I am thinking about making my first revolver purchase.  I like ruger and have not yet had a chance to inspect their revolvers.  Im not looking to sink a lot of money into one, but have no problem if it means better all around.   I am looking for info and or insight.

what is the intended use?

I own several Ruger revolvers and all have been very accurate and I have had zero issues with any of them.

GP100  357mag
Redhawk  44mag
Super Redhawk  454 Casull
Blackhawk Bisley  45 Colt
Vaquero Birds Head  45 Colt
and
Magnum Research BFR  500 S&W Mag, it's frame is a Super Blackhawk

The Rugers are solid guns and shoot pretty good but for a small carry gun they are altogether too heavy .

S&W 642 carries much better and has a better trigger than any Ruger . Like others have said , try to define your use better .

I am a died in the wool S&W guy when it comes to revolvers , If money is a big issue take the time to search a used one

Buy a 3".

If you want to pocket carry it, buy a light weight J-Frame.

I had a SP101 and sold it for a S&W 642 due to the weight difference 26oz vs 15 oz..

The SP101 was a brick and I felt the only way to carry it comfortably required a belt holster  Compared to the 642 which can be pocket carried without issue.

If you want to get one as a shooter and like the size, you can't do much better if you consider overall quality and cost.

They're great guns, and would make a fine first revolver. With a good holster and belt there should also not be as much of an issue to carry it as people seem to think. I know of many people that carry them. I have carried mine just fine.

You won't be as comfortable shooting a high number of rounds with one of those lightweight SW's, that's for sure.

Im really not looking for a carry,   Because of my job, its a no no in my vehicle or on me, and I would be way to tempted to carry my shiny new piece.   I want something fun to shoot.   Hand guns are not my strong point.  I am a little put off by the weight, but I have handled many rugers and liked how comfortable the felt in my hand.  Being a woman I have smaller hands and long fingers.  I've noticed that compacts and I do not get along as they feel awkward to me.

My SP101 is the one gun my sister and my wife love to shoot.

3" SP101 is a great shooter. Only downfall IMO is the carry-style sights. If I was buying an SP101 for shooting, I'd get the 4" version.

Why?  Is there a big difference brtween the 3 and 4?

The 4-inchers (actually 4.2") come with adjustable rear sight and fiber-optic front sight. The stock blade on the others isn't the best especially when working in lower light- other than what I mention below, the addition of a front night-sight is the only modification I have done to ours. So the fiber-optic would be good for a plinking/target gun.

I would only get one of these if it's really not meant to be carried at all.

And since you mentioned you are a woman- I will mention this. My wife uses ours as "her" carry gun. The original configuration of the trigger had a rather heavy main spring which made for a stiff trigger pull. It is very easy to swap the spring out for a lighter one. Wolff sells a pack with three lower-weight springs and I dropped ours to the lightest which I believe is 9# (stock I believe is 14#). We have had no problems shooting any ammo since, and it made the trigger much easier to pull not only for her but for me as well. I like to do a lot of dry-firing and it makes a big difference.

4" has better sights. Shot both the 3" and 4" versions today. Loved the sights on the 4". Couldn't really tell a difference between the two wrt accuracy.

I am biased towards Rugers.  I've owned 5 Ruger revolvers, and they've all been great to me.  I used to own a 2" (2.25") sp101.  Sold it, but wish I hadn't now.  I could shoot hot .357s through it without too much of a beating, and .38s are great through them.  All that weight may be a bad thing in some regards, but it will reduce recoil.  Back when I had the sp101, I had a friend who had an airweight J frame.  When he would shoot .357s out of it, the recoil would be so bad that after the 2nd or 3rd shot, the rest of the bullets in the cylinder would un-seat from their cartridges, then stick out of cylinder face enough to bind the cylinder so it wouldn't shoot.  That made me laugh the first time I saw it.  So, again, weight has its advantages.  I also loved the fact that I could shoot the Ruger as much as I want to, even with hot .357s.  Some of the lighter S&Ws can wear out if fed a steady diet of magnums.  Granted, with .357 prices today, I would probably never shoot enough .357s to wear out a S&W 60, but the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the Ruger can take serious abuse, and will last long enough to pass down to my son, is valuable to me.  Incidentally, I'm going to replace that 2" sp101 this weekend at the gunshow.  I am excite.

I have an SP101 in 4" 357.  This is my favorite piece. It's weight allows for shooting the heavier 357 loads with comfort.  While a little too heavy for concealed carry, it is perfect for home defense and plinking at the range.

A 3" SP101 was my first revolver purchase, and .357 magnum was the first cartridge I reloaded extensively for.  I shot everything from .38 wadcutters to 200 gr hardcast solid .357 magnum rounds from Cor-Bon.  VERY sold gun. The trigger is a bit heavy, but it will smooth out nicely over time.  I've heard several people use Wolff reduced-weight spring kits with good results to lighten the trigger pull but I never saw the need. The sights are not target sights by any means, but it is not intended to be a target revolver....

The SP101 was my main carry gun for several years, in either a Crossbreed IWB or a Bianchi pancake holster with a thumb snap. As other have said, it is not a pocket carry gun, unless you have abnormally large pockets.

I love mine, and if I ever had to sell off my guns, it would be one of the last pistols to go. If you find one for a good price, pick it up. You will have a rock-solid defense revolver that will outlast you. Whats not to like?

I've got a 2 1/4" SP101 that I carried for a few years for backup and off duty for my PD job. I switched from a S&W M649 (one of the first of the .357 Mag versions without the lock) to the SP. Myself, I considered the SP an upgrade.

I like to shoot my carry guns as much as I can. The SP is GREAT for shooting. The extra weight and shape of the old style slip on grips with the panels makes shooting .38+P ammo a breeze and .357, even full-house .357, is easy. The weight makes it a little harder to carry, but for me it more than makes up for it in how well it shoots.

Although I hear the newer guns are better in this regard, the action on mine was not good, to put it mildly. The first time I field stripped it, mine was so full of dirt and chips that I thought that Ruger was saving money by not having trash pickup and dumping the floor sweepings into the guns to get rid of them. Even after cleaning it out, the trigger was still not so hot. I took a day off when no one was home and sat down, detail stripped it and attacked it with some fine sharpening stones to clean up the action. The result was an action that is easily as smooth as the action on my M649. It is still a little heavier because I kept the factory springs to make sure it always fires, but it is smooth. They respond very well to a little tweaking, if you are up to it.

Overall, I like my Ruger revolvers (I also have a 4" GP100) better than I like S&W revolvers. They may look a little klunky compared to the S&W guns, but the weights actually aren't that far off from the comparable S&W guns. The actions from the factory aren't as good as the S&W guns, but they can be made pretty decent. On top of that, they are strong as all get out and should last longer than their S&W counterparts if you shoot them a lot. Give it a shot (pun intended) and I think you'll like it.

Bub75

I love mine with the 3" in 357 I carry mine for woods carry here in sc as im not worried about bears here like i am in NM . the low profile is nice when hiking or fishing. shot a boar with it last summer while fishing in a remote spot with my family (was being chased by dogs so It was pissed by the time it got to us) when I shot it it was charging my wife with the short barrel it still packs a punch with some 200grn hardcasts ( these max the cylinder space out)

SP101's are excellent 357 magnum (especially with rubber Hogue grips) IWB/OWB carry guns.

 If not for carry, I'd get a GP100 4".   It's a great belt gun for the woods or open carry too.

So, you're not looking for a carry gun, and you think you would be tempted to carry your new gun, so to avoid that, you're looking at one of the classic CCW snubbie revolvers?  Okay.

The weight: helps soak up recoil.  A good belt and holster, you don't notice the weight.

I have a DAO 2 1/4 SP101 .357 Mag.  It's a good gun, obviously a handful, and not something I go put 100 rounds through at a time.  If you get the bobbed hammer, swap out the springs for something a touch lighter, you'll thank me.  Just test it to make sure it is going to light everything.  I believe I went with the Wolff 10# spring, and it lights even the CCI SPMag primers.

If you're just wanting a Ruger Revolver, a GP100 would probably be a better choice.  More fun at the range, and still something you could carry if you wanted to.

I too have an SP101 short barrel in 357 magnum. It is very well built and I have no trouble with it's reliability. But, it was not my first revolver. If I were in your shoes, making my first revolver choice, I would seek out a 4", 38 Special service revolver, with six shot cylinder. My first one was a used S&W Model 10 M&P(Military and Police). It had a much better trigger pull than my SP101. I don't remember the stainless version model number. The GP100 is also a great 'Ruger".
This just seems a good first revolver starting point, and you would become very familiar with revolvers, and have a fun result by honing in your accuracy at the range.
In the world of semi-automatic pistols these days, I'm not sure what the availability of these type of revolvers are right now, but they used to be very common and were fairly priced(Yes, I know $$ for guns have skyrocketed these days).

Really depends on your use, as others have said.  Get the 3" - the 2" gun is still really heavy, you might as well have a 3".   For a handy woods gun or camping gun (not in bear country) I think they are nice.  They are built very solidly.  The triggers are bad but can be worked on.     For a EDC there are many better choices.