First Really Bad Quality Control Problem.. Ruger P345

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hdonlybob

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Sep 18, 2002
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After some help with information here, I went to a gun shop to buy a new Ruger P345 Blued pistol.
Had a deal made for $400 out the door.
Drove up there, and looked it over, worked the slide, etc. and liked it..

Was ready to start filling out the paperwork, and went to drop the clip....no go..I mean stuck like it was glued..
Kept dinking around, and finally using a knife to gently pry a bit got it to pop out..
Repeated attempts showed the same.. so after several attempts to see what was wrong I said no deal..
Turns out I know the guy that was working in the shop.. so we kept on trying to figure it out..
After about 1/2 hour, plus another guy coming and helping we figured it out.
The red Ruger round emblems on both sides of the grip were pressed in way to deep on the both grips, leaving the round tips sticking out about 1/16th of an inch into both sides...
Also looked like some other stuff was not really right either..
Bad bad thing..
Ended up buying a P345 Stainless out the door for $440 plus a free box of .45 shells.
Will follow up with my friend to see what is done about it...My suggestion was to dremmel them off, to see if it will work properly, then sell it a big discount with no warranty.. (Obviously revealing what was done)
Any one else seen this ??
Cheers,
HD
 

hittman

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P345 was discontinued 4 or 5 years ago.
Plus the "click - no bang" problem.

Some folks swear by them. I was too chicken to buy one.
I'd say a call to Ruger to see if they'll fix it but .... doubt they're servicing any of the P-series guns at this late date.
 
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hittman said:
P345 was discontinued 4 or 5 years ago.
Plus the "click - no bang" problem.

Some folks swear by them. I was too chicken to buy one.
I'd say a call to Ruger to see if they'll fix it but .... doubt they're servicing any of the P-series guns at this late date.

Hittman, I'm one of the ones that swear by them. Had one but let it go, like a fool. Wouldn't mind another, but never heard of the click but no bang with the P345. That's a new one on me. I know Benelli shotguns have that but you got me on that one.
 

welder

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BPJ, I like them too. The "click-no-bang" issue would occur on guns that were dry fired with out a magazine in place. Instead of having the magazine disconnect disable the trigger or hammer, Ruger designed the gun whereas the hammer could still be raised and dropped on the firing pin, driving it into the firing pin block that was made into the slide and the pin could be deformed or "peened" to the point of binding on the block or in the channel. The firing pin block can be removed easily or one can be cautious and never dry fire the gun w/o an empty magazine in place. The manual cautions against this practice. I never had any issue with any of the three P345's I had but never dry fired them in any condition as I do not dry fire any gun save the Glock and then only for disassembly. All my 345's were reliable and fun guns to shoot.
 

mohavesam

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welder said:
BPJ, I like them too. The "click-no-bang" issue would occur on guns that were dry fired with out a magazine in place. ...The manual cautions against this practice. I never had any issue with any of the three P345's I had but never dry fired them in any condition as I do not dry fire any gun save the Glock and then only for disassembly. All my 345's were reliable and fun guns to shoot.

No evidence this was a factory/design problem, so it is quite a leap to conclude it is a "really bad quality control problem". The Decocker model was discontinued in 2009, and the ambi-safety model in 2012, so chances are this was not ANIB, and chances are someone had bubba'd it previously.

The OP describes an issue I've never heard of before this thread. The P345 had its "medallions" molded into the gripframe, so there could be no "pressing" problem as-described above. Impossible. Unles... a previous owner modified the Ruger design...? I suspect the stickers on the mag were galled up and binding, a common issue in the day.

The reputed "Click-no bang" was operator error 100%. RTFM. 39 pages that could change your life.

I have had a couple Prescott-built manual-safety P345s and all were 100% reliable with no failures on records. My bedside gun for years.
 

hdonlybob

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mohavesam,
This was a new in box gun with full papers.
I also did not say it was a factory design problem.. I said it was a quality control problem.
There apparently was an early change from the pressed in medallions to the molded.
Here is a picture of the one with the red medallions pressed in...as well as one with the embedded ones, that are also black.
If you care to take the time, you will find both types on Gunbroker, or other gun sites.
You will also find that a very few early guns were produced with out the rail on the bottom.
413405586.jpg

413406387.jpg
 

welder

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hdonlybob said:
You will also find that a very few early guns were produced with out the rail on the bottom.

The first one I bought was w/o the rail and I think it was a better looking gun than the rail version. I sold that gun to a co-worker who may still have it and if so I'm gonna ask him to check those medallions, I'm almost certain they were red. I wish I had kept that gun but at the time I figured I could pick up another easily enough, although I never saw another rail less one at my LGS. The one I have now is my bedside gun and I trust it, otherwise it wouldn't be there.
 

hdonlybob

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Brodhead, Wisconsin
mohavesam,
Just following up on the pressed in emblems..
Here is a picture of one showing them, but not overpressed...
Cheers,
HD
413425604.jpg




mohavesam said:
welder said:
BPJ, I like them too. The "click-no-bang" issue would occur on guns that were dry fired with out a magazine in place. ...The manual cautions against this practice. I never had any issue with any of the three P345's I had but never dry fired them in any condition as I do not dry fire any gun save the Glock and then only for disassembly. All my 345's were reliable and fun guns to shoot.

No evidence this was a factory/design problem, so it is quite a leap to conclude it is a "really bad quality control problem". The Decocker model was discontinued in 2009, and the ambi-safety model in 2012, so chances are this was not ANIB, and chances are someone had bubba'd it previously.

The OP describes an issue I've never heard of before this thread. The P345 had its "medallions" molded into the gripframe, so there could be no "pressing" problem as-described above. Impossible. Unles... a previous owner modified the Ruger design...? I suspect the stickers on the mag were galled up and binding, a common issue in the day.

The reputed "Click-no bang" was operator error 100%. RTFM. 39 pages that could change your life.

I have had a couple Prescott-built manual-safety P345s and all were 100% reliable with no failures on records. My bedside gun for years.
 
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Bob, Great picture up the mag well, and obviously the stems are sticking way out, doubt that was a "factory job",BUT these days, never know, I just recall them having the 'molded' medallions,not an actual medallion, would be tough to properly stake them in......hhhmmmmm
 

hdonlybob

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Brodhead, Wisconsin
Probably because they discontinued making them years ago...
Dan, I know this gun dealer personally and it was a new in box with all papers gun....I was just trying to make the point to mohavesam that Ruger did in fact make early ones with the red eagle medallions...
That picture by the way is NOT the gun I was looking to buy.. it was posted on a separate post on here by others that have the red eagle ones...
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=255881#p2566270

mohavesam said:
Send it to Ruger. Ask them why the FM does not even show the medallions as a part in the parts list.
 

Nakanokalronin

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Jan 22, 2008
Messages
127
Love my red eagles P345. No problems at all with magazine hang up and I took out the mag disconnect as soon as I got it home.

The best of the P series IMO.
3FOAnp4.jpg
 

Sin6Sec63451022

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Apr 28, 2007
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482
Location
Rainier, WA 98576
Here's hoping it works for you. I had one and couldn't hit a barn from the inside. Had many friends shoot it just fine, and was always reliable; I just couldn't shoot it. So I traded it for a stainless 22/45. That didn't work out either, but another story.
 
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