Ruger P95

[Guest simboden]

Just picked one up the other day. Looking forward to taking it to the range this weekend. Anybody know how picky of an eater it is? I've seen a lot of good reviews online and not too many bad things. Why oh why can't the weekend get here sooner!

[Patton]

They are not known to be ammo picky, just heavy.

[JAB]

Not really all that heavy, either, IMO. I have two because my first was a gift and I didn't want to carry it so I got a second one to carry. Now, I'm not going to say that I carry it in t-shirt and shorts weather but it carries pretty easily and hides pretty well for 'casual concealment' OWB in a leather belt slide holster under just an untucked shirt as a cover garment.

I have only ever experienced any kind of ammo 'pickiness' with one type of ammo. It came in white boxes with simply the caliber and some kind of lot number or something stamped on them. The primers had red around them and I believe they were probably intended as sub-machine gun ammo which is said to have harder primers than regular ammo. Shooting those, there was a couple of failures to ignite on first strike. The P95 fired even those on second strike, however. Beyond that, I have run all kinds of junk from Wolf to factory reloads through it without a single issue. This is despite the fact that I once was not as conscientious about cleaning my guns as I am now and didn't even clean my older P95 beyond swabbing out the barrel for the first five or so years I owned it.

The P95 manual expressly states that the pistol is suitable for use with any ammo loaded to industry standards regardless of whether the ammo uses steel cases, aluminum cases or brass cases.

Edited January 31, 2012 by JAB

[jimmydeuce]

Mine has shot pretty much anything I put through it with no problems. It's a little chunky but I don't find it heavy at all. The only thing I didn't really like about mine was the feel of the grip, especially if it got a little wet. I put a Hogue Handall sleeve on it.

[walton6467]

Mine ate anything you fed it. I found it to be bulky, but not heavy. I enjoyed it and have fond memories of it. Of course I traded it for my first Glock.

[raydog1]

Mine was picky. I called them about it and was told by one of their techs that they tested them with 124 gr Black Hills ammo & to use that. So, I stuck to 124 & 147 gr ammo of varying brands. After that, never had a problem.

[subsonic]

I owned a picky one, did not like Remington UMC at all, every 2nd or 3rd round stovepiped on me. It would eat American Eagle all day long. i've heard they need 200-300 rounds to get broken in, or get the throat polished. I'm shooting a CZ 75 Compact now, the throat looks like a mirror.

[JAB]

Funny that there can be so much variance between individual examples of the same product. The owner of my LGS sold me a 15 round ProMag magazine for a P95 for five bucks. He said that they had tried it in a couple of other P95s and it wouldn't work. Told me I could try it and bring it back when it didn't work. It works as well in my old one as does the factory mag and feeds/fires as quickly as I can pull the trigger. Come to think of it, I am not sure I've tried that mag out in my newer one (my old one only came with one ten rounder - must have been made during the gun ban because the factory plastic box it came in only had room for the one mag - and my new one came with two fifteen rounders.)

[Guest dubaholic2]

I had a P97. Ugliest gun I've ever owned (and I've been a Glock owner), but it was reliable as the day is long. Never found an ammo it didn't like.

[Sidinman]

I have one, mine is a P95DC it was the first semi-auto that I ever bought. Like Walton said it is a little bulky but not heavy, mine will eat anything you put in it. I have three, 15 round mags and one 10 rounder, never an issue with any or any of the different brands of ammo. It is my night stand gun now. I took mine out last week and emptied all four mags cleaned it up, reloaded the mags and put it back in its home. That was the first time I had shot it in a while, and forgot how good it shot. I never used it as a carry though, wouldn't hesitate too, just no holster. Enjoy and let us know how yours performs.

PS I also added the hogue slip-on handall, lol, even more bulkier. Still love it.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Sidinman
spell check

[TNWNGR]

Negatives are its less than glamorous looks, it’s a bit ungainly and bulky too. Positives though are reliability and decent combat accuracy, lots of aftermarket hammers, spring and triggers kits are available for it as well. The NIB price on these is good but used prices are so good it’s really prudent to purchase one for a teaching/training tool. Most folks who bad mouth these pistols’s do so because the ergonomics or triggers pull can be so off setting to them. It’s really too bad because taking the time to learn how different pistol’s shoot is beneficial to your training.

[Guest simboden]

Thanks for all the input, a lot of confirmation to what I've heard:) When I showed it to my girlfriend, her fingers were so short on it, her thumb wasn't anywhere near the slide release. I know it's not the prettiest one around (the gun, not the girlfriend), but there's some sort of charm it has over me.

I walked by it in the display case, thought it looked interesting. And when I asked the guy about what I was currently looking for, that was the first one he pointed out. I don't know if I can wait until Saturday, might need to run by the range after work in the morning. I'll use the excuse that I'll need to pick up a grip for it. That's believable, right?