Yesterday I got the one that got away

[Jared]

A few years ago my brother and I were in a gun shop. He was looking for a revolver and I was mostly along for the ride. Then I saw this one. Well, more accurately, he saw it and said “hey, look at that.” Then I saw it. At any rate, I thought it was an awesome rendition of the GP100. Store had a fair price on it too. Well, my brother had seen it first, and he was looking for a good revolver. He bought it.

Over time, I occasionally asked if he still had it and wanted to sell it. Yes and no was the answer every single time. Until a few days ago, when he told me it was gonna be mine. So after complying with the state of Illinois’ glorious regulations on background checks and waiting period, I drove down to my brothers home and picked it up.

It’s a pretty basic GP100. Fixed sights, half lug, 357 Mag, blued finish. It did have the Compact grips on it when my brother got it at the shop, but I cannot say if the gun shipped with them or if they were added by a previous owner.

One thing I like about the GP100 fixed sights is even though they are a similar concept to the S&W versions, there is more light around the front on the Ruger iterations. Hopefully I get some weather around here soon that isn’t hotter than satans stovetop and I can take her for a spin.

[HeavyDuty]

A few years ago my brother and I were in a gun shop. He was looking for a revolver and I was mostly along for the ride. Then I saw this one. Well, more accurately, he saw it and said “hey, look at that.” Then I saw it. At any rate, I thought it was an awesome rendition of the GP100. Store had a fair price on it too. Well, my brother had seen it first, and he was looking for a good revolver. He bought it.

Over time, I occasionally asked if he still had it and wanted to sell it. Yes and no was the answer every single time. Until a few days ago, when he told me it was gonna be mine. So after complying with the state of Illinois’ glorious regulations on background checks and waiting period, I drove down to my brothers home and picked it up.

It’s a pretty basic GP100. Fixed sights, half lug, 357 Mag, blued finish. It did have the Compact grips on it when my brother got it at the shop, but I cannot say if the gun shipped with them or if they were added by a previous owner.

One thing I like about the GP100 fixed sights is even though they are a similar concept to the S&W versions, there is more light around the front on the Ruger iterations. Hopefully I get some weather around here soon that isn’t hotter than satans stovetop and I can take her for a spin.

That is gorgeous.

[entropy]

That’s classic. And the grips look much better than the Magna types they originally put on there I think...

[Jared]

That’s classic. And the grips look much better than the Magna types they originally put on there I think...

Not gonna lie, I’m at over 50% probability the grips are gonna get changed out with something else. I know those Ruger Compact GP100 grips are highly regarded on P-F, but my previous dalliance with them did not go well.

My favorite GP100 grips are the Hogue no finger groove rubber and the Match Champion wooden grips. Kind of interesting to me that those two grips are among the least liked GP100 grips on P-F. That’s the magic of revolvers though, it’s just so easy to get grips on there that work for your hands.

[entropy]

I agree. I have a set of the Hogues that came with my .44 GP. Swapped them out for compact Letts. That lasted exactly one range session. Factory Hogues back on.

[HeavyDuty]

Any idea of the model number for this variant? Not that I would start looking or anything…

I’ve never noticed a fixed sight, half lug GP-100 before except for the five shot .44 Special they currently catalog.

[Jared]

Any idea of the model number for this variant? Not that I would start looking or anything…

I’ve never noticed a fixed sight, half lug GP-100 before except for the five shot .44 Special they currently catalog.

No clue. I had a Ruger catalog back in ‘93 I think. It listed all kinds of variants, full lug, half lug, fixed sights, finish choice, some were 38SPL only, and finally DAO or DA/SA. It was dizzying back then. Pure speculation on my part, but I believe this one was made back in the “before time” when there were a lot more GP100 options available from the factory.

The finish on the gun, a noticeably better blue than what Ruger does currently, further indicates it’s from back then. (And I also know it’s nowhere near as nice a Blue finish as what S&W used to use as well)

[Crazy Dane]

I have a set of Hogues that came off of my .44 Gp if you are interested. Nice score!

[Jared]

I have a set of Hogues that came off of my .44 Gp if you are interested. Nice score!

I appreciate the offer. I’ve got a set of OEM Match Champion grips from where I took them off of one of my MCs and put the Hogue rubber grips on there, so I’ve got a set that I can swap out the Compact grips for if I decide to go ahead and do it.

[Trooper224]

That's my favorite out of the GP100 line up. Those are the original grips all GPs had early on, they're also my faves. Personally, I wish Ruger had never replaced them with Hogues. This fixed sight, half lug version was meant as a replacement for the old Service Six. It wasn't as popular as the Standard GP100 with the full lugged barrel.