I know that this is a very popular pistol and there are probably a lot of reviews available to read out there on the interweb, but I'm writing one up for you guys anyway. 
So here's the pistol:
This particular model is the "P45GCMKIII" and sports a 4.5" slab sided barrel. The grip, as you can see in the photos, is not angled the same as the standard Ruger MkIIIs, it's designed to mimic the feel and function of a 1911 (aka Colt .45). I have read that many 1911 owners will pick up one of these pistols as a cheaper alternative for training.
One of the more common complaints with the Ruger MkIIIs, is that they are quite difficult to take apart and reassemble. Well, who am I to contradict the majority? They are quite difficult to work with. At least compared to pretty much any full sized combat pistol. But, if you can follow simple instructions and have the smallest amount of patience, it's completely do-able.
I'm not going to go through the steps, as they are laid out in the owners manual, and there are several YouTube videos available with tips and tricks on how to make it even easier.
The controls are a bit stiff to operate but I understand that Volquartsen offers extended controls that make manipulation that much easier and I'm sure that simply using the gun will loosen the controls up a fair bit. It comes standard with a magazine disconnect (that I will be disabling as soon as I get the parts) and a loaded chamber indicator (which I have already disabled). I find that these "liability reducing features" only help to promote bad firearm handling habits. It also has an internal locking feature that I'd use in place of a trigger lock if I were allowed. It's unobtrusive and barely noticable unless you know where to look. (it's the small hole under the safety on the left hand side)
As this is the "trainer" to the 1911, it has three-dot combat sights that are adjustable for windage only via drifting the rear sight. I had a bit of trouble with this at first trying to get my groups to centre on the target until I realized that the front sight screw was loose. A bit of loctite and a screwdriver fixed that right up for me.
The trigger has quite a bit of "take up" before it breaks, but when it does, it's nice and crisp. Shooting off a sandbag, I was able to print on average about 1.5", 5 shot groups a 25 yards. I consider this phenomenal as I do not consider myself to be a very good shot.
I was shooting Winchester 333 bulk pack ammo. I have also fired, without problem, CCI Standard Velocity, Stingers, Velocitors, Blazers, Winchester DynaPoints and even CCI CB Longs. The CBs required me to manually cycle the bolt, but they fed just fine out of the mag, are quite accurate and are very quiet.
Here's a video of my first trip to the range with it:
[youtube]L8RrmvmQnik[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8RrmvmQnik
I've had very few malfunctions with it so far. (about 1000 rounds to date) Two FTF (didn't strip round from mag), and one dud. I reloaded the dud and tried it again and it still didn't go off. Definitely not the gun's fault. The bolt has failed to lock back twice as well, but I'm pretty sure that my fault for resting my thumb on the bolt release.
Overall, it's a nifty little gun and I'm quite happy with it. I plan on doing a few more minor mods to it - probably a trigger job and the "sling-shot" mod - but other than that, it's a pretty nice little rig.
As a reward for reading all the way to the end, here are a few more pics for you.
So here's the pistol:
This particular model is the "P45GCMKIII" and sports a 4.5" slab sided barrel. The grip, as you can see in the photos, is not angled the same as the standard Ruger MkIIIs, it's designed to mimic the feel and function of a 1911 (aka Colt .45). I have read that many 1911 owners will pick up one of these pistols as a cheaper alternative for training.
One of the more common complaints with the Ruger MkIIIs, is that they are quite difficult to take apart and reassemble. Well, who am I to contradict the majority? They are quite difficult to work with. At least compared to pretty much any full sized combat pistol. But, if you can follow simple instructions and have the smallest amount of patience, it's completely do-able.
I'm not going to go through the steps, as they are laid out in the owners manual, and there are several YouTube videos available with tips and tricks on how to make it even easier.
The controls are a bit stiff to operate but I understand that Volquartsen offers extended controls that make manipulation that much easier and I'm sure that simply using the gun will loosen the controls up a fair bit. It comes standard with a magazine disconnect (that I will be disabling as soon as I get the parts) and a loaded chamber indicator (which I have already disabled). I find that these "liability reducing features" only help to promote bad firearm handling habits. It also has an internal locking feature that I'd use in place of a trigger lock if I were allowed. It's unobtrusive and barely noticable unless you know where to look. (it's the small hole under the safety on the left hand side)
As this is the "trainer" to the 1911, it has three-dot combat sights that are adjustable for windage only via drifting the rear sight. I had a bit of trouble with this at first trying to get my groups to centre on the target until I realized that the front sight screw was loose.
A bit of loctite and a screwdriver fixed that right up for me.
The trigger has quite a bit of "take up" before it breaks, but when it does, it's nice and crisp. Shooting off a sandbag, I was able to print on average about 1.5", 5 shot groups a 25 yards. I consider this phenomenal as I do not consider myself to be a very good shot.
I was shooting Winchester 333 bulk pack ammo. I have also fired, without problem, CCI Standard Velocity, Stingers, Velocitors, Blazers, Winchester DynaPoints and even CCI CB Longs. The CBs required me to manually cycle the bolt, but they fed just fine out of the mag, are quite accurate and are very quiet. Here's a video of my first trip to the range with it:
[youtube]L8RrmvmQnik[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8RrmvmQnik
I've had very few malfunctions with it so far. (about 1000 rounds to date) Two FTF (didn't strip round from mag), and one dud. I reloaded the dud and tried it again and it still didn't go off. Definitely not the gun's fault. The bolt has failed to lock back twice as well, but I'm pretty sure that my fault for resting my thumb on the bolt release.
Overall, it's a nifty little gun and I'm quite happy with it. I plan on doing a few more minor mods to it - probably a trigger job and the "sling-shot" mod - but other than that, it's a pretty nice little rig.
As a reward for reading all the way to the end, here are a few more pics for you.
