Ruger Super GP100 Competition Revolver

The Mechanics

There are some differences between the .357 and the 9mm versions. The most obvious is the finish. While both are stainless, the .357 is coated with a black “PVD” finish while the 9mm just coats the cylinder. Speaking of the cylinder, note how it’s very short and the barrel forcing cone extends into the window. This precludes the 9mm bullets from having to make a leap of faith from the case mouth through the empty space of a “too-long” cylinder, eventually smashing into the forcing cone. Now it’s just a tiny jump of goodwill, the bullet having faith the meet-up with the forcing cone will be smooth and not quite so unpredictable.

The 9mm is a couple of ounces lighter too, call it 45 oz. compared to 47 for the .357. Not a big deal though. Both have the attractive half-lug barrel and a sort of “scalloping cut” system in the barrel shroud. Both guns have an 11-degree crown — a good thing — and the 9mm offers a 6″ barrel as opposed to the 5.5″ for the .357. I’m honestly not sure why.

The shroud covers a cold hammer-forged barrel which has been proven to be more accurate in most cases to conventional cut rifling. Okay, not always, but it does offer excellent accuracy and can be done in a production manner, opening the door to us mere mortals.

Grips are Hogue one-piece and are very comfy. Keep in mind you can use any grip fitting the GP100, so take your pick. The DA pull on our sample gun was about 11 lbs., 4 oz. give or take, and quite smooth. The Custom Shop spends some time assuring the trigger and hammer are centered on their bosses, and polish and tune things nicely. Being an old PPC shooter, I found working this gun’s DA to be a delight, reminding me of a tuned PPC gun action from the old days. The SA pull is a tad less than 3 lbs., but I’m not sure why you need to care since I doubt you’ll ever shoot it in SA mode.

I’m thinking working with the springs (easily replaced by the owner) and a bit of judicious action work (don’t touch a stone unless you know what you’re doing!), could easily bring the DA pull down into the 8- or 9-lb. range. But you’d best make sure it runs with whatever load you’re going to shoot if you lighten things up this much.