Way back in September I bought a gently used Ruger SR9. Since I did that only a few weeks after I had shoulder surgery, I have been unable to shoot it... until now.
I found the gun to be slim, and have been carrying it around the house for the last couple months, quite comfortably. It has ambidextrious safeties and mag releases, along with a GLOCK like trigger safety and a loaded chamber indicator. The gun came with two 17 round magazines, and the springs are very, very strong. If it had not come with the mag loader, I don't think I would be able to load it. It has what apear to be novak sights, and if you're used to shooting a J-Frame, its a world of differance!
I used Federal American Eagle ammo and some Serbian prvi partizan ammo that came with the pistol. I fired it at 12.5 and 25 yards. Even though I was only able to put about 100 rounds through it, there were no jams, no hicups, nothing. I would like to point out that I did buy the gun used, so it actually now has about 300 rounds through it. Acuracy was pretty good, I was shooting roughly 5 inch groups at 12.5 yards, and I was hitting minute of badguy out at 25 yards. That may not sound that great, but I assure you, it was all operator air. I've never been that good with a pistol, and my hands are in that awkward size range where they are not quite "normal" but they are not really "small" either, so its hard to find a gun that fits my hand very well. (I also am really bad at letting the round surprise me, and I think I'm pulling to the right). Let me say it again: the large groups were my fault, not the guns. I'm not terribly experianced, but to me, it felt like the gun had a very smooth, crisp, consistent trigger pull.
Recoil was very tame, and even though I'm still recovering from surgery, I found it to be very enjoyable to shoot. Its my very favorite gun. I may call her Vera...
Cleaning it was easy. Honestly, I have a Saiga AK, and I prefer cleaning the SR9 over that (I'm not too gracefull when it comes to getting the AK dust cover back on). You simply lock the slide back, puch out a pin, flip the extractor down, and push the slide forward. The recoil spring and the barrel are easily removed as well. I wiped it down with some balistol.
The only problems that I had were pretty small:
- The backstrap is reversible. Theres a small post inside it that holds the pin in place, kind of. (I'll post pictures of it later.) It popped out, BUT that was because I was stupid and thought it was a rock that somehow got stuck in my backstrap, and I tried to push it out.
- The slide lock lever is not optimaly placed for me. If I had slightly bigger hands, or it was a little lower/farther back, it would be perfect. Thats more of a problem with me.
Overall, I like this gun. I like it alot. On Tuesday I'll be taking the safety briefing class at the range to use the action pistol bays and shoot IPSC/IDPA. This is the gun I will be using, and I'll let you knwo how that goes. I'll post some pics when I get the chance.
Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson.
I found the gun to be slim, and have been carrying it around the house for the last couple months, quite comfortably. It has ambidextrious safeties and mag releases, along with a GLOCK like trigger safety and a loaded chamber indicator. The gun came with two 17 round magazines, and the springs are very, very strong. If it had not come with the mag loader, I don't think I would be able to load it. It has what apear to be novak sights, and if you're used to shooting a J-Frame, its a world of differance!
I used Federal American Eagle ammo and some Serbian prvi partizan ammo that came with the pistol. I fired it at 12.5 and 25 yards. Even though I was only able to put about 100 rounds through it, there were no jams, no hicups, nothing. I would like to point out that I did buy the gun used, so it actually now has about 300 rounds through it. Acuracy was pretty good, I was shooting roughly 5 inch groups at 12.5 yards, and I was hitting minute of badguy out at 25 yards. That may not sound that great, but I assure you, it was all operator air. I've never been that good with a pistol, and my hands are in that awkward size range where they are not quite "normal" but they are not really "small" either, so its hard to find a gun that fits my hand very well. (I also am really bad at letting the round surprise me, and I think I'm pulling to the right). Let me say it again: the large groups were my fault, not the guns. I'm not terribly experianced, but to me, it felt like the gun had a very smooth, crisp, consistent trigger pull.
Recoil was very tame, and even though I'm still recovering from surgery, I found it to be very enjoyable to shoot. Its my very favorite gun. I may call her Vera...
Cleaning it was easy. Honestly, I have a Saiga AK, and I prefer cleaning the SR9 over that (I'm not too gracefull when it comes to getting the AK dust cover back on). You simply lock the slide back, puch out a pin, flip the extractor down, and push the slide forward. The recoil spring and the barrel are easily removed as well. I wiped it down with some balistol.
The only problems that I had were pretty small:
- The backstrap is reversible. Theres a small post inside it that holds the pin in place, kind of. (I'll post pictures of it later.) It popped out, BUT that was because I was stupid and thought it was a rock that somehow got stuck in my backstrap, and I tried to push it out.
- The slide lock lever is not optimaly placed for me. If I had slightly bigger hands, or it was a little lower/farther back, it would be perfect. Thats more of a problem with me.
Overall, I like this gun. I like it alot. On Tuesday I'll be taking the safety briefing class at the range to use the action pistol bays and shoot IPSC/IDPA. This is the gun I will be using, and I'll let you knwo how that goes. I'll post some pics when I get the chance.
Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson.
