I make a number of different loads for each caliber of gun I shoot. When I get a new gun, I try a bunch of previously good loads to see if one of then really shines in the new gun.
Today I was trying a new (to me) Ruger P345 (looks like a Ruger clone of a Sig 220). None of the loads I brought shot well. None were Good; they scored Fair or Poor. They looked like this (2 hand hold, 20 yards):
I moved on to shooting a new Smith Mod 10 and immediately found a load that grouped perfectly. As I was rummaging around in the range bag I found another box of 45ACP that had been there for a year (200 SWC over 6 gr of medium speed non-canister powder.) I gave the Ruger one more chance and Eureka! It grouped as well as I could expect. Life is good!
It has been my experience that if I take a given bullet and load it from Start load (or even less) all the way to Max, in 0.3 gr increments, one of the loads is usually much better than the others. You don’t know just how good your gun can be unless you try a bit more or less powder.
The Ruger is fairly slim. It uses a Colt 1911 magazine with the mag release notch in a different place. It is easy to cut a new notch on 1911 mags to make extra Ruger mags. The modified mags will work equally well in either gun.
The P345 reminds me of a Sig 220. Slim, light frame, single stack. The SIG has slightly better sights and trigger. The Sig and Ruger are similar in shape (they can share the same holster). Sig is slightly longer. You can barely see it here under the Ruger.
I have Williams Fire Sights on order for the Ruger. The factory sights would have been good enough, except they shoot 3” low, so I am hoping that with extra sights to swap around I can find a combo that shoots higher. If that does not work, I can always file the Ruger front sight shorter.
I think all the P345s come with a mag disconnect. This is a bummer for most of the shooting sports where you dry fire before holstering. When I got the gun I discovered it lacked the disconnect. The trigger was quite crisp, at about 6 pounds. I clipped 3 coils off the hammer spring and found the double action much better and the single action weight dropped to a nice 5 pounds.
I don’t like guns that I cannot make shoot accurately. The Ruger is now a trusted member of the family. I look forward to trying it in a CQB match.
Today I was trying a new (to me) Ruger P345 (looks like a Ruger clone of a Sig 220). None of the loads I brought shot well. None were Good; they scored Fair or Poor. They looked like this (2 hand hold, 20 yards):
I moved on to shooting a new Smith Mod 10 and immediately found a load that grouped perfectly. As I was rummaging around in the range bag I found another box of 45ACP that had been there for a year (200 SWC over 6 gr of medium speed non-canister powder.) I gave the Ruger one more chance and Eureka! It grouped as well as I could expect. Life is good!
It has been my experience that if I take a given bullet and load it from Start load (or even less) all the way to Max, in 0.3 gr increments, one of the loads is usually much better than the others. You don’t know just how good your gun can be unless you try a bit more or less powder.
The Ruger is fairly slim. It uses a Colt 1911 magazine with the mag release notch in a different place. It is easy to cut a new notch on 1911 mags to make extra Ruger mags. The modified mags will work equally well in either gun.
The P345 reminds me of a Sig 220. Slim, light frame, single stack. The SIG has slightly better sights and trigger. The Sig and Ruger are similar in shape (they can share the same holster). Sig is slightly longer. You can barely see it here under the Ruger.
I have Williams Fire Sights on order for the Ruger. The factory sights would have been good enough, except they shoot 3” low, so I am hoping that with extra sights to swap around I can find a combo that shoots higher. If that does not work, I can always file the Ruger front sight shorter.
I think all the P345s come with a mag disconnect. This is a bummer for most of the shooting sports where you dry fire before holstering. When I got the gun I discovered it lacked the disconnect. The trigger was quite crisp, at about 6 pounds. I clipped 3 coils off the hammer spring and found the double action much better and the single action weight dropped to a nice 5 pounds.
I don’t like guns that I cannot make shoot accurately. The Ruger is now a trusted member of the family. I look forward to trying it in a CQB match.
