Revisiting Ruger's Revolvers

American Handgunner, Nov, 2000 by Mike Cumpston

The stout Ruger mainspring is noted for its ability to detonate any and all primers. The action is quite smooth and the ergonomics of the design make for a good, straight-back trigger pull.

Bring Me Saddam's Head

I had already chronographed several examples of the much loved 125 gr. JHP in my SP. I now wanted comparison numbers from a GP. Arriving at the range, I found that somebody bad abandoned a target representative of a well-noted Iraqi boogey-man. The top half was free of bullet holes so I decided to use the head as a reference while chronographing.

It was 45 yards downrange and I was sitting, knees upraised and back rested against the bumper of my jeep. After the first five rounds, I adjusted the rear sight and landed 14 of the next 15 smack dab in Saddam's face. I knew this revolver was gonna work.

I had four factory loads which included the traditional Remington short JHP. This is the one with all the exposed lead and the scallops.

Other loads were Remington Golden Saber and Speer Gold Dot. I am particularly fond of the Speer load because it provides optimum results in both the GP and the SP. It also provided the same velocity as my longtime favorite 125 gr. handload.

At a later range session, I fired one five-round 25 yard group each from a makeshift rest. The largest group, at 2.4", came from the Remington SJHP. The Golden Sabers went into 1.9" with the Speer GD doing 2.1". The largest three-shot cluster came with the Gold Dot measuring .90 caliber.

The handload, consisting of 21 grs. of WW 296 with a 125 gr. Hornady XTP and a WW magnum primer, put four into .43" with the fifth shot opening the group to 1.9". I shot one more group with this load obtaining a 1.1" five-round spread.

Ruger DAs are smooth and free of trigger stack. The cylinder comes to lockup well before the hammer releases and the drop of the locking bolt gives a tactile clue that the shot is about to go. This allows excellent control of double-action work with delivery of five shots in under 10 seconds to be expected when firing one-handed. Roger maintains no network of authorized repair centers. None are needed. A Ruger owner need not familiarize himself with the policies of UPS and their ilk. For all the Ruger man cares, the local gunsmith can go sit on the bench with the Maytag repairman. Roger double-actions have much to recommend them to the practical- minded shooter.