The Modern Combat Revolver

[JRV]

I picked up a 66-8 2.75” about a month ago for similar reasons as OP. The strain screw was loose from the factory, but shot great after I tightened it. I tried the Wolff Standard Power mainspring this afternoon but got lots of light strikes. I may tinker with the rebound springs, but I think I’ll leave the mainspring alone until the ammo craze eases up.
The factory pull is actually pretty good. I think it’s comparable, albeit a tad heavier, to my PX4CC with a 12# mainspring.

Have you replaced the strain screw?

My original strain screw in my 19 was over 1mm shorter than a blued OEM replacement I picked up from MidwayUSA. You can also get an allen-keyed headless screw that’s the same thread pitch as your strain screw.

The longer screw can help establish more consistent ignition with the Wolff spring. Also, using Federal Primers helps.

A Wolff Reduced Power spring in a K frame and a 13 lb rebound spring, after some minimal india stoning on the factory parts to smooth burrs, yields a 7.5 lb trigger with a firm reset. But, the gun’s limited to Federal ammo. The Standard Power spring should crack almost anything and give you a 9.5 lb trigger.

[jrbway]

Have you replaced the strain screw?

My original strain screw in my 19 was over 1mm shorter than a blued OEM replacement I picked up from MidwayUSA. You can also get an allen-keyed headless screw that’s the same thread pitch as your strain screw.

The longer screw can help establish more consistent ignition with the Wolff spring. Also, using Federal Primers helps.

A Wolff Reduced Power spring in a K frame and a 13 lb rebound spring, after some minimal india stoning on the factory parts to smooth burrs, yields a 7.5 lb trigger with a firm reset. But, the gun’s limited to Federal ammo. The Standard Power spring should crack almost anything and give you a 9.5 lb trigger.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've thought about installing a longer strain screw like what's used in the square butt. I'll order one from Midway and report back. I'd like to make the Wolff Standard Power power-rib 100% reliable with all ammo. However, I imagine with a lot more dry-fire and some love from a stone, even the stock trigger would be loads better than the one in my stock 10-10.

[BehindBlueI's]

That could well be the case. I seem to recall a few issues with the WC GP100s, but I can't seem to find them when search so maybe that was my imagination.

Mine has tolerances tight as Dick's hat band, so it's very susceptible to powder under the extraction star. The Hawkeye Blue finish was very fragile and wore through nearly immediately. Ruger reblued it, but I haven't seriously carried it since. As odd as it is to say about a Ruger, it's just to pretty to beat up and I don't find the extra inch of the Match Champion barrel any difficulty to conceal. When I do carry a revolver these days, it's the Match Champion. (As primary outside the house, I should say, the LCR remains my walking around the house gun)

[Malamute]

The GPs never struck my fancy at all, but the older Security Sixes had, at least the blued ones. I had a couple-few stainless ones but never kept them. It was more about them being stainless than anything about the gun.

[SwampDweller]

Swamp Dweller- There is a discussion of the GP100 7 shot situation from this summer here on the revolver board. I just checked and it's on page 4 at the moment. Take a look.

Thanks, I read the thread. It sounds like the 7-shot GP100 did have issues for a time but seems to have been fixed a couple of years ago. Still a bit of a concern when the 6-shot GP100 is so tried and true.

Anyone know if there have been any problems with the 8 shot Redhawk in .357? I know it's a big gun, but 8 shots of .357 in a large frame revolver sounds nice.

ETA: I also like the 627 and 686+, but reading how DocGKR and others will not trust a S&W with a lock, and given historical problems with locks activating at the wrong time, I'm iffy on S&W mostly for this reason. I've also been reading of overall QC complaints with modern S&W revolvers. Should the lock thing be a factor? I respect DocGKR's knowledge and experience, so when he says locks are a no-go that's a pretty damning tick against it. The political implications of the lock don't really bother me, it's purely a functional concern.

[JonInWA]

Strong vote for 4" Rugers; my choices are customized blued GP100 and stainless Security Six. Best, Jon

[OlongJohnson]

Another issue with 6- vs 7-shot GPs and L frames is the extremely limited availability and high cost of speed loaders for the 7s.

[JRV]

Another issue with 6- vs 7-shot GPs and L frames is the extremely limited availability and high cost of speed loaders for the 7s.

Amen to that! Being limited to SpeedBeez (fast, but not super secure) and HKS (secure, but slow and limiting on reload technique) would be less-than-ideal.

The clip-compatible 7-shots are interesting, but being left with Steel Challenge as the only mainstream sport in which to practice would also feel limiting. 6-shot and 8-shot guns at least open up one practical sport each in which those guns can be competitive. A 7-shot all but guarantees standing reloads on most stages.

[SwampDweller]

Another possibility that has crossed my mind is a Redhawk in .45 Auto/Colt. I have a large amount of .45 Auto ammunition and reloading components, and I have quite a bit of affection for the caliber. With the ability to take .45 Colt as well, I like the versatility and it could also make a great outdoors handgun pretty much anywhere, with loads appropriate for the situation.

However, the Redhawk was not originally designed for .45 Auto/Colt, so I wonder if it would see some of the same problems as the GP100s that stray from the original design.

[BehindBlueI's]

Another possibility that has crossed my mind is a Redhawk in .45 Auto/Colt. I have a large amount of .45 Auto ammunition and reloading components, and I have quite a bit of affection for the caliber. With the ability to take .45 Colt as well, I like the versatility and it could also make a great outdoors handgun pretty much anywhere, with loads appropriate for the situation.

However, the Redhawk was not originally designed for .45 Auto/Colt, so I wonder if it would see some of the same problems as the GP100s that stray from the original design.

I thought so to. It's the single worst revolver I've ever owned. I've recounted the trials and tribulations here before if you want to search but basically Ruger couldn't get it to run reliably with all ammo. I bought an aftermarket (longer) firing pin and gave it to a 'smith buddy of mine. He found a big burr in the frame dragging the hammer, Ruger hadn't screwed the bushing in all the way, and the firing pin wasn't hitting primers strong enough for reliable ignition. This was the second one Ruger sent me to replace the original, which was even worse for reliability. The trigger pull was also dog shit, likely due to burrs in the frame.

Yes you *can* run .45 Auto and .45 Colt through it. Accuracy suffers a bit with Auto, since throats are slightly oversized since it must accommodate Colt as well. Auto and Colt are very unlikely to hit same point of impact so your sights will be right for one of them but not both. The front sight *is* quick change, so if you really want to, you can have multiple front sights and be able to be close for various loads by swapping the front sight on the fly.

The stock splinter-sized grip is pretty but unless you've got dainty hands it's not much good for getting a grip on the gun. It's really pretty, though.

It's *very* heavy. You can feel the inertia of the cylinder turn and lock up.

Mine works a treat now and I put an ugly rubber grip on it so that shooting heavier Colt loads was more pleasant. Shooting .45 Auto is *very* minimal recoil. With all the effort into getting it to run right and with all the shortcomings, if I had it to do over again I wouldn't. I'd go with a dedicated .45 Colt gun. But since I bashed my head against the wall until finally getting that damn gun to work, it's mine now.

The Super Redhawk is better in every way other then aesthetics, IMO. It's got the GP-100 like trigger system so it can be lighter and still be reliable. After work, my Redhawk is fine but it's not as good as a GP-100. Super Redhawks are just so...space gun meets revolver, though.