27-2 Pinto Leads to GP100 Pinto

[Waveform]

I love the old S&W pinto guns. So much so that I ended up with this one, a 4" Model 27-2.



I also like to make a few modifications to my favorite Ruger platform, the GP100. With the pinto idea in my mind I finished up this one today. It started out as a stock Model 1751 in 38 Special.



I rechambered it to 357 Magnum, slab side the barrel to remove the old laser engraved "rollmarks" and had it engraved locally with "RUGER GP100" and "357 MAGNUM" on the slabs. I have a wheel and can do polishing to a certain extent but to really pull this off I wanted a pro on the wheel and turned to Patriot Gun Metal Polishing. They polished the cylinder, the slab sides, ejector rod, ER pin, hammer, hammer pin, trigger and cylinder release button. The gun is stainless steel so there's no point in trying to mimic a deep bluing job. Instead I prepped and applied Cerakote Graphite Black and reassembled. The stocks are a set made by Eagle in rosewood - closest I could come up with for something similar to a set of target stocks. Here's the result.







With a nod to the S&W pinto - my Ruger GP100 pinto.

 

[ACP230]

Very classy guns you have there.

 

[Texas Star]

Where'd you get that nice grip/grips?

 

[Waveform]

Where'd you get that nice grip/grips?

Eagle Grips

https://eaglegrips.com

 

[eddiewhiteshoes]

Very nice. If Ruger built that gun I'd buy it yesterday. I'd send Ruger corporate a picture of that.

 

[Waveform]

Very nice. If Ruger built that gun I'd buy it yesterday. I'd send Ruger corporate a picture of that.

Very kind of you eddie - thanks. I think Ruger should consider some of the design work coming out of the S&W PC and maybe get a bit more creative in some areas. If it wasn't for the Distributor Exclusives there wouldn't be much else beyond the plain jane stuff. I love my Rugers I just would like to see them let loose with some more interesting designs.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Very nice projects there. Have to say that while I've always been a devout S&W revolver guy, I recently gave into the dark side and picked up a Ruger GP100 Match Champion for a fling. Easily the nicest thing I've seen come out of Ruger in a while.

 

[rjm6120]

I want MY 1751 to look like that!! Amazing job!

 

[Waveform]

Very nice projects there. Have to say that while I've always been a devout S&W revolver guy, I recently gave into the dark side and picked up a Ruger GP100 Match Champion for a fling. Easily the nicest thing I've seen come out of Ruger in a while.

Good point and I'll give credit where it's due - the MC is not a Distributor Exclusive but a standard production model and they did break with recent design standards on that one (slab sided barrel with partial shroud, contoured cylinder, etc.)

 

[Jefflucasbroker]

Wow! That ruger really came out super nice....

 

[Art66]

Absolutely beautiful...and modern too.

 

[ajgunner]

Not really my thing, but it sure does look nice.

Are those Eagle grips off the shelf or custom??? I really like those.

 

[Waveform]

Are those Eagle grips off the shelf or custom??? I really like those.

They're "off the shelf" - ordered online. The fit was good right out of the box with no extra fitting needing. For whatever reason the lead time was really long and I recall waiting months for them to finally arrive.

 

[mistermills357]

Dude,
You have a streak of genius in you, you transformed a GP-100 into a work of art. It should be on display at the Museum of Modern Art.
Ha, ha, only kidding. If you showed up there with that, the girly-boys of NYC would poo their pants.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Wow! That is very nicely done!

I think I need to get a new key board as all the drool might have messed it up.

 

[JGR_LV]

Looks very nice...

Question, though. Forgive my ignorance regarding Ruger double-actions, but what's with the .38 Special to .357 Mag upgrade. I know S&W uses different heat-treating and sometimes even different alloys when building frames for .357s vs. .38s, and most gunsmiths won't do that sort of rechambering work on them because of that. Does Ruger use one-fits-all alloys & treatments, at least within a frame family?

 

[Captain O]

I didn't think that I would like it, but i do! That, my friend, is unique!

Nicely done!

 

[Waveform]

Question, though. Forgive my ignorance regarding Ruger double-actions, but what's with the .38 Special to .357 Mag upgrade. I know S&W uses different heat-treating and sometimes even different alloys when building frames for .357s vs. .38s, and most gunsmiths won't do that sort of rechambering work on them because of that. Does Ruger use one-fits-all alloys & treatments, at least within a frame family?

Ruger is a company that likes to streamline manufacturing processes so all GP100s have the same cylinder length, frame window size and same materials and methods. The only difference between a 38 Special GP100 and a 357 Magnum GP100 is the chambering which is really just the small increase in depth (less than 1/8"). Converting a 38 to 357 is a simple job with a 357 cylinder finishing reamer.

If you measure a S&W K frame 38 vs a 357 you'll see right off the cylinder lengths are different. Pretty much makes the idea a no-go from the start.

 

[Jeffrey A. Cooper]

That is beautiful to my eyes, great job, a good ghost eye for what will work. Thank you.