P345 (45acp)

[kf6gub]

I haven't shot it a lot. I've cleaned it every time. Today I had misfires. Several times the firing pin barely made a dent. I guess a real good cleaning is in order. Agree? thx Jim

 

[Ashlander]

Clean out the firing pin channel real good.

 

[Bigboreshooter]

Has the gun been dry-fired without a magazine in place?

 

[kf6gub]

Has the gun been dry-fired without a magazine in place?

If it has, what does that mean? thx Jim

 

[Donaldjr1969]

Has the gun been dry-fired without a magazine in place?

If it has, what does that mean? thx Jim

What happens with the P345 being dry-fired without a magazine in place is that the firing pin will peen over the magazine safety bar. With repeated dry-firings, the front of the firing pin gets rounded and as such, does not transfer the full force to the primer.

 

[kf6gub]

Has the gun been dry-fired without a magazine in place?

If it has, what does that mean? thx Jim

What happens with the P345 being dry-fired without a magazine in place is that the firing pin will peen over the magazine safety bar. With repeated dry-firings, the front of the firing pin gets rounded and as such, does not transfer the full force to the primer.

I looked at the cleaning video at Ruger, and the presenter appears to dry fire it multiple times without the magazine inserted. Go figure. thx Jim

 

[kf6gub]

I called Ruger as a result of my quest for a solution to the problem of misfires. The customer service person told me to send the gun to Ruger; they paid the postage. We'll see. Thx Jim

 

[kf6gub]

Ruger returned P345 promptly. Ruger: "Pistol was received with hammer pivot pin drifted, causing condition described. To prevent this from recurring, be sure to insert an empty magazine prior to dry-firing and/or hand-cycling the slide." Too bad in the manual an owner is not clued in. thx Jim

PS: Well, the manual does specify that dry firing may damage the pistol if the magazine in not properly inserted. As the Army said, when all else fails, try reading the directions. I'm still working on that concept.

 

[lashlaruhe]

Hand cycling the slide without a magazine in place?? All the more reason to take out the magazine disconnector.

 

[kf6gub]

Hand cycling the slide without a magazine in place?? All the more reason to take out the magazine disconnector.

How you take that out? thx Jim

 

[lashlaruhe]

You have to loosen the rear sight screw, move the rear sight from left to right from the rear. The sight only have to be moved about 1/4" and you can see the spring and magazine plunger. Take them out and push the rear sight back in place and tighten the set screw. There are utube video's that you can view that give visual instructions. That would be the best way to get the instructions. Personally, I can not imagine a need nor use for a magazine disconnect. Perhaps if you were a policeman and moving in a group it may? help you to keep from someone taking your pistol and shooting you. but I have serious doubt about that as being a practical way to carry.
It probably is only to make lawyers happy???

 

[Swampbilly]

I was fully aware of the dry firing without magazine, and yes that is well covered in the owner's manual. Was not aware about the relation with hand cycling the slide, though. Hmmmm....

I once wrote Ruger technical about this and received a lengthy reply. Although the rules in the manual still apply, they explained it was more an issue with early models of the P345. Changes were made in the initial design, and they wrote me that the change was tested by dry firing the test pistol(s) approx. 1000 times with no magazine installed. Afterward, there was no reported issue with the "click-no bang" condition, as it had become known as.

Thus, they were pleased the change would offer a more "forgiving" design, but the dry fire without magazine warning still remains in effect. Myself, I have never had a problem in that area.