The revolver has largely been left behind in the world of the law enforcement duty gun, displaced by the polymer striker fired pistol. Not without reason, of course. Striker fired pistols are easier to teach to new shooters, easier to make acceptable hits with, have increased capacity, and generally cost less. This article is not to convince you that the revolver is superior to the striker fired pistol, although it does have its advantages. I hope to make the case that the old school workhorse, particularly the Ruger GP100 Match Champion with a few modern touches, remains a viable option for those who carry a firearm to protect themselves and others.
Chris has also spent some time evaluating the GP100 Match Champion since using it as one of the test guns for the Lucky Gunner ballistic gelatin tests. Here is a quick overview video with some of his thoughts followed by the rest of my review:
What Makes a Good Duty Gun?
Before delving into specifics, let’s establish a standard for what makes a good duty gun. It needs to be easy to shoot, and even more importantly, it needs to be easy to not shoot. Accidentally shooting yourself or someone else is obviously unacceptable, and, while skill level under stress is key to preventing accidental or negligent discharges, hardware selection can mitigate the risk occurring.
The gun must be acceptably accurate, and while that particular nit can be picked endlessly, let’s say it’s like pornography and I know it when I see it. It must be rugged enough to withstand daily carry, which includes exposure to sweat, weather, and the occasional bump or scrape. It must have available support gear, such as holsters and speed loaders or magazines. It must be controllable by the individual shooter in two handed shooting, strong hand only, and weak hand only in case of fighting injured.
The GP100 Match Champion
Now that we have established a standard, let’s take a look at a modern double action revolver, the Ruger GP100 Match Champion, and see how it meets those standards. I bought my Match Champion with fixed Novak style rear sights as soon as it first became available back in 2014. Since then, Ruger has released an adjustable sight model like the one Chris reviewed above. Other than the sights (and frame changes to accommodate them), the models are identical. They are 4.2-inch barreled stainless steel .357 magnum revolvers with textured Hogue wood grips, very similar to the duty revolvers of yesteryear but with some modern updates.
Historically, Ruger is generally regarded as more of a utilitarian revolver maker who makes a sturdy piece at a good price, but fit and finish may not be quite as good as some other makers. The Match Champion fits this stereotype but is more aesthetically pleasing than the standard GP100s and the Security-Six-series the GPs replaced back in the late 1980s.
First, the lawyer/lawsuit rollmark has been moved to a simple “read instruction manual” engraved on the bottom side of the barrel’s underlug. The barrel is slab-sided with “Match Champion” on one side and “Ruger GP100” on the other.
The factory wood Hogue grips are functional, but the fit is a bit sloppy. They leave an unsightly gap at the back of the frame and do not mate well to the rear of the trigger guard. Cosmetics aside, they do fill your hand nicely and the palm swells and stippling help maintain grip and control recoil. However, the Match Champion grip does change the natural presentation angle a bit versus the standard GP100 grips, so if you’ve got a lot of reps in you may need to burn in new muscle memory to avoid pointing low on presentation.
It is a simple matter to change the grips if you don’t like the factory ones. One advantage of the revolver is you do not need to leave room for a magazine in the middle of your fist, giving you greater flexibility in terms of size and angle. Ruger’s compact grip reduces the height by roughly .6 inches, changes the presentation angle to be the same as the standard GP100, and still leaves room for me to get all of my fingers on the grip. I wear an “L” or “XL” glove, for reference. The compacts come with rosewood inserts, but any SP101 insert will fit. Altamont (the OEM provider for Ruger since Lett closed its doors) offers multiple styles of replacements from snakeskin to scrimshaw.
Ruger’s website states they shim the hammer to center it, but mine is certainly not centered. It is noticeably left of center and does drag the frame, which is evident from visible wear on the side of the hammer.
The front sight gathers enough light to use in most lighting conditions, despite the shielding partially covering fiber optic rod (more on that below). I have found it easy to shoot in both daylight and indoors. For the fixed rear sight version of the Match Champion, there is no method to adjust elevation other than adjusting sight picture. Given the wide range of .38 and .357 loads and the effect of the individual’s grip, no fixed sight is going to match up to all ammunition choices.
Even at just seven yards, there was a noticeable difference in point of impact between firing factory PMC Bronze 158 jacketed softpoint and my own hand loaded ammo. That said, even with the reasonably stout PMC ammo and compact grips, using a 1 second metronome, I was able to shoot reasonable groups at 15 yards.
| Ruger GP100 Match Champion Technical Specs | |
|---|---|
| caliber | .357 Magnum |
| capacity | 6 |
| weight | 38 ounces |
| barrel length | 4.2 inches |
| sights | fiber optic front, adjustable or fixed Novak rear |
| action | double action |
| MSRP | $969 |
All of my shooting at the range has been done double action, which is how a fighting revolver should be fired (Chris has more on that topic in this article). I do still like a hammer on a full sized revolver for a few reasons, though. The hammer spur allows me hold the hammer down as I reholster, which lets me feel if it starts to move due to some obstruction pushing the trigger. Old timers “roll check” a revolver after loading, essentially cocking and gently lowering the hammer to rotate the cylinder and verify that it spins freely. Debris under the extractor star or a high primer can cause drag on the cylinder, either locking the gun up or significantly increasing trigger pull.
Speaking of trigger pull, the Match Champion is the nicest out of the box Ruger I’ve come across. Describing a trigger is something like describing a glass of wine, lots of terms that may or may not be understood by the target audience, so I’ll just say it’s nice and smooth. Particularly now with regular dry fire and some 2500 rounds through it, it’s quite smooth and breaks predictably with no significant stacking.
The Match Champion is a capable fighting weapon, and it’s one with soul. It seems a shame to shove such a fine piece of machinery into an industrial chunk of plastic shaped into a holster. Revolvers demand leather, preferably custom and gorgeous. I reached out to a friend of mine, Red Nichols, and asked if he had any input. Lucky for me, Red was just about to expand his line of top quality holsters into the world of revolvers. I got one of the first ones hot off the saddle stitcher: an Avenger style holster with emu leg accents, and it works as good as it looks.
Does It Meet The Standard?
So how does this wheel gun match up to our standards for a duty gun?
Is it easy to shoot? The double action revolver does take more effort to master due to the heavier and longer trigger pull but is readily accomplished by someone willing to put in some time and effort.
Is it easy to not shoot? From my own record keeping of unintentional discharges resulting in injury or death investigated by my office, roughly 1/3 are due to improper clearing of the firearm. The magazine is removed but there is still a round in the chamber, and then the trigger is pressed. Revolvers are significantly less complicated to clear and do not “hide” a cartridge when the majority are removed. They also require a longer trigger pull, reducing the likelihood of an unintentional discharge from a sub-conscious “trigger check” or a partially obstructed holster.
Is it accurate? Off hand, I can shoot sub 2-inch groups at 10 yards. We’ll call that adequate for a duty weapon.
Is it rugged? It’s tough to beat the durability of a big chunk of stainless steel, which is essentially what the Match Champion is. Even Achilles had that heel thing going, though, so tough guys do have weak spots. Arguably, the sights would be the weak spot for the Match Champion. Fiber optic sights are not known for their ruggedness. Ruger has mitigated this by shielding the fiber optic rod to protect it from damage.
The fixed rear sight seems to be pretty tough, but it is drift-adjustable, and a hard hit could potentially push it out of alignment. It’s relatively secure, but not quite as immune to unintentional movement as the old integral rear sights.
Is there adequate support gear? The Match Champion fits standard GP100 holsters, so there are plenty of options there. The dovetails are Novak’s cuts, so sight options exist if you don’t find the factory rear sights to your liking. As previously mentioned, there are many aftermarket grips that fit the GP100, and compatible speedloaders are abundant as well.
Is it controllable? While this depends as much on the shooter as the gun, there is a wide variety of ammunition available, from .38 Special wadcutters to full house magnums. Most everyone should find something they can shoot well.
Do Reloading Speed and Capacity Really Matter?
Now, I can already see the incoming comments about capacity and speed of reloading. I concede these are the revolver’s weak points. However, even in the realm of law enforcement shootings where distances are longer, the shooter is more likely to be fighting back from ambush, and attackers are more likely to have cover. Reloading speed very seldom makes the difference. Let’s take a look at an excerpt from an NYPD analysis of over 6000 officer-involved shootings during the 1970s.
“The average number of shots fired by individual officers in an armed confrontation was between two and three rounds. The two to three rounds per incident remained constant over the years covered by the report. It also substantiates an earlier study by the L.A.P.D. (1967) which found that 2.6 rounds per encounter were discharged. The necessity for rapid reloading to prevent death or serious injury was not a factor in any of the cases examined. In close range encounters, under 15 feet, it was never reported as necessary to continue the action. In 6% of the total cases, the officer reported reloading. These involved cases of pursuit, barricaded persons, and other incidents where the action was prolonged and the distance exceeded the 25-foot death zone.”
Even in modern times, the 2013 NYPD Firearm Discharge Report shows less than 14% of shootings against human adversaries involved more than five shots fired per officer. This number should even be viewed with some suspicion as the total rounds reported fired is not the same as total rounds required to end the conflict. It takes time to decide to stop shooting, just as it does to start shooting. In my own records of local non-LE shootings against unknown assailants (i.e., not domestics or other targeted attacks), five or fewer rounds have resolved 100% of those situations one way or the other. Those who lost were killed or disabled prior to emptying their guns, meaning extra capacity would have been irrelevant as they simply ran out of time before they ran out of ammunition.
When police departments made the switch to semi-autos over revolvers, what they typically saw were round counts increasing slightly and hit rates decreasing slightly. Miami-Dade’s 1986-1994 study showed 35% hit with a revolver, 25% with a semi-auto, despite the mean number of rounds fired being 0.7 higher with the semi-auto. There are a number of hypotheses as to why this was the case, from the psychological need to value each shot more highly because of limited capacity to the inherent accuracy of fixed barrel revolvers. Personally, I believe the reason is that the revolver’s trigger makes you slow down a bit more. Anyone who has investigated shootings will tell you that the shooters who fire more than one shot tend to run the gun like a sewing machine, their cyclical rate going through the roof under stress. They fail to let the sights settle before pulling the trigger again. This is why certain semi-auto pistols attempt to replicate the revolver’s longer and heavier pull, such as Sig’s DAK and H&K’s LEM trigger systems. They are trying to slow you down and actually shoot more accurately.
There are exceptions, of course, where capacity and reloading speed may have made a difference in outcome, but those instances are so rare and unlikely that I feel quite comfortable relying on a safer revolver I can shoot accurately despite less capacity. Making those rounds count when it matters is key.
So, to return to the original question of whether the GP100 Match Champion would be a viable duty weapon — for me, as a plain clothes detective, the answer is yes. The minor cosmetic imperfections do not hamper its capability in the slightest, and with a concealable OWB holster and compact grips, it conceals easily under a suit jacket. I would give serious consideration to changing the sights to include an adjustable rear and tritium front, though. The revolver, and the Match Champion in particular, still remains a capable fighting gun in the right hands.
Nice review love mine. Have the fixed novak
Rear though and you gave me something to think about with the adjustable rear. Now for you to do more da/sa reviews. Would like to see how an hk p30 or cz p01 stack up against the px4 compact and sig p229.
And the subcompact p320, while you’re at it! ?
Ready for the DA/SA follow-up
I have had a Ruger Security Six in.357mag since the late1970’s or early 1980’s. I love this gun and have not found one to match it in the 40+- years I have owned and used this gun. I have bought and tried several in that same time frame but always go back to old reliable. The accuracy is always there and the fit and finish is as good today as the day I bought it. The only thing close to the old Six is an old Colt Python that my Dad gave me.
Everyone knows Ruger has received countless hundreds of thousands of requests to bring back the classic Security Six 357 DA revolver. Just like Colt with the Python, they refuse to do so. I am glad that Ruger did bring back some of the classic traits and designs of the stainless steel Security Six in the Match Champion. You are right and there is no substitute for an original old Six, but the Match Champion is a modern day interpretation of the Security Six and big step forward to getting back in that direction.
Supposedly, Ruger never made any money off the Six series because of the complexity of the design and how they were built. If that’s the case, it’s no surprise they would not be jumping at the chance to make them again, especially when they can make a lot more money by cranking out polymer semi-autos instead. I would also like to see another small-medium size six shooter from Ruger again, but if that ever were to happen, I suspect it would be something more like a larger version of the LCR.
Agreed. Something SP101 size, but 6 shot would be welcome. I recently bought a GP100, and I have no regrets – it’s a fantastic gun, but if there had been a comparable SP model available, it would have been a tough choice. I can’t say I have much interest in a .357 LCR/x, though I think it’s a great little gun in .38+
Never heard that one before. Maybe, but seems unlikely. The speed-six snubbie I had years ago was was inexpensive but I forget what it cost. Investment casting and such allegedly made for low cost manufacture. It blew up one day when I was practicing rapid-fire defensive shooting; out of time or something. Ruger was super-great about quick replacement and sent me a stainless GP100, 6″ in exchange for the pieces. Love the GP100 but for extensive backpacking trips I would consider the sp101, .357 mag, match champ, 4″ barrel for accuracy, power, compact frame and much lighter gun all in one. Yeah, only 5 shots but that should suffice. Plus several speedloaders.
Sig p239 anyone?
I love my gp100. My smith did a fantastic trigger job; it now has the smoothest trigger of any of my handguns. However, I carry a Sig p239 with crimson trace grips. Since I live in north Texas, I was able to have Robert Burke do an action/trigger job on it, reducing the DA pull to about 8 pounds. I believe it is absolutely the best carry gun
All of your arguments (accuracy, capacity, etc.) are valid, but they ignore the issue of weight.
When I was sworn in a little over 41 years ago I was issued a Model 10. During a 30-year career I carried K-frames and Ruger Speed-Sixes as primary and J-frames as backup. A 4-inch revolver weighs over 35 ounces empty. That doesn’t sound like a lot till you add in the weight of speedloaders, handcuffs, collapsible baton, and all the rest of the crap that goes on your belt (including, these days, a Taser).
It’s easy(er) when you’re in you’re 20s. Add a couple of decades, throw in a few serious injuries (in my case, knee and back damage), and you’ll be looking for a nice, light Glock 19 or M&P.
But yeah, if you don’t mind the weight, the GP100 is a fine piece. Carry yours in good health.
I hear ‘ya. A good set of suspenders goes a long way with heavier carry guns.
K frames, maybe L Frames, or Colt I frames, and then came the big 5904/5906 semi-auto BRICK. That weight makes these guns a lot more fun to shoot than that combat Tupperware stuff.. A policeman’s job, is not running about shooting people, so you wind up mostly toting around guns you hope you won’t need to use on anyone, plus a whole ton of other stuff, like pepper spray, hand cuffs, extra magazines, a truncheon, a Taser, a flash light, and gawd knows what else, but I sure do like those old steel frame guns. If that .357 won’t work, grab the old Remington 870, and or a Ruger Mini 14. If they want to play guns, get out some real guns. I still have an old 1980 Colt Detective Special that had the cylinder punched to .357 ages ago. The D frame will handle .357 S&W Magnum, although only sparingly, so keep the diet of .357 down to as little as possible. Colt even made a scant few .357 Diamondback pistols, in the first year they were made, but the Diamondback was made specifically for department that forbid the use of .357, so the .357 Diamondback was abandoned before it was ever mass produced. If you ever find a Diamondback that has 357/38 Spcl CTG on the barrel, it is worth a small fortune. Colt says they were prototypes.
Finally some reliably datas, the ones from the NYPD.
I am sick of tacticool marines wannabe that keep screaming that the average shooting includes at least two 20 rounds reload and that to end a threat you need at least one pound of lead. It happened that 6 were not enough but it is veeery rare.
Giacomo, I respectfully disagree. Our training protocol teaches that you keep shooting until the threat is neutralized, which will probably be more than 2-3 shots. Having a hi-cap auto vs a revolver is an Officer safety issue too. When responding to a call at 2am in a poorly lit location with a 17-shot auto is comforting. I started with a revolver, but I like the auto better. So if that makes me a Marine wannabe so be it.
So were Bill Jordan and friends underarmed with .357 Magnums? Hardly! We’re not comparing .38 Specials (carried by NYPD) to 9 mm or .40 S&W if I’m going to haul THIS Ruger around! (Actually, I never felt at a disadvantage even with .38 Special as a PI years ago, carrying a sweet M14 K-38, and yes, I somehow managed to hide that 6″ barrel even if it did poke me in some funny places at times!)
Obviously, training protocols can and should differ if semi-autos with hi-cap mags are carried rather than “six-shooters.” So, Sully, I don’t think you were in the least, in any sense, the target of the very germane remark by Giacomo about the Internet wannabes who seem to think 60 or 80 rounds or more make for a good minimum of ammunition on your person for self-defense (I just read a wannabe’s argument for this). Don’t lose sight of the facts cited in the article. They are the facts.
Brian, please stop trying to re-start arguments on comments that are more than a year old.
Even rarer is 7 rounds needed but Ruger just came out with the GP-100 in 7-shot capacity.
Was hoping for this one when I saw this gun turn up in your videos! The full underlug is an aid when you have some practical need to shoot full magnums, but otherwise it just turns the gun into a brick. In almost all cases I would rather have a longer barrel than an underlug anyway.
Love the GP100 for ‘get the job done’ gun. Always works, handles any load.
You’re about 35+ years too late. The last three OIS (Officer Involved Shootings) in my area averaged between 7 to 8 rounds. Drug induced individuals suffering from mental illness makes for a very lethal and deadly incident. I rather being carrying my Glock 22/15 with 15/17 rounds than a 6 shot Ruger GP-100. In the end no thanks…
That’s a Glock 22 or a Glock 17…
The Glock 22 only comes in 40 cal and the Glock 17 only comes in 9mm. The GP100 however, is a .357 with a muzzle energy level that greatly exceeds either gun so you won’t need as many shots. Also, new versions of the GP-100 just came out with 7 shot capacity. NICE………..
I am the local gun nut, I get a lot of questions about this or that gun. I try to match the persons uses to the firearm. I often tell people a 4″ barrel, double-action 357 Magnum is the ultimate do everything handgun….though not the best for one task. I put hunting and 4 legged threats into the mix, which changes things a bit. The 4″, DA, 357 Mag can be concealed, home defense, defense against 2 and 4 legged predators, and it is legal to hunt with. Though there are better options for each individual situation, the 357 can do all of them. You have a fantastic selection of ammo, for ultra light 38 Spl loads to heavy 357 Magnum loads that will punch through both sides of a bear. I have used a standard GP-100 for years. After going through a S&W 686 and a Dan Wesson, I finally settled on the GP-100 better than the rest. The S&W and Dan Wesson were fine revolvers, but, for some reason the GP-100 seems to fit me better. I did have a gunsmith mount a rail under the barrel so I can easily add a mounted flashlight when I am in bear country.
As always, excellent review – however, in my personal opinion I certainly found the original gp100 more aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. I definitely prefer the looks of how the ejector rod shroud extended all the way forward on the original. Regardless, excellent work again LGA.
In my memory, the older 6″ GP 100’s had the the half-barrel lug that extended just to the ejector shroud and The newer guns have the full lug which runs full barrel length. To me, the half lug 6″ older barrels are more aesthetically pleasing and sexier. The long barrel and beefy frame absorb plenty of recoil and barrel-whip; the full under-lug is just unneeded weight and bulk. To each his or her own.
Oh, now I see the halflug barrel shroud on the MC in the photo. Much nicer than the full lug on my new standard 6″ GP100.
Thanks for this column. I think you made Ruger some money 😀 We keep our handguns for home defense rather than CC, so the fit of the grip is more important than the weight of the gun. My wife, with small hands, finally got the technique down to rack the slide on a 1911 and has shot it well in training, just in case she ever needs to use it.
But she’s a dedicated wheelgunner with .38+p. She loved the grips and trigger pull on this revolver, finding it easier than our light-trigger, police-surplus S&W 64, a gun she shoots very well already. I’m impressed that Ruger has made their revolvers steadily better over time. Looks like a Match Champion will be in our gun safe next year and on my hip with rat shot for dispatching Copperheads at the farm.
Young Boys spread 14 rounds in some seconds in the air… The Man pulls one 357 Magnum into the target. ready and over.
Its funny, that we in Austria buy Ruger and not our homemade Glock. I had this piece in the army, and.. i would not count on this plastic… in the one second in your live, i need what it counts.
Not 14 holes in the wide empty open area. A Gun that is 100% 24 7 365 10 years.. For me Gp-100.
And if it is empty, the metal weight of my gp-100 is VIKING… the glocky not.
I don’t remember a lot of love for Ruger revolvers back in the 70’s and 80’s in the police communities. Seemed you mainly saw security officers carrying them, they were clunky and had crappy triggers. I carried M15’s, 66 and 686 before transitioning to Glocks. The only problem I had with them was their target sights were easily damaged, and frankly would of preferred fix sights like the models 10 and 65. I had a GP100 for several years and took several deer. To me this is where the Ruger shined in the field, where I could take advantage of it’s smooth single action and avoid the overly heavy double action. You have to admit the Smiths and Colts were sexy and the Ruger was the ugly cousin that lived at the end of the dirt road.
When Glocks came along it changed everything, I worked in the hood and we were so out gunned it was pathetic. We weren’t going up against a single bad guy it was organized gangs with AK’s and 9’s. Glock allowed you to be more aggressive on the street if things went south you had the fire power to get out of trouble. I carried three 17+2 mags the first two were for the fire fight the last one was for getting the hell out of Dodge, I miss the 90’s.
I have a older Match champion does any body sell a rear sight that is adjustable
This would be a fair carry for a security guard in today’s world. Although the price would be the only set back. Speaking from my own perspective the things that you mentioned about having an exposed hammer and a double action trigger is the main reason that I considered a revolver for carry at work as a guard, however like I said before typically the price is the only set back, and spending a thousand plus for a workhorse on a guard salary is a bit hard to justify especially when a blue line discount typically doesn’t include revolvers and a polymer semi-auto can in some cases with a discount be half the price before adding fees. Although I would not turn one away if I could get one for a great price. But something that you only mentioned slightly would be a holster for this Ruger, a duty gun needs a good duty holster to prevent a gun grab, and that is were most revolvers tend to fall short at is finding a holster with a good retention for exposed carry. Which in turn lead me to choose a semi-auto.