SP101 22LR range report

[AragornElessar86]

Got to take it down to Iron Sights today and test it out for the first time, and this is a fantastic little gun. Shoots better than I did today, that's for sure. I wasn't thinking and had several cups of coffee this morning with breakfast, and I was pretty jittery. I did some breathing exercises and got my heart rate evened out after an hour or so and started grouping reasonably well by the end. Attached is my last target of the day. I called the three lowest shots, so if that lets me discount them my remaining 5 shot group is 1" at the widest point. 7 yards distance.


Ammo was Winchester 555. I find this stuff to be somewhat inconsistent in my 10/22, and have had a few where the bulled has actually fallen out of the cartridge, so I expect that or my jitters for causing the remaining low flier.

I have a few minor complaints with the gun itself. It doesn't quite point naturally for me because the grip is so small. The fiber dot on the front sight is placed such that with proper sight alignment the bottom of the green dot is below the bottom of the rear sight, which is annoying because the brain automatically wants to center it both horizontally and vertically. I plan to swap for a solid front sight. The biggest issue though is that one of the chambers is harder to cock the hammer onto than the rest. I didn't experience this during dry fire practice, so I'm hoping it's just because I didn't clean it before I took it out, just put some additional oil in the action. Hopefully a proper cleaning and oiling will resolve this.

Overall I'm very pleased with it. As you can see in the photo it's a great looking piece, and quite accurate. Once I iron out/get used to the quirks I know this will be one of my favorite handguns.

[SoCal Bob]

I felt the same way about the grips and replaced mine with a Hogue rubber monogrip. The monogrip has a much more natural feel to me than the factory grips.

[the_midwesterner]

Definitely interested in an update once you get some stuff ironed out!

[AragornElessar86]

I felt the same way about the grips and replaced mine with a Hogue rubber monogrip. The monogrip has a much more natural feel to me than the factory grips.

Yeah, but they're soooooo ugly! It's such a good looking revolver and to put that big block of rubber on it offends my aesthetic sensibilities. I'm hoping I can find another option that won't break the bank. I know how good those monogrips feel though...

[Cactus_Tim]

Mine seems to have gotten easier to shoot after a few hundred rounds through it.
I did buy a Wolff reduced power spring kit and replaced the trigger return spring.
Swapped the 14# hammer spring for a 12#.
It's very smooth and the double action is really nice now.
It does have an occasional ftf with Federal bulk box ammo so I might try putting the original hammer spring back.
But not right now since I'm enjoying the feel of it way more than the occasional ftf.

It's certainly accurate enough.
I set up a steel plate at 25 yards and can hit it all day long with an occasional miss.
However, my friend misses all day long with an occasional hit.
I don't think that's because of the gun though :-)

Something to consider:
The edges of the hammer spur are a bit sharp.
I used a stone to bevel the edge so it feels nicer when you cock it.
Still need to do the corners a bit more.
But it feels much smoother against my thumb.

Guns & Shooting review of Ruger SP101 22LR

[AragornElessar86]

Ya, I think for now all I'm gonna do is replace the front sight and hone down the sharp edges of the hammer, trigger and trigger guard and cylinder. Gonna put a thousand rounds or so through it before changing any springs, but I suspect I will eventually.

[Wombats Are Dangerous]

Nice gun! Thanks for the report!

[Jack L]

Mine seems to have gotten easier to shoot after a few hundred rounds through it.
I did buy a Wolff reduced power spring kit and replaced the trigger return spring.
Swapped the 14# hammer spring for a 12#.
It's very smooth and the double action is really nice now.
It does have an occasional ftf with Federal bulk box ammo so I might try putting the original hammer spring back.
But not right now since I'm enjoying the feel of it way more than the occasional ftf.

It's certainly accurate enough.
I set up a steel plate at 25 yards and can hit it all day long with an occasional miss.
However, my friend misses all day long with an occasional hit.
I don't think that's because of the gun though :-)

Something to consider:
The edges of the hammer spur are a bit sharp.
I used a stone to bevel the edge so it feels nicer when you cock it.
Still need to do the corners a bit more.
But it feels much smoother against my thumb.

Guns & Shooting review of Ruger SP101 22LR

I shoot 25 yards as well, iron sights. That is a perfect distance to practice body language and sight skills. After you keep center punching at 25 yards, the CCW qualification of 3, 5, 7, and sometimes 15 yards seems like it's point blank shooting.

[chucksolo69]

Yep, I try and shoot my .22s at 25 yards. 7-10 yards seems way too short a distance to me. 15 is more like it, 25 is challenging. I shoot at Iron Sights as well. It's nice to go into a place where everybody knows your name.

[Dannicus]

I have yet to see one of those in person. Is it the same size as the .38 SP?

[AragornElessar86]

I have yet to see one of those in person. Is it the same size as the .38 SP?

Yeah, and they now offer a 38 in the exact same config.

[Dannicus]

Yeah, and they now offer a 38 in the exact same config.

Not sure what you mean by the same configuration.

[AragornElessar86]

Not sure what you mean by the same configuration.

Oops, my bad, it's .357mag and it's a full lug. Other than that it's the same. Oh, and only 5 shot of course. But sights, bbl and grip are all the same