Has anybody bought a Ruger P97 in the last few months?

[mini14jac]

I've used the search engine, and the last posts were about 2 months ago.

Has anybody bought a P97 in the last few months?

Any problems?
How many rounds fired?

These guns look like one of the best .45 values around.
(<$400 out the door, no work needed on trigger, reliability, etc.)
If they've cured the "flying slide stop" problem, it might be time to take the jump.

I've got a P95, (9mm), and I have around 500 rounds through it.
No problems at all with these fmj bullets: Wolf, Norinco, or Winchester "white box".
No problems with 3D lead bullets, and those were really short.
It loves Speer Gold Dot, 124gr +P, jhp.
Incredibly accurate, very fun to shoot.

I really don't need another caliber to keep stocked.
There is just something about those big ol' slow bullets.........

 

[cslinger]

I have had a P97 for about 3 years.....

I have never had the flying slide stop problem, it hasn't even ever started to work itself out under use.

I have put a few thousand rounds through it with a number of malfunctions that I can count on one hand. A couple of which were definitely linked to a poorly made magazine follower that was fixed with a dremel in 5 minutes. One or two were from a new shooter that was most likely limp wristing and one was from CCI Aluminum cased ammo, which I don't use ever since then.

That being said my P97 is one of the finest handguns I have ever owned or shot. It looks pretty good in stainless, is very accurate, reliable and built like a tank. Even though mine has loosened up quite a bit it still shoots to point of aim and is more than combat accurate.

I have a SIG 220 also and the SIG is a better gun but not a 300-400 dollar better gun. The SIG is more accurate at long ranges but out to about 50 to 60 feet the Ruger will shoot right with the SIG.

So I have a reliable, well built, decent looking semi-auto .45 that uses inexpensive magazines and is combat accurate and then some. All that and I paid about 320 bucks. What more could you want.

The only common problem I have had is the occasional brass straight back at me. There is an extractor fix for this but it hasn't bothered me enough to go through the trouble of getting the new extractor. Besides, its a semi auto if you are afraid of brass buy a revolver.

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the Ruger P Series from the 89 forward. The P85 had some problems but after that Ruger pretty much got it together. Buddy of mine has a P95 with numerous rounds through it and it just keeps shooting and shooting. It would feed rocks with the right powder charge. His had the recoil spring clip come off, so he ordered a new one got it about a week later but hasn't fixed it yet because it simply won't malfunction. I think he is trying to get it to malfunction to break up the monotony.

So big thumbs up for the P series and especially the P97 from me.

Here is mine.

http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/cslinger/Gun Inventory Sept 2002 004.jpg

 

[laynlow]

I don't remember exactly when I bought mine. I guess I have had it for about a year. It's accurate, tough, and looks good too. I have never had any of the problems associated with the P97. Mine just shoots. I have had some FTE on occasion, but it's always after I have shot 200 rounds or so through, and I think I just get tired and limp wrist those.

 

[aquapong]

I kind of wanted one, but not quite enough to buy one. Those shiny polymer grips are the deal breaker for me.:barf:

 

[fastbolt]

As the owner of an older P90, I've wondered about the newer 97, so when one of the guys at work brought one to the range I accepted his offer to shoot it.

I've never, ever felt as bad of an action as that pistol possessed. It crunched ... I mean, it really crunched. It functioned ... but it crunched ...

My P-90 is glass smooth by comparison.

I've owned Rugers since I was a teenager. I never would have expected, or believed, that a Ruger pistol with such an action would ever have left the factory ... It makes me wonder if many of the problem posts I've read over the past several months, about Ruger quality control problems, are indicative of a change in their manufacturing philosophy ...

Don't know what to tell you ...

 

[cslinger]

Fastbolt.

Strange about the trigger on the P97 you tried. I am no trigger feel guru but my P97 is very nice. Much better than my other plastic guns, not as good as my SIGs but close.

 

[fastbolt]

Yeah, I didn't really know what to think about it, either.

I had a slide tempering problem with my P-90 after firing a few hundred rounds through it. Galling and metal gouging on the stripper rail, by the top of the hammer, no less. They replaced the slide without any problem.

Then a few thousand rounds later I had the magazine catch spring break, and they sent me a few spares of both the spring and the catch, free of charge ... probably a lifetime supply. The only other Ruger problems I've ever had were out of spec parts in revolvers, which they fixed free of charge, even though one of the revolvers was several years old. Typical Ruger customer service.

I'm disappointed to read about so many unhappy owners of the P-97 series over on the Ruger forum, and then I try that one at the range, and it feels like someone dumped small gravel in it ...

Hopefully this is just a temporary condition for the company ... I used to consider Rugers as "tool box" guns. Throw them in a tool box and let them rattle around and get banged up by tools, and they'd still function 100% ...

 

[9mmepiphany]

maybe i'm spoiled, or maybe triggers have improved over time. i've never felt an "acceptable" ruger DA semi-auto trigger.

i find the sig triggers a start toward a "good trigger" and my 220 and 226 DA feel like an old smith K-frame. my beretta 92/96 feel like tuned L-frames.

i've heard that the ruger 90/97 are highly accurate and that their triggers are tuneable...but i just can't get over the way the top of the muzzle sticks out of the front of the slide

 

[geo57]

in the 1st place, like in most cases, the % of unhappy p-97 owners is very small. you just dont hear about the vast majority of trouble free p 97's. people dont bother hollering about it. mine, like countless others, has hundreds of rounds through it without 1 single hiccup. i'd be more than willing to compare the overall , out of box reliability of the p-97 over 1911's, sigs, glocks, etc. go to their chat boards..they too have problems. the next post has a guy praising the merets of a beretta 92 in 1 breath, then complains about the barrel sticking out slightly from muzzle end of the slide on the ruger...last time i checked, the barrel on a beretta 92 sticks out at least a 1|4 of an inch from its slide...double standard?..i think so. when a product works, and does it $200-500 cheaper than something they own, some feel the need to bash or say things that in general, are simply not true. are there or were there problematic 97's?..sure..but the overwhelming majority dont. and whether colt, sig, hk, or glock owners like it, its the fact

 

[mini14jac]

Thanks guys,
Some good replies.
Looks like there's a P97 in my future.

I have never been able to get comfortable with the idea that I would have to pay several hundred dollars for a gun, and then spend several hundred more to get it to be reliable and accurate.
Call me old-fashioned.

My P95, Vaquero, and and two MKIIs have been 100% out of the box.
Now, if I get a P97, it may need work, but it looks like the odds are in my favor.

 

[9mmepiphany]

geo57 - i really am not applying a double standard, 92 vs. 97...

the beretta has a square cut slide and makes no attempt to project a "sleek" look. when i first saw a picture of the 97, i was really taken with it's smooth nose and rounded ploymer frame. so my expectations were high for it as a CCW piece.

the protruding upper half-barrel just seemed to clash with the slick slide and i just couldn't take it home...but it still calls to me

 

[Torquemada]

The only problems (fail-to-feed, fail-to-eject, stovepipe) in my P97DC EVER were with Winchester range ammo, 185gr TMJ.

No problems with Hydra-Shoks, Golder Sabers, Blazers, Gold Dots, UMC, S&B, or other Winchester products (including all other types of FMJ, JHP). Might have something to do with bullet shape or OAL, I just stopped buying it (range ammo) because everything else worked just fine.

I get the occasional brass-in-the-head but it's not worth taking it out of service right now.

 

[gumshoe4]

My P97DC is about a year old, but I've only put about 300 rounds through it so far.

I took the day off today (yes-4 day holiday and no one at the range!!) and put 150 rounds through it and another 150 through my P95DC.

While I was shooting the P97, I was watching for the slide stop problem I've seen reported elsewhere. Doesn't happen with this gun. Also, 100% feed. extract and eject with both guns and both put the rounds in the black of a standard bullseye target every time, when I did my part (it's getting harder to do these days, because my eye prescriptions are changing!!).

I used W-W white box 230-grain ball ammo and W-W 185-grain Silvertip in the .45 and R-P 147-grain subsonic (got it for free-don't ask how) and W-W white box 124-grain ball in the 9mm. Accuracy was reasonable with all ammo out to 15 yards, which was as far as I shot them today.

I really like these guns. They're almost boring to shoot. I hate to say it, because I like big-bore cartridges, but I really prefer the 9mm P95DC.

Anyway, enough rambling. I recommend the P97DC. As with any other mass-produced item, I'm sure there is the occasional lemon out there and some folks here have told their sad stories, but most people seem to like the guns and mine work great. They shoot at least as well as I can. I used to carry a Glock 22 which was issued to me, but I actually prefer the P95DC (apologies to Glockologists everywhere-I know Glocks are perfect).

Good luck with your choice.

Bob

 

[geo57]

for what its worth to my fellow p97 owners, if you do reload, mine really shoots well with a 230 gr. fmj ( bulk) over 4.8 grs. of RED DOT. if you have a pet recipe, i;d enjoy hearing about it. geo

 

[Vince Ward]

Just traded for a P97

Just traded for a P97, which the guy said he bought new last year. Took it to the range for the first time yesterday, and shot through it reloads of 230 fmj with 6.6 grains of Unique. The 20 rounds I shot were great! Definitely glad I traded for the gun. Now I'm going to load up a couple hundred rounds and see if it is reliable enough to be my cold weather carry gun.