When I first saw the posts of this "newly designed" SP101 .22 LR on this site many months ago,I looked at the "overly tall" front sight and skinnier barrel (than the original 22 SP) and said "Ugh, I think I'll pass...". That was until I handled one up close.
And then I made the mistake of handling another one... And then yet again...
Well, it finally grew on me, and one followed me home one day to play! So far, it's been a very accurate shooter, especially since I updated the rear sight blade. But I have to say, this was the roughest Ruger DA revolver that I have ever handled. It took some careful polishing to make this baby match all of my other Ruger's. Nope, they are not S&Ws and you "really shouldn't have to" do all the extra work to try and make it like a S&W trigger. True... But if you do go to the trouble to smooth it up, it will help improve the feel and trigger pull and mine is perfectly acceptable now for a woods gun.
Jeff Quinn wrote a Most Excellent Review of the New SP101-22 on that imbedded link over on GunBlast, so there's no sense repeating all the verbiage here. But I've added a few pix with descriptions for those who may be interested in one of these. I used to have one of the original 4" heavy-barreled 22 SP101s, so I'm in a good spot to compare the two designs. (I had sold that one off to a member here a couple of years ago when I upgraded to a 32 H&R Magnum SP; and then when I contacted him late last fall to see if he'd sell it -- too late, he already had...)
Here's the side profile of the new 22 SP101, wearing the Elk Stag grip inserts from Sack Peterson (see another post on those for his website): And yes, she's an 8-shooter now! These next 2 pix will really show you how the "old" (original) versus "new" SPs look. That's my 32 Mag with the heavy barrel, but the older 22 was the same dimensions (except where it counted). One of the regular criticisms of many Ruger products is the infamous "Ruger Billboard", as they call it, where the warning notice is plastered prominently on the barrel -- usually in a very visible spot too! On this newer model, they wisely reduced the font and put it on the bottom of the barrel... The hammer spur of the new (on left) is curved and less aggressive to grip, as compared to the flat and sharp original spur. You can also see the small windage & elevation adjustable sight on the 22, compared to the windage-only blade of the 32 (and original 22). That adjustable sight is a great improvement! Here you will see I drilled 2 holes in the rear blade, then filled them with some French White (???) nail polish from my wife's stuff and sealed it with super glue. This has been a helpful improvement, for my eyes anyway. Ruger also made the hammer weigh less by casting it with less metal/weight, and it is even more "skeletonized" than this pix shows when it's removed from the action. Maybe that helps improve the lock time, but it's tough to tell... Well, that's it. I didn't really "need" another 22 handgun, but here again (funny how this happens), "want" showed up and got his way! Can't say I'm too sorry about that though... She's a great l'il shooter and now I like the "new" design better than the original I'd had years before.
Tight groups.
Old No7
