P95 frame question

[SnowmanP89]

Due to a major health issue in my family, I've had to sell off a number of my guns. So my EDC/home defense handgun now is a near mint-condition Ruger P95 that left the Ruger factory in October of 2006. It is a superb pistol. Are there any issues with using +P defensive ammo in an older polymer-framed firearm like that?

 

[protoolman]

Nope. Also one of Rugers best designs. The P90 and P95s have almost a cult following.

 

[Hvymax]

Near Mint Condition probably means not properly broken in. Try it with a variety of ammo to find out what it fires accurately and reliably before trusting your life to it!

 

[Star43]

IMO, the P95 is probably one of the most under appreciated gun ever made For what it does, how it works, the accuracy, the toughness, etc, etc,. How can you beat it? That, and for the price they sold for ?? I think Ruger made a mistake in 2013 when they very quietly dropped their production. It was marketing. They wanted to sell other stuff that was a little cheaper to make with a little bit more profit ? Who knows, but I love my P95 !!

 

[SnowmanP89]

Thanks for the replies everyone. This P95 seems to shoot its tightest 25-yard groups with 115 and 124 grain 9mm loads. But the 147's group well enough for defensive use.

Again...thanks.

 

[Mobuck]

How or why have you decided you need +P ammo? Please don't misunderstand the question or take it as an affront.
I've carried a 9mm for 40 years w/o feeling the need for +P. Modern bullet construction gives the standard 9x19 far more potential than it had in the past.

 

[Star43]

How or why have you decided you need +P ammo? Please don't misunderstand the question or take it as an affront.
I've carried a 9mm for 40 years w/o feeling the need for +P. Modern bullet construction gives the standard 9x19 far more potential than it had in the past.

I agree and feel the same. It's the same with me. The best part about a P series Ruger is it can take what you put in it, but yes, the good loads regularly produced now are very good. As was mentioned before, try some different types to see if your gun really likes one over the other. Then practice with that load till you can place your shot wherever you want it to go. Have fun with it !!

 

[SnowmanP89]

How or why have you decided you need +P ammo? Please don't misunderstand the question or take it as an affront.
I've carried a 9mm for 40 years w/o feeling the need for +P. Modern bullet construction gives the standard 9x19 far more potential than it had in the past.

Oh, gosh...I wouldn't take it as an affront at all. I'm grateful for any input.

I'm a retired 38 year city cop. My agency issued and continues to issue 124 grain +P 9mm jhp ammo. I've got a bit of it still on hand in addition to a stash of 124 grain fmj practice ammo, which seems to be standard pressure.

With regard to minimizing one's civil liability, I've been given to understand that it's helpful to use the same sort of defensive ammo your local police use. Also, the 124 grain +P loads are really effective as far as handgun ammo goes...provided I do my part. At least from what I have seen.

I'm not terribly doctrinaire about defensive ammo selection, provided it shoots straight, cycles reliably and punches deeply enough.

How or why have you decided you need +P ammo? Please don't misunderstand the question or take it as an affront.
I've carried a 9mm for 40 years w/o feeling the need for +P. Modern bullet construction gives the standard 9x19 far more potential than it had in the past.

 

[Star43]

Oh, gosh...I wouldn't take it as an affront at all. I'm grateful for any input.

I'm a retired 38 year city cop. My agency issued and continues to issue 124 grain +P 9mm jhp ammo. I've got a bit of it still on hand in addition to a stash of 124 grain fmj practice ammo, which seems to be standard pressure.

With regard to minimizing one's civil liability, I've been given to understand that it's helpful to use the same sort of defensive ammo your local police use. Also, the 124 grain +P loads are really effective as far as handgun ammo goes...provided I do my part. At least from what I have seen.

I'm not terribly doctrinaire about defensive ammo selection, provided it shoots straight, cycles reliably and punches deeply enough.

You have put some thought into what you are doing. The 124 is a good round. Are you using the 124 NATO round from Remington or Winchester by chance ?? Good reliable loads. My P95 shoots then very well and very straight. The NATO rounds are not +P, but to me, they are sort of in the middle between standard and +P. The 125 JHP also work very well in mine. I even like the Italian stuff too. Like you said, as long as it cycles and functions reliably, and shoots straight, that is the secret to success here. Practice helps to make perfect as they say. Long live the P95.

 

[Star43]

Sorry, meant to say 115 JHP. !!

 

[Hvymax]

IMO, the P95 is probably one of the most under appreciated gun ever made For what it does, how it works, the accuracy, the toughness, etc, etc,. How can you beat it? That, and for the price they sold for ?? I think Ruger made a mistake in 2013 when they very quietly dropped their production. It was marketing. They wanted to sell other stuff that was a little cheaper to make with a little bit more profit ? Who knows, but I love my P95 !!

I personally think the upside down backwards safety on the slide is it's biggest issue. Like the Beretta it's a feature I dislike extremely. Since it was made specifically to compete with the Beretta there may have been some sense to it like having a decocker but if it had a proper safety in a normal ergonomic manually intuitive location it could have been a far better firearm IMO. Until I recently stepped up to Carry Optics there was no better handgun for me that my early 80's Tangfoglio CZ75 clone. Mine came in 41ae giving away it's origin but I acquired 9mm& 40 slides and barrels for it. It is still my favorite handgun platform.

 

[Hvymax]

How or why have you decided you need +P ammo? Please don't misunderstand the question or take it as an affront.
I've carried a 9mm for 40 years w/o feeling the need for +P. Modern bullet construction gives the standard 9x19 far more potential than it had in the past.

Because anything Less IS

 

[Star43]

I personally think the upside down backwards safety on the slide is it's biggest issue. Like the Beretta it's a feature I dislike extremely. Since it was made specifically to compete with the Beretta there may have been some sense to it like having a decocker but if it had a proper safety in a normal ergonomic manually intuitive location it could have been a far better firearm IMO. Until I recently stepped up to Carry Optics there was no better handgun for me that my early 80's Tangfoglio CZ75 clone. Mine came in 41ae giving away it's origin but I acquired 9mm& 40 slides and barrels for it. It is still my favorite handgun platform.

The CZ 75 back in the day was "the" gun to want or to get, as basically back then it was mainly unavailable. I remember the 41 AE. That was going back a few years. ......For me I have that regular safety version on my P95, and it's ok, but I also have the Decocker version and that is the one I always go to. It's easier and very accurate

 

[SnowmanP89]

You have put some thought into what you are doing. The 124 is a good round. Are you using the 124 NATO round from Remington or Winchester by chance ?? Good reliable loads. My P95 shoots then very well and very straight. The NATO rounds are not +P, but to me, they are sort of in the middle between standard and +P. The 125 JHP also work very well in mine. I even like the Italian stuff too. Like you said, as long as it cycles and functions reliably, and shoots straight, that is the secret to success here. Practice helps to make perfect as they say. Long live the P95.

The defensive ammo I use is the Federal Cartridge 124 grain HST +P. It's the duty round for my former agency, so it's easy to acquire here locally. My old agency uses Winchester 124 grain fmj for practice rounds and I bought several cases of it from a local supplier. It's not marked as a +P, so I guess it's just a generic commercial load. It doesn't burn quite as clean as the HST ammo does, but that's a minor issue. The time invested in cleaning a gun is never a waste.

My P95 is the DC model, and I'm grateful for that. It appears that the ones with the decocker/safety are kind of awkward to use. Also, I don't know if you can reach a point where you could shoot a P95 into junk. But I'm confident in saying I could never afford the amount of ammo I'd need to do that.

Anyway...thanks for your input. I make it a point to not say much here, but I'm grateful to be able to run things by you guys when the need arises

 

[Mobuck]

+P vs not?
I was the appointed 'village constable' in the little town where I worked. As such and being located in the far corner of the county a 30 minute drive from the county seat, I was tasked with dispatching vehicle injured deer. Over 20+ years, I handled this with my 9mm carry pistol loaded with 124 Gold Dot ammo. I took mostly broadside chest shots from 10-50' and the effect was 100% and swift.
I can't say how an injured, hyped up deer compares to a bad guy but I don't think another 50-100 FPS of bullet velocity would make much diff.

 

[Hvymax]

+P vs not?
I was the appointed 'village constable' in the little town where I worked. As such and being located in the far corner of the county a 30 minute drive from the county seat, I was tasked with dispatching vehicle injured deer. Over 20+ years, I handled this with my 9mm carry pistol loaded with 124 Gold Dot ammo. I took mostly broadside chest shots from 10-50' and the effect was 100% and swift.
I can't say how an injured, hyped up deer compares to a bad guy but I don't think another 50-100 FPS of bullet velocity would make much diff.

It always will at some point. I like my Margins for Error to be as far and wide as I can make them.

 

[lipofsky]

My P-95 DC is a "99" vintage and so far I have put many many thousands of rounds of whatever was on sale at wally world, including the +P+ or whatever. It still functions flawlessly and will easily hit a 6" steel gong or that "spot" on a silhouette target when shooting at 15 yards. A great firearm that absolutely reliable.

 

[SnowmanP89]

I can't say how an injured, hyped up deer compares to a bad guy but I don't think another 50-100 FPS of bullet velocity would make much diff.

I've been tasked with euthanizing road-injured deer a lot over a three and a half decades LE career. It's been my experience that, if anything, a 180-pound deer is typically more tenacious of life...and harder to put down with a handgun...than the equivalent 180-pound man. So your point of view is quite correct.

Bear in mind though that not everyone is operating at your skill level. Often police agencies have selected the +P 9mm loads as a hedge against the slipshod type of cop who neglects to keep his or her service handgun properly maintained and lubed.

The slightly higher rearward slide velocity of the +P ammo helps to ensure that the gun keeps cycling without fail, even if it's not maintained well. Or if the officer is a less than stable firing platform, due to his being involved in a hand to hand struggle, where he's twisting, turning, or falling as he triggers a shot.

In a fight, you're betting your life that the pistol...out there at the end of your arm...is gonna cycle without fail. Sometimes it's helpful to have a little extra going for you, all things considered.

 

[Star43]

I've been tasked with euthanizing road-injured deer a lot over a three and a half decades LE career. It's been my experience that, if anything, a 180-pound deer is typically more tenacious of life...and harder to put down with a handgun...than the equivalent 180-pound man. So your point of view is quite correct.

Bear in mind though that not everyone is operating at your skill level. Often police agencies have selected the +P 9mm loads as a hedge against the slipshod type of cop who neglects to keep his or her service handgun properly maintained and lubed.

The slightly higher rearward slide velocity of the +P ammo helps to ensure that the gun keeps cycling without fail, even if it's not maintained well. Or if the officer is a less than stable firing platform due to his being involved in a hand to hand struggle where he's twisting, turning, or falling as he triggers a shot.

In a fight, you're betting your life that the pistol out there at the end of your arm is gonna cycle without fail. Sometimes it's helpful to have a little extra going for you, all things considered.

Yeah, I agree about the +P giving that slide a little more oomph so you say in cycling. That is for sure. As far as what you say in questioning if the P95 could be "shot out" I think that would be very, very hard to do. It makes me marvel how it was designed with NO steel inserts at all in the frame. Remember the frame itself was a proprietary formula blend Ruger used with long strands of fiberglass used in the polymer mold process. The P95 was the first gun frame made this way. This gave the gun strength and durability. You can shoot it all day & every day and that frame is smooth as silk with no marks at all, and it is tough. I have a Hi-Power, Glock, & Sig, and shoot all of them very well. My P95 is MY go to gun.

 

[alamogunr]

Back in 2006(the year I retired) I bought each of my 2 sons a P95. They were still relatively early in their careers. I show them in my inventory as costing $315 for the stainless slide model and $290 for the black slide model. They both still have them and keep them handy at home.

Before I gave the guns to them, I tested them both with about a hundred rounds each of my handloaded ammunition. Both guns digested all rounds without a hiccup.