What to do with my revolver.

[Wasz]

I own a GP 100 4 inch with fixed sights. Bone stock. I want to do some shooting and thats the gun I have so I'm looking to learn what I need to shoot with it. People are asking me what I want for xmas. A new gun is too much, but maybe I can get some stuff for my ruger. The idea is to try and find some games I can shoot with it. Pins, steel, uspsa I don't really know what it's capable of and I've never shot anything like that before.

I have a triple k leather holser for it and a leather belt. The issue with the gun is that with the fixed sights it shoots ~3 inches low.

So, if you would be so kind what I need is a list and some links. What can I do with this gun and what kind of gear I should have. Belts, holsters, speed loaders, holders for the speed loaders, anything. I love my revolver, it was the first handgun Ive ever owned, given to me by my dad on my 21st. Now I want to put it to work.

Thanks.

[Bubber]

Wasz, As you already have a belt and holster start with that to keep startup costs down. On speedloader holders I use the ones made by Jeff in Arkansas with my Safariland Comp III's. But until you decide what you really want you could use the metal clips. I think that the GP 100 is a "L Frame" size speedloader. You can get by with 5 speedloaders and holders. That gives you 36 rounds to start a stage. 6 in and 30 on your belt. The most for USPSA should be 32 rounds per stage. Do you reload your own ammo? If so you can help the point of impact by moveing a heavier bullet slower through the barrel. It will allow the recoil to raise the strike of the bullet with the same point of aim, to a certain degree. There is alot of discussion o the Ruger in the revo forums. It should make a good starting point as there are several shooters I know that use the Ruger Revolver in competition. In your area I would check out to see if there is an ICORE club / match. later rdd

[RePete]

Get out and shoot the thing and enjoy it.

Then figure out if you want to shoot IDPA etc, try the game with what yoy have first.

[Mooney]

Bubber is good, Bubber is wise....

also, remember to start out slow and work your way faster. I am currently trying to slow down some- shooting too fast = missing. I've got machine-gun speed finger but Ford Festiva speed sight alignment.

Our host offers a couple of really really good books in his store, first is his own, "Practical Shooting -beyond fundamentals" which will at first be a bit confusing (but with many good points) but will rapidly seem to be more coherent as your shooting progresses. I get more from it every time I re-read it.

The second is Lanny Bassham's book, "With Winning In Mind". This will be more beneficial to you (and others who may read this) after you have competed for a while and learned your strengths. It stresses the benefit of positive thought (such as thinking "I'm going to get all A-hits") without the negative thought ("I'd better not hit the no-shoot").

Stick with comp-2 or 3 style loaders for now, and keep your costs low (for your reloading press you'll soon want). One of the good things about most of the pistol games (that rely heavily on paper targets) is that paper targets are BIG. You can make up for your sights by aiming a little high.

It never hurts to get gift certificates to your local firearms purveyor either!

Welcome, and happy shooting!

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

I own a GP 100 4 inch with fixed sights. Bone stock. I want to do some shooting and thats the gun I have so I'm looking to learn what I need to shoot with it. People are asking me what I want for xmas. A new gun is too much, but maybe I can get some stuff for my ruger. The idea is to try and find some games I can shoot with it. Pins, steel, uspsa I don't really know what it's capable of and I've never shot anything like that before.

I have a triple k leather holser for it and a leather belt. The issue with the gun is that with the fixed sights it shoots ~3 inches low.

So, if you would be so kind what I need is a list and some links. What can I do with this gun and what kind of gear I should have. Belts, holsters, speed loaders, holders for the speed loaders, anything. I love my revolver, it was the first handgun Ive ever owned, given to me by my dad on my 21st. Now I want to put it to work.

Thanks.

I will address the 3" low. Try different ammo loads. Bullet weight can make a difference. If that does not work, see if you can send it back to Ruger for a front end alignment

When you send it in, make sure you tell them what you use for ammo. I know how S&W adjusts sights on a fixed sight gun and I imagine it is a similar process for a Ruger.

As others have said, shoot it and shoot it some more until you get used to it.

You will be hooked in no time flat

[aerosigns]

Wasz,

The great and wise Bubber speaks with straight tongue.

+1 on all of his points, especially shoot what you already have and enjoy yourself. Don't get to excited about plunging a lot of money into gear until you get a better feel for what style of shooting you like, and to what level you wish to reach. Remember you're only shooting against yourself.

Even if you shoot low, and don't reload - OK. Remember when your shooting at the upper A box, your gun shoots 3 inches low. The lower A box is about 6" wide and 11" tall.

Good luck and glad to have you join in on the fun.

[Wasz]

Yeah. Ive had the gun for 2 years now, even the 357s shoot low, but I only shoot factory ammo and don't reload. There have been a lot of WWB 38s through this gun too. I'm not really worrying about sinking a ton of money into gear, I doubt I'll shoot any real match stuff, but maybe just try some of the practices at the local clubs or other more fun type stuff. I'm really looking to cut my teeth on shooting more than just going to the range and punching paper by myself.

Comp 3s are pretty standard huh. Im looking around, but I really have no idea whats good and what isn't good as far as holders. Just for giggles, what kinds of holsters do you guys use on your CR belts?

Edited December 1, 2007 by Wasz

[Bwana Six-Gun]

I use a CR Speed, but I'm trying to move up to B class.

Don't worry about holster, run what you brung. I used an old Ernie Hill for years and my times haven't improved a bit.

Just have fun.

[aerosigns]

I use a Safariland 002. Cheap but effective. Only downfall is there isn't much in the way of retention. Some of the guys use the Bladetech holsters. Then you can move to the more expensive holsters but it doesn't sound like your looking towards that end just yet.

The speedloader holders that Bubber uses are singles, and he is usually packing 6 or 7 of them. When I am carrying my L-Frame I use the Safariland 3 loader holder. The singles are nice 'cuz you can grab the one you want instead of hitting all three to grab one.

If you feel adventurous I think that Brownells carries a trigger spring kit for the Ruger. Those normally come with a pretty stout trigger pull.

[flycaster]

If the GP shoots low for you, why not just shave a bit off the top of the front sight? Trial and error work, or use this formula:

Amount of Error X Sight Radius = Sight Correction Needed

Distance to Target

Chuck

[flycaster]

Delete. Sorry.

Edited December 1, 2007 by flycaster

[flycaster]

If the GP shoots low for you, why not just shave a bit off the top of the front sight? Trial and error work, or use this formula:

Amount of Error X Sight Radius = Sight Correction Needed

Distance to Target

Chuck

[Revopop]

I find with my 3" S&W M64 that it shoots low with lighter bullets. Around here, the WWB is 130gr. FMJ. I do better with Magtech or Remington 158gr. LRN loads. At Sportsmans Warehouse they cost about the same, sometimes a little less. Either way, USPSA match accuracy is fine with pretty much any load.

[Wideload]

Gift Ideas:

1. What impresses the guys that only shoot bottom feeders is how smooth you can be with your reloads. Ask for dozen or more snap caps (or make some dummy loads) so you can practice your reloads safely in the comfort of your own home with the speed loaders that Bubber mentioned (Do not do this with live ammo)

2. Check your holster and make sure it covers the trigger. Some of the Triple K holsters leave the trigger exposed. If yours is in that category, cheap but not so elegant solution involves duct tape and cardboard. (That will definitely get you through the first match, but deduct some of the style points you gained simply by showing up with a revo ) Or ask for an inexpensive Kydex holster for a GP100.

3. Ammo, Ammo and more Ammo (Loaded or Components)

4. $$$ to contribute to purchase of a reloading press and dies

5. One year membership to USPSA (Assuming that is the way you want to go)

6. One year membership to NRA (Many clubs also strongly encourage/require membership to participate in their events -- Besides, it is a good thing to do as a gun owner -- if you are already not a member)

Edited December 1, 2007 by Wideload

[Wasz]

Wow, wealth of information. My holster isn't so great. Ammo is always good of course. Someone offered to help me file the sight once. I was leery, but maybe I'll do it, it is kinda tough when I shoot at something smaller like steel plates on a rack because I have to totally cover the target to hit it. Memberships are always good.

Any more ideas on speed loader holders, and where do you guys buy your stuff from?

And thanks to you all for helping me out.

[aerosigns]

Brownells is the best place for good prices and a flat shipping rate. http://www.brownells.com

Midway has a lot of stuff, but the whack you on the back end with shipping charges. http://www.midwayusa.com

Cabelas will have some of the things you want but they don't have quite the selection since they aren't dedicated to shooting alone. http://www.cabelas.com

If it came down to it which would you rather have a $250 gun and a $1000 dollars worth of practice ammo, or the reverse.

Don't get too tied up in gear, spend your money on ammo and practice. I shot the same L-frame for 20 years before I bought another revolver (and another, and another....). As I heard one time, always be afraid of a man who only has one gun.

When Bubber gets up from his long winters nap, he should be able to give you the place where he get his holders, and a few tricks already on other threads about how to make the Comp III's a little racier.

[fdkay]

I think you are well set up already to start enjoying the wonderful world of revolver shooting. Normally, fixed sight guns are regostered for the 158 grain load. As far as speeloaders go, HKS will get you started, but they are not as fast as the comp 1, the comp 2 is better and the comp 3 is best. Use the holster and belt you have now, if it is legal and if money permits, you can look into getting a blade-tec or similar straight drop kydex holster. Make sure it is IDPA legal, it will be fast enough to play in IDPA, ICORE and IPSC. It won't be as fast as a race rig, but it will be much cheaper. I don't know if the Fobus holsters are still IDPA legal, they are fairly fast and only cost about 23 bucks. For IDPA you only need three speedloaders, best to have four so you have a spare (if I'm not mistaken, each stage is supposed to be no more than 18 rounds). You may want 5 or 6 for ICORE.

You will probably want to start reloading, get a good, simple, robust press. You won't need a progressive press to start, a good turret press is a nice way to begin. Here is a link to mid-south shooters supply and the Lee 4 hole turret press kit. It comes with the press, a powder measure, a scale and prime pocket cleaner and some other doo-dads (you really don't need to clean primer pockets on handgun ammo). There are plenty of options besides Lee, but I do like them and their Dies are Me proof. (Get carbide dies so you don't have to lube the brass)

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item...?sku=0000690928

And this is a link to their page of links. It will give you lots of options on companies that sell reloading and firearms accessories:

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/br...ers/online.html

38 special ammo is not as cheap as it once was and 357 is way more than what you need, when you consider a typical match in IDPA can be 90 rounds and up, and you factor in the cost of the match itself, you've spent 35 bucks. It doesn't take long for that to start eating into your wallet.

[AzShooter]

WW White Box is too low on the power factor scale. Get some American Eagle by Federal. The 158 grain lead is a standard and doesn't even have to be chronoed at the IRC because we already know it makes the power factor.

[Bubber]

WW White Box is too low on the power factor scale. Get some American Eagle by Federal. The 158 grain lead is a standard and doesn't even have to be chronoed at the IRC because we already know it makes the power factor.

It can be shot without regard to chrongraph. It barely makes 120 pf. But for local matches and practice there should be no heartache from the match Drector.

edited to add. Since you will be shooting a revolver as long as you can knock over the steel, nobody says anything at a local match. Except where I'm concerned and they give me all the grief...." Hey it sounded major...." later rdd

Edited December 2, 2007 by Bubber

[Revopop]

The American Eagle 158RN loads work beautifully with CompIIIs and a K-frame.

[Rover]

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/

[revchuck]

Get some American Eagle by Federal. The 158 grain lead is a standard and doesn't even have to be chronoed at the IRC because we already know it makes the power factor.

Yup...from a 1894 Marlin.

[SlyTiger]

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/

[Cherryriver]

It's probably easier to slide into revolver competition by going IDPA. I know this is mostly a USPSA place here, but IDPA is substantially more revolver-friendly, especially for newer shooters. Just the 18-round stage limit is significant, right there. Two refills in a stage is a lot easier to get a grip on than four or five and a lot less stressful. Stress can take some of the fun out of doing the match, and obliterate some of the learning you might have been taking in.

If the IDPA rules approach bothers you, you can choose to ignore it, but it doesn't bother me. It's just a different game.

IDPA courses do a lot more to be six-shot neutral, too. Most match directors, even those who'd never shoot a sixgun, do try to hew to the course design instructions to make them friendly. So, it's less about gadgets and more about actually shooting targets.

As an example, I went to an indoor IDPA match yesterday with 24 shooters and finished ninth overall. I'm not that great, but three of the four stages were very six-shot neutral, and what with those auto guys having to do a couple of "retention" reloads, I got back a couple of seconds here and there. Shucks, even the two-string nine-round stage that looked so nasty wasn't; even though we two revolver shooters were the only ones who had to refill, I still managed to end up not last, and if I hadn't tossed a couple of low three-downs (well, actually four), I'd not only have finished in the upper half, I'd have made it up a few places overall.

Therefore: mediocre shooter, with some practice, having a good day= satisfactory results.

Getting to reloading is still the best thing you can do; cutting ammunition expense to under ten cents a round (less if you cast- yuck, but I do) makes it all a lot better.

Another extremely helpful thing is an equivalent .22 rimfire gun to practice. Your trigger skills will grow more quickly if you can rip off a couple of hundred cheap .22s and force yourself into better hits.

I'm fortunate- I found an affordable Trooper .22 to match my Python exactly, much like a .22 Masterpiece can match a Model 19. It gets about two or three times as many rounds through it as the Python, at huge savings.

There's no Ruger substitute, but even a (don't laugh) Taurus 94 can help.

The gear is nice but not important, except for the speedloaders. A fast holster won't do you any measureable good on a 28-round field course unless you're an A guy. The speedloader carriers are only slightly more important. How you use what you've got will buy you more than anything else you could pay money for.

[Yankee Dog]

If the GP shoots low for you, why not just shave a bit off the top of the front sight? Trial and error work, or use this formula:

Amount of Error X Sight Radius = Sight Correction Needed

Distance to Target

Chuck

This is what I would do. But just remember to only take a little bit off at a time. It doesnt take much. for example if I interpret the above formula correct you need to remove around .02 inches. I would test shot after every stroke of the file. And make the strokes light at that. its a PIA trying to glue those metal shavings back on if you go to far.

Yankee dog