P series parts replacement

DA_TriggR4Ruger said:

The Ruger P95 may be a a great gun, but the best SD gun is the you have on you, running! The BG won't care if it's in the shop for a parts replacement. I still haven't seen a post with a solid parts source. None of this "might be in stock here, had them last week there, out of stock, maybe in stock at shopruger..." no that doesn't count. Again, your accountable for recommending a weapon that has been discontinued, parts availability in your words, is iffy and only drying up further.

If you want a good Ruger buy a RAP. They have great reviews and the first Ruger semi-auto in years that hasn't suffered from wide spread issues. If you have a P95, that's well and good, continue to enjoy it, it's your choice, but stop recommending it as a new pistol to new shooters. It is doing them a disservice and you're accountable for them if something happens.

Click to expand...

If you'll re-read my post I said I'd recommend a P gun where appropriate, IE: to those who want a range, truck or garage gun and don't want to spend a lot of cash for a hammer fired, reliable, easy to maintain, durable gun. Apparently you assume I recommend "new" P guns to "new" shooters? No. As far as being without your gun though, I'd say that's far more likely with the SR, LC series judging by the recalls and posts that detail quite a few problems that require factory service.

Any shooter I'd recommend a P gun too would generally be aware of parts availability even thought the probability of him needing parts or service is nil. Apparently non existent as far as this thread is concerned. Do you have an example to the contrary?


To the OP again?

Have you personally seen a P gun not running?

Broken parts needed?

Service needed?

welder said:

DA_TriggR4Ruger said:

The Ruger P95 may be a a great gun, but the best SD gun is the you have on you, running! The BG won't care if it's in the shop for a parts replacement. I still haven't seen a post with a solid parts source. None of this "might be in stock here, had them last week there, out of stock, maybe in stock at shopruger..." no that doesn't count. Again, your accountable for recommending a weapon that has been discontinued, parts availability in your words, is iffy and only drying up further.

If you want a good Ruger buy a RAP. They have great reviews and the first Ruger semi-auto in years that hasn't suffered from wide spread issues. If you have a P95, that's well and good, continue to enjoy it, it's your choice, but stop recommending it as a new pistol to new shooters. It is doing them a disservice and you're accountable for them if something happens.

Click to expand...

If you'll re-read my post I said I'd recommend a P gun where appropriate, IE: to those who want a range, truck or garage gun and don't want to spend a lot of cash for a hammer fired, reliable, easy to maintain, durable gun. Apparently you assume I recommend "new" P guns to "new" shooters? No. As far as being without your gun though, I'd say that's far more likely with the SR, LC series judging by the recalls and posts that detail quite a few problems that require factory service.

Any shooter I'd recommend a P gun too would generally be aware of parts availability even thought the probability of him needing parts or service is nil. Apparently non existent as far as this thread is concerned. Do you have an example to the contrary?


To the OP again?

Have you personally seen a P gun not running?

Broken parts needed?

Service needed?

Click to expand...

Yes, on several occasions. More often than competing brands in the same price range.

That's unfortunate but it has not been my experience, nor that of the vast number or other owners. With the exception of this forum, the P guns enjoy a very good reputation for durability.

Care to elaborate on what specific failures you saw?

welder said:

That's unfortunate but it has not been my experience, nor that of the vast number or other owners. With the exception of this forum, the P guns enjoy a very good reputation for durability.

Care to elaborate on what specific failures you saw?

Click to expand...

I owned a P85 for many years and many more rounds and it was very reliable and a fun gun to shoot.

....but I have seen a fair amount of P series guns fail at the range. Some of it could be chalked up to poor shooter mechanics but the one thing that was a consistent issue, especially with '95's is broken extractors, a lot of them. I'm sure Ruger fixed them or a least someone did but it happened with those pistols and a few '89's as well over my times at the shooting ranges. There was also an issue with some bad magazines if I recall correctly but I'll leave that for someone else to respond to.

On the P guns I have seen the following:

1. Mag releases get worn from slamming home the mag over an extended period.

2. Recoil spring retainers on some models like to fall off and grow legs with regular use.

3. I have seen a few cast extractors that seem to have been cast to the wrong specs or tension. They didn't actually break just need either tweaked or replaced all together.

4. I have NEVER seen a fractured slide or metal frame. I have seen broken polymer frames but they were broken while apart and then dropped on something hard. The camblock system seems to work well in keeping recoil force from wearing the poly rails on the P95/P97/P345.

Ironically, working in a few high volume gun shops is actually what initially drew me to even consider the Ruger P series. Before that I figured in the old "you get what you pay for" as part of the durability equation. Despite my initial bias...we saw very few P guns back in for repair in spite of the fact that we sold buckets of them. I learned from first hand experience that they were a VERY stout design regardless of the fact that they were low speed and high drag.

That said....all pistol brands break or need adjustment at some point. Some more than others. I remember when Kimber was advertising everywhere and all the fanbois lined up to call them the "best" 1911 pistols ever made. It was borderline comical to see all the broken, or not running correctly Mimbers in for repair. I also get a kick out of our resident Sig fanbois comments here on the RF. For starters Sig pistols are usually about at least double the cost of a comparable Ruger SA. I own Sig pistols but if I had to say what pistols I have seen break more often it would be a toss up between Sig, Mimber and Taurus. Sure, Pre 2004 Sigs WERE great unless you didn't grease them correctly or replace the slide pins and recoil springs every 5k. But....Post 2004 Sigs [Cohen] threw parts constantly maintenance aside. Sig started sourcing their parts from sub par outside vendors to save money [to compete] and the "Sig Quality" disappeared at the same time. It got so bad that we actually considered dropping them entirely.

I have read that things have been corrected but then I read about the POS 250 and it brings back memories of all the call tags or lack there of from Sig. In our shop around 2004-2007 SIG came to stand for......Suckered I Guess. Sig pistols had a really good thing going and it was sad to see them choking with such regularity. I always look at my Sig pistols and hope that they won't choke when I need them not to.

Back to the P's...yes, they will break occasionally or need adjustment. I would argue that is the exception rather than the rule. Its a shame that Ruger abandoned the design IMO. I'm sure WBR is rolling in his grave. The parts situation does not instill much confidence regardless of perceived or actual durability. That's why I sold off my entire collection aside from the 2 KP89DC and KP90DC pistol sets that I decided to keep. Sad that they let the bean counters make the decision to give the entire line the ax IMO. But with over 2 million sold and a cult like following who knows...perhaps Ruger will bring them back or at least start making basic maintenance and/or commonly broken or worn replacement parts again. Just my .02......YMMV.

I really think the P could have been a world class pistol on the level of Sig, CZ, and others if Ruger had done some badly needed tweaks. It wouldn't take much; have barrels made by somebody who really knows what they are doing, update the ergonomics and sights to modern tastes, get the weight and bulk down.