Babysitting a Ruger P90 - Bad surgery may make it mine.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

My 71 year old neighbor did not have any handguns, but was shopping for a .45.

After considering a used Taurus PT92, new S & W Sigmas in 9MM and .40, a new
Taurus PT-145, Taurus 24/7's, and others, he ended up buying a brand new Ruger P90.
This is a single stack .45 (7 + 1, IIRC), with a hammer instead of a striker.

He went into the hospital today for a surgical procedure and asked if I would hold his
gun for him until he returns home. He gave me the gun in its hard case, as well as 2
boxes of WWB, .45, in both FMJ and JHP.

He says to me "If I don't make it, you've got a new gun." So I say to him "Well, if your
children came to me, I would give them your gun." He replies that his children (adults)
don't know he has it, and he would rather I take it if his surgery went badly (meaning death).

Well, this is kind of an odd situation. If he did pass, I would keep the gun since he didn't want
his children to get it. I don't have any kind of bill of sale from him, but I don't believe I would
violate any law in keeping it. We don't have gun registration and the gun would have been given
to me under a verbal agreement.

This gun has not yet been fired. I have handled it quite a bit and have a few thoughts to share:

The P90 was Ruger's entry into the .45 caliber semi-automatic world, and was introduced in 1991,
so it's a 20 year old weapon (design-wise). Although this unit appeared to have been manufactured in 2009.

A modern Ruger such as an SR9, IMHO, has a very appealing slim grip, although holding 17 rounds.
The P90, although a single stack, has somewhat of a fat grip. Not bad, but not as appealing as some
other pistols.

Dryfiring it revealed a buttery smooth trigger that seems just perfect. Exact pounds unknown.

One thing I found a little disconcerting is the operation of the manual safety.
This Ruger is "down for safe, up to fire" which is the opposite of what I expect.

The gun feels very substantial and weighty - this is appealing since it would soak up recoil.

I'm expecting that my neighbor will be fine and will reclaim his P90 sometime soon.
It's not a gun that I would choose, but it is a full size .45 (me likey that).

SIA

[RottenApple]

B"H I hope your friend gets better soon and you two can have many years of shooting together.

Regarding the safety, the P89 (9mm) is the same way. Down is safe, up is ready.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

My neighbor has a rather quirky history with firearms.
He's a Louisiana native and his 2nd wife was a wealthy, wealthy woman.
She owned 3 large homes around the state and had plenty of money to spend.

Her wealth allowed him to indulge his passion for buying firerarms. He had revolvers,
pistols, 1911's, rifles, shotguns, AK-47's. His collection approached 100 weapons.

But he said that the only thing he would do with them after buying them is to
fire some rounds into the ground at his house, then put them in the house with
the rest of the collection. He never carried CHL style, or hunted.

After smooching another gal at a nightclub, his wealthy wife divorced him and gave
away his gun collection to a LEO who was a relative of hers. My neighbor took away zero
firearms from the failed marriage.

SIA

[OldCurlyWolf]

B"H I hope your friend gets better soon and you two can have many years of shooting together.

Regarding the safety, the P89 (9mm) is the same way. Down is safe, up is ready.

I have a S&W 410. The safety is the same on it. IMHO it is that way on all "de-cockers".

[Middle Age Russ]

SIA,

From what I have seen over the years, safety levers located on the slide typically operate in the manner you describe - down for safe/decock and up for fire. This is true for almost every DA/SA pistol, those firing double action from hammer down and single action thereafter. JMB devotees (1911, Hi-Power, etc...) find this a great stumbling block as it is indeed backwards to the way their safety levers work. It is simply a different manual of arms, though, that made it relatively easy to design the DA/SA functionality.

Because of trigger actuated firing pin blocks, one can use these slide mounted safeties as decockers only, returning them to the fire position after the hammer is safely lowered. This leaves the pistol ready to fire with a simple double action trigger pull. On a few models made by Ruger, this lever had a spring which ensure operation as a decocker only.

Best wishes on a full recovery for your friend. While the P90 is a fine pistol, I know the friendship means far more than the gun.

[speedsix]

...what a treasured gift!!! the P90 is very reliable...when I carry the safety model, I carry it safety up(off)...then the gun handles like a DA revolver for the first shot...perfectly safe and no fumbling...I hope your friend does well...but he surely treasures your friendship...

[The Annoyed Man]

From what I have seen over the years, safety levers located on the slide typically operate in the manner you describe - down for safe/decock and up for fire. This is true for almost every DA/SA pistol, those firing double action from hammer down and single action thereafter. JMB devotees (1911, Hi-Power, etc...) find this a great stumbling block as it is indeed backwards to the way their safety levers work. It is simply a different manual of arms, though, that made it relatively easy to design the DA/SA functionality.

Because of trigger actuated firing pin blocks, one can use these slide mounted safeties as decockers only, returning them to the fire position after the hammer is safely lowered. This leaves the pistol ready to fire with a simple double action trigger pull. On a few models made by Ruger, this lever had a spring which ensure operation as a decocker only.

SIA—I hope your friend pulls through.

Russ—I used to own a USP Compact in .40 cal. It was a DA/SA pistol with a frame mounted safety/de-cocker in which UP=Safe, DOWN=Fire, and pushed further DOWN=De-cocker. The de-cocker was spring loaded such that after de-cocking the pistol, the lever would spring back upwards a bit to the Fire position. So you could carry the gun three ways: 1) cocked, safety on; 2) de-cocked, safety on; and 3) de-cocked safety off. I originally bought it because I liked that the safety was similar to the 1911s that I was used to, but I never could get to like the .40 S&W cartridge, so I sold it to pay for my M&P 45. But other than the caliber, I really liked that gun a lot, and I eventually replaced the heavy hammer spring and started carrying it de-cocked, safety off. The first single action pull was long enough that it served as an adequate safety. (There was also a firing pin block that required a trigger pull to free up the firing pin.) I would holster the de-cocked weapon with the safety on, and then switch it off after the gun was holstered.

In fact, I do that to this day with my striker-fired M&P 45—holster it with the safety on, and then switch the safety off after the pistol is holstered. It has a trigger safety system and an interna firing pin block, so the frame mounted safety is almost superfluous and most models of the M&P pistols are sold without it.

I actually miss that USP Compact. I bought it in .40 S&W based on a friend's recommendation of the caliber, but my other carry gun—and most of my handgun experience—was with .45 ACP. Like I said, I never really got used to the .40 cartridge. If I had bought that pistol in .45 ACP, I would have kept it. It was a very good gun.

[Middle Age Russ]

TAM,

That USP model certainly has one of the more interesting manual safety/decocker setups out there. I think the FNX pistols have a similar set-up without the extra expense of the HK name. Because of the way the FNX is made, though, certain things cannot be worked on without having the factory do it AFAIK.

I personally could never get used to the idea of leaving a slide mounted safety like the P90 mentioned by SIA in the safe position due to having short thumbs and the need to push the safety up to disengage it. Frame mounted safeties work better/more intuitively for me in the case of leaving them engaged. I had no problem with the idea of carrying my old S&W 659 decocked with the slide mounted safety off (simple double-action). My issue with that pistol was simply weight from a carry perspective and the desire to move to a trigger that did not change feel from the first shot. The 659 was accurate, quick to return to target because of the weight and utterly reliable. Had it been a third generation 5906 I would have seriously considered keeping it because of the better options for the front sight and improved ergonomics of the grip frame. Instead I sold it and moved to the M&P platform, with which I am quite pleased.