new Ruger P345

Rugers newest addition to the "legendary" .45 automatic colt pistol cartridge. The P345 boast some new safety features, for instance, it cannot be fired without a magazine fully inserted. I personally would not like this feature, too much like an airsoft pistol, but for safety, it serves great purpose. A police office wrote this article, and stated the gun could not be turned against him with this new safety mechanism if he lost control, or if someone round housed it from him e could hit the mag release leaving the gun inoperable. Interesting. Mag cap I think is 8+1, (not that the +1 can fire by its own), muzzle velocity has not changed, probably as accurate as any other slide operated 45.
www.galleryofguns.com...

[edit on 3-10-2007 by 1337cshacker]

Come on, no one up with new mechanisms? thought I would find some gun enthusiast here.

Originally posted by 1337cshacker
The P345 boast some new safety features, for instance, it cannot be fired without a magazine fully inserted. I personally would not like this feature, too much like an airsoft pistol, but for safety, it serves great purpose.

Absolutely nothing new at all there. The magazine safety has been in use since 1935 in the Browning High Power. It was added as a safety precaution as a pre-requisite from a certain countries armed forces to stop recruits shooting themselves/each other during unloading drills. Absolute waste of time of course, as most NDs with a pistol come from ballsing up the make safe drill, as less experienced troops can put on a mag before letting the slide go forward. They then squeeze the trigger to complete the drill and fire off a round. Without a mag safety the drill doesn't require a mag to be placed on the weapon to let the hammer fall, making it much safer.

Just as a point of interest, the mag safety is a pain in the arse as it causes quite a bit of creep in the trigger pull. Removing it increases the inherrant accuracy of the weapon as the trigger pull becomes much smoother. There have also been reports of shootings going a bit nasty in the past after police officers have accidently hit mag releases during the stress of a shooting and been left with a weapon that couldn't fire despite having a round in the chamber. Many combat shooters like to leave a round in the chamber while they change mags as it gives them a bit of a safety net if they are jumped while they reload. This safety makes this drill unworkable.

OK I'll weigh in on this on this one.

Personally I'm not hip on Ruger auto pistols, I own a P85 9mm and it shoots great, but wouldn't want to have my life depend on it.

I guess Ruger is just attempting to get in the polymer game, a bit late I think!

For .45ACP in all around purpose any 1911 can't be beat. Springfield XD .45 is a great weapon and I depend on the XD series daily. I carry the .40 and my partner carries the 9mm.

I looked at the Ruger P345 and it's rather ugly. Haven't shot one yet but when I do my opinion may change.

I'm not much of a Ruger fan. They offer good value, but have awkward ergonomics IMO, especially the one piece moulded grip. You can get a version with a safety, or a decocker only version which is the one I would probably opt for. Ruger is discontinuing all their decocker only guns, so if you want this option you need to get one now.

As for the cop who thinks that a magazine disconnect could one day save his life, it's far more likely that he will be killed because of an improperly seated magazine disabling his gun. Mag disconnects were primarily introduced to stop people from shooting themselves when clearing a loaded weapon and then forgetting the chambered round. If you're that careless with firearms, you shouldn't have them in the first place.