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Thread: Finally Took the Revolver Plunge...

  1. #1
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    Finally Took the Revolver Plunge...

    ...what do I need to learn/do/buy?

    I caved and bought a Ruger GP100 Wiley Clapp (3" bbl., .357), because I thought I should have a revolver in the house. This will be a "secondary" handgun, not my normal carry piece. The idea was to have a general purpose, "Jack of all trades" revolver; a "fun" gun, something I could put in the hands of my wife or older children in the case of an emergency, and a "50 state legal" gun in case my state went "full retard" (movie reference, not social commentary).

    I already have plans to buy a holster, a couple speed loaders, ammo (both .38 and .357). What do I need to get started?
    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
    ― Ennius

  2. #2
    Member JHC's Avatar
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    Outstanding pick IMO. What sort of holster are you thinking?
    “Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais

  3. #3
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Mar 2015
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    Do at least the field strip procedure in the owner's manual. Check the inside for any kind of debris or nastiness. Clean it. Lube it. Get some snap caps and dry fire it a lot.
    .
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    Not another dime.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by OlongJohnson View Post
    Do at least the field strip procedure in the owner's manual. Check the inside for any kind of debris or nastiness. Clean it. Lube it. Get some snap caps and dry fire it a lot.
    This. And...

    Safariland L-frame Smith speedloaders work great.

    Ammo wise, you can scale from 148 grain wadcutters to 180 or even 200 grain rhino rollers.

    148 grain wadcutters feel like shooting a .22. They are a great choice for recoil sensitive shooters. They are great for small game as well.

    The 135 grain .38 Special +P Gold Dot Short Barrel has great performance and very mild recoil.

    The 125 grain Golden Saber .357 Mag load is a ".357 Magnum lite" load that basically recreates hot 9mm P ballistics.

    Federal's American Eagle 158 grain JSP has been very reliable and accurate for me. This is a great choice for backwoods carry.

    I like my Simply Rugged holster. It actually works well as an OWB and IWB holster.

    I did install a Wolf spring kit, which was pretty easy. That and a bunch of dry fire has given me a very serviceable trigger.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  5. #5
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JHC View Post
    Outstanding pick IMO. What sort of holster are you thinking?
    Probably a JM AIWB. Closest to my carry gun setup
    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
    ― Ennius

  6. #6
    Site Supporter S Jenks's Avatar
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    An excellent revolver, congrats. I’m an admitted revolver noob. I love the aesthetic and find a revolver session to make for a refreshing break when the 9mm autos start to get boring. That being said, I’m still learning specifics re: maintenance and I don’t know the first thing about ‘smithing on them. My advice-

    1) Don’t futz with the springs until you have a few thousand trigger pulls through it. Or at all. When I bought my GP100 WC new the trigger pull wasn’t anything special - a few cases of .38 and some dryfire turned it into the sweetest revolver pull I’ve experienced.

    2) After a few thousand rounds of my nasty reloads I started to experience sticking and an increase in trigger weight with two chambers. I initially thought it had to do with wear on the ratchet or an internal burr on the trigger components or something. I did a basic strip, cleaned and inspected it several times and couldn’t figure it out. Not until I disassembled the crane/yoke/cylinder assembly did I find the culprit - it was filthy with carbon buildup. A quick scrub and the trigger pull was back to its glorious self.

    3) A lot of the fun with revolvers is trying the numerous manipulation techniques available. Dedicate a dryfire session to one specific reload technique and compare it on a timer with whatever technique is your “go to”. Again, a great break from autos if you start to get bored.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    "carbine-infested rural (and suburban) areas"
    If you are the type to get more hands-on with the gubbinses, the IBOK is pretty useful. It's NLA from official channels, but there may be a bootleg version around somewhere that may be findable with an internet search, maybe.
    .
    -----------------------------------------
    Not another dime.

  8. #8
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OlongJohnson View Post
    If you are the type to get more hands-on with the gubbinses, the IBOK is pretty useful. It's NLA from official channels, but there may be a bootleg version around somewhere that may be findable with an internet search, maybe.
    Not even sure that was English

    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
    ― Ennius

  9. #9
    Revolvers Revolvers 1911s Stephanie B's Avatar
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    Finally Took the Revolver Plunge...

    Something to carry a couple of speedloaders. Eight shot speedstrips also work well. I'll see if I can take a photo of how I set up mine and either attach it here or post separately.

    Here you go:

    If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.

  10. #10
    Member Hizzie's Avatar
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    Ruger SP/GP/SRH all share the same action design and all benefit from a clean, debur and lube. Spring and shims can improve things further.

    The GP is equivalent to the L frame so those size speedloaders work. Twisties suck IMHO. You want push type loaders such as JetLoaders, Safariland Comp II/III or SpeedBeez.

    The StripLoader strip from Vulcan Ballistics is worth a look compared to a traditional speedstrip.

    Tony is the man for GP100 AIWB Kydex.

    Novak makes a replacement adjustable rear sight for the WC/MC.

    Stick with the original grip, compact version of original or something like the Hogue 80010 to take advantage of the Ruger grip peg. You’ll find with the mentioned grips the GP handles recoil much better than a comparable Smith since the hand is insulated from anything hard.
    Quote Originally Posted by caleb View Post
    Oh man, that's right. I forgot that some people feel like they need light SA triggers in DA guns instead of just learning to shoot the gun better. You can get a Redhawk DA trigger pull down to 10 lbs, and if you can't manage that you suck and should probably just practice more.
    *RS Regulate Affiliate*

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