I’ve been looking for a double-action .22 revolver for a year or so now. I saw an SP101 in the case at my favorite shop a few months back and went back the next day with some trade fodder, but it was gone. A couple of weeks ago I was at a different shop picking up a warranty return from Ruger (a whole other story that’s already been discussed elsewhere) and I saw this little guy in the case. It’s a 63-5 “Kit Gun”. I like J-frames, I like 3” barrels, and at BNIB for $630, it came home with me.
As outfitted from the factory it had the larger 3-finger rubber grip that covers the backstrap. I don’t care for the way that grip feels in the hand, so I replaced it with some S&W rubber boot grips to match the grip profile of my 360. It feels better, is more compact, and IMO looks better like this. The gun has some nice heft to it…not too heavy or too light, and the stainless looks good and should be easy to maintain.
The front sight is a sealed fiber optic that is nicely constructed, and seems a lot more solid than the kind with the replaceable insert. The end facing the shooter is squared off so you can align it with the rear-sight, and serrated to prevent glare. Now admittedly, I’m dealing with some blood-sugar related eye issues at the moment, but I found that the front sight was almost too bright and the dot would blow out my focus and make it difficult to get a precise sight picture. Also, the rear notch isn’t very deep, so aligning the top of the front sight post with the top of the notch requires basically cutting that glowing orb in half with the bottom of the rear notch, which is distracting and makes for an akward sight picture.
Out of the box, the DA trigger was pretty crummy. I kind of expected that in a rimfire gun, as the springs have to be pretty heavy for reliable ignition, but this was more than just heavy it was gritty and stacky. I finally got around to opening it up last night and thought I’d immediately discovered the problem: the mainspring strut was really rough and covered in burrs, and the interior finish was pretty rough over all. I did a careful polish job on the inside of the frame, cleaning and polishing most of the moving parts, but didn’t touch any of the engagement surfaces. I also stoned and polished the mainspring strut.
I got it all back together and figured that it would be good to go. It wasn’t. The SA pull was still excellent, but DA was inconsistent and almost sticky. Then I discovered that the firing pin was failing to retract into the frame and dragging on cylinder. I took everything back apart, removed the retaining pin, and pushed the firing pin back in with a punch as far as I could. It was stuck in there good and still didn’t want to come out…I had to brace a brass punch against the groove for the retaining pin and pry it out. I cleaned up the channel with a jeweler’s file and polished the pin to where it now rides freely. I put the gun back together again, and now the DA pull is smooth and consistent, if still a bit heavy.
Here’s a comparison to a 3” SP101 just in case anyone is curious. Overall footprint is very similar, but the Ruger has a bit more bulk and girth. IMO the attention to detail on the exterior finish (front sight, serrated top strap, hammer checkering, ejector rod checkering) is nicer on the Smith, but my Ruger had a better trigger and smoother action out of the box (the stuff that really matters). The Ruger is almost exactly 2 oz heavier than the Smith (26.68 vs 24.67), but you also have to consider that the Ruger is chambered in .357 mag, so more material has been removed. A 3” SP101 in .22LR would likely be even heavier.
I got it out to the range today and shot it some. Off a bench at 10 yards it kept them all in the X ring if I did my part. It wasn’t the greatest test as my eyes were giving me trouble. I tried 3 different targets to see if I could get focused better on one than another, and they all ended up about the same. Eyesight aside, it’s no target pistol, but not bad for a snub-nose, small-frame revolver. When shooting fast, the fiber-optic makes for quick sight acquisition, but once again it wasn’t really a fair test with my eyes being what they are right now, as I struggled to get a precise sight picture.
Overall, I’m happy. The gun fills the niche I was looking to fill, and I think it will serve me well. Could S&W have done a better job on their QC? Yes they could have. But ultimately, every gun is a bit of a project, and that’s half the fun. I’ve got some ownership in it now, and since I don't plan on selling it, that’s not a bad thing.
