Sherman, Set the Wayback Machine to 1985

[Petrol & Powder]

RB, The Browning Hi-Power did get a lot of love, but not in the U.S. The Hi-Power was adopted by several NATO countries and used as a police weapon in several European countries. It never seemed to get the same attention on this side of the pond. By the time the U.S. was ready to get with the rest of NATO and adopt a 9mm, the single action trigger of the Hi-Power doomed it. And although John Browning started that design, Dieudonne Saive was responsible for the bulk of the design. Browning gets more than his share of credit for that pistol largely because FN attached Browning's name to everything they could for marketing reasons.

The Hi-Power does have one the best grips for a double stack pistol and the CZ-75 is a real close second, IMO.

I've always felt that the P-series Ruger's would have been more accepted if they had just been introduced a bit earlier. By the time the P-85 made it into the display cases of gun shops, the market was overcrowded. By 1987 the Beretta had already been selected by the U.S. military, S&W was cranking out its "gun of the week", SIG was making huge gains and the Glock 17 was just starting to be imported into the U.S.

 

[RBHarter]

I guess I haven't dug deep enough . I got kind of off track with the P35 and the FEG HP9 being built on FN tooling on the Western Front when the Germans hauled it to Hungry from Belgium ........ I was satisfied that mag/trigger disconnect could be replaced with the pre-1980 non disconnect part part . Not something I've done yet but the parts are available .
I'm more than happy to pursue suggested reading .

 

[Reloader762]

I have the P-90 DC in 45 ACP I knew the original owner and he only fired a couple of boxes of ammo through it the entire time he owned it, so it basically wasn't even broken in. I love the pistol and it shoots great, came with Hogue grips and an extra mag which I have already taken out the steel followers an spring and replace them with Wilson Combat followers and springs. It gets a steady diet of cast lead.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

....... I got kind of off track with the P35 and the FEG HP9 being built on FN tooling on the Western Front when the Germans hauled it to Hungry from Belgium ........

The Germans occupied the FN facility in Belgium from May 20, 1940 until they were driven out in 1944. The Germans produced the Browning Hi-Power (P-35) in Belgium and that German produced pistol was widely distributed throughout the German forces. However, they did not move the tooling to Hungary.
FEG (and I'm not even going to attempt to spell that out in Hungarian) existed as a manufacturer in Budapest from the late 1800's and produced weapons (and a lot of other stuff) for the Austria-Hungarian Empire, and later Hungarian forces.
FEG made a clone of the Hi-Power but it was not on German captured tooling. The FEG clones of the Hi-Power are very close copies of the FN Hi-Power but not exact copies. Some parts will interchange with non FEG guns and some will not. The FEG pistols are well made but not as finely finished as the FN models.

 

[creosote]

No mag safety on the German eather.

 

[Missionary]

I still feel if it does not start with a 4 it is out the door. Plinking OK... but I value my families life that way.
But I will write 9mm brass if great for making cheap jacketed 40 S&W.....

 

[RBHarter]

Well , explicative ....... Seems most of what I knew was extremely flawed .

 

[JonB]

I owned several Ruger P-series pistols.
The clunky large size wasn't a problem for what I used them for, I burned through two different P-89s for IPSC (USPSA). I found them to be about the correct size for my hands and once I customized a quick draw holster, they were about ideal for me for IPSC. I found the trigger smooth on the ones I had, and just got use to the long trigger takeup. They sure weren't no bullseye gun, but hitting the center zone on IPSC targets at the usual distance was easy enough. There was enough heft to control muzzle flip on double taps. The two P-89s would cycle any ammo I fed it, but this was before I was loading and casting for 9mm. I don't recall how many cases of sellier-bellot 9mm that I bought and shot at the IPSC events? but it was alot.

I've sold all of them Rugers at my 2015 auction. But kind of missed having one around. When Ruger came out with the 9e, shortly after my auction, I picked one up, they were cheap, I guess cuz they were basically a stripped down P-series. It's a little lighter than the P-89 ...but I like it, so I bought it...but it rarely gets out to the range, unless I'm testing some 9mm loads.

 

[RKJ]

I used to look down my nose at the 9mm but with the ammo available now I feel pretty well armed with a FN Hi Power. The gun just feels good in my hands and has the same controls as my 1911's. I like the big hole that the 45 can inflict but like the extra capacity of the HP. I suppose it's 6 one way 1/2 dozen the other for me.

 

[creosote]

But I will write 9mm brass if great for making cheap jacketed 40 S&W.....

I paid a visit to Corbin a good 15 years back, expecting to be able to never buy another jacketed projectile.
I left with a canalure tool & a chronic case of sticker shock.
Good ol wheel weights & the Coleman stove looked much better.

 

[fiver]

$1200 bucks too much for free bullets... Lol.
check out BT snipers one step dies they are probably a lot more reasonable.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

JonB, I think you've summed up the P-89 fairly well. They were inexpensive (not cheap) guns that functioned well. They will feed and fire just about anything. The P-series Rugers are strong, a trait that Ruger is generally known for and they have proven to be durable pistols.

There were reports of firing pins breaking on early P-85 pistols and Ruger immediately re-designed that part. Other than that early teething problem, which Ruger promptly addressed, the pistols soldiered on without a hiccup.

They are not sleek pistols and come across as kind of clunky. The triggers are, .....well, honestly, not great.

The P-series pistols turned to be a typical Ruger product: Inexpensive, durable, reliable and an all around workhorse.

 

[Glaciers]

Well I guess I should go run the old Ruger out a little just to get familiar with it. I'm not a fan of semi-auto pistols anyway, but I've had it 30 plus years, maybe I should give it a fair shake and get comfortable with it, baring that, sell it.

 

[Missionary]

The only Ruger Semi-autos we have had are the caliber .22 models. Have at least one #1, 4" Red Letter and a #2 bull barrel Target we use on tree rats.