If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
I wouldn’t say that the drawbacks are “huge,” but more potential and marginal.
You may have to adjust ammo to the sights, rather than your sights to the ammo. For example, my wife’s Model 19 (her preferred house gun) grouped about 3 inches lower at 25m with .38 +P 135gr Gold Dots than did most of our pile of cheaper 158gr practice stuff. With adjustable sights, no biggie. She adjusted the sights to the Gold Dots, and accepted the slight discrepancy with the practice ammo. Without adjustable sights, we probably would have looked for a decent 158gr HP defensive round instead.
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I would suggest adjustable sights on most revolvers. In most cases, the taller front sight with a more vertical rear surface to match the taller adjustable rear sight is more visible under more light conditions than many of the extreme ramped front sights that often match a fixed rear sight.
The fixed sight S&W revolvers I have shot have generally shot to point of aim. Colts and Rugers have been hit or miss. My Detective Special shoots 13” above the top of the front sight at 25 yards, assuming the front sight is visible.
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Last edited by BillSWPA; 06-29-2019 at 10:50 AM.
Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
For a general purpose revolver, what would be wrong with an sp101 in .32 fed. Medium size, stainless, powerful cartridge with others available. Concealed or open carry, self defense, small game hunting, easy to shoot on the hands for those of us with some arthritis. Not a bad 3" barrel revolver.
The gun you seek is a 3" GP100 Wiley Clapp in blue with the stock grips replaced with the 'Lett' Compact Grips. The stock GP100 target grips SUCK for concealment. Great for carry, hot garbage for concealment. The Compacts are the best combo of carry-ability and shoot-ability that I've found of any revolver stocks.
No, it won't be lighter than a G19. It will however shoot much better with defensive loads than a 3" K-frame, even a ported gun. It is not bigger than an L-Frame in the middle, it's almost exactly the same size, except more robust overall. It is smaller than an L-Frame when fitted with compact grips than an L-frame with boot grips. The rubber compact grips make it way more shootable than an L-Frame with boots.
The only other guns that are close - The Kimber K6 and the Colt King Cobra. Either of those would be great, but probably not as reliable as the Ruger. The GP100 uses bog standard 686 (L-Frame) speedloaders, fits in L-Frame holsters, and I don't think you could wear one out if you tried. I've carried a GP100, 4" taper-barrel, IWB many times - NBD. Much easier to conceal than a 1911 or a double-stack gun. My 3" M65 Smith isn't actually any easier to carry than the Ruger. It certainly doesn't shoot any better.
The gun that is easier to carry than those two is my 3" Detective Special. It's 8-10 ounces lighter, but it's a bitch to shoot with stout .38 loads. I can't imagine shooting it in .357 would be fun at all.
The Ruger grip peg is the reason the GP handles recoil so much better. With rubber grips you are insulated from anything hard and unforgiving.
http://instagram.com/p/BqdR5pSn6_t/
I will note - there is a TALO Exclusive GP100 - with a 3" barrel and adjustable rear sight - https://ruger.com/products/gp100/specSheets/1782.html
It's a 7-shooter, instead of a 6. I have no idea if 7-shot L-frame speedloaders work, but I would guess they're close.
It's fairly well documented that the 7-shot GP100s can have issues with case heads jamming, even when the diameters are inside the SAAMI maximum spec. Unless you don't mind chucking your ammo in a drill and filing the rims down to a diameter that works (I'd want to use a lathe if I had to do that task, but not everybody has access to one), I'd pass. On the other hand, if you reload all your ammo and are willing to "build a brass fleet" like rifle guys do, rock on.
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Not another dime.