9mm Appeal
After the introduction of the 8-shot .357 “Super GP100 Competition Revolver” in 2019, I know the USPSA, Steel Challenge and ICORE crowd had their collective fingers crossed for a 9mm version. Someone was listening and this latest in 9mm is also an 8-shot version, using full moon clips to speed things along. The sound you hear would be applause coming from the ranks of many competitors.
I carried an early GP100 as a duty revolver in my San Diego PD days, transitioning to it from a S&W 64. I found the slightly beefier heft of the Ruger settled into my hand well, and once I slicked the action up, I found it to be a reliable, rugged holster gun for daily duty carry. Plus, I swear, I could have easily used it as a defensive club if I’d had to. This sort of strong-featured utility instills confidence.
If you’ve been living under a rock, though, let me bring you up to date. The GP family is an all-steel DA/SA revolver design, complete with de rigueur transfer bar safety and a coil spring action design. Unlike most revolvers, take-down is actually an option for an owner and the entire action “block” can be removed from the frame from the bottom. It takes a bit of fiddling but you can work through it if you have your brain on and find the right YouTube video.
The cylinder has a “triple lock” feature (front, rear and the underside) and being built on the Super Redhawk action, the 9mm Competition model offers the two-spring lockwork action of the parent model, keeping things smoother and even more reliable than the original GP100 — if that’s possible.