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Now that there is an excellent selection of 9mm self-defense rounds on the market, gun manufacturers are developing some interesting pistols in this caliber. Among the most interesting are the new generation of 1911’s in 9mm. The past few weeks I have been range testing the 9mm Ruger SR1911 with a wide variety of ammunition and at various ranges. If you are not familiar with the pistol here are the specs:

• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Slide material: Stainless steel
• Capacity: 9+1 with the two supplied mags
• Grip frame: Gray anodized aluminum
• Barrel length: 4.25”
• Slide Finish; Low-glare stainless
• Overall length: 7.75”
• Width: 1.34”
• Height: 5.45”
• Sights: Novak 3-dot
• Weight: 29.3 oz.
• MSRP: $979

The Pistol

The pistol is designed like the 1911 Series 70 and disassembles just like the classic 1911. It is the size of the Colt Lightweight Commander. Its features, other than those listed above, include a skeletonized trigger with adjustable over-travel stop, skeletonized hammer, oversized beavertail grip safety, oversized ejection port, extended magazine release, black rubberized grip panels, checkered back strap, extended thumb safety and slide stop, titanium firing pin, and a visual inspection port.

The sample sent to me for testing on my range has a trigger pull which measures 4 pounds 10 ounces on a Lyman Digital Trigger Pull Scale. The trigger breaks crisp and clean. For those, and this includes me, who want a 10-round magazine for this pistol Wilson Combat and Brownell’s have them. I am using the Wilson 500-9 and 800-9 at this writing and am well pleased with their performance.

The 9-round magazines that come with the pistol work fine but being somewhat shorter in length they go deep into the magazine well and it is easy to not fully seat the magazine resulting in a failure to load. And if the magazine should need to be stripped during firing there is nothing to grab. You have to hope for the magazine to drop when the magazine release is pushed, a chamber jam could prevent this from happening. Both the Wilson Combat and Brownell’s magazines have a base pad to grasp and use for stripping the magazine free from the pistol.

Also I found the magazines supplied with the pistol have a strong spring and was hard to load after the fifth or sixth cartridge was loaded into the magazine. An UpLULA loader can make loading these magazines a snap.

It’s worth noting that this pistol does not have a magazine disconnect safety for which I am glad.

On the Range

The SR1911 in 9mm is a pleasure to shoot. Being a 1911 fan, I liked the feel of a 1911 frame and the low recoil of the 9mm cartridge. My first tests were to find out what ammo this particular pistol would digest best.  The end result was Black Hills, both for target and self-defense shooting. For most of my target work I used Black Hills 115 gr. FMJ and got minute-of-angle groups at 3- and 5- yards. At 25-yards from my Ransom Rest the load shot excellent vital area groups. For serious concealed carry purposes the pistol shot the Black Hills 124 gr. JHP+P ammo best. Most of my groups at 3- and 5-yards were 1.75-inch group average.

So far over 800 rounds have been sent downrange from the pistol without a single hic-cup.

I carry the SR1911 in a Galco Yaqui slide holster. It is almost as the two were meant for one another. It rides close to my side to not reveal a profile and yet is fast and easy to draw from when necessary.

Early Conclusions

While I haven’t run the 9mm Ruger SR1911 through the FBI range test, which I plan to do and report on in a week or so, I have shot it enough to know that this is one well-built 1911-style pistol in a 9mm format.

Compared to the standard 1911 in .45ACP the recoil is soft and recovery from shots fast. It is lighter in weight, ammo less expensive, the slide is easier to operate and when matched up with the latest high quality 9mm ammo it is accurate and deadly when needed.