wlewisiii
Member
I recently picked up a proverbial "Like New In Box" Ruger KP97DC. This is the stainless and polymer, single stack, 8+1 .45 ACP model with DA/SA trigger and Decocker only. When I picked it up it was slightly dirty and both mags still had the factory stickers on them. I can't help but wonder if someone bought, put one or two mags through it, said "ouch" and eventually sold it without touching it again. I don't mind; I got an essentially new firearm for the price of a used one. 
Fit and finish is on par with my expectations of Ruger. Quite good for the price, just remember it's not a $1000 firearm. The DA trigger is fairly heavy, but the SA is very good once the take up is past. Rather Mauser like, actually. I found it easy to let it up just till the trigger reset and make very good SA trigger pulls on the 2nd and later rounds. Ejection was very positive
and I experienced no failures of any kind.
The only issue I have is that I'm hitting about 3 inches below POA at 20 feet. Groups were tight and on line, but if I aimed at the center of mass on the target, the group was just above the waist line of that target. Aim at the center of the head and the group was at the junction of torso and neck. This was consistant through the 100 rounds I shot today, well, with the exceptions of a few fliers when I finished the box of Fiocchi FMJ and started the WWB JHP. The latter were noticeably stouter, much more in line with my memory of shooting .45 in the army than the Fiocchi were.
All in all, I'm happy with the Ruger. Since it's a fixed sight weapon I may need to invest in an adjustable set to fix the low POI issue, but given the good groups and comfortable shooting otherwise, that's probably not a bad investment to make.
At this point, I'd still consider my S&W Model 64 with FBI loads to be my primary weapon, but once I'm fully up to speed with this Ruger, I could see that changing.
Fit and finish is on par with my expectations of Ruger. Quite good for the price, just remember it's not a $1000 firearm. The DA trigger is fairly heavy, but the SA is very good once the take up is past. Rather Mauser like, actually. I found it easy to let it up just till the trigger reset and make very good SA trigger pulls on the 2nd and later rounds. Ejection was very positive
and I experienced no failures of any kind. The only issue I have is that I'm hitting about 3 inches below POA at 20 feet. Groups were tight and on line, but if I aimed at the center of mass on the target, the group was just above the waist line of that target. Aim at the center of the head and the group was at the junction of torso and neck. This was consistant through the 100 rounds I shot today, well, with the exceptions of a few fliers when I finished the box of Fiocchi FMJ and started the WWB JHP. The latter were noticeably stouter, much more in line with my memory of shooting .45 in the army than the Fiocchi were.
All in all, I'm happy with the Ruger. Since it's a fixed sight weapon I may need to invest in an adjustable set to fix the low POI issue, but given the good groups and comfortable shooting otherwise, that's probably not a bad investment to make.
At this point, I'd still consider my S&W Model 64 with FBI loads to be my primary weapon, but once I'm fully up to speed with this Ruger, I could see that changing.
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