P89 Inaccuracy

Help Support Ruger Forum:

9.3X62AL

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
9
modrifle3 said:
Cheesewhiz said:
revhigh said:
Suggestions ? Easy. Buy a Sig 226 or a CZ75 if you want accuracy and a gun you can improve with.

REV

Dumbest thing I ever heard, I melted all my CZ's down to impractical snowshoes for summer wear.

Never shot a CZ but most reviews put the CZ75 well above the P89 in target accuracy.

The only way I will believe the people that say they hit rabbits and golf balls at 50 yards with a p series with consistency is to see a video. I believe it more so with a super flat 85gr load than most of the stories. In general I don't know of any combat handgun giving 2" to 3" average groupings at 50 yards. I believe YouTube would be blowing up if this were the case.

I seem to have been called a liar. Very well. If you are willing to travel out my way, and bring a video recorder--I'll be happy to confirm my results on the record. Dismissing the statements of others based upon your own limitations or experiences is an unwise course of conduct. So too is calling people you don't know "liars".
 

modrifle3

Buckeye
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
1,128
Location
NC
I didn't call you a liar, but this claim is made with p89s and p85s a lot and having owned three as well as many other handguns, my p series could not hold a candle to the berettas, glocks and 1911s. The load you reference is flat and consistent and I believe you can hit rabbits at 50 yards with it. However there is a guy that claimed to shoot golf balls at 50 yards using 115gr bullets and stock sights. He may occasionally get the bullet to hit them, but to be consistent would put a p85 in a class at or above a gold cup.

Like I said no one has yet to post a video of these amazing Ruger feats and there are videos on YouTube for everything else.
 

modrifle3

Buckeye
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
1,128
Location
NC
I will not get into a pissing match about wise conduct, but this is similar to Revs 1911 challange....Many people made the claim but no one has been paid yet.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Messages
2,791
Location
Granbury, TX. USA
My Sigs and CZs are night and day difference between the P89s I have had. But so was the P97. As mentioned, the P89 was my first gun. I thought the problem was with me, once I got 097, I realized how fun shooting was, I realized it wasn't me by rather the gun I had.
 

9.3X62AL

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
9
The offer stands. Please give 48 hours' notice prior to arrival.

FWIW, 23 of my 28 years in law enforcement were spent as a range trainer with an agency that authorizes over 300 variants of autopistol and revolver in 5 calibers. This list spans most of the makers common to the trade, and I am abundantly familiar with these many makes/models and their accuracy potential. I own over two dozen service sidearms currently, so this isn't a case of being overly-enamored with My First/Only Handgun. The P-89X came rather late in the game, relatively speaking. Is it as accurate as my P-226 x 9mm or CZ-75B x 40 S&W? Not quite, but the P-89 is by no means a shotgun either. Frankly, I don't give a rip about what other people can/can't do with their service sidearms--what matters to me is what I can accomplish with the implements--and I don't need to post a video on YouBooB to prove a thing to anyone. There is a strong, persistant, and obnoxious prejudice against American-made sideiron and a simultaneous automatic love affair with any pistol birthed in Europe. My opinions aren't that narrow or that shallow, and such narrow/shallow viewpoints indicate a dearth of real-time experience on the parts of most of those who express same. My thrust in this thread is to give a fair and balanced assessment of my Ruger pistol's performance.
 

modrifle3

Buckeye
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
1,128
Location
NC
9.3X62AL said:
The offer stands. Please give 48 hours' notice prior to arrival.

FWIW, 23 of my 28 years in law enforcement were spent as a range trainer with an agency that authorizes over 300 variants of autopistol and revolver in 5 calibers. This list spans most of the makers common to the trade, and I am abundantly familiar with these many makes/models and their accuracy potential. I own over two dozen service sidearms currently, so this isn't a case of being overly-enamored with My First/Only Handgun. The P-89X came rather late in the game, relatively speaking. Is it as accurate as my P-226 x 9mm or CZ-75B x 40 S&W? Not quite, but the P-89 is by no means a shotgun either. Frankly, I don't give a rip about what other people can/can't do with their service sidearms--what matters to me is what I can accomplish with the implements--and I don't need to post a video on YouBooB to prove a thing to anyone. There is a strong, persistant, and obnoxious prejudice against American-made sideiron and a simultaneous automatic love affair with any pistol birthed in Europe. My opinions aren't that narrow or that shallow, and such narrow/shallow viewpoints indicate a dearth of real-time experience on the parts of most of those who express same. My thrust in this thread is to give a fair and balanced assessment of my Ruger pistol's performance.

I have no such love affair or issue with American firearms. My p90 and p97 will outshoot any non match grade handgun I have picked up. They both leave my Glock 21 in the dust and I have always thought Colt and S&W some of the best out there. The p89 is a service grade firearm with acceptable combat accuracy. Ruger eventually made it better...it's called the p95.

But let's be realistic. Ruger has built some of the finest firearms on the market but the p89 and p91 are just not two them. I have owned them and shot them extensively and have the experience
 

JEA1957

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
14
[ There is a strong, persistant, and obnoxious prejudice against American-made sideiron and a simultaneous automatic love affair with any pistol birthed in Europe. [/quote]

I, for one, would have to disagree with this statement. At 56 years old, I have owned 1 firearm that was not made in the USA. That was a Star PD 45 auto. That was 25-30 years ago, and I didn't keep it for very long. Every other firearm I have owned has been US made. I personally will not own an import-don't care if it's the "latest & greatest", I just won't. When you have manufacturers such as Ruger, S&W, and Colt, who have produced some of the finest and most recognized (and most copied) firearms; I have to wonder why there is such a demand for imported firearms?

I'm not knocking them at all, there are some wonderful and accurate firearms out there, which are imported. You just won't find any in my home, in my safe or on my night stand. To each, his/her own, but I will continue to support the US made firearms manufacturers. Just my 2 cents...
 

P94/GP100

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 6, 2002
Messages
202
Location
Auburn, WA USA
Ruger P85/P89 series guns were built for reliability uttermost, and "acceptable" accuracy secondly. "Acceptable" being, generally speaking, between 2"-4" groups at 25 yards. There are arguably 2 to 2.5 generations of P89s; the first being where they took over from the P85, and up to the high 304 series serial numbers. The second, being from 305-plus serials, where Ruger modified the barrel to slide relationship for increased accuracy and operational efficiency, visibly denoted by the rear of the barrel's breach rising slightly above the plane of the slide. These guns also had the magazine tube and magazine catch relationship modified, so that the magazine sit slightly higher in the receiver, providing a more direct path for a cartridge into the chamber The 2.5 generation sub-set are P89s in the 314 and higher serial ranges, produced from the 3rd quarter of 2007 until the discontinuance of the P89, someplace in the 316 serial range-these P89s are the beneficiaries of a systemic Ruger revision of their manufacturing programs/systems/techniques/processes, initiated by Steve Sanetti and Michael Fifer. My personal 314-series P89 is a veritable tack-driver, consistently shooting 1" to 1.5" groups, with total reliability, even with some very hard-primered Israeli 9mm ammunition, presumably intended for open-bolt submachine gun use.

6" groups are certainly not the norm. Ruger at one point had a fix for P85/P89 inaccuracy, involving a pinchfitting modification to the barrel/slide. I would suggest calling the head of Ruger's Service Department at Prescott, and describe your issue with him, and see what he suggests.

While Cee Zed makes a very credible series of handguns, they have had their share of issues, notably with somewhat weak recoil springs (until CZ turned to Wolff Gunsprings as their OEM supplier), among some others. Their current lineup, especially those possessing the Omega trigger groups and the P07/P09 are playing to some consistently good reviews.

Throughout the P85/P89 manufacturing run, Ruger made numerous on-going improvements to them, both mechanical, ergonomic and cosmetic; most of them unannounced, some of them very subtle. I've personally had some very high-end DA/SA pistols over time; my very late production P89 is most definitely a keeper, and one based on its demonstrated performance and reliability.

I personally consider my personal P89 to be the equal of a HK USP, and right on the heels of an HK P30. It really is that good, and very much a often ignored (or disparaged) pistol. Some its lack of critical prominence/consideration has to do with the earlier guns' accuracy issues, and some due to Ruger's marketing (and the overall market perception) of the P85/P89 as being a sort of a bubba volkspistol. I've had a 1990 vintage P85, a mid-nineties production Davidson Special Edition P89, and my current late-production P89. These guns are a far greater value than one would initially suspect, in my experience and opinion.

And, some shamelessly gratuitous P89 images...










Best, Jon
 
Top