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KP345 Hammer Pivot Pin/Safety(?) Problem

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  sjdude 
#1 ·
My Dad recently purchased a KP345 for his first handgun. Neither of us have much experience with firearms, and mine only comes from a few encounters with the M4 rifle for Army ROTC training/21 gun salute over the past few years.

My dad was dry firing the gun after he brought it home, but then ran into a road block when he could no longer eject the magazine. He noticed the hammer pivot pin had come loose while he was dry firing. He cannot recall if he dry fired the pistol while the magazine was ejected or not, so we are unsure if the ejector tab was bent (as mentioned in a previous thread: http://rugerforum.net/maintenance/16864-p345-hammer-pivot-pin.html ), but that does not appear to be our problem at the moment

My dad tapped the pin back in after first looking up any potential issues on the internet. However, after he got it seated back in place, he found he could no longer dry fire the weapon. We have dissassembled the pistol, reassembled it, but the problem persists. We can eject the magazine with ease, but we have had the pin come loose again at least once (as before, I can't recall if we had the ejector plate in the forward position at the time). When disassembled, the lower portion of the pistol DOES dry fire, but when reassembled with the slide, it will not fire, which leads us to believe there may be something awry with the safety.

I cycled through several threads here, but it seems that no one else has encountered this problem. The lock detent plunger and safety detent plunger do not allow any movement when the pistol is dissassembled, but with our limited experience, we don't know if that's a problem or not.

We plan to take it back to the firearms store where my dad bought it to brainstorm with the guys there, but I figured we'd find more knowledge floating around here. We don't want to have to send it back and would much rather fix this on our own, but again, we are firearms rookies and we don't want to screw this up.

Please let us know if you have any insight to this issue.

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
The problem that you are experiencing may be that the ejector plate tab is bent. The procedure for checking and resolving this issue is contained in the following quote from our resident gunsmith Iowegan:

.... Here's the concept .... there is a tab that extends from the rear of the ejector plate that fits in a slot in the hammer pivot pin when the ejector plate is snapped to the rear (normal operating position). The magazine holds the ejector plate in position so the tab will retain the pivot pin to keep it from drifting. It is essential to have a magazine in place when you dry fire or practice decocking. Without the magazine, the ejector plate will move forward and allow the hammer pivot pin to drift out.

BTW, the procedure you described from Ruger is wrong. Here's the correct procedure: 1. Remove the magazine. 2. Snap the ejector plate forward. 3. Push the hammer pivot pin back in place. 4. Snap the ejector plate back into position. 5. Insert the magazine. If you do it in the order you posted, it will bend the tab when you insert a magazine.

Remove your slide so you can do a close inspection. Flip the ejector plate forward and look at the tab on the back. If you ever forced a magazine in place, chances are the tab is bent forward and is not in full contact with the slot in the pivot pin. If so, here's the "fix". Bend the tab on the ejector plate rearward until it is in full contact with the pivot pin when the ejector plate is snapped back into position. If you bend it too much, the magazine won't seat without binding.

Repairing the ejector plate tab is a tricky maneuver because it impossible to see the tab contact the pivot pin when snapped back. The ejector plate is made of very hard steel and is quite brittle. That means you risk breaking the tab off when bending it. Fortunately, the ejector plate is a cheap part (under $10) so if you break it, it can be replaced.
If this doesn't resolve the issue, a trip back to Ruger may be needed ... Good Luck!
 
#3 ·
BuckJM53,

Thank you for the input. I had read Iowegan's post, but I just don't see how we can know if it's actually bent. The tab (which I am assuming is the portion of the ejector plate that extends back toward the hammer pivot pin) seems to be straight and I don't even see how we could bend it anymore than it is. As I said, when disassembled, the frame of the pistol will dry fire, but the trigger will not pull all the way when reassembled.

Am I talking about the wrong tab of the ejector plate, or is it possible that there something in the slide that is messing up the works here?

Again, thank you for the response. I hope we don't have to send it back, but we'll see how this goes...
 
#4 ·
Well, we took it back to the store and they're going to hold on to it now. The clerk noticed a grinding sound when he toggled the hammer back and forth, so he is concerned that something may have disengaged when the pivot pin came loose. He is going to call a technician he knows at Ruger on Monday, and if they can figure it out, he's going to send it in.

I'll update the thread as we find out more.
 
#7 ·
According to the P345 Instruction Manual, dry firing is okay: "The RUGER® P345 pistols can be dry-fired without damage to the firing pin or other components as long as the magazine is inserted." However, dry firing without the magazine can damage the firing pin blocking mechanism.
 
#8 ·
Thanks very much

Wow, am I ever grateful to find this post! I bought a new P-345D about 6 weeks ago, took it to the range a couple of times, and had a great time. I took it out to handle it a few times after that, verifying it to be unloaded (which drops the hammer when the safety is on). Then, a few days ago, I found I could not insert an empty magazine into it!

After a ton of searching, I found this post, read Iowegan's description, looked at the right side of the gun, and lo and behold, the pivot pin was protruding. Got it back in and things are happy once again.

Never owning another Ruger pistol, I have to say I was a bit disappointed at what appears to be a design flaw that has gone uncorrected for several years. I've owned a Colt 1911 for about 30 years and never had any issues remotely like this. I am not ready to trade the 345, but am definitely less thrilled with it than when I bought it. Wouldn't you think Ruger would have fixed this by now?
 
#10 ·
My own work around for this

Since I am used to my Colt 1911 (which doesn't have all the new and varied safety features of the P345), when clearing the pistol, I disengage the safety. Doing this makes my P345 functionally equivalent to my 1911 for those who will criticize this. While I do not recommend this for anyone else, it is what works for me as it prevents the hammer pivot pin from working itself out because the hammer will not be dropping every time I clear the pistol (I lower the hammer manually, just like on my 1911).

And, yes Gunny G, I too would appreciate Big Seahawk Loser checking back in to tell us what Ruger had to say.
 
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