Tips For Shooting the Ruger P345

[CommanderCrusty]

A couple years ago, Ruger discontinued the P345--before I could buy one! I carried a S&W 645 for 15 years. I loved the features but got tired of the weight of the big Smith. Now, the P345 is back, perhaps never to be seen again, so I'm buying one. I'm looking for tips and suggestions from P345 owners.

• Is it still a bad idea to dry fire without a magazine in place?
• How much of a break in will I likely need?
• I've heard they like lots of lubrication--yes?
• Favorite holsters or ammo?
• If you've swapped out the hammer strut spring for a lighter Wolff spring, I'd love to know how that worked out for you.

For those of you who hate the P345--please just move on. It's my gun, and I like TDA designs, magazine safeties, loaded chamber indicators, reliable locks and flip-floppy slide-mounted safeties. Remember--15 years with a 645!

 

[CommanderCrusty]

Calling Ruger Owners

Well, I guess there aren't a lot of Ruger auto owners on this board. Maybe I'll try over at the Ruger forum.

 

[kcofohio]

I can only answer 2 of your questions from my experience.
*I lubed mine like any of my other semi-autos, very light with CLP types.
*It never had a hiccup on feeding or ejecting, but I didn't feed a very wide range of different ammo types.

I really liked it, but my son really liked it and I had a Kimber 4". He agreed that if he ever was to get rid of it, he'd let me know. I'd buy it back in a heartbeat.

 

[JTQ]

Well, I guess there aren't a lot of Ruger auto owners on this board. Maybe I'll try over at the Ruger forum.

I am kind of surprised nobody posted between 11:30 PM last night and 4:45 AM this morning.

Is it still a bad idea to dry fire without a magazine in place?
- I believe it says not to do that in the owners manual. You will damage the gun by dry firing without a mag inserted.

How much of a break in will I likely need?
- None

I've heard they like lots of lubrication--yes?
- More than a Glock, maybe. Less than a SIG P-Series or 1911, probably.

Favorite holsters or ammo?
- I haven't seen a lot of kydex makers for the P345, but I'm pretty sure Blade-Tech offer's them. http://shop.blade-tech.com/index.php
- I suspect you'll have more options with leather. Simply Rugged is popular with the Ruger owners. The Cuda would be a good choice for the P345. http://www.simplyrugged.com

If you've swapped out the hammer strut spring for a lighter Wolff spring, I'd love to know how that worked out for you.
- I don' know the answer to that one.

 

[jmr40]

Even Ruger didn't know about the damage caused by dry firing without the mag in place until guns started being returned. There was no such warning in the original owners manuals. I had one of those and a new owners manual was included with my gun when it was returned after repair with the warnings included.

Other than that I liked the gun a lot. Mine was accurate, lightweight and felt good in my hand. Overall I felt it was a huge improvement over the P90 and P97.

I couldn't get past such a minor issue rendering my gun useless though. Even though I never did dry fire it without the mag in place again I always worried it could happen, and trust me, it only takes a few times to have an unreliable gun. I could have removed the firing pin block, and probably should have, but I sold mine and moved on to something I trusted more.

Mine needed no special care. Like all Rugers I've owned it just ran fine other than the firing pin block failure. No break in was ever needed. It chambered and ejected 100% of the time. It just did not fire after the damage was done.

If you make sure to NEVER dry fire it without a mag in place it will probably be a very good gun for you. Or if you remove the firing pin block. Ruger even advises dry fire in the owners manual. Just make sure it has an empty magazine in the gun.

 

[CommanderCrusty]

Thank you so much for your kind replies. Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[JDGray]

The P345 that I owned, did like to be run wet. I think this is because of the very light recoil spring Ruger uses. Very easy to rack the slide, but it didn't like to return to battery after it was a little dirty(a friend has the exact issue with his). Remove the mag safety if you plan on dry firing without a magazine, damage will happen to the firing pin if not. The plus to removing the mag safety plunger and spring, is that your mags will drop free afterwards. Very accurate 45! Kinda miss mine....

 

[Cornhusker77]

Still got mine.
I lube it just like the rest, and it's always been 100%, and it will feed anything
I don't dry fire it so I don't worry about the mag disconnect thing
All in all, they are good guns.

 

[Dogguy]

1. Don't ever dry fire without magazine in place. But it's easy to remove the part that causes the problem if you choose to do so. After that, it doesn't matter.

2. I don't recall it needing a break-in period but I like to shoot 100-200 rounds through a new gun to become familiar with it. Call it a break in for the operator.

3. I've shot it lightly lubed and well-lubed with grease. Made no difference in function. The slide rides on the polymer frame, not on steel inserts so it may be best in the long run to use a little extra lube in this area.

4. Remora clipless IWB and Blade-Tech kydex holsters--both good choices. It's not ammo sensitive at all. For defense loads, I used Winchester Ranger T or Remington Golden Saber--all 230 gr. JHP not +P.

5. I never changed anything about the P345 except removing the problematic magazine safety. It has been a marvel of functional reliability. I call it my "garbage disposal" pistol since it has eaten a boatload of 30-year old handloads of questionable quality and high carbon residue content. It's not a very refined pistol, the trigger is kinda sloppy and I dislike the slide-mounted safety/decocker. Despite all the things about it I don't like, it has been as reliable as my Glocks and SIGs and considerably more reliable than either of the Colt 1911 pistols I've owned.

 

[cuervo]

It's been a long time since I sold mine, but as I recall, I needed to change the springs and/or followers in the magazines to get it to work reliably. I think I switched to Chip McCormick springs for a 1911. Once I did, it ran fine.