SR9C first impressions

[jscwerve]

So I picked up a Ruger SR9C on Monday and went and put some rounds through it yesterday. Thought I would share what I though about the gun. Let me start by saying that I am not comparing this to a Glock. I don't like the feel of Glocks, I have never owned one, and I never will. It is my preference, I know they are quality firearms, they are just not for me. I bought this so that I have another concealed pistol option and a cheaper round to shoot than my usual .45s.

First off, the sights. They are ok. I was able to keep tight goups at 12 yards with no problems. The front sight could be a bit more narrow, but not bad for factory sights. The rear sight has adjustments for windage and elevation. I will have to adjust the windage a bit on mine because it seems to shoot about 3" left at 12 yards. Elevation dead on.

The feel. The gun feels very good in my hand. It is slim and will be very easy to conceal. With the 17 round magazine in the gun, the grip is the same size as the normal SR9. With the 10 round mag in, the grip is still long enough to maintain complete control. I have large hands and this felt good with both mags used. The manual safety and slide release can easily be reached with the thumb, it is ambidextrous with the safety and mag release. Although there is no need for a manual safety because there is a trigger safety, it is very small and out of the way, it doesn't take anything away from the gun.

Shooting the pistol. Now I have been shooting pretty much .45acp exclusively for the last couple of years, so I am used to a bit of recoil. Compared to what I am used to, this gun has VERY little recoil. It might be the round, I am not sure. A high rate of fire is not a problem due to recoil at all. Not snappy, nothing. The trigger is very crisp and much to my surprise, very light for a factory trigger. According to Ruger the trigger pull is 5.2 pounds. It felt about a pound lighter than that to me. When I get a gage I will measure it.

Performance. Went boom every time I pulled the trigger. I did have one stove pipe in the first 10 round magazine. I attribute that to it being a new mag and gun, and actually expected more problems in the first box of ammo through the gun. Other than that, it performed flawlessly. I did have a problem at first with the slide release. It was extremely difficult, so difficult in fact that it could not be pressed with a thumb, finger, nothing. It could only be released by pulling the slide back slightly, and believe me, I pressed HARD. After about 100 rounds, it loosened up a bit, and I am now able to release the slide with my thumb as it should be.

Takedown and cleaning. It is very simple to take this gun down. One pin and the slide is off, barrel, springs, etc easily removed in about 20 seconds. The "loaded chamber" indicator thing gets a bit gunked up, but cleaned up easily enough. It is as simple as it can be, no complaints.

Overall I am very impressed with this gun. It is accurate, easy to handle, and very fun to shoot. I am surprised with it and that is a good thing. I believe this gun will perform as well, if not better, than any other higher priced 9mm pistol. Time will tell and after I have a few thousand rounds down the pipe, I will update this thread.

All in all I would rate this a solid 4.7 out of 5. Points deducted for the loaded chamber indicator and wide front sight.


Sorry for the crappy phone pic on the dirty workbench.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv228/jscwerve/sr9c.jpg

[G__Fred]

jscwerve, I am new to the sport and secured a SR9, and it is the “fun one” for hunting paper at the range. From my perspective the SR9 operates great! Do you have any more information on your SR9C review?

[jscwerve]

Yes! I have a bit more info! Sorry I haven't updated. I probably have around 800rds or so through this gun now and I like it even more than when I first fired it. The trigger broke in nicely and is very crisp and I couldn't think of making it any better. It is probably one of the most accurate pistols I have ever dealt with.

I did a very minor "torture test" to the pistol. I took it to the range and fired 250rds through it one day, and instead of cleaning it I just left it in my range bag for a couple of weeks. Went back to the range and fired off another 250 and had no issues whatsoever. I know it is not a huge test, but I was happy with it because I have a Ruger .45 that used to get a bit testy after 200 rounds or so with extraction issues (stovepipes and chambering). None of those problem here.

I did not like the magazine safety feature that Ruger puts on all of its pistols now, so I removed it. It takes about 5 minutes of time and can be done by anyone very easily. If you want to know how, just ask and I will do a write up. It is nice because now the pistol can be dry fired without any potential damage done to the striker.

Spare magazines (17rd) are hard to come by for a decent price, but they can be found. The problem is that they are sold out just about everywhere (paranoid folks I'm guessing). I got a hold of 3 more factory 17rd mags and haven't had any problems yet. The mags from a Ruger P17 or P19 also work in the SR9 and may be easier to come by.

I don't have much more to say about this pistol other than I love it. As soon as Ruger releases the SR40C I will be picking one up as soon as I am able because of how much I like the 9mm. This is definitely a winner and there is a reason it is becoming so popular. With the performance I have experienced, I have no issues with this being an every day carry pistol that can be trusted without question.

[ChadAmberg]

The biggest thing I hate about shooting Glocks is the so-called "Glock trigger", where there is a second embedded trigger that acts as a safety. Just hate the feel of it. Shot a Glock last night and that's still my impression.
Of course, I see the SR9C also has that trigger safety, and it looks like it sticks out even farther than the Glocks do. Do you notice it when shooting?

[jscwerve]

The biggest thing I hate about shooting Glocks is the so-called "Glock trigger", where there is a second embedded trigger that acts as a safety. Just hate the feel of it. Shot a Glock last night and that's still my impression.
Of course, I see the SR9C also has that trigger safety, and it looks like it sticks out even farther than the Glocks do. Do you notice it when shooting?

I don't notice it at all, then again I haven't even thought about it. I just took it out to see if it makes any difference! I guess it can be felt when you first put your finger on the rigger, but it is barely there (to me). My hands are pretty calloused though, so YMMV. I would definitely suggest handling one before buying if the trigger safety is a concern.

The trigger safety was an afterthought by Ruger because on the original design it was not there. There was a chance that if the gun was dropped just right it could go off because the trigger is pretty light and the inertia of the gun falling could pull the trigger. There was a recall to retrofit all of the existing pistols and now all of the SR series have the trigger safety.