Ruger GP100 Match Champion Revolver: 10mm Bliss

The Ruger GP100 is ripe for customization, but with this level of refinement, it may not be needed.

November 06, 2025 By J. Scott Rupp

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Ruger’s excellent GP100 turns 40 years old this year, and it continues to serve as one of the best all-around and most robust revolvers on the market. It’s available in standard, Super and Match Champion variants, and the newest Match Champion is chambered in the popular 10mm Auto cartridge. Because why should semiauto shooters have all the fun?

A six-shot revolver, it features a 4.2-inch barrel with a half underlug. Overall length is 9.5 inches, and weight is 37 ounces. Sights include a fully adjustable white-outline rear and a green fiber-optic front set in a dovetail. The fiber-optic rod is protected by a cage that provides ample protection at the top and sides as well as at either end.

The topstrap is flat, and forward of that the barrel is grooved to reduce glare. “Ruger GP100” is engraved on the right side of the barrel, with “10mm auto” underneath on the lug. “Match Champion” graces the barrel’s left side. The muzzle has an 11-degree crown for accuracy and protection of the 1:16 RH rifling.

Barrel, frame and cylinder are stainless steel with a brushed finish, and the gun boasts eye-catching Hogue stippled hardwood grips that make an attractive match to the brushed stainless.

Smooth Action

revolver with moon clips — The cylinder holds six rounds of 10mm, and the three provided moon clips make loading and unloading a snap. (Photo courtesy of J. Scott Rupp)

The GP100 is a double action/single action that uses coil springs—a Ruger innovation—and this Match Champion had a smooth double-action pull of 9.5 pounds with almost no stacking. Single-action pull averaged three pounds, five ounces and had a nice, sharp break. The hammer spur is aggressively serrated, ensuring your thumb isn’t going to slip when cocking it for single action.

The GP100 uses a super strong, triple-locking action. The front of the crane features a locking lever that engages with the frame, and the cylinder stops are offset so their notches correspond with the strongest section around the charge holes. The cylinder release is a push button instead of a slider, and it’s grooved at the rear where your thumb applies pressure.

The Match Champion is easily loaded via three supplied stainless steel moon clips. You can load and unload the gun singly as you would with rimmed cartridges, but because the 10mm has a rebated rim, the ejector star has nothing to catch on, and spent cases usually have to be plucked out individually.

The 10mm has really caught on in recent years, and it makes perfect sense in a relatively large revolver like the Match Champion. In terms of energy, the cartridge sits above the .357 Magnum but well below the .44 Magnum.

Manageable Recoil

The rear sight has a white outline and is fully adjustable, which is handy for today’s wide variety of 10mm ammo. The front is a green fiber optic set in a dovetail. (Photo courtesy of J. Scott Rupp)

One thing’s for sure: You’re never going to mistake the recoil of a 10mm for that of a full-power .44 Magnum. With the Match Champion 10mm you’ve got a revolver that’s very manageable. The gun’s half lug hits the sweet spot here. While a full-length underlug would’ve helped tame muzzle rise, it also would’ve made the gun heavier.

The only thing I didn’t care for were the grips. I love the looks of the hardwood, and the stippling does provide good purchase, but this particular Hogue design is a little too beefy for my hands. I’d also prefer a rubber grip to absorb some of the recoil.

But that’s one of the great things about the GP100. It’s ripe for customization, and there’s no shortage of aftermarket grips—as well as springs and sights—that allow you to modify the gun to make it perfect for you.

The grips are a one-piece peg style, and to remove them you simply turn out a screw at the bottom and pull them off. And while the double-action trigger pull on this Match Champion was great, the springs are easy to change. Even a ham-handed DIY’er like myself was able to swap out the stock springs on my own GP100 for a set that reduced the trigger pull considerably.

Accurate, Easy-Shooter

accuracy results — (Accuracy results provided by the author)

I probably wouldn’t touch the sights, though. While the fiber-optic rod is on the large side for true precision work, it’s fast to pick up and easy to shoot. The white-outline rear is perfect for both bright and relatively low-light conditions. But again, there are aftermarket options if these don’t suit you.

The gun is plenty accurate, as you can see in the accompanying chart, although it didn’t love every load. Thankfully, these days 10mm Auto availability is no problem, with all the majors as well as boutique makers cranking out a wide variety of loads for target/plinking, hunting and defense.

The Match Champion 10mm Auto is an ideal all-arounder because it can do those things well. I think it would excel as a trail gun, and it’s got the power and accuracy to be a good hunting revolver for game on the order of deer and hogs. Plus, it’s got a lot to recommend it as a home-defense revolver—simple to operate with plenty of oomph and the easy loading/unloading provided by moon clips.