I received a PM from a friend at the Indiana Gun Owners forum about how I’m liking the Ruger SR9c that I’ve been shooting in the Quest for Master Class at DownRange.TV (latest episode here). So far, I really like the Ruger SR9c – as I’ve said in all my pieces on DRtv, it’s easy to shoot, easy to conceal, and generally a good gun. But let’s look at some specifics about the little 9mm. 
First off, it’s not really a little gun, but it’s not a big gun either. In terms of size, it’s smaller than a Glock 19, but bigger than a Glock 26. That’s nice, because it has a little bit more gun to hold on to than a Glock 26 when you’re actually shooting the thing.
In terms of breakdown and cleaning, the Ruger comes apart very easily, except for one step – you have to push a little lever doohicky (that is a technical term) down with a pencil eraser or your finger, although I don’t recommend your finger. The Ruger SR9c has a slide that’s under a lot of pressure when held to the rear, and can create its own little version of M1-thumb if you use a digit to press the lever-doohicky down. Once that’s done, it’s a snap to field strip and clean the Ruger SR9c, which I’ve only done once so far. The gun has 556 rounds through it after 1 match and several runs through the classifier, and by the end of the month we’ll be over 1000 through the Ruger.
But you guys want to know how it shoots, don’t you? It shoots very well. I have not tested the gun’s mechanical accuracy by shooting groups from a rest, because this is a defensive pistol. I don’t honestly care if it shoots 1.5 inches at 25 yards using match ammo, because it’s obviously accurate enough to hit the 8 inch “-0” zone of an IDPA target at 20 yards. Speaking of accuracy, the sights are actually really good. While I’m not a fan of 3-dot sights in general, the actual sight picture that you get from the SR9c allows a lot of light to shine around the front sight post, which means making those hits on 20 yard targets is a lot easier.
I have had some problems though – on the last run through the IDPA classifier, I had several failures to feed with Remington 115gr FMJ ammo. Seeing as I have no problems with other types of ammo in the gun, and the Remy stuff seemed a little anemic, I’m going to call those ammo related for now. If I see malfunctions with other brands (once I shoot up the 750 rounds of Remy I have left) then we’ll get in to looking at the gun’s function. Overall, I’m very pleased with the gun. Sure, I’ve not shot it a whole heck of a lot, but we’re just getting started on this test. I’ve got lots and lots of bullets to run through this gun, and hopefully we’ll be able to put 5k rounds through it before October!
My neighbor bought one. The thing I really like about it is that it’s very slim. The trigger was also really good out of the box.
He’s had troubles with his too. It’s prone to light primer strikes, that might be why the trigger is so good. I keep telling him to send it back to Ruger but he hasn’t yet.
Check to see what ammo he’s using. Sellier and Bellot (green box with red lacquer on the primers) has notoriously hard primers and might have some trouble.
I’m really glad to hear this.. I’ve been looking at this gun to be my first pistol purchase. I should have my permit in the next week or so. Keep up the great work with the site and it was great seeing you on TopShot
foo.c that’s the thing it might be bigger than a Glock 26 but the fact that it’s very slim has me seriously considering it as an option for a carry gun.
Caleb,
I’ve always found Remington ball to be light. It’s like it’s loaded for the crappiest POS Spanish guns ever made. I’ve been told by those who should know that it WILL NOT reliably cycle a P08 Parabellum that is still milspec.
I’ve got over 3000 rounds through my Full Sized SR9 without one failure.
WWB and RMC bulk packs digest just fine so do various defense hollow points. Reloads also work fine.
Accuracy is dead on for a stock gun.
Caleb,
We’ve had issues in with various Remington UMC ammo in qualifications as well. Especially with the LCP one of the guys has.
I’ve had issues with the UMC as well. WWB runs better for me.
WWB is excellent range ammo. The only times I;ve had issues while using WWB, it was while using a magazine that (on further trial) turned out to have issues with almost any ammo I tried.
So, if it jams with WWB, I tend to assume the magazine is bad and put a bullet through it or chuck it into the woods.
Admittedly, the overwhelming experience I’ve had with WWB is their 9x19mm 100 round “Party Pack”. Mostly due to it being just over $10 per box (cheaper than Wolf!) before ammo prices readjusted. Even now, those boxes are about $25 at Wal-Mart. . .
I would also like to toss a little anger at the UMC crap. I ran a sub gun comp. a while back with my IMI semi Uzi. This gun has eaten EVERTHING I have put into it, and it has never malfunctioned in competition or otherwise. I ran with UMC last time and I had to clear the thing every 3-5 rounds (very embarrassing in a comp. that runs close to 250 rounds). A guy at the match said that most sub guns won’t run the UMC stuff because it’s underpowered. It runs in my g26 ok, and I can’t wait to get rid of it.
I’ve had some difficulty in several guns with the 250 round boxes of Remington 9mm 115gr FMJ’s. Not sure what the problem is. I’ve shot a lot of American Eagle by Federal and Winchester white box rounds without a problem in my SR9’s, XD’s, and M&P’s.
One thing on the SR9 and SR9c regarding size is how slender and rounded the pistols are, especially when compared to the “boxy” slides on the XD’s, Glock’s, and M&P’s.
I have a full sized SR9. It’s been a great, trouble-free gun so far. I have 6 or 700 rounds through it. Very accurate. The only thing I don’t like about it is the size and position of the thumb safety. I have short thumbs and it can be hard to reach. Being a striker fired pistol with a safety in the trigger as well, I’ve been wondering “Why bother with the thumb safety.” I’m comfortable with Glocks and the S&W M&P. Anyone else have similar experiences with this?