Ruger SR9 Review and Range Report

singleaction said:
WRT the sticking a loaded mag into the gun to 'hammer down', you've technically loaded the gun (even though you haven't 'made ready'), and should be required to go through an unload procedure, thereby racking the slide again; kind of a circular thing gonna happen there :) I don't know that any RO would like that anyway. I think you've got the right idea flipping the hot rounds into your pocket on the last mag.

Now this has already been discussed Ad nauseam on here, but I personally think that 'hammer down' (using the trigger) is a technical procedure that conditions folks to pull the trigger as an "automatism". This type of conditioning can be bad given a situation where the procedures of the automatism are interrupted thereby creating the chance for the brain to continue on the wrong step (either previous or skip steps). An typical scenario of automatism would be making coffee with an interruption of some sort. You carry on making the coffee but one of the steps are missing; you skip adding the grounds, or you skip placing the carafe under. Then you hit the brew button and walk away. I'm not saying that dealing with a gun isn't more serious, but unfortunately it turns into a subconscious act to pull the trigger. Incidentally, I'm wanting to give IPSC a whirl because it looks very enjoyable, so yes, I guess I'll pull the trigger!! ;-)
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Developing a Use of Force Education Part II of III
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Developing a Use of Force Education Part III of III
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Teddy Talk
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Nice work. I like this gun. It fits me well and is inexpensive. However, like somebody else mentioned here, the main drawback is the trigger. It was retroactively introduced to deal with an urgent safety issue a few years back. It looks and feels like a temporary solution. Hopefully it will be re-done in near future.
 
singleaction said:
......An typical scenario of automatism would be making coffee with an interruption of some sort. You carry on making the coffee but one of the steps are missing; you skip adding the grounds, or you skip placing the carafe under. Then you hit the brew button and walk away....)
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Now THAT could have truly terrible quincequonces indeed- NO COFFEE - and possibly a mess to clean up without the influence of said coffee. :p

All the more reason to use a French Press. And IMHO better coffee, too. Which reminds me... it's 6:45 am and I haven't made the coffee yet.

Another example of automatism is Wendy Cukier (ugh). But let's not go there.

:) Stuart
 
The trigger on the SR9 isn't the greatest - WHEN NEW OUT OF THE BOX.

Shoot it in (break it in) like I did and it smooths up dramatically.

You can do some trigger work (or have a gunsmith do it) to improve the trigger pull, but I don't see why someone would when you can just shoot it in.

After about 1000 rounds through it, my SR9 has a great trigger.
 
I just tried out the SR9's trigger at a local store and man was I disappointed! The gun itself looked surprisingly great in person and the grip felt great even with my big hands (very 1911-esque, loved it!), but that trigger... urgh! It just seems so gritty during the take-up and when it breaks it feels a little "bouncy".

Weird thing is after dry-firing it for about 30 times it seems to have smoothened out a little... for you SR9 owners, was your trigger like this when bought new? Love the price, the look, the grip, and the feel of the gun except for the trigger... maybe I was expecting too much, after being spoiled by the factory Jericho 941 trigger - now that thing is smooooooth right out of the box.
 
Bonjour43ma said:
I just tried out the SR9's trigger at a local store and man was I disappointed! The gun itself looked surprisingly great in person and the grip felt great even with my big hands (very 1911-esque, loved it!), but that trigger... urgh! It just seems so gritty during the take-up and when it breaks it feels a little "bouncy".

Weird thing is after dry-firing it for about 30 times it seems to have smoothened out a little... for you SR9 owners, was your trigger like this when bought new? Love the price, the look, the grip, and the feel of the gun except for the trigger... maybe I was expecting too much, after being spoiled by the factory Jericho 941 trigger - now that thing is smooooooth right out of the box.
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See post #24, that's what happened to me.
 
If you have a "gritty" trigger try removing the striker assembly from the slide. Polish all the contact surfaces and you will find a huge difference. The trigger will be a lot smoother, you don't have to shoot a 1000 rounds. It worked for me
 
Bonjour, just a quick question, what "generation" SR9 was it that you looked at in the gun store?

Also, they let you dry fire it 30+ times?!? Nice! :) (it says right in the SR9 manual that it is perfectly safe to dry fire the gun without any risk of damage so long as a mag is in place to trip the mag disconnect)

I can't comment on the trigger "out of the box" as I bought it used. I have to say that the trigger, while a little on the heavy side, is better than I expected it to be. I used this gun in an IPSC match for the first time today (maybe yesterday for some of you depending on which time zone you're in) and came in first in my division so I guess it can't be that bad ;)
 
^^^ I believe it's the latest generation, with the "D" shaped mag release, with a serial number 331-###xx. Seriously I was ready to walk out of the store with that gun (well, figuratively speaking lol) but just couldn't force myself to like that trigger... :( It just didn't feel "right", if you know what i mean.

Lol it felt like 30 times or so as the store guy and myself both tried out the trigger and talked about how it felt and etc... the mag was in when we dry fired it, yes :)

Yeah I think the trigger will definitely smoothen out after some polishing or simply just putting down a few hundred rounds through it... I REALLY loved how it felt in the hands as it points quite naturally for me, and the weight is just about right. Plus the gun looks quite attractive in person, much better than in photos!
 
I agree. I loved the way it looked in pics, and then when it arrived, I was really impressed at how it looked in real life.

But like you said, if you can't get past the trigger, don't get it. There are other guns out there that will be much better suited to you. The trigger is the heart of a gun, especially a handgun, so it's important that you like it. Try an M&P9 if you like the idea of this type of gun but just don't want to get a Glock.

I know the Glock lovers will jump all over this, but just because Glock was the first manufacturer to popularize this design, doesn't mean that they are the only gun a person should get. I personally do not like the grip angle or the factory trigger on a Glock. I actually like the SR9 trigger better. Yes, it's heavier, but it works better for me, and that's all that matters.

And to leannejason, thanks for listening! :) We appreciate it!
 
I gotta say that my brand new latest gen trigger wasn't too bad. I have no idea the pull weight, but it did start off slightly gritty. By gritty I mean I could feel a bit of resistance on the take-up at various spots along the way. After some dry firing at home it was pretty much gone. Now after (what am I at now 400-500 rounds) the trigger is very nice. No S&W revolver or Shadow, of course, but this isn't that type of gun.

So with exception of my particular loading 'quirks', I love the thing.
 
That's exactly it! The break itself isn't too bad at all because I can feel when it'll happen, but it's the take up that I had issues with... it's not a smooth travel and you can feel some slight resistance a long the way. I don't think this will be an issue for situations where you need to squeeze the trigger quickly to get the round off, but you'll definitely notice it when doing slow, deliberate shooting.

Do you guys find the 10th round hard to load into the mag (like many other guns that come with factory 10-round mags)? On a Glock I find that if I loaded all 10 rounds it is quite hard to rack the slide to chamber the first round, so I usually lock the slide open first, load the mag, then rack the slide.
 
Yes, the mag springs are quite stiff. I now have an upLula to load my mags with. It really saves my thumbs. And even with a full load, it will seat properly into the gun without having to first lock open the slide. This is good because you hardly ever reload in IPSC with the slide back. Well, at least you shouldn't. :p
 
I don't really find a problem filling the mag to 10 and I still use my fingers, although my family arthritis may be creeping in of late. I was thinking of one of those Upallalla?-thingies soon!

On my first mag my slide is always closed as I usually have it unloaded in my holster and have to walk to the official line so the slide is closed. The mag seems to go in no problem, and there's no trouble racking it. Mind you, I rack very close to my chest (the so called power zone) with a grip over the top as I have incredibly wimpy baby girl hands!! My subsequent mags (oh wait, I only have two total LOL) go in with the slide open.

I know my nice mecgar BHP mags were pretty tight filling, and were very difficult to seat into the gun. My SR-9 is nothing like that though.
 
I was seriousely looking into an SR9 a while back with teh "gen 1". however at that time i didn't know about CGN and my local dealers had them on backorder. Instead at that time i picked up a Taurus 24.7 pro in .40.... My advice would be... don't. A few weeks ago i picked up a brad new shadow and I couldn't be happier. perhaps in time i'll see what the sr9 fuss is about, but i'm happy as a clam and there are a few other guns higher up on my "need" list. But all in all great review I'm glad to see that I perhaps would've had a good gun, if I had gone the SR9 route origionally. I think I'll stick with my shadow now though lol
 
Oh and as for the mag disconnect hammer down thing. I agree using a loaded mag is still safe when practicing by yourself at the range. In a match you could always get that one arsehole RO that will DQ you for it. It's less hassel in the long run to just use an empty one and i think your throw teh rounds in your pocket solutuon is fine for that.
 
Can you not notify the RO in advance, letting him/her know that you will be doing hammer down with a loaded mag, so that he won't DQ you when you acutally do it?

If I pick up this gun it will be for casual IPSC shooting in production (just for fun), where I know there will be lots of holstering action and lots of rounds down the barrel. So a low-cost 9mm like this one would be ideal since I won't cringe at the thought of having marks on the slide and frame :) Shoot it til it breaks!
 
I hate to sound like a broken record. If you want a SR9 with a great trigger use the Ghost inc products. If IPSC rules are that important to you Ghost has a product that will make your SR9 conform. As far as the IPSC show clear and hammer down rule, does every RO running these event know every firearm out there, which one has a mag safety and which one does not. When you finish a stage you drop the mag show clear and pull the trigger it goes click. You know the firearm is safe. I know the main concern is safety but the rules of IPSC are so complex and open to interpretation.
 
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