15 Years With My Ruger P95

Above, my Ruger 95 with the Bill of Rights. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is hard to believe that I've owned my Ruger P95 9mm for 15 years as of next month.

I bought it at Turner's Outdoorsman at their Reseda store in November 2011 to replace the Ruger P89 that I had to sell (I needed the bucks). It was a Christmas present to myself. 

It is my home defense handgun that I keep on my nightstand. While RVing, I bring it along, because, you never know!

According to Wikipedia: 

Introduced in 1996, the P95 incorporated changes from earlier P-series pistols, including a shorter 3.9-inch (99.1 mm) barrel like the P93. The big change was switching the frame construction from an investment cast aluminum alloy to a new high-impact polymer frame made of fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane, based on Dow Chemical's "Isoplast". The P95 was also the first pistol in the series to omit the dropping link underneath the barrel. The first P95s came with a glossy black polymer frame with a hooked trigger guard and lacking an accessory rail and grip texture.

Late model P95PR with Picatinny rail and a Hogue Handall grip installed

Later model P95s featured a matte polymer frame with enhanced grip texturing, an accessory rail and a round trigger guard. The P95 was one of the last in the series to be fully discontinued. Most P95 designs were discontinued in 2004 and 2005, but certain types of the P95 were produced until 2009 and 2013. It is chambered in 9mm with a magazine capacity of 15+1 rounds.

I've taken it out to the range several times and found it to be a good shooter, well-built and accurate. I have other handguns, mainly revolvers, but this is my main semi-automatic pistol. 

The P95 was first introduced in 1996 and discontinued in 2013. 

Ruger 10/22 Years to Avoid

Ruger 10/22 Years to Avoid — and the Exact Year the Quality Died video from Ivan's Journal and Ivan Jackson.

Summary:

I've watched guys walk into a gun store, point at a 10/22 on the rack, and say "just give me that one," like every year of that rifle came off the same line with the same attention and deserves the same price. Some of them are right. Some are paying twenty or thirty percent too much. And a few, the ones who know to look, are walking right past early production examples that have quietly become desirable on the used market without anybody making an announcement about it.

Marlin Years to AVOID — the Exact Year the Quality Died

Marlin Years to AVOID — the Exact Year the Quality Died video from Ivan's Journal.

Summary:

The two-second check that actually matters: the JM oval proof on the left side of the barrel for a Marlin-built gun versus the REP proof on the right for a Remington-built one, and why the proof mark beats the serial number, the box, or anything the seller tells you

Why the early Model 1893 and Model 36 belong to collectors, not hunters, and why 1948's Model 336 by L.L. Hepburn and T.R. Robinson Jr. is really where the modern story begins

Why the return of the 1894 in 1969, the .357 1894C in 1979, and the reborn 1972 .45-70 1895 (built on the 336 action, not a continuation of the original) round out the modern lineup, and why the pre-safety versus cross-bolt safety debate is a preference premium, not a quality grade

Why the most overlooked value on the used rack is the 1983 to 2007 North Haven era: mature tooling, a massive production run past four million 336s, full JM proof authenticity, priced low purely because of an ignored safety button

The real, misunderstood timeline of Remington's ownership: the 2007-2008 acquisition changed nothing on the North Haven shop floor, since North Haven kept building rifles with the same people and the same machines for years afterward

Why April 2011, not 2007, is the year that actually matters: the North Haven plant closing, the tooling's difficult move to Ilion, New York, and the specific, crucial detail that the skilled people who knew how to coax good work out of aging machines mostly didn't make the move with it

The well-documented pattern of quality complaints from roughly 2011 to 2013, canted sights, gapped tangs, rough actions, treated honestly as strong owner and dealer consensus rather than an official manufacturer admission

Why the barrel stamp still isn't a perfectly clean answer, since some transition-era rifles carry North Haven barrels finished with Remington proofs

The real reversal almost nobody accounts for: how quality recovered by 2015-2016, leaving later Remlins carrying a reputation earned by earlier ones, and why a well-inspected 2016 rifle can be a better buy than a worn 1975 JM gun

Ruger's 2020 bankruptcy-court acquisition of Marlin's assets, tooling and trademarks only, no buildings or workforce, and why that should have repeated the 2011 disaster but apparently didn't

What actually shipped from the new Mayodan, North Carolina plant starting in 2021, the 1895 SBL, the 2023 336 Classic, the 1894 Classic, and the honest consensus that these new rifles often match or beat the old JM guns, with real caveats about heavy factory trigger pulls

What's still missing entirely: the Model 39, continuously produced since 1922 and once the longest continuously produced shoulder-fired rifle in the world, currently not in Ruger's lineup at all

If you're standing at a counter needing one number: it's 2011, not 2007, because the building closed, not because the company sold. The worst Marlins ever built and the best Marlins ever built are separated by about ten years, same design, same drawings, same cartridge, and the entire difference came down to who was standing at the machines and how much they knew.

If you sold a Marlin because of the date on the paperwork and have been quietly regretting it, tell me which one.

 

8 Best Ruger 10/22 Models [Plinking, Hunting, Competition]

Above, the Ruger 10/22 I bought around 1983. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There are different rifle models and makes that are offered. 

The Ruger 10/22 .22 rifle is one great example. Over the years, the rifle has been offered in different styles. Mine is the original carbine that I bought around 1983 for under $90. 

Pew Pew Tactical took a look at the 8 best Ruger 10/22 models for plinking, hunting and competition.

They start with:

The Ruger 10/22 is an iconic rifle and one of the most popular starter platforms for beginner shooters. It’s high-quality but affordable, and the .22 Long Rifle chambering makes it easy (and cheap) for everyone to shoot. 

The 10/22 also enjoys endless aftermarket support, so it’s easy to customize this little rifle to fit your needs and wants. 

We'll talk about that, too! After we break down the best Ruger 10/22 models, let's explore the history of this venerable rifle to see how it went from the new kid on the block to a revered and beloved rifle platform. 

To read more, go here. 

15 Things Ruger Did That Changed The Gun World

Above, the Ruger P95 9 mm semi-auto pistol. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I have two firearms made by Sturm, Ruger and Company.

They are the iconic Ruger 10/22 .22 rifle and the Ruger P95 9 mm pistol. Both have been very reliable over the years. I have never had any problem with either of them. 

It has been my experience that Ruger firearms are of high quality and at affordable prices. 

Ruger has been an innovator since the company's beginning and MSN (via The Avid Outdoorsman) posted a slideshow of 15 things that Ruger did that changed the gun world.

They begin with:

Ruger is not the kind of company that changed the gun world by building only one legendary firearm and riding that name forever. It changed the market by doing something more practical: making useful guns regular shooters could actually afford, then repeating that formula across rimfire pistols, rimfire rifles, revolvers, semi-auto rifles, bolt guns, and eventually Marlin lever actions.

That is the real Ruger story. The company started in 1949 with a .22 pistol, then kept finding ways to build firearms that were rugged, approachable, and smartly manufactured. Ruger’s own product history shows the 10/22 beginning production in 1964, and the company’s 2020 acquisition of Marlin pulled one of America’s most beloved lever-gun names into Ruger’s modern manufacturing world.

To read more, go here

15 Things Most Shooters Don’t Know About Ruger

Above, my Ruger P95 on the gun cleaning mat. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. is one of the biggest names in firearm manufacturing. 

I personally own two of their products: a Ruger 10/22 .22 caliber rifle and a Ruger P85 semi-automatic pistol 9 mm. Neither one has ever given me any problems over the years. 

The Avid Outdoorsman posted an acticle on 15 things most shooters don't know about Ruger. It is an interesting read.

They begin it with:

Ruger is one of those brands almost every shooter knows, but a lot of people only know the surface version. They know the 10/22. They know the Mark pistols. They know the GP100, the American Rifle, the Mini-14, and the fact that Ruger usually builds guns with a practical, working-man reputation. But the company’s story is a lot more interesting than “they make affordable guns that work.”

Ruger has been around since 1949, and it grew from a small startup built around a $37.50 rimfire pistol into one of the biggest American firearm manufacturers. The company still manufactures firearms in the United States, with major facilities tied to places like Newport, New Hampshire; Prescott, Arizona; and Mayodan, North Carolina. Ruger also owns Marlin now, which pulled one of America’s most loved lever-gun names under the Ruger roof.

To read more, go here.