New Ruger SR9

[Guest darkstar]

Last Saturday I upgraded and bought a new Ruger SR9. As most of you are probably aware the SR9 is Ruger's first entrance into polymer framed, striker fired pistols and has been on the market only fairly recently. First off, the thing that most stands out (to me at least) is that this is the most un-Ruger like firearm I have ever handled. I have an SP101 (that I love) and it is a chunky, heavy, rugged piece of steel.....like pretty much all Rugers. The SR9 is surprisingly slim. Much slimmer than the P series pistols, slimmer than the Glocks, Kahr's etc. The grip (again, to me) feels much like a 1911 style pistol, and the polymer frame has a much different feel than any other poly frame pistol I have or have handled. The frame is what Ruger calls "glass filled nylon" and like the slide is also quite slim....how they manage to get 17 rounds into the magazine is kind of a mystery to me. The SR9 also has a saftey lever (which can be used or un-used to your desire, the pistol is, according to Ruger drop safe whether saftey is engaged or not) thats is also like a 1911 up is safe, down is fire. It is easy to operate the saftey with the thumb into fire mode, but for me I have to disengage my grip to flip it back into safe mode. There is an interesting loaded chamber indicator on this pistol. Right in the middle of the slide at the back of the chamber is a little tab. When a round is chambered it pops up displaying a red shilouette of a cartridge on either side. I have never seen anything like this. It's different, but does not distract the aim in any way. The slide is a nicely polished stainless steel, with plenty of cocking serrations on both sides. The mag release is ambi, there is a release on both sides. Speaking of the mag release the SR9 is equipped with a magazine saftey which prohibits a round from being fired with the magazine removed. Take down is very easy. Pin the slide back, remove the slide pin, then move the slide forward, thats it. You do NOT need to pull the trigger to release the slide.

The SR9 performed flawlessly for me. I fired 350 rounds. 100 UMC 115gr fmj, 200 WWB 115 gr fmj, 25 Hornady TAP 124 gr JHP, and 25 Speer 124 gr gold dot jhp. All rounds fired just fine and cycled the slide and extracted cleanly. For me the feel of the pistol was perfect in my hand, the sights (3 white dot) were easy to acquire, and the pistol just felt "right". The only issue I had was loading the mags. The springs are very stiff (the pistol comes with a mag loading tool....I didn't use it but my thumbs are sore) and it is a bit of a chore to get all 17 in the magazine. It did get a bit easier after a few loadings.

I shot very tight groups. I did most of the firing at 7 yards and was getting what I would estimate as half dollar sized groups. Several groups were one ragged hole. At 15 yards they were spread out a bit more....probably around 2 inches or so....I did have the occasional flyer but would attribute that to me more than anything else. The trigger was very nice. I don't have a scale but from what I have read the trigger averages between 6-7 pounds, I would say that seems correct. It did seem a bit longer of a pull than some other guns I own but it was smooth and easy to get used to. The trigger gaurd is quite large so anyone wanting to shoot with gloves will have no problem.

All in all I would say this is a fine pistol. I'm no expert by any stretch so might not be as discerning as others but I know what I like and I like this pistol. I would post some pictures but stupidly left my digital up in Bowling Green KY a few weeks ago and have not gotten it back yet. You can check this gun out at Rugers website...I'm sure their photographers are way better than me anyhow.

I choose this Ruger because A. It felt right to me, fit me like the proverbial glove, B. I like Rugers, I think they are a pretty decently built gun, C. The price was very good (I got mine at ASP up in Joelton...shameless plug for them...they have good prices and are great guys) D. I wanted a High capacity 9mm that wasn't a Glock...nothing against Glocks, I have one (model 23) just wanted a differnet brand as I already own a Glock and E. It's made in the USA. Not a hugely important factor but figured my dough would go to a US company this time around.

If you get the chance fondle one of these...I think you will be surprised that what your holding is a Ruger. It's that different from their usual offerings.

[davej48]

Thanks for the informative post.

[Guest nosnos]

Yeah. Thank you. I don't know how many there are like me, but I'm new at gun ownership. Me and my wife are enjoying it. But shopping for guns is interesting. When a gun shop employee offers for us to feel a gun I'm not quite sure what I'm feeling or wanting. Posts like this help me understand why you might like one gun over another.

Thanks again.

[BigPoppa]

Nice review. May I ask where you purchased and what you paid ?

[Smith]

He got it from ASP (Academy of Self-Protection) in Joelton. Did my carry course there with Rob. It is a great place.

[Guest supergus]

I just read a test in one of the mags and they put 15,201 rounds through an SR9 in two weeks and didn't have one malfunction that wasn't attributed to the operator. IIRC they didn't even clean it.

[BigPoppa]

The price was very good (I got mine at ASP up in Joelton...shameless plug for them...they have good prices and are great guys)

Sorry - didn't finish my hooked on phonics !!!

[Guest darkstar]

Sorry - didn't finish my hooked on phonics !!!

No problem....yep ASP in Joelton and they were $50 less than the other places I looked at. Not sure what the etiquette here is for posting prices so I don't want to tick off anybody...I'm sure they will tell you over the phone if you were to call them. I paid what the price tag said. As I stated above they were $50 lower than the two other places I checked. If you join ASP's range membership you get an additional 5% off of pretty much everything...guns, ammo, cleaning stuff etc.....pretty good deal, pays about half the sales tax.