RugeR`s New sP101 .22 LR RevoLveR

Ruger’s New SP101 .22 LR RevolveR
Sturm, Ruger & Company’s tenure of firearms production has now covered over
6 decades, beginning with their very first handgun, the Standard Model .22
semi-automatic in 1949. In the years following, Ruger’s production expanded to
include a vast gambit of styles, actions and designs, covering all 3 general firearm
classifications: rifles, shotguns and handguns. I personally believe, however, that
Ruger’s true allegiance has always been in the construction of fine quality handguns
and a classic example of this dedication can now be found in the company’s latest
addition - the new .22 LR SP101 double-action revolver.
The Ruger SP101 was first offered in 1989, when it was initially chambered in .38
Special. Following shortly afterwards, Ruger expanded the line to include .357
Magnum and more recently, the new .327 Federal Magnum was added. When
designing the SP101, Ruger placed a significant amount of emphasis on making
the SP101 a strong and reliable handgun. As part of that objective, the sidewalls are
machined from solid steel with none of the usual side plates. Shooters found that
they liked the small, compact nature of the design and this fostered an outcry to
make it available in .22 LR. Ruger eventually listened to those pleas and the result is
a reengineered SP101 chambered in the most popular cartridge ever produced.
I wanted to take a closer look at the new .22 LR SP101 and soon I was personally
admiring its construction and inherent beauty firsthand. To me it seemed pleasantly
stylish and came with many characteristics that are sometimes lacking on many
other handguns. Wrap around rubber grips always seem to improve a handgun’s
comfort and performance, but sometimes they can come across a bit plain and
unattractive. On the contrary, in this case I found that Ruger had tapped into the
best of both worlds: attractiveness and functionality.
While the majority of the larger calibre SP101s
come from the factory equipped with the common
black ramp front sight and a non-adjustable
notched rear sight, Ruger has saw fit to equip their
new .22 LR SP101 with a fully adjustable rear sight
and a fibre optic sight on the front.
Trigger pulls are traditionally always heavy on
double-action revolvers and the .22 LR SP101 is
no exception. Shooting the SP101 as a doubleaction handgun, the trigger pull is over 11-pounds,
but with the hammer preset and fired single-action
style, I found that a 5-trigger-pull average came in
at 4-pounds 8-ounces.
I put many rounds down the bore of my SP101 on
the range. This consisted of 6 different types of
ammunition from 3 different manufacturers. Over
several days of testing, I found that the SP101
functioned flawlessly in absolutely every aspect
of its operation. Ejection of the empty cases was
flawless; the trigger pull was crisp; the overall
feeling was very good; and the accuracy at 25feet was better than I expected. The best 5-shot
groups shot measured a mere 3/4-inch (19-mm),
which based on my self-confessed
inabilities with a handgun, I consider
pretty darn good.
The wrap around rubber provides a very comfortable and firm grip surface and the
chequered walnut inserts add a bit of class. In order to match the overall compact
size of the SP101, it might seem at first glance that the grips are a bit on the small
side, but I found them to be very comfortable and well matched to the size
of the revolver and to my own hand. My hands are probably average in
size, but I think even a shooter with excessively large hands would
likely agree with this assessment. I also found the sights much to
my liking.
Shooting double-action style and offhand is fun, but doing so makes accuracy a
bit more challenging.
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For accuracy testing the .22 LR Ruger SP101 was shot
from the bench at 25-feet.