buying a pistol, what do you all think of the Ruger P345

[drummerwookie]

as the title says, im looking into buying a new pistol. its going to be my first pistol and dont plan on buying any others right now, even tho, im sure way down the road, ill buy another...lol..ive been looking at a few different options, like the taurus PT99, taurus PT911,, possibly even a tauras 1911, but, then i started looking at rugers centerfire pistols, and after reading about the P345, and studying its design, this, so far, is my favorite gun that ive been looking at...it may be a little out of my price range, but i could spring the extra 50-60 bucks or what ever over my limit...i didnt want to spend more then 400 bucks.

i plan on using it mostly for just target shooting, so i have my own pistol to shoot, and not using my friends all the time, and, also, down the way i want to get a CCW with this gun, but i want to become very skilled with this pistol first while target shooting before i get the CCW.

i know its a pretty hefty gun, but i dont really plan on carrying it on my side, just with me in my jeep when i go 4-wheeling in remote places, like next year, ill be taking a wheeling trip, driving my jeep across country, to colorado, and ill be in some deep wilderness miles and miles away from any real civilization, so i would atleast like to just be able to have the gun in my jeep ready for anything that could happen

ive got a ruger 10/22 long lifle and love it...and i asked some over on jeep forum about this gun, and no one had anything bad to say about it, some even said it would actually make a good first pistol for me.

so, do any of you have any input i could feed off of? i do plan on going to a range around here where they rent out different guns to try, so i can try that one, among many others, before i make my final decision...

thanks guys,
Khori

 

[nelson133]

I like the way the 345 fits in my hand, but I bought a used P97 for $250 instead. There are too many reports of problems with the 345 for me, there are many good reports also, I just didn't want to take the chance. The P97 is a little less "bells and whistles" but functions just fine.

 

[Mandirigma]

One of the most common advise out there is. Go shoot it. See how it feels in your hand. Find a place that rents out handguns, ask to see if you can handle them, and rent a few that feel right.

Another bit is Don't overlook "used" handguns. That'll help you get a wider selection.

Lastly, check out this site.

http://www.corneredcat.com/TOC/TOC.htm#FirstGun

Pax, one of the moderators runs it. Overall its a very good read.

 

[drummerwookie]

hey, thanx for the site, ill have to look over that when i have more time. and i do plan on looking at used guns too....ive been looking over on gunbroker.com a lot at their guns. most of them are still the same as a new one tho, not to many breaks over there

 

[JDGray]

The new P345, is a great gun. Others have had problems, but not here. At 29oz, its not to heavy to ccw. Very accurate, good trigger, whats not to like
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_49_75/products_id/12752

 

[.41Dave]

I have a P345 that my wife gave me for our anniversary a couple of years back. I like it. It is reasonably accurate and it has been 100% reliable. If you do buy a P345, just don't dry fire it without the magazine in place. This can peen the magazine safety and cause failure to fire. The instruction manual has this info but lots of people don't read the manual, dry fire the gun without a magazine, damage their guns, then complain that the P345 is "unreliable".

All that said, if you want a gun for the remote wilderness a big bore revolver is a better choice.

 

[drummerwookie]

thanx JD for that site...thats a hell of a price for one in the stainless finish..even if its used, thats still a great price

dave, thanx for the advive, but for some reason, i just dont like revolvers..none of them catch my eye at all, and i just like shooting the semi autos more. thanx tho

 

[BADUNAME13]

Buy a CZ for the same price.

Hold the 2 one after the other and you'll know the reason why.

Edited to add: You can also buy a .22 conversion for some CZ's... and have an inexpensive way to train.)

 

[JDGray]

drummerwookie,Thats a new gun

 

[drummerwookie]

wow! for some reason i thought i saw that it was used, but damn..thats one heck of a price for a brand new 345. that site may be where i buy my gun, even if i decide on something else. thanx again for the site

 

[drummerwookie]

thanx for the advice Nomad, ill check out the CZs too and see what the difference is

 

[JDGray]

Buds will add 27.00 shipping to that + 3% for credit card, then your ffl must be on file with them. Add in the transfer fee from your ffl, and your probably gonna be close to your local gun stores price. Do all the math before you buy. Got mine local for 429.00+tax. Enjoy

 

[drummerwookie]

i might just drive down there to get it, JD. its not a great distance from me. 145 miles, so around 2 hrs each way...it would cost a little in gas, but could make a fun day

 

[fattsgalore]

I've shot the P345 once and was impressed with recoil. Literally, lighter then my Glock 23. Surprising.

If you want a Ruger 45 go look into the P90 the older Ruger .45.
It's heavy, ugly, and will out last the newer 45's hands down. Ask anyone.

As for your other choice the Taurus PT92/99 your in the right direction.

As far as it gose. There own desings vary in quality, but Taurus makes some of the finest clones on the market. 92/1911. Thier poly guns vary.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I've got a P345. I like it a lot.

 

[drummerwookie]

fattsgalore, i do like the looks a lot of the stainless Taurus guns, like the pt92/93, and really like the look of the stainless PT911...for the money, probably the best looking gun i found, but for some reason, i just like the ruger 345 better, so far anyways, but ill know for sure when i try them out

 

[drummerwookie]

ill say this, IF i could find a springfield 1911 in stainless with the wooden grip, or a colt 1911 in stainless with the wooden grip, or a smith and wesson 1911 with the wood grip in stainless, for 450 bucks or less, i would be all over that....well, once i get my tax returns anyways...lol

sadly i dont see that happening

 

[BobCav]

I have a P345 and I have loved it every single day until recently. The gun is still perfect, and I keep it with one in the chamber and safety on. Since I have it for self-defense, if I ever needed it in a hurry, I'd have to draw fast and take the safety off before I could shoot.

Lately, I've been practicing my fast draw and taking the safety off (with an empty gun of course). The safety on the P345 is flat and is down for safe and up for fire. Trying to take the safety off (pushing up with the thumb) during a fast draw and trying to steady the grip on the gun at the same time is flat out difficult. While drawing, I have to move my thumb from its natural position, push up to take off the safety and then back down to firing position. I'm sure after a couple hundred drills drawing and takig the safety off, I'd get it, but lately I'm seeing that extra move as unnecessarily time consuming and in a life threatening situation it could be deadly. It seems to be more natural to be able to be able to swipe the safety off while bringing my thumb down to firing position.

It's for this reason I'm seriously considering a SA XD-45 or the like. Something with a grip/trigger safety or a 1911 type.

 

[JDGray]

BobCav, Made the switch your talking about. I too, found it hard to draw and flip the safety up, so I carried with the safety off. After shooting, and getting used to my Brothers G17, I bought a G19. No safety to forget in a high stress situation, way smaller(still a 4" barrel), way lighter than my P345.

 

[PX15]

FWIW:

I think Ruger makes excellent revolvers..

And rimfire pistols..



J. Pomeroy

 

[ERIC M.]

I have a Witness 9mm which is one of the finest pistols that I have shot.
I shoots all of my reloads without a hitch, and is smooth.
It is made by Tanfoglio, the quality is right up there with the CZ 75.

Also you might want to look into the CZ 100 .40S&W.
I think that the CZ 100 will be my next purchase.
It really feels good in my hands, even though I haven't fired one yet.

Eric

 

[KINGMAX]

I like the P345

I sold a P90 to get into a GLOCK 21. Both are great weapons, I only have positive remarks for them.

The P345 seems to be a touch more compact, w/ smoother edges, (JMOHO).

GET ONE, tell us how good it shoots.

 

[B yond]

+1 p345

I'm happy with mine, although it did take a fluff and buff to get it to feed properly. (It would've broken in on its own eventually, I just didn't have the patience).

The two complaints I hear about them are the magazine safety causing a failure to fire (don't dry fire without a magazine and this won't be a problem, or you can remove the mag safety all together), and failure to load issues that many people think is related to the magazine but was caused by a sharp edge at the mouth of the chamber/top of the feed ramp on my particular pistol (easily corrected with a piece of fine-grit sandpaper and about 2 minutes, or several hundred rounds through the gun).

Don't let the complaints scare you away from this gun, once they work right, they keep on working right. Mine is now 100% reliable.

The camblock system reduces felt recoil over that of any glock or 1911 I've had the pleasure of shooting, and the double action trigger pull is enough (8 stacking pounds, IIRC) that its just as safe to carry with the safety off as a glock is without a manual safety at all (if you're concerned about quick draws and flipping off the safety).

If you live in a place with munchkins (or gremlins, for that matter) you might like the built-in keyed safety, if not, its easy to ignore.

just my $0.03.

Any Ruger reps out there; you should really be paying me for all the positive recommendations I give this gun.

 

[MikePGS]

Just as a heads up Eric, i hear the cz-100's have awful awful triggers on them.

 

[Fun2Shoot]

I bought my Ruger KP345R during the guns intitial roll-out. There were problems with FTF about 5% of the time. Also a safety that would fail on occasion. It went back to Ruger, returned better, but not good enough. It was traded.

I was a member of the Ruger forum at that time and a significant group of P345 owners has similiar problems. That was several years ago.

That being said, I might buy another new P345 someday (bugs probably worked out by now). I really thought that the P345 had a lot of the characteristcs of a Colt Commander that I had owned back-in-the-day.

Compact and well balanced and reasonably accurate. It is a nice package.