Ok, I confess. After shooting the IISHOT1000 earlier this year I didn't immediately clean the Ruger stainless P95DC that I used in the match. In fact, I stuck it in the safe and left it there.
I confess again. I bought this pistol used and took it right to the match without ever shooting it or cleaning it. It looked like the original owner had cleaned it but I didn't really do much other than perform a basic function check.
Tonight I finally dug it out of the safe and did a detail strip & clean. It was easily the dirtiest pistol I've ever cleaned. Some was built up from the 1100-1200 rounds I fired through it and some was left over from the previous owner. It was absolutely filthy. Carbon was built up badly and was so stubborn that in places I had to use a small screwdriver to chip it away. I also found out that the previous owner appears to have used some price expedient cleaner on the gun that damaged the polymer frame in places--fortunately that was purely cosmetic. And, besides the carbon fouling there was a good bit of grit/dust in the inner workings of the pistol which was left there by whatever the previous owner used it for.
The bore, surprisingly, cleaned up very rapidly with much less effort than I expected.
In spite of the fouling and grit in the gun, it only malfunctioned twice during the thousand round test using WWB ammunition and that was on the last stage after firing 969 rounds. AND, it only malfunctioned when using the slide release to load the first round from a fully loaded magazine. I typically use the slingshot method to load a round from the magazine, but the match was specifically designed to try to exercise all the gun's capabilities so on some stages using the slide release was mandatory. "Slingshotting" the slide resulted in no malfunctions. In fact, I shot another 100-200 rounds after the test was over using the slingshot method to load the first round and experienced no more malfunctions.
There was an amazing buildup of carbon fouling on the feedramp of the gun. I ended up having to use a steel bristled "toothbrush" to get it all removed. I should have taken pictures...
I continue to be impressed with the P95 which is why I recently recommended one to a family member for a self-defense pistol and why I have a Ruger P95 doing home defense duty even though I own much more "refined" and much more expensive pistols. It's not the best thing on the market, but in its price range (and even up to double its normal retail price range) I think it's hard to pick a better basic self-defense pistol.
I should point out that I have no experience with the new "generation" of P95 pistols with the textured grip and the accessory rail. Mine are the old style P95's with the smooth frame and no accessory rail. I bought them used--typically for a good deal less than $300. This one was $275 and came with a holster and several spare magazines.
I confess again. I bought this pistol used and took it right to the match without ever shooting it or cleaning it. It looked like the original owner had cleaned it but I didn't really do much other than perform a basic function check.
Tonight I finally dug it out of the safe and did a detail strip & clean. It was easily the dirtiest pistol I've ever cleaned. Some was built up from the 1100-1200 rounds I fired through it and some was left over from the previous owner. It was absolutely filthy. Carbon was built up badly and was so stubborn that in places I had to use a small screwdriver to chip it away. I also found out that the previous owner appears to have used some price expedient cleaner on the gun that damaged the polymer frame in places--fortunately that was purely cosmetic. And, besides the carbon fouling there was a good bit of grit/dust in the inner workings of the pistol which was left there by whatever the previous owner used it for.
The bore, surprisingly, cleaned up very rapidly with much less effort than I expected.
In spite of the fouling and grit in the gun, it only malfunctioned twice during the thousand round test using WWB ammunition and that was on the last stage after firing 969 rounds. AND, it only malfunctioned when using the slide release to load the first round from a fully loaded magazine. I typically use the slingshot method to load a round from the magazine, but the match was specifically designed to try to exercise all the gun's capabilities so on some stages using the slide release was mandatory. "Slingshotting" the slide resulted in no malfunctions. In fact, I shot another 100-200 rounds after the test was over using the slingshot method to load the first round and experienced no more malfunctions.
There was an amazing buildup of carbon fouling on the feedramp of the gun. I ended up having to use a steel bristled "toothbrush" to get it all removed. I should have taken pictures...
I continue to be impressed with the P95 which is why I recently recommended one to a family member for a self-defense pistol and why I have a Ruger P95 doing home defense duty even though I own much more "refined" and much more expensive pistols. It's not the best thing on the market, but in its price range (and even up to double its normal retail price range) I think it's hard to pick a better basic self-defense pistol.
I should point out that I have no experience with the new "generation" of P95 pistols with the textured grip and the accessory rail. Mine are the old style P95's with the smooth frame and no accessory rail. I bought them used--typically for a good deal less than $300. This one was $275 and came with a holster and several spare magazines.
