 or to learn more about the extensive line of award-winning Ruger firearms, visit Ruger.com or Facebook.com/Ruger. To find accessories for the Ruger SP101 and other Ruger firearms, visit ShopRuger.com or your local independent retailer of Ruger firearms.
About Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market. As a full-line manufacturer of American-made firearms, Ruger offers consumers over 400 variations of more than 30 product lines. For more than 60 years, Ruger has been a model of corporate and community responsibility. Our motto, “Arms Makers for Responsible Citizens®,” echoes the importance of these principles as we work hard to deliver quality and innovative firearms.
now if they’d make it in 9mm so we could afford to feed it….
Like the Taurus 692 with a swapable cylinder?
https://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=914&category=Revolver&toggle=tr&breadcrumbseries=692
I have a Taurus 605 that is very similar in weight and size. You use 357 for serious business and shoot 38 Special for practice. It’s not the cost of ammo that makes me shoot it less than my other guns but the recoil when I shoot 357. The recoil from a full power 357 that weighs 24-26 ounces with a 2″ barrel gets your attention and you will not shoot many at a time.
You’re correct…I too have a 605 SS and practice with .38’s and load full house .357 rounds for carry….it’s a no brainer.
“….practice with .38’s and load full house .357 rounds for carry….it’s a no brainer.”
Actually, I think that practicing with the actual loads you’re going to carry to defend your life with would be the “no brainer.” Practicing with significantly different loads that are going to have different amounts of recoil, point of impact, etc. is questionable, at best.
If .357 is too expensive for what you want you can find .38spl at prices that aren’t much higher than 9mm.
SS, but…
https://www.ruger.com/products/sp101/specSheets/5783.html
Personally I wouldn’t mind the 3″ .327, but not for cheap shooting.
I’ve got the .327 SP 101 w/3 in barrel you mentioned. I’m here to tell ya it’s one sweet shooter. Got the .327 in the LCR and LCRx as well and they are great for CCW. In addition I’ve got a Taurus .327 w/3 in ported barrel and it’s an absolute tack driver. Not too long ago I acquired a Henry Big Boy also in .327 Fed Mag. Hmmmm, I think there’s a pattern there. P.S. I do have an SP 101 in .357 but I usually keep it loaded w/ .38 Spl+P’s. It’s pretty stout with .357 so range time with this round is somewhat limited.
It’s not just you. My own SP101 hardly ever sees a magnum load in it. Sure, its a small anchor of solid steel and soaks up recoil like no other snubbie can but it still has a fierce bark. It eats .38 special and +Ps almost exclusively.
I may have to put some magnums through it on my next trip to the range to remind myself why I don’t make a habit of that.
đź¤
This is why I carry a GP 100 Wiley Clapp. That extra 10 ounces or so makes all the difference. Even the hot loads I carry are manageable, but I usually just shoot a single cylinder with them at the range.
The .327 just makes a lot of sense in a snubby. It’s a significant step up from 9mm or .38 special but not as punishing as .357 AND you get the extra chamber in the wheel.
I carry a SS SP101 every day, not sure how the blue’d version can be more rugged.
Mine frequently gets either a shower or a bath in the sink with Dawn dish soap. Once in a while a complete tear down to get all the crud out. I have washed it off with starting fluid and carb cleaner because it was covered in paint over-spray even.
I think I would use a blue version for the days I’m not working, like a BBQ gun.
Built like a tank, worth every penny.
Blued steel cannot be more rugged than stainless. You can blue stainless steel now, though, or get it cerakoted in a way that looks like bluing.
They have some advanced ‘blackening’ technology for stainless.
Maybe Dan Z. can post the link to his blackened stainless SP-101 that is a drop-dead *gorgeous* BBQ gun now…
Blackened stainless would seem to me to be more utilitarian.
As it is, that’s a holster gun, not a belly gun…
Ruger does make a revolver with .357 mag and 9mm cylinders. It’s the Blackhawk. I don’t see why they couldn’t do the same thing with a consealable revolver.
More complicated change over, and accuracy problems with a .355 bullet in a bore designed for use with .357 projectiles would be my guess.
The Blackhawk convertible is not known for accuracy when shooting 9mm.
I have the steel version of it that I bought on GunBroker SP101 In 9mm came with original rosewood grip with Firebird w S/R imbedded. Comes with Moon Clips.
Don’t shoot it much but is an impressive BBQ Handgun.
the 2.75 inch model 66 is miles more beautiful than the sp101. only ruger redhawks have asthetics. and if you arent going for asthetics *why are you owning revolvers*?
Cause Ruger didn’t knuckle under to the Clintons and end up with a “Hillary Hole”. I have both and I’ll stick with Ruger all day long
Finally. Something on TTAG for the real shooters in the crowd.
This is the type of weapon meant to be carried close. Stainless would work better. But the blued looks good. Choices is good.
The Yankee Marshal had abandoned his .357 carry gun as just too punishing. If he has figured it out you can too late.
719.00
Clearly making guns out of wood and steel is an expensive process.
The last revolver I bought was a 6″ S&W 586. Blue steel, wood grips, old school, accurate and beautiful.
Blue steel Ruger revolvers are all that except beautiful. Rugers are tanks — that’s an admirable feature, not a bug — but there’s no such thing as a beautiful tank.
If you’re pinned down in a foxhole I’d imagine there’d be nothing quite as pretty as an M1 Abrams.
Maybe I’m just weird, but personally I like the lines of the GP 100 over the 686. I like the looks of the notched frame around the hammer as opposed to the curved one on the Smiths. I like the thicker recoil shield and squarish underlug too. The Smiths do get a little more spit and polish though.
It’s not like I think Glocks are pretty…
Must disagree…There is nothing more beautiful than a tank. When the need arises. Whether a real tank or a tank of a firearm. Remember like a motorcycle chrome don’t get ya home but, a tank will clear the way.
“…but there’s no such thing as a beautiful tank.”
Sure there is – a nice, heavy, tank of a Ruger in .357 is a *lot* more pleasant to shoot with arthritic hands…
Great, now SP101 fans can enjoy Ruger’s lack luster bluing!! Always thin and un even as of late!
The stainless was one of the best attributes of the SP101.
Agreed. The “bluing” (looks almost like black paint than bluing to me) on recent Rugers looks really cheap. On the plus side, I don’t really worry about them getting scratched up.
Yes that blue job in the photo – which apparently is a stock PR image as it is on other webpages – looks lackluster, in addition to be poorly wiped down prior to being photographed. Or maybe that is just the poor polishing/bluing job looking like that.
Ruger should have spent the effort updated the awful front sight on these guns, to a more easily replaced version. And start offering fiber optic, painted dot, or anything other than the afterthought that currectly exists as the front sight on this series. But that would entail re-engineering the frame, because the rear sight cast into the frame is too low.
In other news the XDM is available in 10mm!
NICE!
Notice nothing but crickets about here?
Guess it’s only the truth about certain brands?
“We have had several customer requests for this new model and we are pleased to add it to the lineup.”
It only takes “several customer requests” to convince them to make a new model? How many is several? 4 or more?
If so, I hereby formally request that Ruger make a 5 shot GP100 in .41 Magnum. I only need a few more people to jump on board and it should become a reality.
one of those guns I always wanted but somehow never got around to buying.
Comments are closed.