Ruger Police Service Six Range Report

Last night I finally got to shoot the Ruger Police Service Six that I picked up cheap last Fall. This is a stainless steel revolver chambered for .357 Magnum, with a 4" barrel, and fixed sights. It wears a set of Pachymar Presentation grips. It was probably a police trade-in.

The Security/Service/Speed Sixes were Ruger's first generation of double action revolvers, replaced by the GP-100. The Sixes are roughly comparable to a S&W K-Frame, but a little beefier. With a lot of use, they can develop smooth actions, but by and large a K-Frame will have a better trigger pull.

I put 132 rounds of Winchester white box 150 grain LRN .38 Specials through the Ruger, while my dad ran 18 of his .38 Special handloads which push a 148 grain cast wadcutter at around 850 FPS through it. (We shot at the Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club's indoor range, which doesn't allow magnums.)

All shots were fired double action. As one would expect the Ruger functioned perfectly. Accuracy was OK with the Winchesters but I found it hard to shoot one-hole groups at 7 yards. In contrast, when I shot my dad's S&W Model 10 with the same ammo, I got one ragged hole. It could be the ammo, but it may also be the Ruger's trigger, which while pretty decent isn't as good as a broken-in K-frame like Dad's Model 10. I found that shooting the Ruger well required a lot more concentration than the Model 10.

That said, the Ruger exhibited accuracy more than sufficient for its intended use -- as a sidearm for policemen. Likewise, it would do just fine as a self defense piece for Joe Citizen. It will be interesting to see how well it can shoot with different ammo, though.

As a stainless gun, cleanup was a snap. I ran a BoreSnake with FP10 on it through the barrel a couple of times, and then once through each chamber. I then wiped down the Ruger's outside, including the frame recesss, with a patch wet with FP10, then stuck it in a pistol rug. I repeated the exterior wipedown this morning, following up with a dry paper towel to get rid of the excess FP10.