Went to range last weekend and shot my new Ruger SP101 357 for the first time. The srticles I read were true - it is a lot to shoot with magnum rounds in there - my hand actually hurt and my trigger finger was also unhappy with me. I was shooting Remington 357 mag rounds and could not believe how INACCURATE my shots were. I then loaded .38 rounds and it was better(accuracy) but still not great ....my concern is why does it shoot so ridiculously low.....Has anyone else had any sighting problems with this model? - I am far from a marksman, but I have no troubles hitting the meat of the target with my .44mag or 9mm. Thanks for any advice!

I have one and I wouldn't call it inaccurate. Its no sniper rifle, but then again, its not supposed to be. I also wouldn't say it is consistently low.

Does it happen when you shoot it SA and when you shoot it DA? Do you have a lot of experience with small frame revolvers?

You might try a different grip, shooting one handed, off hand and see if it changes or goes away.

Try this: with your normal, 2 handed grip, take your strong hand pinky finger out of the grip and point it at the target. Make sure both thumbs are pointing at the target. Use your off hand to help the middle and ring fingers of the strong hand keep a tight grip. A little unconventional, but it worked for a friend of mine and he passed it on to us. The half on, half off pinky along with the smaller grip area can seem to cause some people to focus more on keeping th pinky tight than keeping a good grip. Since you are doing the bulk of the grip with the middle and ring fingers anyways, take the pinky out of the equation.

If that doesn't work, Have a friend load the gun. Tell him to use a mix of .38 spl, .357 and empty chambers. Don't look. Have that friend watch your hands and the gun very closely while you shoot the 5 rounds, especially on the empty chambers for a flinch, twist or push. Do a set like this DA and another SA.

I'm not saying that it is not the gun, but why not take the easy, cheaper route first and make sure that it isn't something you are doing with a new gun.

Welcome to the board and fun shooting.

Other possibilities:

I think this gun's sights were designed for 158 gn bullets. If you were shooting lighter bullets it could be part of the reason you are hitting low. What was your distance to target? Were you shooting double action only? Is the trigger still Ruger stiff?

Your problems may be several little things combined which would not have the same impact in a larger revolver.

oh yeah.... how far you are would be helpful....

I regularly shoot .38 158gr LRN, .38 130gr FMJ and .357 158gr JSP all behind varying loads and have not had much of any difference, even if I load light to reduce muzzle flash. I wouldn't think that it would matter that much, especially with such a short sight length.

I never got great accuracy from my 3" SP-101 untill I added a set of laser grips. Ignoring the iron sights and concentrating on keeping the laser dot centered on the bull I've gotten sub-two inch groups at 25 yards. My eyes just aren't sharp enough there days to shoot a short barrel well with iron sights but the factory sights are not bad ones. As I recall I did have to file the front sight down a bit to get them zeroed but it was the lazer grips which showed be what the gun could really do.

Try the Gold Dot short barreled ammo if you're looking for a middle of the road (power wise) option.

They are a good bit more than .38+P's, but a whole lot less than full charge .357's.

By the way, these rounds are way too pricey to plink with, so do disregard if that's what you're doing with your Ruger.

^^^^ I second that, thats what in my 3 short-barreled revolvers. The $$$ is also why I load some light .357s for practice.

I have 2 SP 101's both are .357, my wife claims the 2 1/2", I use the 3". The 3" barrel shoots to point of aim at 20 yards using the Lyman 358156 cast bullet (Thompson designed with gas check) and 14.5 grains H110. Accuracy is surprising. It's legal in Idaho to use rifle, pistol, or shotgun for forest grouse. This little revolver will take a ruffed grouse's head off more often than not. In going thru my loading data I find that the Hornady 125 XTP with 19.0 gr H110 shot 1" below point of aim at 20 yds as did the Speer 125 gold dots (factory loads). The 2 1/2" shoots the cast load about 2" high at 20 yards. I keep Federal .38 spcl, 110gr Hydrashocks in it as my wife uses it. They shoot 4" low at the same distance.

You'll find in most handguns that light weight faster bullets will shoot low, heavy slower moving bullets higher. This is due to the time in the barrel and the muzzle jump. You might try a heavier slower load and see where it shoots.

Based on your post, since you don't mention the load or the range, I'd lean towards the most common reason for shooting low with a hard-kicking gun -- you're anticipating recoil, and flinching low.

Your talking way different guns-9 Minimeter recoil isn't anywhere's a snubbies(357 Mag) and I would think your talking about a full sized 44 mag right? The 44 mag are pretty heavy guns! I own a BH and a SP101 -in the BH most heavy loads are easy to shoot all day long. Put that same load in the SP and yea you know you've let go some power! I can still fire quite a few rounds through though! Sounds like your letting the recoil bother you. Shoot some 110-125 gr 357 mags through it the recoil isn't to bad with those! If you reload for it my practice load is 4.5 gr Bullseye under a cast 125 gr! Nice accurate load!

Never had any accuracy issues with my 2.5"... I carry it daily, though I do carry .38 +P LSWCHPs in it.

FWIW I can hit a man-sized target at 100yds 3 out of 5 times with it too - regardless of the ammo. (really funny to try with 500fps "catsneeze" loads... ;) )

Considering how hot I load .357 for my Rifle, I wouldn't carry anything less.