Tell me about Ruger P 90 45 ACP

[seagiant]

Hi,
This pistol keeps me wondering about it every now and then? Maybe because it's a tank and I like that. Can you guys give me the Good,Bad and Ugly on this weapon? Thanks!

[runfiverun]

it is solid [except for the rattly parts] it feeds anything, sideways, upside down, whatever.
not overly accurate though.

[AK Caster]

Mine went back to the factory twice on their dime because it would jam at least once when shooting a full magazine. Didnt seem to matter what ammo I tried I couldnt get it to function 100%.
The accuracy was nothing to write home about either. I been a Ruger fan for decades but this one was a disappointment for me. Sold it and glad I did.

[tomme boy]

I had a decocker version. I shot over 15K rounds threw it and I can not remember it ever jamming. I traded it for a 30 horse power Yamaha boat motor. He had it for a few years and said he put about 5K rounds threw it before he sold it.

They are a very good range gun. Always goes bang.

[starmac]

I bought a nice one, cheap from a guy that was in a bind, I never fired it.
It turned into a stainless sbh 44 mag that I do fire, even trade, so my take on it is they are a fine firearm. lol

[35remington]

Facts:

The P90 seven shot magazines were inherently reliable. The eight shot variants that are now intended as replacements (they fit both P90 and P97) are less so. You cannot buy any seven shot magazine springs any more from Ruger. Nor any more seven shot P90 magazines.

Fortunately, Wolff still makes an extra power seven shot spring for the P90.

The eight shot replacements, which all are you can get from Ruger anymore, have a crimp in the feed lips which does not do any good, the horrible short skirt Devel type follower, and a very weak spring.

Betcha the spotless record of reliability the P90 has starts going downhill when used with the eight shot magazines.

I came from the other direction. I had a P97 that gave me considerable feeding problems with the supplied eight shot magazines, and I replaced them with P90 seven shot magazines. Problem solved. So far I have eight P90 seven shot magazines, and am looking for more.

The P97 eight shot magazines are for range use only, where their frequent jams are of no great importance. That way most of the wear and tear is on my craptacular magazines, which is an appropriate fate for poorly engineered products. I shoot the "good" seven shot P90 magazines only enough to insure they're reliable, and they still are.

Lay in a supply of parts for your seven shot P90 magazines......if you still can. The eight shotters are a big step backwards in terms of reliability.

[Hang Fire]

it is solid [except for the rattly parts] it feeds anything, sideways, upside down, whatever.
not overly accurate though.

Really? This is seven shot 25 yard Ruger factory target.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/img465.jpg

[Hang Fire]

The point about the 7 shot P90 mags is spot on, they are fool proof. I lucked out when my P90 was gifted to me and also got 10 of the 7 shot mags.

Never seen a pistol like the P90, it will feed most any load without so much as a hiccup. It resides permanently under my pillow.

[seagiant]

Thanks Gentlemen,
From what I can tell off of my Google-fu,the 8 rd. mags are spotty. Meaning some work fine and some don't. It seems that the P90 mags are just like 45ACP 1911 mags except for location of the mag catch cut out. The people with problems with the 8 rounders are switching in Wilson springs and followers and they are good to go. Admittedly a bit pricey as they should work period but doable anyway and a reliable mag in the end!

[35remington]

Not quite.

The problem with the eight shot magazines are the crimp in the feed lips. If a strong spring is substituted, the top round becomes difficult to strip off the top from slidelock, and in fact the friction can get so high that it may stop the slide mid cycle even when firing the gun.

The Wilson springs, while probably stronger than the original Ruger 8 shot springs, are not as strong as the spring in the seven shot magazines. The crimp is a feed impediment while ironically not giving the last round retention benefits that were intended, due to the wrong location for the crimp.

So, given a choice between the two, the seven shot will always be more reliable due to the spring strength issue and lack of a crimp in the feed lips.

Use the seven shot magazines for serious work, the eight shotters for play where a malfunction will not land you in the morgue.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Well,I never heard anything about that but I don't even own this pistol so I will look into it more. That is not a good thing as my understanding is the 7 rounders are not even made any more! What does Ruger have to say about all of this???

[35remington]

Ruger's engineers are the one who foisted the idea on us. What do you suppose Ruger would say?

A Devel follower is a poor idea; even Chip McCormick will admit it is flawed, and has sought to address it with his Power Mag Plus.

The crimp in the feed lips on the eight shot magazines makes a strong enough spring inadvisable, as the magazine is now more likely to jam because the slide does not have enough umph to strip the round from the magazine and feed it into the chamber. These issues defy correction as long as the crimp still exists.

Ironically, the feed lip crimp was intended to help address inertial misfeeding issues on the last round, caused by a weak spring that was the result of putting another round in the magazine. To make room for the extra round, a short skirt Devel follower (bad idea) was needed and a shorter, weaker spring was substituted (bad idea number two).

Bad Idea Number Three was the crimp in the feed lips. Not only did it make the conversion to a seven shot with a good strong spring and better follower impossible, the crimp was in the wrong place to prevent the last shot from jumping free of the feed lips instead of feeding. So it does not work as intended on the eight shot original magazines, and in fact is an impediment to conversion.

Believe me, I've tried converting the eight shot with a better follower and a seven shot spring. Won't work. A more reasonable solution might be to try to file off the crimp in the feed lips, but I've taken to gun shows to find more seven shot P90 magazines instead.

A fellow here was helpful enough to hear my pleas and very kindly sold me some of his P90 magazines (new in box) that he had never used. I was and am very grateful for that.

Putting Wilson springs and followers in the magazine may work for some, but the eighth shot is still problematic even so, and the crimp in the feed lips has something to do with it as it is not a good fit with a spring that is to any significant degree stronger than the original. A modified P90/P97 eight shot magazine that has Wilson components in it is not as reliable as an original P90 seven shot magazine.

Because it still has less spring than the seven shot variants, and because of the dang crimp in the feed lips.

[seagiant]

Hi 35,
Thanks for explaining the problem in detail. Having a small shop including a BP mill I would be inclined to take a Wilson or Mec-gar 1911 mag and recut a new slot that would fit the mag catch position on the P90. The only problem I can see is if the original slot in the 1911 mag is to close to the slot that needs to be cut for the P90 and they would connect and make to big of a slot??? Just an idea but if doable would fix the problem as then you could use any 1911 mag you want!

[RU shooter]

The P90 was the first weapon I carried when I did police work back in 1988 ,It was the most accurate side arm I ever carried and fed and fired everything that i could fit in the chamber,It would even feed empty cases from the mag not just one but all seven! I wish I had that gun back ! BTW the newer P345 is also very nice with a much better feel and stream lined look to it ,Lighter too.

Tim

[35remington]

I have not looked at the P345, but if the magazines are set up like the eight shot I have mentioned, with the Devel follower, weak spring and crimp in the feed lips, we've just found its weakness.

I hope that's not the case.

Seagiant, if you are talented enough to do that I'd try it on a cheap 1911 magazine first to see how close the slots must be.

[seagiant]

Hi 35,
There ain't much talent to it. Set it up and mill the slot. If you have a 1911 mag and a P90 mag you can probably tell me if it is possible???

[35remington]

It looks to be possible, with plenty of metal between the notches that will be present after cutting the new ones. The notch on a 1911 magazine is higher, so when it is inserted in the P90 it rides too low, with the cartridge well below the breechface.

Cutting a new notch below the existing one in a 1911 magazine will do it. The P90's magazine notch is about fifty percent narrower than the notch on the 1911 magazine, and a narrow notch will lend strength to the magazines by widening the strip of metal between the first cut and the second cut that will be present after a new one is added.

And, of course, the P90 magazine has a notch on both sides, not just the right side as on a 1911 magazine. The magazines should not be compared baseplate to baseplate, but rather bullet nose to bullet nose, as the base of the 1911 magazine will be "deeper" in the magwell than the thicker plastic baseplate on the P90 magazine.

Likely some trial and error will be needed to get the base of the cartridge in the magazine in the right location as compared to the breechface. Too high and too low are both bad, and it should match the original in that respect, particularly.

[454PB]

I've owned one for years.

Tough as an anvil and as accurate as any other .45 ACP I've owned.

[runfiverun]

if mine shot anywhere's near accurate i would still have it.
i bought it new when they first come out.
it fed everything i could get my hands on,or make,with no problems.
but it was not accurate.
i traded i in on an M-1 garand and never regretted the swap.

[Hang Fire]

Mine is extremely accurate as the factory target showed. My brother-in-law is an engineer at Ruger and a longtime employee, don't know if he built the pistol himself or oversaw the build, but it has surely had extra effort put into it.

I fell in love with it after shooting it and was surprised when he gifted it to me.

[dmize]

Only 2 guns I regret gettin rid of A 44 RH and my P90.
I bought it right after they came out,NEVER had a problem with it.
Biggest dissapointment was when I bought a Kimber Custom Target (because I just had to have a 1911) and side by side the Kimber didnt give ANYTHING that the P90 couldnt match.

[seagiant]

Hi,
I keep hearing this about the P90 how accurate it is and dependable! I might have to try one if I can get a good deal on one! Thanks!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Greg: If you have to have a .45 and you don't want a 1911 then I would urge you towards the Glock 21 SF.

I have one and it is great. Mine has Dawson Sights, and extended mag release and Glock extended slide catch (G35), and I recently put a Brownells spring kit in it that makes the trigger work exactly like the stock trigger except at 4 lbs instead of 5.5.

I have shot a .40 version of that Ruger pistol and it is just not exceptional in any way. They shoot as well as most anything but the gun does not insipire you in any way.. It is like a generic ball peen hammer,,, it works, but nobody cares.

My Bro in law traded his + some money for a Kimber Carry Pro 3" which is a very accurate gun despite the 3" barrel. It is exceptional in everyway!

I love most Ruger guns, this is not one of the ones I love.

My .02

Randy

[saz]

I have never owned a P90, but I have owned a P89 in 9mm and a P94 in 40S&W. Both of them were exceptionally reliable, and acceptably accurate. For defensive purposes they were great. A little bulky, a little clunky but I used both of them as my primary CCW at one time or another.

If this says anything, I wish I had them both back.

[kyle623]

I'll have to give the modifying a 1911 mag a try, i have a spare mag i can try it on

[Skrenos]

I'll have to give the modifying a 1911 mag a try, i have a spare mag i can try it on

Won't work. I've already tried and anyone who says they have done it and got it to work is a liar.

P90 mags are have a square profile at the front while 1911 mags are rounded at the front. The P90 magazine's notch is in the corner of that square profile. If you use a 1911 mag, it will be missing that corner and will not lock up.

[seagiant]

Hi Randy,
I have a tricked out Glock 20 in 10MM and I even bought a Lone Wolf barrel as I intend to use it in IDPA. That is why I set the CH Auto Champ up in 10MM! You are right I have looked at the P90 a couple of times but never pulled the trigger on buying one! Still I like the looks and it does have a good rep on dependability and accuracy.

The Glock is set up to use instead of my S&W 1006 because if I wear anything out or break anything on the Glock it is a part that will be readily available. Arguably no other pistol made can handle the "real" 10MM ammo as good as the Glock! Oh,as a side note I called CH and ordered a few small parts such as springs and a 45 ACP expander and the nice lady told me they support the Auto Champ 100%!

[Iron Mike Golf]

I don't own a P90, but my shooting buddy does. Nicely accurate. One thing I learned is it doesn't have much leade to the lands. Loading SWC boolits (452460 in this case), you have to keep the front drive band nearly flush with the case mouth.

[Frank]

P90's a brick house it'll blow holes with rounds that would make a 1911 come apart, it feeds everything and is deadly accurate.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive had a couple of them. Sure there clunky and arent going to win any matches but there a good solid reliable gun.