remember the history of the SP101

by bj , Tuesday, December 01, 2015, 20:14 (3283 days ago) @ Hobie

This might or might not apply though.

Someone, maybe Ayoob, suggested that the .38 special SP101 looked pretty beefy and why don't they bring it out in .357. Ruger got curious, cut the chambers longer on a test gun, and tried .357 proof loads in it. It worked just fine so they started chambering and marking the SP101's appropriately. The cylinders were made the appropriate length for .38 special so they would only fit .357 loads with the shorter bullets such as 125 grains. Ruger marked the barrels of these guns for 125 grain bullets only. The next time they were ready to produce a batch of the guns they made the cylinders longer to fit standard .357 mag loads, maybe changed the frames as well.