Ruger SR 1911

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In 2011, a century after the first 1911 Colt model, we saw numerous replicas of this legendary pistol. Almost all the American factories focused on the reproduction of one of the historical hand guns and despite design and market tendencies that are moving towards predominating use of plastic and firing pins, this gun still finds large consensus among the gun lovers. 1911 Colt Government, thanks to its capabilities of precision and its, perhaps overrated but without a doubt strong caliber, can still be characterized as a great defense weapon, regardless of its manufacturers. Nonetheless, some models are better than others and Ruger SR 1911 .45 ACP caliber is definitely one of the better guns.

Ruger SR1911 — Ruger gun 1911 SR is traditional 1911 with single column magazine

The gun is sold in a simple card box containing two magazines, a soft case, a dissembling key, a safety locket and an instruction manual. Ruger SR 1911 is a classical Government with a few innovative elements that are pretty decent. Fortunately, you won’t find a superfluous Picatinny rail under the receiver, the dangerous magazine safety or the safety key, which leads us to exclaim with joy: Go Ruger!

Also, this is a classical stainless steel Government with satin non-glare finish. The dimensions and the weight are within the limits of the original model. The slide checkering is oblique and larger than the original one. The black matte parts of the manual safety, of the magazine release button and of the slide stop offer a nice contrast to the stainless steel. The black matte is also noticeable in grip safety and the aiming devices.

The aluminum trigger is a skeletonized and a hex screw allows the elimination of the collapse of the trigger overtravel. The trigger travel is perfectly set in the factory and the trial model we had required no further adjustments. The signs on the sides of the gun are not too flashy; the one that advises you to use the manual was wisely put under the receiver.

The hammer is skeletonized, just like the trigger and it guarantees a good strike.

The grip is secured by the checkering of the diamond-shaped surface on the grips, produced with a great quality walnut wood and the mainspring housing.

The milling of the frame, where you can find a prong of the slide stop, doesn’t interrupt the slide rail, just like in the older models.

The ejector port is bigger than the previous models and it is flare so it reduces the possibility of malfunctions during the shooting cycle.

The barrel has a small hole on top of it which allows the visual control of the cartridge chamber. After the Picatinny fashion craze, this type of a small hole positioned above the cartridge chamber seems to be more popular for some reason.

We need to admit that this chamber check solution doesn’t seem all that great to us because we prefer the visual control of the cartridge chamber you can have through a partial or full slide cycle, because even the slightest dimming of the light will prevent us from using this tiny hole.

The two magazines that come with the gun have different capacity. The model with the metallic base can take up to 7 cartridges while the plastic paddle one can take up to 8. Both magazines come with an orange label which advises you to consult the manual before using the gun and it warns you that the gun can shoot even without inserting the magazine (which is a good thing, if you ask us).

Ruger 1911 SR aiming devices are the great Novak ones. The rear sight is fixed to the frame with a hex screw and can be adjusted for windage. The black opaque matte finish of the rear sight and the front sight increases the collimation of the aiming devices. The rear sight has an inclined posterior part which is lowered and it eliminates the reflections in case of bad lighting conditions. The front sight is on the slide, aligned with the rear sight in dovetail indents, allowing us to adjust it for windage. Both rear and front sight have white round dots. The conformation of the snag free Novak aiming devices eliminates any possible issues during the extraction of the gun from its holster.

What makes Ruger 1911 SR so special is that it has a plunger tube integrated into the frame. Usually, this tube is on the frame and it is secured through strong pivots that tend to move around for a long time. This improvement will not be appreciated by the puritans but it does eliminate the problematic parts. Besides, in order to set back the tube position, you would need to turn to a gunsmith or a tool that is difficult to find and, taking into consideration how often you would use it, would also be very expensive.

Ruger 1911SR is a semi-automatic gun with an external hammer, and only single action. The gun functioning is the classical breech-lock system with short recoil designed by J. M. Browning whose prominence of the barrel fit the indents found on the top of the slide. In the act of shooting, the barrel and the slide slow down simultaneously and in this way cause the barrel link, located under the bottom lug of the barrel, to get down and free the slide. The slide needs to stop moving in order to complete the shooting cycle.

Just like Colt’s 70 series, this gun has no automatic firing pin safety. The light titanium firing pin and a stronger spring protect us from the accidental shooting in case the gun falls down. There is an automatic grip safety with improved hilt and grips and the manual safety on the frame which can be activated if the hammer is armed, allowing us to put the gun with cartridge in the barrel in “condition one” (the cartridge is in the barrel, the hammer is loaded and the safety is on).

The gun also comes with another automatic safety on the hammer, and it is a half cock safety which intercepts the hammer after an accidental snap. The half-cock safety should never be used as a manual safety. The gun was made to be carried in condition one. If the hammer is decocking in rest position, the cartridge should not be in the barrel chamber.

The frame and slide combination of trial model was excellent. The dissembling required the key you received with the gun. We found out that the barrel is very serrated with bushing. On the inside, the gun showed no signs of manufacturing. The parts are closed or tightened so well and that helped a lot our shooting from 12 m of distance. We managed to get only one hole with five hits. We were helped further more by the lightness of the trigger which travels very smoothly.

Shooting with a .45 is always very enjoyable. The feeling of power that you get in your hands, even though it is a larger gun, is never bothersome and with a little exercise, you can get a set of groups that would be difficult to repeat with different types of hand guns and this is also because of the precision of the .45 ACP cartridge. The single action, especially if it’s done like in the Ruger 1911 SR model, helps the shooter make sure their groups of shots are as small as possible. The trigger has an extremely reduced travel which allows you to shot in rapid fire. The frame, which needs to contain the single column magazine, is tapered and ensures a good grip for those with smaller hands.

Ruger 1911 SR doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, except for the perfect manufacturing of its parts and a nice finish. The Novak aiming rear sight, the trigger brought to the perfection and the attention given to the internal parts on the points of friction which allow us to use various types of cartridge without any problems, make this reasonably-priced gun a great buy for both experienced shooter and a beginner. The precision and the reliability of the gun allow you to use Ruger 1911 SR in shooting ranges or for personal and home defense.

Some could object that the 1911 guns have a small autonomy of fire. If we think we will need to face armed mobs alone, then this would be true but we don’t believe it to be the case and therefore a gun with double stack magazine should suffice. Eight or nine hits, if we count those in the barrel chamber, should be enough for personal or home defense. In order to be used in personal or home defense, the Colt system guns with single action require “cocked and locked” condition, otherwise known as “condition one”. In this case, the Colt system used in Ruger 1911 SR remains one of the most efficient ones.