All new and something screamed for by Ruger fans who seemed dismayed at the 10mm Super Redhawk (“too much gun for too little cartridge”), we have something sweet from Ruger:
A handsome revolver, the new GP100 Match Champion 10mm comes with a slab sided half-lug barrel featuring an 11° target crown, Hogue Stippled hardwood stock, match tuned action, fiber optic front sight, chamfered chambers/ejector. The new gun ships with three moon clips and fired rounds won’t eject without them.
The fiber-optic front sight, green, is matched to the standard Ruger adjustable rear sight, this one featuring a white outline around the notch.
As far as the “too much gun for too little cartridge” noise, I can only wonder what they think about the GP100 in 22 LR, but I digress.
The new cannon is GP100 all the way, arguably the best of the modern mid-size double action revolvers, with the fine trigger press – SA and DA – that we’ve come to expect with the GP100. That it’s in the Match Champion format is gravy. It’s fine looking.
A few idle thoughts; that trigger is a long reach with the humped stock. It adds to the distance behind the frame, compromising the grip of all but larger hands and making it necessary for many of us to “shoot sidesaddle” (h/t, Jim Cirillo) when shooting DA. Fortunately, stocks are easily replaced.
I’d written those words back in early March, when the gun first arrived. I shoot double-action guns (and striker-fired autos) with the distal joint of the index finger – the ‘power crease,’ as named by Massad Ayoob. He taught me to get best leverage of the trigger that way and he’s right.
Trying it dry as I prepared this piece for the launch of the 10mm mid-size, I found that I was just short of a perfect grip with the Hogue stock. Just a silly millimeter or two less “hump” on the back strap would give me best grip and leverage.
Shooting “sidesaddle” with this gun is problematic as, weighing in at what a decent 357 revolver weighs and shooting bullets a bit heavier at the same speeds puts the thump on the proximal joint of the thumb on the firing hand. That can be a bit of a wakeup call.
On the left side of the gun, the MATCH CHAMPION engraving can be seen along the barrel. The cylinder latch is behind the cylinder, a button to be pushed in to unlock the cylinder for loading and unloading.
The right side of the barrel has the RUGER GP100 marking, with the “10MM Auto” legend on the ejector rod shroud. On the base of the shroud, hidden unless you look for it, is the instructor manual “lawyer language.”
Right below the cylinder window on the right side of the frame, the serial number appears as does the Ruger logo and the location marking, “Newport, NH – USA –“.
It’s not the most comfortable to shoot as it’s a “41-frame” shooting a “40” cartridge. It’s easy to handle the 357 Magnum in a GP for that reason, like it’s easy to shoot the 10mm with the hottest factory loads from the Super Redhawk. This is a lot less steel and with the slabbed barrel and an underlug only under half of the just over four-inch barrel, the 10mm can be abrupt. It’s not a tragic amount of recoil, just expect some muzzle jump with full power 10mm ammo.
That said, it’s a very handy package and, mechanically, it can easily handle the 10mm. Your split times might be an issue.
I shot the gun for velocity with a range of loads, some of which I had very little. For that reason, there’s only accuracy testing for certain loads. I just ran out of ammo.
Ruger GP100 Match Champion 10mm
41° F, 56% relative humidity. Chronograph ten feet from muzzle.
|
Load |
Velocity |
Accuracy, 25 yards |
|
Federal 180gr. Hi-Shok HP |
817 |
-- |
|
Remington 180gr. JHP |
1168 |
2 3/4” |
|
CCI Blazer 200 TMJ |
883 |
-- |
|
Cor-Bon 165gr JHP |
1231 |
-- |
|
Winchester 175gr Silvertip HP |
1239 |
4 ½” |
|
Federal Trophy Bonded 180 JSP |
1286 |
3” (4 hits into 2”) |
|
Hornady 200gr XTP JHP |
1063 |
4 ½” (4 hits into 3”) |
As you can see from the data, the Federal Premium Trophy Bonded is a real thumper, just ahead of the Winchester Silvertip in weight/speed category. The Cor-Bon load, a round from an older lot, was a bit surprising too.
The 6.5.” Super Redhawk 6-shot 10mm weighs 54 ounces. The GP, according to Gunblast’s Jeff Quinn, weighs 17 ounces less. You don’t get something for nothing. By my scales, the 10mm GP100 weighs in at 37.6 ounces and I can feel the jolt from the “real 10mm” loads.
Will the new gun be successful? I’m not sure. I predict that a great many who railed against the Super Redhawk in 10mm and cried out for the GP100 in 10mm won’t put their money where their keyboards are – some who do will be surprised by the muzzle flip generated by real, live 10mm loads. While Jeff Quinn doubled down on horsepower by having Tyler Gun Works punch the chambers out to 10mm “Magnum,” I believe that many will find the full-power 10mm to be at least enough – if not too much.
There are those who won’t be surprised by the response of the revolver to high powered ammo and will like it – consider the woods walker, photographer, rancher, hunter. With sub-10mm loads (180-200 grains at around 900 fps), the GP100 Match Champion 10mm is a handy, solidly built gun that will do on the range or for personal defense if the user can do it. For revolver matches that have a power floor, it is aces.
With full-power 10mm, don’t be too concerned with long split times. It won’t matter if you’re targeting a sickly coyote across the plowed field and it wouldn’t be a big deal if you are facing an angry black bear closing the distance on you. It’s as controllable as the old S&W Combat Magnum 357 with full power loads. The weight of the new cannon is between the ca. 34 ounces of the M19 and the M686 4” at around 40 ounces. My current favorite of the line, the 2.5” GP100 7-shot 357 weighs an ounce less than the big bore version at 36 ounces.
My complaint about the stocks are based on the size of my hands – something easily remedied by checking in with Hogue or other stock makers or by just going to shopRuger.com.
Specifications, Ruger GP100 Match Champion
Model 1775
Caliber: 10mm Auto
(Ships with three full moon clips that act as both a speed loader for the 10mm rounds and aid in the ejection of the spent cartridges.)
If you’re in the market for a big bore mid-size revolver, you’ve found it. Give it a look – because whether you buy it or not, it will definitely impress you.
- - Rich Grassi