Custom Ruger SP101 from Gemini Custom
Sometimes a screw up and have excellent results. I recently picked up a Ruger SP101 that I got on sale at a local military exchange for $360. I decided that I would add an XS Big Dot front sight and do a trigger job since Rugers don't exactly have the smoothest triggers in the world and I had that metal-on-metal grating sound.
I noticed that during recoil my finger would slip up against the underside of the trigger guard where the end of the trigger plunger was partially exposed and it would nick my finger. No problemo. I have done lots of trigger jobs to my Smith and Wessons. I took the Ruger apart, polished the metal on metal surface and reduced that extruding sharp edge of the trigger plunger. Huge mistake....I mean HUGE. As God as my witness I did not know that filing off this small bit of the plunger would screw up this gun and it did. I could no longer single action cocked the gun. Double action was fine. No problem, I will bob the hammer and have a no-snag conceal carry gun. Whipped out the old dremel and cut the hammer spur off.
Next I will drill the sight blank for the new Big Dot. I removed the old sight, put in the new sight with some lock tite and proceeding to drill....and drill....and drill. I could not drill through the blank. I then noticed I screwed up the 1/16th pinhole and just when the drill bit broke off I had the ugliest marred hole I have ever seen. I have never screwed up this bad. I was mad at myself and embarrassed.
To rescue comes Marc Morganti from Gemini custom. I read about him on this site and heard he did wonderful things with 1911's and Ruger SP101's. I emailed, confessed my sins and he told me not to worry, send the gun(s) (oh yeah, and I did the same to my wife's gun with the trigger plunger) and he would take a look. He told me that the trigger plunger is the heart and soul of any Ruger revolver and he was right as rain. I noticed his email was "yoda" and I prayed that he would live up to that name. He received the revolvers and emailed me back and said, "I seen worse". Whew.
Well, I got the revolvers back yesterday. When I opened the box I was floored by his work. He did the following:
He dovetailed the front sight and put a new serrated blank in it and then cut and strapped each side of the forward end of the barrel where I screwed it all up to give it a custom look and make it symmetrical, recrowned the muzzle, polished the hammer for concealed carry and polished the pins and trigger face, did a trigger job and modified the cylinder so it takes moon clips now. He finished it off with a bead blast and his logo of the right forward barrel. He did a great job. I should screw up more often!
Needless to say, this was not the screwed up revolver I sent him. The trigger is smooth, locks up tight and the mirrored hammer contrasts nicely with the black serrated sight. I put some snap caps in the moon clips he provided me and spent a joyous 15-minutes speed loading and extracting. I hit the range this evening to test fire it. There is something about a 3" snubby that I have always liked. I took the following pictures. Sorry about the poor quality. I'm much better at screwing up a gun than taking pictures.
I noticed that during recoil my finger would slip up against the underside of the trigger guard where the end of the trigger plunger was partially exposed and it would nick my finger. No problemo. I have done lots of trigger jobs to my Smith and Wessons. I took the Ruger apart, polished the metal on metal surface and reduced that extruding sharp edge of the trigger plunger. Huge mistake....I mean HUGE. As God as my witness I did not know that filing off this small bit of the plunger would screw up this gun and it did. I could no longer single action cocked the gun. Double action was fine. No problem, I will bob the hammer and have a no-snag conceal carry gun. Whipped out the old dremel and cut the hammer spur off.
Next I will drill the sight blank for the new Big Dot. I removed the old sight, put in the new sight with some lock tite and proceeding to drill....and drill....and drill. I could not drill through the blank. I then noticed I screwed up the 1/16th pinhole and just when the drill bit broke off I had the ugliest marred hole I have ever seen. I have never screwed up this bad. I was mad at myself and embarrassed.
To rescue comes Marc Morganti from Gemini custom. I read about him on this site and heard he did wonderful things with 1911's and Ruger SP101's. I emailed, confessed my sins and he told me not to worry, send the gun(s) (oh yeah, and I did the same to my wife's gun with the trigger plunger) and he would take a look. He told me that the trigger plunger is the heart and soul of any Ruger revolver and he was right as rain. I noticed his email was "yoda" and I prayed that he would live up to that name. He received the revolvers and emailed me back and said, "I seen worse". Whew.
Well, I got the revolvers back yesterday. When I opened the box I was floored by his work. He did the following:
He dovetailed the front sight and put a new serrated blank in it and then cut and strapped each side of the forward end of the barrel where I screwed it all up to give it a custom look and make it symmetrical, recrowned the muzzle, polished the hammer for concealed carry and polished the pins and trigger face, did a trigger job and modified the cylinder so it takes moon clips now. He finished it off with a bead blast and his logo of the right forward barrel. He did a great job. I should screw up more often!
Needless to say, this was not the screwed up revolver I sent him. The trigger is smooth, locks up tight and the mirrored hammer contrasts nicely with the black serrated sight. I put some snap caps in the moon clips he provided me and spent a joyous 15-minutes speed loading and extracting. I hit the range this evening to test fire it. There is something about a 3" snubby that I have always liked. I took the following pictures. Sorry about the poor quality. I'm much better at screwing up a gun than taking pictures.
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Gemini also ports SP101s. Why did you decide against that?
I'm thinking of sending my SP101 down to Marc for a custom job but can't make up my mind on the porting.
I'm thinking of sending my SP101 down to Marc for a custom job but can't make up my mind on the porting.
I don't like ported barrels for self defense weapons. You get lots of flash, can't fire from a retention position without getting caught on fire and though it wouldn't affect this sight since it is a black blank your white dot/tritium can get obscurred from the gas. I just practice firing full loaded magnum ammo and I personally don't see any advantage of porting....other than it looks kind of cool. The only ported weapon I own is my .450 Marlin since it came that way.Jerseycitysteve said:
did they stop making the 21/4 inch sp-101? I really wish I didn't sell that one.
That was the gun that turned me onto ruger wheelguns.
nice 101 btw
I would recommend, as a nice touch, to order the wooden grip insers from ruger. they look awesome on the lil gun.
That was the gun that turned me onto ruger wheelguns.
nice 101 btw
I would recommend, as a nice touch, to order the wooden grip insers from ruger. they look awesome on the lil gun.
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The point was that if you are in a struggle, and say you have your gun tucked in tight. And you pull the trigger, the hot gas is gonna go up into your face or your clothes and burn you something fierce. That's why I wouldn't port a carry gun of any kind.sawyer said:
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Porting
The porting is as effective as any I have experienced. It makes the gun shoot very flat- about like a .22 magnum. It makes 125 gr. loads (almost) fun to shoot.
The porting is as effective as any I have experienced. It makes the gun shoot very flat- about like a .22 magnum. It makes 125 gr. loads (almost) fun to shoot.
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Wow, nice SP! I'm working on getting an SP for myself now. Maybe I'll have to send it out and have it done up proper like yours!
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