First I'll start by saying that I apologize for no pics. I'm an old guy who grew up around dial telephones and manual shift cars & the intricacies of posting photos on this site continue to elude me so I can't post a photo of the gun with today's newspaper to prove I have one. It does, however, look exactly like the one on the Ruger website.
http://www.ruger.com/products/sr1911/models.html
That being said, here are my initial impressions.
Pro
1. Price. I paid $725 + tax & shipping and for what the gun comes with that is a great price for a US made gun.
2. Visually very appealing if you like stainless steel. While it is a matter of personal taste I find the blued controls make the gun look unique in a good way. The grip panels are checkered wood double diamond with silver Ruger emblems and really add a nice touch.
3. Fit & finish were very good. Virtually no slide to frame movement and everything lined up perfectly.
4. If you are partial to box stock 1911s then you won't like it. However, if you're into dressing it up a bit there's not much they haven't included. Comes with a beavertail grip safety, extended thumb safety (not ambi), extended mag release, ventilated trigger & skeletonized hammer. I can't verify this as I haven't checked yet but I have also read that the mainspring housing is steel rather than plastic. (edit - just checked the MS housing with a magnet - yes, it's steel)
5. Accuracy. This will likely vary from gun to gun but initial impressions were good. I put 10 shots into a 4" circle at 25 yards using 200 gr. SWC handloads and just a PPC vertical barricade for support. My friend who is a very good shot put 4 shots into 1" with a slight flyer which enlarged the group to 2" at the same distance.
6. Extras. Comes with two mags (an 8 shot and a 7 shot
), a bushing wrench and a soft pistol rug.7. It's a series 70, not a series 80 which should make getting a good trigger pull easier.
8. Unlike a lot of Rugers they have resisted the temptation to print the whole safety manual on the gun. Left side of slide just says "Ruger" with "Made in USA" in smaller print. Right side of the slide just has the Ruger logo. On the right side of the frame in small print (less than 1/8") Prescott, AZ, Ruger SR1911 and the serial #. On the dust cover on the bottom of the frame it just says "Read Instruction Manual Before Using Firearm" in VERY small print (under 1/16").
9. *Added*: When field stripping the gun for photos I noticed that the mag well has been factory bevelled for easier mag insertion. A nice little touch.
Con
I can't point to any obvious cons like poor fit or finish or horrible trigger. Most of the cons would be due to personal preference items.
1. It has fixed sights (Novak 3 dot style). This is not a true con but could be for someone who wants adjustable.
2. Again not a true con but the stock trigger pull ran a tad over 5 pounds on my Lyman electronic trigger gauge. This is good enough for a lot of people but will not satisfy those who want to do any sort of competition shooting. The trigger also has a very faint 'click' before the hammer drops but I haven't worked on it yet to see what's causing it. I have run into this with 1911s of different makes.
3. It does not have a rail for light/laser mounting nor does it have forward slide serrations for those who prefer them.
4. I did have a couple of FTFs in the first 50 or 60 rounds. However, they was with fairly light SWC lead handloads. The next 150 rounds were glitch free so I attribute this to the gun needing a few rounds to smooth out.
5. *Added* This may be a Pro for some people but I neglected to mention that the recoil spring/plug arrangement is the standard 1911 (short) style. I much prefer the extended guide rods that come with the Kimbers, STIs, etc. so for me this is a con and I will replace it ASAP. Other people prefer this stock setup so for them this won't be an issue.
My overall impressions are very favourable. I am partial to stainless so for me that was a plus. I would really have liked adjustable sights and I think that if these are the good sellers I expect them to be Ruger will offer adjustables down the road. There are also Novak style adjustables on the market if someone just couldn't live with the fixed ones on the gun. It is also currently available only in 45 ACP but again I think 9mm and maybe even 38 Super & 40 S&W versions will follow given the initial success of the gun.
How does it compare to other 1911s? Well I have a Kimber Stainless II in 45 and an STI Ranger II in 9mm, both of which which I like very much. However, both have had trigger work so to compare pull weight and smoothness with the Ruger would not be apples to apples. And as much as I like the Kimber, for $1200-$1300 I was not thrilled about the cheesy rubber grip panels and plastic mainspring housing and changed both of them ASAP. I certainly don't consider myself an expert but except for the trigger the Ruger seems to be every bit as good as the Kimber and STI for about $400 less which will buy you a pretty good trigger job with money left over.
Hope this helps.
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from Dante Sports 
