Rover

While on the topic I wonder if anyone has any experience with the Bowen Rough Country sight and how it would compare to the Weigand other than the Weigand probably offers quicker adjustments.

Relative to tuning the .22 S&W there were some strings on this some time back: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...p;p=346926& http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52448

I think they are out of business now but has anyone ever seen or used a Buckeye speedloader for the 627 8 shot? They sort of looked like a HKS. The company used to have a website (www.buckeyetool.com) and I believe the contact person was Bill Kolodey.

Not exactly nearby but not too far, either. There is Alan Tanaka over in the L.A. area that specializes in Smith revolvers. He has done a number of action jobs and rebarrelings for me and some others that I know. Here is a link to his information on the APG site: http://www.americanpistol.com/guild_member.php?mbrid=66 His turnaround times are relatively reasonable, too.

Regarding the spring kit mentioned above for the GP-100. If you go over to the Ruger Forum in either the revolver section: http://www.rugerforum.org/phpBB/viewforum....817ce98a9f4661b or the gunsmithing section: http://www.rugerforum.org/phpBB/viewforum....817ce98a9f4661b there is a retired gunsmith who goes by the name Iowegan. He offers free a "IBOK" which he will email you detailing what can be cleaned up or smoothed in the gun and how for free. If someday you decide to have the gun worked upon Randy Lee does great work on these albeit he is probably better known for his S&W work. Here is a link to his shop site: http://www.apextactical.com/ Marc Morganti of Gemini Customs offers replacement sights for the SP-101 (I don't know if he makes them for the GP or if they will fit but you could contact him) in a number of configurations. His website is at: http://www.geminicustoms.com/

Here is a discussion thread regarding SL Variants: http://p075.ezboard.com/SL-Variant-loaders...opicID=69.topic Here is the Manufacturer's website: http://www.longwitz.de/shop/index_e.php If they cannot be sent from Germany perhaps they can be obtained from one of these site: http://www.gunfactory.ch/acess/speedloader.htm (Swiss) There is website in Australia that also offers the speedloaders: http://www.sportingguns.com.au/UsedGuns/speedLoader.html Hope one of these will work for you. Rover

I think you might be correct as my GP seems less than my 686. Both have the same Hogues on them. At any rate with the stud on the GP the trigger reach can definitely be reduced easier. I believe this agrees with some measurements J. Taffin did years ago and posted on his Sixgunner site.

Forgot, you asked what the stock trigger pull was. It was 12.5 pounds double action but the gun had very little dry firing on it and was bought new. I would imagine after wearing in it would take a pound or so off the double action trigger pull. Thus, the 9 pound pull sounds like the mainspring might be due for a replacement as when I got mine back from tuning and put the Wolff 12 pound mainspring in it the double action was 8.8 pounds which is not far from what you have.

I have had 4 tuned Redhawks over the years (tuned by different individuals). Dave has hit on the main points: less than optimal firing pin protrusion (mentioned by Bowen in his revolver book), weak mainsprings and transfer bar divots. The last tuned RH I had had about 8.8 DA pull and would fire Federal primers but not much else reliably in double action. This was with the Wolff 12 pound mainspring. By going to the 14 pound mainspring it would fire WW and Remington primers reliably. In order to get reliability in the past I have had to use the 14 pound mainspring as a minimum on the other Redhawks with other than Federal primers. As a reference the stock mainspring is 17 pounds. I might note it had a Bowen extended firing pin with 0.055" of protrusion and 0.062" headspace. Many come out of the factory with about .037" or so of protrusion. Aside from the Bowen fix there are some other ways to increase firing pin protrusion that are somewhat easier. Here is a link to one method: http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/repatriatedrugergp.html The trigger pull with the 14 pound mainspring mentioned above was about 10.2 pounds or so in DA. Some at the Ruger Forum have noted that a slow double action pull will cause a misfire whereas a fast pull will not. Bowen and Dave Clements (another Ruger gunsmith) have noted in the past that double actions with their tunes are about 10.5-11 pounds. In Bowen's case, at least, that is with the stock mainspring and he warns against going lighter where reliability is paramount. If the double action is 9 pounds with the stock mainspring I would think a replacement may be order based upon the foregoing.

While on the topic has anyone tried the Bowen rear sight? I would imagine it should be relatively rugged. Any comments?

Wonder if the RH cylinder has enough diameter for 7 rounds of .40? Ham. Bowen a while back created a RH version using a Super Redhawk as basis with the 2 spring action. I think he used the Alaskan version without the scope ring cuts and milled off the front frame extension and fitted a Redhawk barrel. Dennis Prisbrey, the owner, wrote it up in some gun magazine. Now, if Ruger would only come out with it in .45! There are or were some pictures of the end result over at the Ruger Forum I think. I have attached a copy of a picture of his SRH along with a modified GP-100.

Too bad Ruger doesn't come out with a 10mm/.40S&W GP-100. I see Dave Clements does the conversions for about $450 complete with moon clips.

Another possibility is Walt Sherman in Tallahassee, FL. He does roller action conversions on the older style (hammer mounted firing pin) S&W's along with Colt Pythons. The difference is his retains the single action feature. He can be reached at (904) 878-9563 last I knew and his shop is Sherman Custom Guns. He did a conversion for me on a 625 that I had (wish I still had it!).

Deleted

Thanks for the link. Interesting they have them for the .45 Colt and 7 shot L frames, too. There was a discussion over on another forum I recall. I think the loader, itself, is made in Germany but forget the name of the company. In looking at what Hermann is carrying there appears to be a lot of German items along with some French (Manurhin). For a while Dillon carried the speedloaders and they were not cheap but a lot of people seemed to like them.