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View Full Version : Modify SP101 - sights, trigger action, hammer?



Naphtali
05-22-2016, 02:49 PM
I recently bought a Ruger SP101 357 Magnum with 4-inch barrel. Rear sight assembly is, more or less, standard design that you would have on any GP100 - perhaps a smaller version?

Front sight is the opposite of useful. It is a dovetailed-on assembly of metal that houses a cylinder of light focusing plastic. The feature I dislike most is that the illumination is entirely dependent upon a light source. With light, a bright illuminated circle. Without light, a standard pin.

In lower light, a 3-dot system would be appreciated. And were the dots using a light storing material similar to what is used for wrist watches, this is preferred compared with tritium or other self-illumination systems.
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I have an autoimmune illness that is orders of magnitude more severe than rheumatoid arthritis. My hands are unsatisfactory for doing a trigger job on the SP101. While its trigger action is not a bad one, there is room for substantial improvement - improvement I cannot do for myself. I also cannot judge whether simple spring swapping is the complete answer.
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This "improvement" is twitchy. My SP101's hammer spur is narrow and has sharp checkering. A wider spur would be useful for me, but I suspect replacing the hammer with an OEM hammer having a wide or target spur enters a place I don't want to be. Such a modification is almost certainly NOT a drop-in. Fitting would probably be required, plus an action job.

The only "fix" I thought of that might not cause more problems than it solves is a bolt-on or solder-on piece of metal similar to a Flaig's trigger shoe that does the same job, albeit on the hammer spur. The only device like that I've experienced, though are hammer extensions for traditional lever action rifles. Modifying one of them, though, is not a solution.


While this adjustable-sighted SP101 is a new offering, the basic system is long in use. Please identify gunsmiths who routinely gunsmith Ruger's double action family of revolvers.

lefty o
05-22-2016, 04:03 PM
a set of springs and some minor polishing will usually improve the trigger quite a bit. as for the hammer, if its an older gun the hammer is cast and the spur could be welded up and shaped how you want it. if its a newer pistol the hammer is MIM, and i wouldnt touch that ****.

jandbj
05-24-2016, 12:55 PM
Hamilton Bowen and Gemini customs. Neither is cheap, but both are exceptional.