Ruger P95 Modifications II: Research

Slowing Down for a 1000-Round Grip Reduction and Enhancement

I am finally ready to take a serious look at modifying my Ruger KP95R15.

To repeat myself again, I was having problems shooting my P95. When I first went to the range I had failures to feed (FTF), failures to eject (FTE), stovepipes, and double feeds. Also, my shots per magazine were starting with center hits on target and drifting to the lower left with the final round. I have small hands, the P95 is a little slick, and the gun was slipping and torquing down to the left. So my primary problem was a grip issue. Also, I wanted better sights. An easy solution would have been to trade the P95 for something that fit my hand better, like an SR9 (which fits my hand really well), a 1911, a Sig P239, or variety of other guns. But I wasn't going to give in that easily. So ...


I was all ready to make drastic changes after my first couple times shooting the pistol. I blamed the gun. And I was intrigued by the wealth of information about modifying polymer frames - albeit mostly for Glocks. But once I looked at what "hobbyists" were doing with Glocks - and I took a serious look at the design of the P95 - I realized that the internals of the P95's grip are a lot more complex than the Glock's. You can't go hacking and melting on a P95 frame like you can a Glock's.

Bob Mayne at the HandgunWorld Podcast is a big proponent of the 1000-round trigger job. The idea is that you break in the gun, and you train yourself to handle the gun at the same time. So for me, I'm planning on a "1000-round grip modification and enhancement job" while I work with small mods that make sense. I'm about a third of the way there.

Therefore, part of my modification plan is to not modify, until I have more experience with the pistol. But there are a few things that I cannot get around. (1) The frame is just too slippery, especially for my small hands. (2) There is an annoying edge that presses against my trigger finger. (3) I cannot focus on anything when using the three-dot sights. My eyes wig out and my mind can't determine which dot goes in the middle (It's the front one, right?).

NEXT STEP: Inventory the possible. And some possible progress.