Model 13 verses Ruger GP100 3"

[daveh75]

Congrats on your purchase Bassoner, have fun, stay safe, good shooting!

 

[Elmer]

Quote:It you want a shooter that will reliably digest thousands of 357 rounds and and keep on going. Get the Ruger. Quote

Not always. Here is a picture of a GP100 that cracked a forcing cone shooting 125 gr high velocity 357 magnums.

Even a "built like a tank" Ruger GP100 will split a forcing cone shooting light gr ammo just like a K frame magnum.

Howard

Ahhhhh...... no.

That's an interesting picture, but it's something that I've never seen, nor have I ever heard of it before, and I've worked around Rugers for more than 30 years. I'm personally aware of torture tests of GP's, where more than 10,000 rounds of factory .357 were fired, with no parts breakage, and no measurable wear. On the other hand, I've seen more K frame .357's with split forcing cones than I can count.

Don't know what the story was with that gun, but to say that a GP100 will split forcing cones, "just like a K frame magnum", would be stretching the truth.

I, and most others here, may prefer our S&W's, but to deny the Ruger's strength is silly.

 

[Elmer]

delete duplicate

 

[roaddog28]

Elmer I am not indicating anything about the strength of Ruger revolvers. I own three. A GP100, Service Six and a Blackhawk. There is no doubt in my mind that Rugers are strong. One the responses indicated that a person can shoot thousands of 357 magnum rounds in a Ruger revolver without problems. All I saying is any revolver can wear out sooner shooting different types of ammo that is hard on the forcing cone. It happens.
The GP100 is stronger than a K frame. And a K frame will most likely split a forcing cone sooner with large amounts of light grain high velocity ammo.
My point is that any revolver can suffer from a eroded forcing cone and possible spliting from certain types of ammo.
In the case of the picture the revolver was seening around 100 rounds a week. The ammo was a high velocity 125 gr round.
Bottom line: When others make a general statement about a revolver I will disagree if it is not true.
Regards,
Howard

 

[stantheman86]

No gun is immune to abuse.......the Korth revolver is supposed to be the made from the finest ordnance steel in existence and are made to exacting tolerances, and are very strong but I'm sure you could crack a forcing cone in one of those too with light bullet,super hot .357's and lots and lots of them.

Just as an apples to oranges example,the military HUMMVEE's are super tough too, they can take abuse that would destroy a civilian truck........ and keep going, and I've seen plenty of HUMMVEES break too if they get beat on enough, I could be like "I drove off a 5 foot dropoff, and then ran through a brick wall, and after that hit about 50 3 foot deep potholes and then I cracked an axle, those HUMVEES are weak".

These pics make the rounds around the internet, with no "back story". Until I know what really happened, regardless of whether it's a S&W, Ruger, Colt, etc. I take all these pics with a grain of salt.

There are plenty of pics of blown up Redhawks and they are used as "see Rugers aren't that strong" but the fact that the shooter used the wrong powder and tried to make some dinosaur killer handload is often not mentioned. Just like the pic of the 629 that was supposedly blown up with "Chinese ammo"

 

[Skeeziks]

The proof is in the picture.... Just look at that erosion!
When the cone gets that eroded, it's just a matter of time before the steel splits. It's simple psysics.

 

[Ross3913]

Elmer I am not indicating anything about the strength of Ruger revolvers. I own three. A GP100, Service Six and a Blackhawk. There is no doubt in my mind that Rugers are strong. One the responses indicated that a person can shoot thousands of 357 magnum rounds in a Ruger revolver without problems. All I saying is any revolver can wear out sooner shooting different types of ammo that is hard on the forcing cone. It happens.
The GP100 is stronger than a K frame. And a K frame will most likely split a forcing cone sooner with large amounts of light grain high velocity ammo.
My point is that any revolver can suffer from a eroded forcing cone and possible spliting from certain types of ammo.
In the case of the picture the revolver was seening around 100 rounds a week. The ammo was a high velocity 125 gr round.
Bottom line: When others make a general statement about a revolver I will disagree if it is not true.
Regards,
Howard

100rds a week for how many weeks? How many total rounds were through that gun? What was the ammo load?

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Caj...if no one answered your question...Lipsey's has them for $829. Saw one on Gunbroker, starting bid $749 "reserve not met"...seller out of MO.

Yea...right

 

[dscampbell]

As a deputy in the 70's I carried a model 13 and loved it. For carrying it is great. Rugers are stronger and heavier. You can't lose with either.

 

[roaddog28]

100rds a week for how many weeks? How many total rounds were through that gun? What was the ammo load?

Answer to question one. 100 rounds per week for a year. The revolver was used when the shooter bought it.
Ammo used. 125 grain Hornady XTP over 22 gr. of H110 with a Remington 5 1/2 primer. This is from the Hodgdon's data from their site. And they list the max pressure at 41500.I will admit that this is a hot load. But looking at the picture and seeing how the forcing cone was eroded convinces me that shooting light grain ammo at high velocities is hard on any revolver. The only reason I posted this is some of the responses claim that GP100 can shoot thousands of rounds of 357 magnums and not have a problem. A lot of this depends on the type of ammo.
Anyway I will take the blame for straying off the OP question.
My answer is buy the model 13. I have one and love it. I also have a GP100 4 inch and there a great revolver but given the choice I would take the model 13 anyday.
Regards,
Howard

 

[marks111]

Question

I joined this forum an hour ago and have a question regarding ammo for my bodyguard. I can not figure out how to post a new message!!!! Can someone please tell me what in the world I need to do???????

 

[HiCap]

Go to the appropriate thread for your comment or query and post a reply by clicking in the reply button. If there is no appropriate thread, start a new one. It's easy and will end up being very informative for you. Lots of luck.

HiCap

 

[Elmer]

Answer to question one. 100 rounds per week for a year. The revolver was used when the shooter bought it.

So, in other words, no way of knowing how many or what type of loads already went through it.

Ammo used. 125 grain Hornady XTP over 22 gr. of H110 with a Remington 5 1/2 primer. This is from the Hodgdon's data from their site. And they list the max pressure at 41500.I will admit that this is a hot load. But looking at the picture and seeing how the forcing cone was eroded convinces me that shooting light grain ammo at high velocities is hard on any revolver. The only reason I posted this is some of the responses claim that GP100 can shoot thousands of rounds of 357 magnums and not have a problem. A lot of this depends on the type of ammo.

There's no doubt any gun can be worn out or broken with enough shooting of certain loads. I took issue when you said that a GP100 can crack a forcing cone, "just like a K frame". I submit that a cracked forcing cone in a GP is so rare as to be an anomaly, and I'm aware of many guns, that have fired many thousands of factory .357's, including two of my own.

I prefer my Smith's overall, but if I was looking for a .357 workhorse, to shoot even a medium amount of .357's, I wouldn't choose a K frame.

 

[Match10]

Really? You ask this with a straight face on a S&W forum?

Model 13. The brute force of the Ruger GP vs. the sweet trigger of the K frame.