P95 Failure to feed

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sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
I bought a new P95 two weeks ago and have put 200 rounds through it. My first time at the range I had one failure to feed on the first round of a new mag with Blazer Brass, didn't have problem with the previous 50 rounds of American Eagle. Do to the fact I had never fired the gun before I thought it was user error. I took it to the range last Friday and attempted to put 100 rounds of Blazer Aluminum through it. Out of the 100 rounds I had 9 failures to feed, 6 being on the first round when I racked the slide.
I called the firearm dealer I bought it from, he said the he would never put aluminum case ammo in any of his guns and that he would have a look at it. I hand cycled 30 rounds of American Eagle through it tonight and had a failure to feed on each mag. Is a trip to Ruger going to fix this? The gun was cleaned before the first use and when I got home from the range both times, and there is no sign of binding on the slide.
 

Yosemite Sam

Hunter
Joined
Mar 18, 2002
Messages
2,113
Location
Cape Cod, MA, USA
Welcome to the forum!

Did you clean the gun thoroughly before shooting it the first time?

Personally, I would pick one type of ammo, preferably something you'll stick with, and try a few boxes of that before sending it back. Make sure the gun is clean and lubed before each range session. If it still fails to function, then yeah, send it in and hope for the best.

Fixing problems like this can be like those famous "intermittent" problems with cars or electronics. If it doesn't fail for the repair tech just like it fails for you, it might be hard to track down.

Are you filling the mags to capacity each time? If so, it might have trouble stripping off the first round. Mag springs sometimes take some time to work in; I've got several guns where you couldn't even insert a fully loaded mag when they were new.

-- Sam
 

sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
The gun was cleaned before the first use and after every use. The failure happend twice with 5 rounds in the mag at the range.
 

sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
Thanks for the welcome. I don't belive that it is limp wristing because if the first round chambers and cycles usually the whole mag runs clean. I understand the point of sticking with one kind of ammo but if the manual says that you can fire aluminum and steel case ammo why would it be a problem. I also noted that I hand cycled brass ammo and had a problem with both mags, thanks.
 

sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
Thanks, I am going to to the range one more time before I decide to send it back. The only target ammo around here that I have seen in the couple stores in my area are Federal American Eagle and Blazer. I saw other posts about P95 problems, and still bought the gun knowing that poor perfomance of items is posted on forums and happy owners just enjoy. I decided to purchase a Ruger because it was made in the US and my father worked for Ruger in the 80's. I just want a firearm that I am completely confident in.
 

OnTarget

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
31
Location
Missouri
Out of the 800 plus rounds I have fired through my P95, I have shot at least 150 of the aluminum rounds with ZERO failures of anything. That goes with any type of ammo I have put through it, WWB, blazer, Monarch, Hornady TAP, federal. It eats it all! I hope you didn't get a lemon, but I doubt it is the gun's fault. Just my thoughts. Good luck and I hope it works out for you. I carry mine everyday because I trust it to protect my family and myself. Great gun!
 

pistolpete

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
181
Location
Northern Wisconsin
Can you elaborate on "failure to feed"? Does it extract and eject the empty and then the next round gets jammed up above the chamber? Or does the slide just hang up and you can push it shut to chamber a round?
 

kscott

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
473
Location
Southwestern Indiana
Since you said the majority of the failure to feeds are the first round from the magazine, I'd say you might be riding the slide a bit when you rack it to chamber the first round. Make sure you pull it completely to the back and completely release it from its farthest point rearward. It needs the momentum to strip and chamber the round.
 

sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
When it jams the bullet looks like it has taken to steep of an angle up the feed ramp and does not start to go into the chamber. when this happens every other round in the mag will do the same thing. It has never had a problem ejecting a round or a case. Thanks
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
10,430
Location
Greenville, SC: USA
Here's what I suggest you try...

first... load one less round in the mag and see what happens.

second.... do the same and try different ammo....

third.... borrow someone else's mags and try them full.
 

libbylibbylibby

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
30
Location
Missouri
This may be too obvious, but one habit I learned long ago was after filling a magazine, to rap the back of the magazine against my hand to make sure all rounds are seated against the back of the magazine before inseting the mag into the gun. A round with its nose pressing against or even too close to the front wall of the magazine has a good chance of not feeding well. The geometry won't be right as the slide moves forward.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
10,430
Location
Greenville, SC: USA
The mechanics bogle me but this sounds like the same problem I have with my mini-30 and aftermarket mags.... if the top round is swayed to the left it won't chamber, if it's too the right it will.... that is why I lean toward it being the feed lip on the mag problem.
 

buckshotshorty

Single-Sixer
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
399
Two things come to mind here:

You say you're experiencing a failure to feed on the first round of a new mag. Are you easing the slide forward or are you pulling it back, and then just letting it go? The second method is what you should be doing. It's called "slingshotting" Easing the slide forward will cause a failure to feed.

Secondly, mark your magazines with a magic marker, and see whether this is happening with both mags. It could be a magazine problem.

Another suggestion is to have a range officer, or someone else with a little more fire arms experience shoot the gun.

pb
 

sm.fishing

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
6
I took the P95 to the dealer I bought it from and he polished the feed ramp and around the chamber. Took it to the range today, no failures of any kind. I shot 100 rounds and let my girlfriend (never shot a gun before) shoot 100 rounds. My dealer didn't charge me a thing and I was very happy with the P95's performance.
 

perterra

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
9
New guy here, I put probably 8 to 9,000 rounds of Blazer aluminum thru my 95 back when I first got it. At about 4,000 rounds it started kicking the empties back at me and bouncing them off my cap bill. A phone call to Ruger and their advice at the time was it could be linked to aluminum cased ammo. They said the expansion of the aluminum case was different and it took a little more force to pull the aluminum case than the brass case. They said it should shoot aluminum fine but that the engineer was of the opinion it would increase the wear on the extractor. He told me to send it in.

I sent it back in to Ruger and when I got it back it ran fine for the remainder of the time I owned it. It wouldnt bother me to shoot aluminum cased ammo in a robust gun like the 95, or glock, HK or what ever. But there are a few like an early 40's Hi Power that I make sure to run brass through.
 
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