Ruger 9MM revolver

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You'll love it. Congrats ! I've always thought the SP101 to be one of the finest snub-nosed revolvers ever made. I owned one ( and shot the heck out of it) for a few years until my son talked me out of it; now carries it daily in his truck glove box :)
 
I'm so happy they brought those back. I had one of the original no-dash 940s, and it really gave me respect for the 9x19 out of a short revolver . . . more akin to the .357 Magnum than the .38 Special over the screens, but each shot cost far less than either. (And this was back in the days when I got Blazer delivered for $4.88/box, so I shot a lot of rounds through that gun.) I've been sorely tempted since Ruger brought the SP-101 9mm back, and I hope you'll favor us with your thoughts on it after you've shot it a bit.

cheers, erich
 
murdock23-for some reason only Ruger wisely decided to make a 9mm snub which will fire without the use of moonies- you purchased the perfect platform in the perfect caliber for civilian self defense-Erich sums it up nicely.

You very well may read about a phenomena called 'jump crimp' and the condition is mentioned in the both the LCR and SP 101 9mm manuals. The issue allegedly is caused by the fact that rifle caliber or rimless cartridges or rather the lack of a good crimp in some rimless cartridges; (particularly in lighter handguns?) - will/may/might or can- allow the bullet to move forward out of the case with the potential to travel forward far enough to block cylinder movement.

We have fired many hundreds of rounds through our LCR 9mm revolvers and a few boxes each through our sp101 9mm (using most name brand 115g jacketed hardball ammo) and have yet to witness any significant bullet movement. In fact the control cartridge used has yet to show only a barely noticeable hairline crack in the nail polish the Mrs. has decided to use as the disclosing agent.

We do NOT have enough experience with slightly heavier hollow point ammo to similarly dismiss the phenomena as a non issue but we strongly lean toward this conclusion.

Someone at Ruger was really using their noggin when they designed these guns to fire without clips and even more so when Ruger made the wise decision to bring the model back.

Hopefully you will find that- sans clips- all it will take is a shake of the open cylinder to release the spent shells, at the very most you might have to use your fingers to pull one out on occasion.

Remember that the sp101 9mm is NOT approved for +p but as Erich posts it doesn't really matter as you have .357 energy or near .357 energy without the -potential- legal implications of the cowboy cannon.

We can report this with regard to the LCR- +p is a handfull and a bit of a chore to extract. The Russian stuff, especially with steel cases, is near impossible to extract with or without moonies-it must be at least +p+ and both the audible and visual effects have to be seen to be believed.

Until the kid at Smith smartens up there is no better choice for cc for -us-.

Forgot to mention; there has to be hundreds of owners of vintage sp101 9's that have to be bummed out big time-these guns WERE routinely bringing just south/north of a g note on Gun Joker..

And the ads were all the same: seller has 1,234,489 A+++ ratings-there was no reserve BUT the minimum bid was whatever the gun was listed at and of course all sales were final, no inspection period-amazing.
 
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Now that does peak my interest. I have 2 of the SP101s in 357mag and they are a pleasure to shoot, just may have to check out this one in 9mm. Mama may not get new shoes this month.
 
I can’t confirm that it can be fired without moonclips but when a revolver can it is because the case spaces off the case mouth.
 
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I like the sp’s but my Ruger 9mm is the smaller framed blackhawk convertible. Also a fine rugged revolver that is quite versatile, this could be nice with the periodic Ammo shortages that come by from time to time.
 
Our LCR9 and the reintro sp101 9 fire perfectly without the clips.

Were it not for this we would never have gotten them-makes no sense to us to have a revolver which requires the clips to function. Too easy to lose-really inconvenient to carry and to us its just a dumb design requirement on a gun that is going to be used for civilian concealed carry.

joe- our sp101 snubs .357 were real nice shooters-mass is a very good thing. I can guarantee you two things regarding the 9mm 101, first if you try one you will buy one AND if the dw/significant other shoots also you can immediately kiss it goodbye-the only time you will get it in your hands is for cleaning.
 
The only 9mm revolver I currently own is the first model Charter Arms Pitbull Rimless Revolver.

Like the discontinued S&W M-547 is does not require moonclips because of a patented extractor that uses a spring loaded projection in each chamber to lock the rim in place for extraction and ejection.

The chambers in some guns were a bit rough and the spring loaded project was just a little to short to provide 100% reliable ejection for all six chambers with some brands of ammo.

Charter eventually redesigned the original 6 shot 21 oz. revolver into a 5 shot to make room for a larger extractor and solve the problem.

I opted to polish the chambers and keep my 6 shot 21 ouncer that is basically the same size as the dis continued Colt D-framed Detective Special/Cobra/Agent revolvers.

This target was shot 15 yards off hand. That particular day the heat index was 107 degrees on the range which lead to me stringing the first six shots, the second target is a 50 round off hand 15 yard composite.
 

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I don't know if it's my monitor, but from the pictures posted in this thread it appears that this little SP lacks the ugly warning rollmark on the barrel. Does anyone know if this is true of all Ruger revolvers now, or just the Nine-Mike-Mike. I kind of want one regardless...
 
Very nice! I kinda like those little 9MM revolvers myself;) BTW, CAJUN, Both the Ruger and S&W use Moon clips. Headspace is precise on the Ruger without Moon clips, and it fires 100% reliably without them. Headspace on the S&W is grossly excessive without the Moon clips, and function without them is not reliable......
 

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Remember that the sp101 9mm is NOT approved for +p but as Erich posts it doesn't really matter as you have .357 energy or near .357 energy without the -potential- legal implications of the cowboy cannon.
Please tell us more about the "potential legal implications" of using a .357 Magnum for any possible purpose, a cartridge that has been in existence for 80 years and in continuous use by LE agencies and armed citizens since it's inception.
 
The crimp walk happens due to the ammunition reserve being held in the middle of the recoil lever. It's a function of recoil energy versus the revolver weight. It happens markedly by six shots in the 929 which is heavier. I reload heavier bullets with a very strong crimp and I have not been able to overcome this with even minor power factor loads. I'd advise to use lighter bullets to mitigate this.
 
wc, with regard to the -use- of a .357 snub in a civilian self defense shooting; I am of the opinion that a prosecutor would have little difficulty in convincing a jury that one who used this gun/caliber was reckless for the reasons anyone who has shot this platform with the magnum ammo is aware of.

The platform that is chosen, the caliber of the handgun and the amount of ammo that one has available show intent-mindset, I am convinced of this.

Should you prefer the .357 then good for you-I think you're nuts and really hope that you don't need that second shot especially if it is a very quickly needed second shot.

The Mrs. left today with her .22 wmr and there is no doubt in my mind that she has all the bases covered.

I fully support the right of anyone to legally carry any gun they wish regardless of how over gunned and over ammo capacity I think they are.

Remember 'we' will require less than 2 at about arms length away and that is IF simply showing the wheelie doesn't take care of the problem.
 
wc, with regard to the -use- of a .357 snub in a civilian self defense shooting; I am of the opinion that a prosecutor would have little difficulty in convincing a jury that one who used this gun/caliber was reckless for the reasons anyone who has shot this platform with the magnum ammo is aware of.

The platform that is chosen, the caliber of the handgun and the amount of ammo that one has available show intent-mindset, I am convinced of this.

Should you prefer the .357 then good for you-I think you're nuts and really hope that you don't need that second shot especially if it is a very quickly needed second shot.

The Mrs. left today with her .22 wmr and there is no doubt in my mind that she has all the bases covered.

I fully support the right of anyone to legally carry any gun they wish regardless of how over gunned and over ammo capacity I think they are.

Remember 'we' will require less than 2 at about arms length away and that is IF simply showing the wheelie doesn't take care of the problem.

I believe Jeff Cooper and many, many (did I say many) knowledgeable long time shooters would highly disagree with your statement.
 
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