Comparisons

AS I’m writing this, an immaculate Ruger GP100 lies a spitting distance from my face, just beneath the computer monitor.

And as it lies there, I’m getting an irritating voice from the child within telling me to write a wee bit faster so I can go to the range and shoot with the thing before the sun sets.

Those of you who write for a living, and who’ve had to deal with a pesky inner child while writing, will know that I’m not going to be finishing this piece on time.

It’s sad, really, because I do love shooting this particular revolver. There is no better way to spend an afternoon than having a go at metal plates with this fourinch barreled, full-bodied boomer.

What’s sadder is that I don’t get to shoot this gun all that much. Kamagong Gun Club doesn’t offer .357 Magnum reloads to shooters and factory ammo, even local ones, cost an arm and a leg.

Nevertheless this gun occupies an honored place in my gun box and a lofty place in my heart.

Truth be told, my GP100 won’t win any beauty pageants. Sit it side-by-side with a Smith and Wesson 686 and a passer-by won’t give my gun a second glance. In fact, Taurus’s cheaper line of three-fifty-sevens is more svelte.

But Ruger, perhaps in the same spirit it built its P series of semi-automatics, never designed the GP100 to be a looker. It was made to be a tough, reliable and accurate companion firearm and, in that regard, Ruger succeeded.

Built like a tank and just as ugly, this gun grows on you.

Early this year, Larry Potterfield of Mid- way USA embarked on a series of reviews of personal defense firearms using a system that looks into time-to-first-hit, or how long it takes to fire one shot from the gun accurately, how many rounds can be accurately fired from the gun in three seconds, and the knockdown power of the ammunition fired.

Two of the specimens he checked were an S&W 686 and a four-inch Ruger GP100, practically a twin of what I have.

It took 1.8 seconds for Mr. Potterfield to accurately fire the S&W 686 – from table to one-handed presentation – at a six-inch target 20 feet away. It took him 1.9 seconds to accomplish the same feat with a GP100.

Mr. Potterfield, however, managed to place three accurate shots on the target in three seconds with the GP100. He only managed to hit the target twice with the 686.

Both the GP100 and the 686 fire the same cartridge. As such, they scored evenly on the third category.

Still, the 686 scored three points high- er than the GP100 in Mr. Potterfield’s test – 769/1000 for the 686 versus 763/1000 for the GP100. And that 0.1 second gap in the time-to-first-hit made the difference.

Yes, time-to-first-hit is important. In a critical incident, it could very well spell the difference between who lives and who dies. Moreover, in the fast-paced universe of competitive shooting, every sub-second counts.

But the test doesn’t cast the GP100 out. And Mr. Potterfield made no such conclusions.

There are other considerations to think about.

Smith and Wesson first made its name by churning out superb revolvers and the 686, among its .357 Magnum line, is its finest. The downside is that the S&W 686’s price is also at a premium.

In comparison, Ruger’s GP100 is more affordable. And, because the gun you have is always better in a critical incident than the gun you are still saving up for, the GP100 will never be out of contention.

Still on the matter of tests, Mr. Potterfield reviewed other guns in the way he took the GP100 and the 686 to trial. Among those was one particular .357 snubby.

Time-to-first-hit with the five-shot wheel-gun was clocked at 1.8 seconds, the same time it took him to fire the 686. Mr. Potterfield also managed to land three hits on the target in three seconds, better than his performance with the Smith and Wesson.

That five shot snubby, a Ruger SP101.