Ruger P97DC slidestop PROBLEM SOLVED

T

Torquemada

New member
The slidestop came partly out after approximately 120 rounds, enough to jam the slide. After fieldstrip & cleaning it worked for another 120 or so rounds, then came partly out again. My uncle purchased a KP97DC and had the same problems (mine's blued).

The problem seems to have two causes. One is ammunition related and the other is bad shooting habits.

Had problems with:
1. CCI Blazer 230 FMJ, 2 failures in 150 rounds
2. Winchester range ammo (unboxed), 6 failures in 200 rounds

Never fell out for me:
1. Winchester Winclean 230 BEB
2. UMC 230 FMJ
3. Speer Lawman 200 JHP (not listed on their website, part # 53965)
4. CCI Blazer 200 JHP
5. Speer Gold Dot 185 JHP

Never failed for my uncle:
1. Remington Golden Sabers, weight unknown
2. Hornady JHP, weight unknown
3. Winchester Winclean 230 and 185 BEB

He also places his weak-side thumb against the slide stop (I don't). My wife shot a box of 50 UMC 230-grain FMJ and had FTE but no slide stop problems on every shot, because she twists her wrist during recoil. I had a friend shoot 8 rounds of the UMC and he had 1 FTE with the stop coming partly out because he did the same thing. Their wrists were rotating to the left slightly BEFORE moving upward but they didn't notice the motion! After I pointed it out, they noticed it (and are working on correcting it).

YMMV
 
Its funny you mentioned this cause I was talking to the manager I know in the Ruger Arizona plant (Because im thinking about getting one to keep my KP95DC company) and he said the same thing, alot of them failures are due to the hold people have on it, meaning they are covering the end of the slide stop and end up pushing it out especially left handed shooters.
I don't know about the ammo bit though.
 
This is still unacceptable if I am reading your post correctly. What happens when you need the pistol to defend your life and you forget to put your thumb in the right place or you only have blazer ammo handy?

I sold mine to help finance a Beretta shotgun. It was the SS KP97D-----------------------very accurate nonetheless.
 
<<<This is still unacceptable if I am reading your post correctly. What happens when you need the pistol to defend your life and you forget to put your thumb in the right place or you only have blazer ammo handy? >>>

I reach for my P95DC :D but I DON'T let my wife or friend use it, she turned it into a single-shot (10 FTE per magazine, 5 magazines worth) and he had 4 FTE's on his first mag! He did improve by the time he finished his first box of ammo...he said he's rented Beretta 92's and was used to them (I've never tried one).
Had another friend shoot both the P95 and P97 with no problems other than he couldn't get the hang of reloading the mag.
My uncle also a couple FTE's with the P95 (his first time shooting in 30 years), in all cases I ran the same batch of cartridges thru the same magazines with no problems.

Since this is my first experience with semiauto pistols, I don't have any habits to unlearn or modify. So far, I'd expect everyone who has shot my Rugers to think they're not reliable/not accurate based on their own experiences, and I can't blame them. Then they see me shoot 100-150 rounds with each, no stoppages, relatively tighter groups, and realize that they're doing something wrong.

I shot my best group yesterday at 21 feet, 9 hits in a 2" x 1 5/16" diamond shape, and the total 10 shot group was 3" (the DA flyer I assume). Ran most of my ammo at 35 feet in a much larger group (6") so I know I have a lot of room for improvement, at least I'm not killing my target holders any more!
 
Has anyone ever had this happen (or heard of it happening) with anything other than FMJ ammo?
I had it happen to mine with FMJ ammo. All of my reloads are flat point now and in the past 500-600 rounds of these and hollow points I can't get it to do it again. I still feel that the longer FMJ rounds are bumping the slide stop in recoil.
Any one else have any thoughts on this?
 
My P97 is up for sale to purchase a Sig220. The P97 is the first Ruger I haven't been satisfied with. The problem I have is FTF from a locked back slide. Its only occassional, but I can find no cause or solution for it. Ruger no longer sends shipping labels so I am not going to bother sending it back to them.
 
My P97 is plagued by the slide stop problem too.

I figured out if I put my left thumb on the slide stop, it prevents it from popping out, but thats no way to get a pistol to work right. Ruger sent me the replacement camblock, spring, and slide stop and its still doing this once in a while. I too will probably sell it.
 
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You will have to enlighten me on this one guys. I have a P97 that has had no slide-stop problems, and I honesty can't even see how the slide stop could pop out in normal operation. It has to be lined up perfectly with the notch in the slide with some mysterious left-ward pressure on the pin at just the right moment when the slide is in recoil, unless the pin is defective and has no lip that rides inside the frame. The P95 has the same set-up and I have never heard of this happening with that model. I have no idea how this could happen unless a left handed shooter is pushing the pin with his thumb. And, I don't know how the type of ammo could bump or push the pin out. The feeding round never contacts the pin in any way.

What's up with this?
 
Ruger may not offer shipping labels, but they will reimburse you for shipping costs if you send it to them.
Just a thought.
 
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