Ruger SR1911 Range Report

[Guest Torrin]

Full disclosure:

1) I am a Ruger guy, I have shot a lot of them over the years and I currently own two, plus a coffee cup, hat, etc.

2) The last time i shot a 1911, I was transitioning to a Beretta in the military.

I generally shoot my SR9c. I love 9mm guns and I like the price of ammo. At 15 yards, I can put 16 of 17 in a kill spot. I love polymer guns, because they are light and rugged.

On to the report:

I feel in love with the LOOK of the SR1911, and I decided I need to own one. The good folks at G&L posted that they had some coming in, I PM'd Metalhead and ran out there and got the next available.

Look: It is a series 70 style 1911 (No annoying pin block) and I love the wood grips and the non-polished stainless steel. It is a beauty. It takes down like any other 1911, and I can easily take it down without the provided tool. The slide, barrel, and lug are all REALLY tight. You can tell this is a quality gun. (No idiot scratch for me)

Feel: After my SR9c, this is a heavy beatch, but it sits nicely in my hand and feels well balanced

On the Range: I have not shot a .45 in a long time, but I did not feel I was shooting as well as the longer gun dedicated I should (still breaking it in though), but I was grouping *fairly* well, so I am going to blame the shooter on this. I will update this if I get better at shooting it.

Issues:

1) I suddenly started feeling very uncomfortable shooting a magazine and my shots were a bit all over the place. It turned out BOTH grips had come very loose and the gun was moving around in my grip. (Weird) I tightened them up when I got home and I will see if this repeats.

2) Occasionally when the slide is open on empty, ejecting the magazine causes the slide to come forward on its own. It scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. I can make it happen1-20 times or so. If this does not resolve itself, I will call Ruger

3) The grip safety is loose. No bad, but it makes noise when my hand is not on the grip (think taking steps with it holstered, and hearing clink clink clink)

2 and 3 have me a bit worried, but I will probably call Ruger in the next week to try to sort it out (Maybe other 1911 guys can tell me if this is expected behavior?)

Observations:

1) .45 ammo is hella expensive!

2) .45 ammo makes shooting my 9mm feel like shooting a BB gun.

3) I don't know if this is just .45 related, but man does the gun get dirty fast (I shoot the same ammo on my 9mm and it does not get nearly as dirty)

4) 1911's are a PITA to clean. My God there are a lot of little tight spots that are quite hard to clean. (It look nearly 4 times as long to clean the 1911, than my SR9c)

5) Carrying this gun is not as bad as I thought it would be. I bought a nice IWB leather holster from Brownells (Summer Special 2) and it sits very comfortably on my belt.

Overall, despite the issues, this is a really nice gun for under $700. I look forward to getting the two issues resolved and continuing to shoot this thing.

[Will Carry]

Thanks for an excellent review. I'm a Ruger man myself but my 1911 has a pony on the slide.

[Capbyrd]

On the issues...

2. Check to see if the mag is pushing the slide stop up far enough to fully engage it. I would bet that it isn't and thats why the slide slams home when ejecting.

3. Shouldn't be that bad. Give Ruger a call.

On your observations...

3. Yep, 45 is that dirty. Plus you can see the dirt alot easier with the stainless versus a black gun.

[Guest rebeldrummer]

no that you have scratched your .45 itch, ill be glad to take it off your hands...

i mean, your a 9mm guy.....polymer.....compact....right??? RIGHT??!!

ill leave you GREAT FEEDBACK on the deal ....

ha ha ha...

nice report. I cant wait to get my hands on one of these!

[Guest Torrin]

Heh, I said NO idiot scratch for me, once I spent the 11 hours cleaning the thing, it looks showroom new. I am afraid to shot it again, since it takes so long to clean it.

[R1100R]

Torrin,

How was the slide to frame fit on yours. i held a slightly used one the other day and the

pistol rattled worse that a Hooker 's knees in a church. I was thinking I wanted one until

i held this one. With the slightest movement it rattled like crazy.

[mikegideon]

Heh, I said NO idiot scratch for me, once I spent the 11 hours cleaning the thing, it looks showroom new. I am afraid to shot it again, since it takes so long to clean it.

I have a stainless 1911 (not Ruger). The main reason I don't shoot it much is because it's a pain in the butt to clean.

[Guest Torrin]

Torrin,

How was the slide to frame fit on yours. i held a slightly used one the other day and the

pistol rattled worse that a Hooker 's knees in a church. I was thinking I wanted one until

i held this one. With the slightest movement it rattled like crazy.

Slide to frame is REALLY tight, no play at all. The only rattling is the grip safety. I am actually quite impressed with how tight all of the components are.

[Erick]

I realy want one but I can't find one here in Knoxville. I just like to see and hold a gun before I buy it so I don't want to buy one online.

[JKGlock17]

I want one of these real bad

[Guest pdogkilr]

How was the slide to frame fit on yours.

Can't speak for him, but mine is excellent for a "mass-produced" production pistol.

[Defender]

My Ruger 1911 grip safety also rattles.

I replaced the wooden grips with a set of Hogue rubber grips, and when I was tightening one of the grip screws, the top sheared right off. I'm sure it was a defect, rather than me overtightening. I wasn't real happy with Ruger when I reported my broken grip screw ...they just sent me a link to their parts page to order new screws.. at my expense. Instead, I picked up a set of Ed Brown grip screws at the gun show, so its ok now.

Torrin, please let us know how you resolve the grip safety rattle after you speak to Ruger. .

pdogkilr, please tell me more about that magwell. I like it.

Edited April 25, 2012 by barewoolf

[Guest bulluck533]

Love the grips

[gnmwilliams]

My grip screws also start loosening every time I shoot mine. I'll probably get a different set here soon or try some teflon tape. I haven't had a problem with the mag ejection or the grip safety though and the fit is very tight. The stock front sight for the SR1911 is plastic however and sheared off within my first 200 rounds. Ruger did mail me a replacement free of charge and I haven't had any problems with it through the next 300 rounds since then. I do agree that it gets dirty quick! Overall I think it's still a great pistol for the price.

[Guest rebeldrummer]

ok so i found one of these FINALLY!

price, decent.....should get in next week!

[Erick]

I found one today!!!! here in Knoxville. I was at the store when a truck arrived, the guy that works there said there was one on the truck and I handed him my ID and a credit card before they could get it in the store.

[Guest kilo33]

Picked one up Saturday, and shot the snot out of it sunday, At least my son did. All I can say is I am impressed with this purchase.

we put more than 200 rnds down range without any problems.

Edited May 2, 2012 by kilo33