Ruger P Series pistols. How good are/were they?

[roylt]

I said sell off because you can't take it with you and currently my kids don't seem to care about them. Rather sell them vs leave them to be sold later for pennies.
I like to think I have a few years left to think about it.... HAHA
and maybe the kids will get into it? Hard to say.

 

[Star43]

That makes good sense. I agree 100%. Especially the part that you have "more" than a few years left, so hang on to them for a while longer. I think the kids will learn to appreciate them more as time go by......

 

[rammerjammer]

P guns have been special place in my heart. A KP90DC was my first gun in 2004. I barely knew anything about guns but the P90 looked good and was chambered in 45 ACP, a big bad round in this newbies heart.

I lucked out in my first gun because it has been utterly reliable and more accurate than it should be for its price point. Yup, big and clunky but it works.

I have no interest in adding more P guns to my collection but will hold onto my P90 even if it almost never gets shot or carried anymore.

 

[Star43]

But at least you have it, and you have a good one there for sure......Go take it out and shoot it!

 

[Duke22]

I still have my P85, bought new in late 80's. Not terribly valuable so it makes a good truck gun. To put it simply -- handles like a brick but surprisingly accurate and dead nuts reliable.

 

[Star43]

If it is "surprisingly and dead nuts reliable"....,To me that makes it Very Valuable.

 

[ncvikingfan]

Good to see that the P-Series Rugers still have a substantial following here. I still have all of the ones that I purchased beginning with the P89, P90 up through the P95. Never located a P97 or P345 when I had gun money. I still would like to find a P345 in pristine condition but very scarce now I suppose.

 

[loaded round]

I bought a NIB P345 (45 ACP) some time ago for my house pistol and id was a fine firearm and filled it's purpose well. After read allt he Gun Mag "Experts'' running their mouths about the ''click no bnag'' , I reluctantly ''cleaned my rear sight'' as suggested by these experts...after all they were all professional gun writers. Never could tell the difference either way and it's still my house gun w/o that magazine safety.

 

[Bubbas358]

I had a couple of paragraphs typed up to reply here, and my Chromebook decided to "self off" itself......

Long story short: I wish I had kept my very first P series from the early 90's. I really like the 3 I have now. I upgraded the sights (night sights) on 2, and am waiting to see what I want to do with the unfired P95 I have.

They remind me of myself in many ways.

 

[blume357]

I have a collection of Ruger P95s and two P89s and the reason I can't let them go is the three 'original' Ruger PC9 rifles I own.

 

[Star43]

I have a collection of Ruger P95s and two P89s and the reason I can't let them go is the three 'original' Ruger PC9 rifles I own.

You could not have phrased or explained it any better. Keep your collection together !!

 

[dobegrant.45]

I have a P89 and a P90, old school cool pistols

 

[John in WYO]

I taught Police Firearms Basic Police Academies in OK between 1985 and 1995 in my first career, 1977-1997.
Between 1987-1995 I distinctly remember an officer from West Siloam Springs, OK PD showing up on Friday with a Stainless Ruger P-whatever .40 S&W pistol that would not function with factory FMJ ammo in factory magazines. He could not complete a course of fire that morning due to multiple malfunctions. Multiple hammer strikes to required to fire the gun.
During lunch break we tried to find a Tulsa gun shop who could figure out the issue. It just would not feed or fire factory 180 FMJ no matter what we tried. No luck.
He had to work that weekend and I told him to NOT CARRY that pistol on duty that weekend. He came back on Monday with a Beretta 9mm (that his Chief gave him to carry that weekend. THANKS, Chief!) to finish that week and pass the course.
That's my only experience with P-Series .40 S&W Ruger Auto-pistols.

 

[Star43]

I never trusted the 40 myself, again in my own opinion. Back in the 90's with all of the 40 craze going on, most guys wanted the new "super" round as it was kind of marketed to be. Re- member back in the 80's with all of the wonder nines coming out, and people were all caught up in the 9mm. Then the 40 turned up. A friend who had gun shop and range remarked to me after I asked his opinion of the 40, that he says it was ok but could turn out to be a problem as since he worked on guns, he was Leary that the 40 was being cranked out pretty fast by a lot of companies and they were at the time basically using a gun that was designed for the 9mm to now fire the 40. Remember the Browning Hi Power 40? That wasn't out too long before they had to beef it up to handle the stress. Also back then, a buddy of mine was a Chief in a next door city, and he would always laugh at me when I would say to stick with the 9mm......well he is retired now,, but his department and most others for that matter have gone back to the 9mm. Especially after the FBI went back to the 9mm, because it's a popular given that most want to follow the FBI......Yes. It has been said the the FBI also had more women hires now etc., But to me, with the improvements in the ballistics, and the basic cost factor of not only the ammo, but in the life expectancy of the firearms themselves and their reliability......Reliability is everything, IMHO.

 

[Star43]

After reading my last post, It could be taken that I am trying to bash the .40....That was/is not my intent at all. I am only expressing my own honest opinion. I know that a lot of folks have bought the .40's and are invested in them, like them, etc. If the .40 is good for you, then God Bless America. .I only wanted to say that in my own mind, I always did like the nine, and to me it was my own round of choice...and that is about it..No more, No less...in other words, whatever makes your boat float !!! ...To me, I like the 9mm & that's me.





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[John in WYO]

Well, during my next career 1998-2019 I carried a State-issued Beretta 96 .40 S&W, Glock 22 .40 S&W, S&W M&P .40 S&W, Glock 22 .40 S&W, Glock 23 .40 S&W (Governor Security).
It provided adequate capability for the assignments.
I didn't care for the .40 S&W much after retiring with a Sig P-220 .45 ACP in my first career, but I adapted.
Troops downgraded to 9mm since my retirement.
God bless those folks still working.

 

[blume357]

I have almost no experience with the 40cal round... I did buy a box of it a little over a year ago just to see what it was like.*... just to get into the caliber debate.... yes, what they should have all done was step back to 9mm but put that round in a necked down 10mm case... that is what I chose to do after shooting standard 9mm for years, and I still do mostly when practicing... I just choose to carry 357 Sig.

*Most of the 'P' series Sig pistols that are chambered for either 40 caliber or 357 Sig you can just change out the barrel and you are good to go either way and so several of these I have bought over the years came with both barrels. I don't know about other brands like this.

 

[tiger955]

blume: Can you chamber a .40 in a 357 sig chamber? I considered a swappable barrel gun a couple times but would be nervous about getting ammo mixed up. Accidentally trying to shoot a 40 in 357 barrel would not be pretty.

 

[the_leper_colony]

blume: Can you chamber a .40 in a 357 sig chamber? I considered a swappable barrel gun a couple times but would be nervous about getting ammo mixed up. Accidentally trying to shoot a 40 in 357 barrel would not be pretty.

I'm sure @blume357 can jump in also, but there's really no way to chamber a .40S&W round in a .357SIG chamber - even if you hit it with a hammer!

As always IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc.

 

[tiger955]

Thanks leper