The dirty on Ruger P89

[CAnnoneer]

It would be nice to know what you guys think of Ruger P89. E.g.:

1) reliability
2) accuracy
3) serviceability
4) price
5) ammo
6) availability
7) how do they compare to your favorite autoloader

Thanks!

 

[Ivy Mike]

1. I've never seen one fail to fire. I don't have a lot of expierience with them though. Just friends guns.
2. Combat accurate. Not great, but it will punch a ragged hole if you can.
3. Not sure what you mean here, but Ruger is still making them and has been for years. They aren't overly complicated.
4. CDNN has them for under $300
5. Anything seems to work and because of their overbuilt construction, you can feed +p+ all day long.
6. They are available anywhere but the best prices are online. There are various accesories.
7. The Ruger P series is kind of a victim of its own success. They aren't overly pretty and they are heavy. Ergonomics are OK.
Because its so overbuilt, its a little ungainly. It couldn't be as overbuilt and rugged...and reliable if it wasn't a little ungainly.

This shouldn't be a considered a slight, but they are boring vanilla guns. That being said, I've been considering the purchase of one in .45 or .40 and was considering a conversion to 10mm.

 

[Navy87Guy]

I think Clean97GTI covered it pretty well. The P89 is reliable, accurate and rugged. I put a set of Hogue wraparound grips on mine and it improved the feel (same with my wife's P93). I did replace the front sight with a HiViz fiber optic sight which works really well for me. Pics of my gun are on my website, here: http://users.adelphia.net/~navy87guy/ruger.html

For the price, you can't go wrong with a Ruger!

 

[RKirby]

I recently sold a P89. It was a good, well made gun...but not suited to competitive shooting, which is what I am into at the moment. As to your questions:

1) was reliable for me for range shooting. I would trust it as a home defense weapon.
2)accuracy was as good as I was capable of.
3)servicability....crappy ergonomics, get a decocker instead of the manual safety version.
4)Price...buy a used one and let someone else take the depreciation hit. Used..250.00-325.00 range. I payed $389.00 for my stainless P89 in early 2003.
5)availability..that's a local issue..they're not that hard to find in my area.
6)My favorite auto at the moment is one of my Springfield XD's..the Ruger doesn't even come close!

Hope this answers some of your questions.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I didn't really answer how it compares to my favorite autoloader...the FN FNP-9

The FN has better ergonomics, lighter weight and higher capacity. I paid about as much for the FN as a new Ruger might go for. The FNP's are going up in price though...rather quickly I might add.

I'd say it compares favorably though...I don't think I would feed the FN a steady diet of super hot ammo. You can't go wrong with a Ruger. I'm surprised the US Mil hasn't looked at the P-series yet.

I'm still considering the purchase of a Ruger...just don't know if I want it in .40 or .45. I already own a .40, so its one less caliber to have to buy and stock, then again, I don't yet own a .45 and might grow to like it.

Tough call, especially considering the great prices.

 

[JohnKSa]

Worth the money, faultless reliability, impressive durability, VERY sturdy, reasonable accuracy, poor trigger.

Field strips easily, easy to fully disassemble with tools--no staked or roll-pinned parts. Low parts count and simple design. Of course they don't seem to break so serviceability might be moot.

They'll shoot anything marked 9x19, the manual has only a disclaimer against reloaded ammo. No cautions about +P, +P+, subgun ammo, etc. The only problem I've ever had was failure to chamber some oversize rounds from a box of budget import ammo. They were literally too big to go in the chamber.

Trigger gets better with use, and accuracy seems to improve a bit as well. Good practical shooter, a bit large for concealment.

Availability seems good in my area with used ones turning up often at decent prices.

It's clunkier and not as refined as the autos I like better, and not as accurate. Still, I'll probably always have one in the safe.

 

[albanian]

I had one so I will answer in order of your list.

1) reliability
100% reliable like all Ruger autos I have had or seen. I place them in the list of the most reliable autos ever with S&W autos and Beretta. I have seen Glocks, SA XDs, and other top quality autos fail but never the the I mentioned. CZs are also reliable but I have only owned one of them so I can't make much of a judgement.

2) accuracy
Sub par. They tend to put the bullets where they need to be for combat type accuracy but that is about it. If you are looking for a good plinker or target gun, look for a XD or a Glock, they tend to shoot tighter groups.

3) serviceability
Built like a tank and will last forever. Is that serviceable enough for you?

4) price
Great for used guns and still pretty good for new but I still think they is more bang for the buck in a XD or a CZ right now.

5) ammo
The P89 is a 9mm so ammo is cheap and there are probably more loads for the 9mm than any other caliber. Ammo gets top marks.

6) availability
I see lots of them on the new and used market so you should be able to find one with no problem.

7) how do they compare to your favorite autoloader
A couple of my favorite autos are the Beretta 92fs and the SA XD-9. The Beretta is in a class by itself but they are expensive new. The SA XD is one of the better deals in a new gun right now. They give up nothing to the Glock but sell for at least $100 less. The Xd is not much more than the P-89 but I feel it is a better gun and the money would be well spent.

A few extra notes in case you are interested. The Ruger P-95 is my favorite Ruger and I would buy one of them before the P-89. The SA XD is a great gun as well and I think it is probably the best bang for the buck. It is more accurate than the Rugers and a little more refined. The XD will keep more of it's value in case you need to sell it to get something else.

 

[bakert]

Although I upgraded to a P97 this spring I still carry at times my old P85, the forerunner and very similar to the P89 . Just a bit bulky but that older gun has never failed to feed ,fire, or eject in about 7 to 8 K rds. That includes all type of ammo both new and reloads mixed or matched. It's not a target pistol but hits where I point it at 7 to 10 yds and the trigger has gotten better with shooting. I think one gentleman in another thread called it the gun you want when TSHTF.

 

[444]

I have owned a number of 9mm handguns and have probably shot pretty much all the ones commonly available. The thing that is great about the 9mm cartridge is all the fantastic guns chambered for that cartridge. There are very few 9mm pistols that I don't like and I honestly believe that one is pretty much as good as another: Glock, Browning, CZ, Springfield..............and the Ruger. I own a Ruger, among others and I honestly think that if I could only own one 9mm auto: it wouldn't matter which one I owned. I would be just as happy with the Ruger as any other 9mm auto I have ever played with.
Not that this means anything, but I have only ever won, one pistol match. I don't mean first in my class or division but first overall out of all shooters at the match, and the one time I did that I was shooting a Ruger P89. Again, this doesn't prove much, but I think it does prove that the Ruger is capable of holding it's own against all comers.
It's one big problem was already mentioned above: it is plain. It is ordinary. It isn't sexy. It isn't on the cover of many magazines. It is just a good, solid, reliable service pistol. It is the Toyota Corrola or the Ford F150 of the handgun world.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Ungainly but Ruger tough. The later P series are definitely product improvements. The parts are multi-function and therefore fewer in number. My personal preference is towards the P-97.

 

[lee n. field]

That being said, I've been considering the purchase of one in .45 or .40 and was considering a conversion to 10mm.

If you do that, keep us appraised. A 10mm conversion (where ya gonna get the barrel? is the big question) of the P90 would be very interesting.

 

[Justin]

1) reliability

The only serious trigger time I've had with a Ruger P89 was years ago, and it jammed on my pretty continually, much to the consternation of the owner for whom it had run 100%.

2) accuracy

Ruger accuracy. Not a Lorcin, but not a target pistol.

3) serviceability

Dunno. I've never used Ruger service as I don't typically shoot Ruger guns. I've heard both good and bad.

4) price

It is what it is. A value-priced firearm.

5) ammo

Generalizing to Rugers, they tend to be fairly robust in their ability to handle all sorts of ammo.

6) availability

All over the place.

7) how do they compare to your favorite autoloader

This would be a totally unfair question for me to answer.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a Ruger. For the most part Ruger makes serviceable and reliable plinking guns, but nothing terribly special.