Tag Archives: Ruger

Ruger RXM

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Ruger has developed a bit of a reputation for ‘borrowing’ other gun makers designs and running with them. Usually they tweak it enough that its not a straight up clone. That level of discretion has apparently left the building. I’m guessing they call it the RXMbecause calling it the G19 was too obvious.

A collaboration between Magpul and Ruger, they’ve basically taken the ‘modular’ idea of the swappable fire-control unit from SIG and stuffed it into a not-a-Glock-19. Cleverly, Ruger seems to be letting the polymer masters at Magpul handle the frames while Ruger handles the metal bits. Makes sense.

I have a SIG 320 with the swappable FCU and it’s an interesting concept…buy the serial-numbered FCU and then you can change out your frame,slide,barrel, etc, with unregulated parts…much like how a stripped AR lower opens up a huge avenue of ‘customization’. If you live in a place where there’s a limit on how many guns you can own, this is a nice workaround to having a full-size, a compact, a ‘race gun’, etc. all with only one ‘firearm’.

So you have huge customization with the FCU concept, takes Glock mags, have early third-party support from Magpul (who are making the frames, it seems), optic cuts, steel sights, etc. And I’m seeing them at $400~ or less, dealer cost.  Assuming Ruger doesn’t do it’s usual new-product-recall, they might have finally created the polymer striker gun they’ve been trying and failing at for years.

Is there a reason to get this rather than the SIG 320? Glock magazine ubiquity might suggest so. Is there a reason to get this rather than the Glock? SIG-style FCU modularity seems like a big sell. And Magpul will be offering this in all sortsa colors, I’m sure.

This might actually turn Rugers amazing always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride history of LE contracts on its head. I need to get one of these to play with.

ETA: Also, mad props for not incorporating an interchangeable backstrap system. At least, not yet… I suppose aftermarket frames might incorporate them, but I find them to be almost useless. Also, my vendor shows dealer price at $340 which seems reasonable.

P95DC Redux^4

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Even though I’ve become rather taken with the Palmetto Daggers for their ability to operate in the Glock environment, I still have a problem resisting when I see a P95DC for less than $200.

It has gotten to the point that I now store them in 5-gun pistol cases. And there are several of those cases. As soon as I get Commander Zero’s Post Nuclear Bunker Of Love And Lingerie Proving Ground built, several of these will be quietly hidden under the floorboards.

…but then I’d have to live with myself……..

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Scene: Local gun shop

Him: Hey, we’re getting a buncha used guns in later
Me: Awesome. Lemme know when they arrive.

:::Hour  later:::

I show up an start sifting through the stack. He says theres a Ruger 556 in there. I find an AR-pattern rifle, but its the Ruger 762. Ok, he mixed up the Ruger 556 for the 762, I can see that.

Me: Hmmm…..What’ll you take for the PTR-91 and the Ruger 556?
Him: :::mentions price::::
Me: Hmmm…I’ll give you $1500 for the pair.
Him: Sold!

And I trundle off with my loot. An hour or two later, I’m thinking “Man, those SR-762’s are kinda pricey. Lemme look up the price on those.” So I did. And, apparently, a new one goes for around $1500 :::sigh::: I know what happened. I drive back.

Me: Hey, that list of guns that came in. It had prices with it right?
Him: Yup.
Me: Read me the serial number off the list for that Ruger you sold me.
Him: :::reads wrong serial number:::
Me: And the model number?
Him: ::: reads off wrong model number :::
Me: And the caliber?
Him: :::reads of wrong caliber:::
Me: I think you sold me the wrong gun. Let me see your bound book.

Sure enough. There was a Hawkeye in .223 on the list and and somehow the SR-762 got mixed up as that gun.*

Me: Dude, I really hate saying this, but you sold me this gun way too cheap.

And we figured it out. It was a bit of a headache to clean up, paperwork-wise… The Hawkeye, that never left the building, had been entered as sold to me. So, rather than  correct it we just logged it back in as received from me. Easy enough. But…man, a $1500 rifle for half the price woulda been nice.

But….I like the people there and I’d never be able to show my face in there again if they called me and said “We made a mistake” and I said “Too bad.” So…yeah. Mensch.

* = Here’s what happened. I asked if he had any Rugers. He said “I have a 556” which I took to mean he had a Ruger 556. So I grabbed the first AR-15’ish gun I saw with a Ruger logo and it was the SR-762. I figured “He’s not really a gun guy. He thought it was the 556 model because it looks like an AR, he doesnt know the difference between the 556 and the 762 models”. But what actually happened was that he MEANT “I have a 5.56 caliber rifle in the Hawkeye.” A very interesting miscommunication.

P95 musings

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The freakishly nice weather here in  Montana prompted me to take a trip to the range. I had to function test another ‘expendable’ handgun before I packed it away for Deep Storage. The gun in question was a Ruger P95 I picked up for $200.  It’s part of my small(ish) collection of Guns That I Dont Care What Happens To ( or maybe its Guns I Dont Care What Happens To Them. English. Go figure.) Anyway, its a stash of guns that I keep for those times when I need something that goes bang but I don’t want to tie up a more expensive and valuabel gun (like a Glock). Loaner for a friend? Comes outta the stash. Gun to bounce under the seat of the truck on a fishing trip? Outta the stash. Gun to leave in an outbuilding or shop? Stash.

Anyway. took it out to the range and … perfect. Ate everything with no problems, and hit where I pointed it. Cleaned it up and am packing it away. I gotta say, Ruger’s first entry with the P85 was pretty weak. The modified P89 was good, and I have several, but they were big, military-style, service-pistol size (albeit nigh-indestructible) but Ruger really nailed it with the P95…If they’d made it striker-fired instead of DA/SA they really might have done something there.

Anyway, they made a couple jillion of these things and they aren’t regarded as anything special by collectors so you can get into them relatively cheaply. I’ve got..uh…a bunch…of them here and I dont think I paid more than $215 for any of them. There are, of course, cheaper handguns out there….the HiPoint jumps to mind…but I have far more faith in the Ruger than in any HiPoint/Jimenez/Lorcin/Astra that ever lived. Snobbish? I guess. I know there are plenty of folks around there who swear their HiPoint has never bobbled a round and that they trust the gun with their lives. Great, more power to you. I, however, will stick with something a little higher up the food pyramid.