May
2008
002 Ruger SR9 Pistol Review
For our first review we chose the Ruger SR9 pistol, a gun we all seemed to like but with some reservations. Listen to Steve, John, Mas, Chris, Terri and Gail discuss what we did and did not like about the gun. Please excuse any extraneous background noises as we are recording in a round table setting, for an explanation of any doggie noises see Terri’s new picture on the About Team ProArms page. Chris’ review was done in my car at a shooting range, that should explain the gunfire in the background. This is an active shooting group, so these podcasts will be done at various locations. So far we have recorded segments in some of our homes, on ranges, in hotel rooms and in a minivan. For more information on the Ruger SR9 visit the Ruger Website at: http://www.ruger-firearms.com/
Watch a video of Mas trying to get the Ruger SR9 to fire on impact
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I would very interested to know whether this pistol failed a state sponsered drop test. Some states, such as California drop test guns. California carries it too far, as it does with everything else. I own an SR-9. It received mine the day after the recall was announced. Ruger fixed my gun, although it took four and a half months after purchase. I think the refurbished gun is much better, especially the trigger, which was horrible in the original form. The gun is a Glock clone with some updates. I am a Glock armorer, so I know what a Glock is about. I am a retired L.E. Rangemaster so I have some basis for saying that this is a pretty good pistol. However, it is a man-killing gun, not a target pistol or a sport pistol. For the purpose of man-killing I believe it is more than adequate.
Hi Daniel, Mas Ayoob here. Coach Gail sent me in on this one. To the best of my knowledge, it was exhaustive in-house torture testing at Ruger that created a situation that over-rode the SR9’s safety mechanisms and led them to do the recall, out of “an abundance of caution,” as it were. I’m not aware of the product failing any government sponsored drop test.
We here all agree with you that the SR9 has great potential as a defensive pistol. We wouldn’t have said “man-killing gun,” perhaps because of too much time spent swimming in lawyer-infested waters.
Best wishes, Mas
The new trigger is the best thing that could’ve happened to my SR9. This is a dandy little pistol, and has everything I like about a Glock, only safer.
Mas; You may recall the OTHER famous striker fired pistol had a similar problem when it was new. The maker managed to keep it quiet and dealt with the repair as an UPGRADE, not a RECALL. The maker issued kits with a new drawbar, striker, firing pin safety plunger and all new springs. There are still guns out there that have not been upgraded because the owners never knew about the upgrade. Only L.E. agencies were notified. I was still seeing pistols that had not been upgraded when I retired. That is almost twenty years after the problem was first discovered. I won’t mention the name of the famous pistol. Their lawyers patrol the net for any derogatory comments about their product. More than one website has been shut down by this company for bad-mouthing their product.
Just purchased a new SR9 and have one question. Any reported problems with the slide release. I have only shot approximately 25 rounds through the pistol and had trouble releasing slide with gun hand/off hand. Had to use offhand to push back on the slide to release tension before I could release the slide. And no I’m no weakling.
I just tried the new SR9’s we have in stock. Here’s what I found. The slide release lever is on the small side much like the first series of the M&P pistols. When reloading if you hit the slide release with both thumbs like we teach in LFI it works fine. This is an issue that Ruger will probably need to address. If the slide release was just a little larger this would not be a problem. Like the M&P, Ruger needs to be made aware of this problem.
John
The model I tested was one of the original ones and I didn’t have that problem. He apparantly has one of the newer versions, which I haven’t played with.
Chris
I bought the SR9 based on glowing reviews in Handgun magazine and Guns and Ammo. I tried mine out the day I received it and it jammed from the first round, failure to eject. I sent it back and six weeks later got it back in working order. Then I sent it in for the recall after a long wait. It was upgraded and sent back in about a week. Took it to the range and now the FTE problem is back soooo, it’s on its way back to Ruger for the third time. I sure hope the 3rd time is a charm as I love the feel of the gun, very comfortable to shoot.