chaim
Member
I went to the range today (ok, it is after midnight so technically it was yesterday, but...) with a buddy who has only shot a handgun a couple times before (only with me). We brought my Taurus PT140 Milennium Pro, my SIG 226 and my Ruger KP345.
First a little background:
-I got the SIG as a CPO certified by SIG. I only shot it once and had several problems. However, I was overeager and took it to the range without ever cleaning it so it could well have been gummed up by too much packing grease/oil. So, the jury was still out, I cleaned it and relubed it, and took it out for the second time today.
-The Ruger when I first got it had some troubles. It often would fail to eject or fail to feed a round. It physically seemed that the slide moved too slowly. I had heard that Rugers like to run wet (well lubed) and decided to try that. Once I went to grease on the rails the gun ran 100% for the last few range trips. As an aside, the Ruger P345's mag disconnect is a bad design and dry firing without a mag can be damaging- I figured it was no problem since I knew about this and I am very careful about dry firing only with a mag in place.
So we get to the range. The range employee checks my guns, makes sure they are unloaded, takes out the mags and then proceeds to decock them by pulling the trigger instead of using the decocker. I was a bit annoyed- you'd think a guy who sells the Ruger would know about the problem with dry firing without a mag, especially since they warn you right in the owners manual:banghead:
We get on the range. As usual my Taurus ran wonderfully. 50 more rounds of 180gr Remington JHP without a hiccup (now it has 750 flawless rounds, slightly more than half in various JHPs). I still found it reliable, accurate, and comfortable. However, we only ran 50 rounds through it since my buddy (not a very experienced shooter) found the recoil uncomfortable.
We shot 100 rounds (50 FMJ, 50 S&B JHPs) out of my SIG 226. The cleaning and lubing did it. The gun ran flawlessly. It was accurate, it was comfortable to shoot, and if I'm not careful it may become my favorite gun. It was definately my buddy's favorite of the evening.
We only shot 50 rounds out of my Ruger. Very disappointing. I think it may have gone one 8 round mag without a hiccup at some point, but most mags it hiccuped nearly every other round. Mostly failures to eject with the next round getting jammed up on the fired primer of the prior round. A couple times it got so jammed up I had to force the slide open with great difficulty.
I'm not sure if the dry fire without a mag caused this (I'm not sure how damaging the firing pin can cause ejection problems). Most likely, since it is similiar to my experience in the first range trip with this gun, I just had a temporary reprive when I thought it was working properly
Even if it is because of the dry fire by the range employee, I may stop recommending this gun. Some reports are that just one time can be enough to cause damage. While I was careful, range employees who inspect your guns may not. If this Ruger is that fragile then I can't recommend it in good faith. Even if the current problem wasn't caused by this, it can be damaged by dry fire without a mag and I no longer can be confident this won't burn me in the future with range employees decocking my guns however they wish.
If it is the old problem coming back, I'm leaning against recommending it (never say never, but I probably won't ever do so again). I will try a few things out to see if it is salvagable, but it is starting to appear that I may have one of the many P345 lemons Ruger put out*.
Most likely, I'll do what I can for this gun, then I'll trade it on something else. Maybe another 1911, maybe the SIG 220 (I'm really starting to like SIGs), or maybe a non-.45ACP. I also have my eyes on a S&W M&P (probably in .40), a FNP40, or maybe a Hi-Power (though I already have 2 full-sized 9mms- my SIG 226 and my CZ 75B). I do hate to trade a gun in one caliber on a different caliber though, especially a .45ACP for a non-.45ACP.
*Disclaimer: This is not to slam all Rugers. Ruger makes many good firearms. It is just from the internet buzz that it appears that the P345 was not their best effort- kind of their version of the first generation Taurus Milennium series.
First a little background:
-I got the SIG as a CPO certified by SIG. I only shot it once and had several problems. However, I was overeager and took it to the range without ever cleaning it so it could well have been gummed up by too much packing grease/oil. So, the jury was still out, I cleaned it and relubed it, and took it out for the second time today.
-The Ruger when I first got it had some troubles. It often would fail to eject or fail to feed a round. It physically seemed that the slide moved too slowly. I had heard that Rugers like to run wet (well lubed) and decided to try that. Once I went to grease on the rails the gun ran 100% for the last few range trips. As an aside, the Ruger P345's mag disconnect is a bad design and dry firing without a mag can be damaging- I figured it was no problem since I knew about this and I am very careful about dry firing only with a mag in place.
So we get to the range. The range employee checks my guns, makes sure they are unloaded, takes out the mags and then proceeds to decock them by pulling the trigger instead of using the decocker. I was a bit annoyed- you'd think a guy who sells the Ruger would know about the problem with dry firing without a mag, especially since they warn you right in the owners manual:banghead:
We get on the range. As usual my Taurus ran wonderfully. 50 more rounds of 180gr Remington JHP without a hiccup (now it has 750 flawless rounds, slightly more than half in various JHPs). I still found it reliable, accurate, and comfortable. However, we only ran 50 rounds through it since my buddy (not a very experienced shooter) found the recoil uncomfortable.
We shot 100 rounds (50 FMJ, 50 S&B JHPs) out of my SIG 226. The cleaning and lubing did it. The gun ran flawlessly. It was accurate, it was comfortable to shoot, and if I'm not careful it may become my favorite gun. It was definately my buddy's favorite of the evening.
We only shot 50 rounds out of my Ruger. Very disappointing. I think it may have gone one 8 round mag without a hiccup at some point, but most mags it hiccuped nearly every other round. Mostly failures to eject with the next round getting jammed up on the fired primer of the prior round. A couple times it got so jammed up I had to force the slide open with great difficulty.
I'm not sure if the dry fire without a mag caused this (I'm not sure how damaging the firing pin can cause ejection problems). Most likely, since it is similiar to my experience in the first range trip with this gun, I just had a temporary reprive when I thought it was working properly
Even if it is because of the dry fire by the range employee, I may stop recommending this gun. Some reports are that just one time can be enough to cause damage. While I was careful, range employees who inspect your guns may not. If this Ruger is that fragile then I can't recommend it in good faith. Even if the current problem wasn't caused by this, it can be damaged by dry fire without a mag and I no longer can be confident this won't burn me in the future with range employees decocking my guns however they wish.
If it is the old problem coming back, I'm leaning against recommending it (never say never, but I probably won't ever do so again). I will try a few things out to see if it is salvagable, but it is starting to appear that I may have one of the many P345 lemons Ruger put out*.
Most likely, I'll do what I can for this gun, then I'll trade it on something else. Maybe another 1911, maybe the SIG 220 (I'm really starting to like SIGs), or maybe a non-.45ACP. I also have my eyes on a S&W M&P (probably in .40), a FNP40, or maybe a Hi-Power (though I already have 2 full-sized 9mms- my SIG 226 and my CZ 75B). I do hate to trade a gun in one caliber on a different caliber though, especially a .45ACP for a non-.45ACP.
*Disclaimer: This is not to slam all Rugers. Ruger makes many good firearms. It is just from the internet buzz that it appears that the P345 was not their best effort- kind of their version of the first generation Taurus Milennium series.
