It seems that one hundred years after its
adoption as the standard sidearm of the US Military, John
Browning’s most famous pistol design is more popular than at
any time in its history. In 2011, we have seen the introduction
of a couple of brands of 1911 pistols hit the market, and some
of the names that have long been in the 1911 pistol business are
introducing new variations of the great design.
It has for a while now been anticipated by
many that Sturm, Ruger & Company would eventually introduce
a 1911 pistol of their own, and it is finally here. It would
seem that the 1911 pistol market is already saturated, and that
there would be no room for another in that crowded market, but
every day, more and more shooters are realizing the advantages
of that grand old pistol design. Over the past century, many
good pistol designs have been introduced. Some have held on,
while others have faded away. Still, the 1911 keeps gaining in
popularity. After being pronounced antiquated by self-proclaimed
experts many times in the twentieth century, there appears to be
no one who is now claiming that the 1911 pistol will be fading
into obscurity any time soon. Every new design introduced for a
sidearm today has to compete against the 1911, and most are
found lacking when compared to the simplicity, power,
reliability, and ease-of-use of the 1911 design.
I was first shown the new Ruger SR1911 back
in early December of 2010. I had the opportunity, along with a
handful of other writers, to shoot the new Ruger at Gunsite
Academy in Paulden, Arizona, and also to tour the Ruger factory
in Prescott, getting a close look at the production line for the
SR1911. Ruger has set up an entire new production line for the
SR1911, with all new machinery. Ruger has revamped the whole
Prescott plant, and it runs very efficiently. The parts are all
ordered, produced in house, and distributed using a card system
unlike any that I have ever seen before. It appears to be a very
simple system, and it keeps parts right within reach of the
assembly personnel. The whole inventory thing is run by one very
nice young lady, and observing the efficiency of the Prescott
plant, she must do her job very well.
The new SR1911 shown here is pretty much
identical to the ones that we fired for three days back in
December, with the exception of the grip panels. The plan was
originally to ship the SR1911 with black synthetic rubber Hogue
grips, but the production guns are shipping with some
good-looking checkered wood grips. The Hogues were good grips,
but I prefer the look of these wood grips. They give the pistol
a better appearance to me, contrasting with the otherwise
stainless and black SR1911.
The SR1911 is built primarily of stainless
steel. The slide is CNC machined from bar stock, and the frame
is made using Ruger’s proven investment casting process. One
unique feature of the SR1911 build process that I observed in
Prescott is that the barrel and barrel bushing are machined from
the same piece of bar stock, and the two parts are kept together
throughout the machining and assembly process, instead of just
grabbing a barrel from one box and a bushing from another. These
two parts start off as one piece, and both end up in the same
pistol. Another unique feature of the SR1911 is that, unlike
other 1911 pistols on the market, the plunger housing is not a
staked-on part. The plunger housing is cast integrally with the
frame, eliminating the possibility of the housing ever coming
loose from the frame.
Most of the small parts on the SR1911, such
as the magazine release, slide lock, thumb safety, grip safety,
sights, hammer, and mainspring housing, are finished in a matte
black which contrasts beautifully with the satin stainless
finish. The mainspring housing is flat and checkered, just as it
should be. The magazine release is of the slightly extended
type, protruding .162 inch from flush with the frame. The wood
grips are checkered in the double-diamond pattern, and wear the
Ruger bird logo. The trigger is adjustable for
overtravel, and is a skeletonized aluminum unit. The hammer is
also skeletonized, and is polished on the sides. The grip safety
is of the high-ride beavertail style, and has the raised bump at
the bottom to ensure positive disengagement by the hand for
firing. The Novak sights are made of steel, and are of the
three-white-dots pattern. The SR1911 comes supplied with two
magazines; one is a seven-shot mag which fits flush with the
grip frame, and the other is an eight-shot mag with extended
base pad. Both mags are made of stainless steel. The SR1911 will
accept any aftermarket 1911 magazines.
The SR1911 uses a standard-configuration
recoil spring guide rod. The extractor is also of the
traditional and time-tested internal style. The SR1911 is of the
pre-Series 80 style, having no Swartz safety, nor any type of
firing pin safety at all. Ruger uses a titanium firing pin with
a heavy firing pin spring, so no firing pin safety is needed.
The SR1911 has no internal key lock; at least this first
variation of this new Ruger does not. I have no knowledge
whether or not a version with an internal lock will be offered
later, but the SR1911 does come with a nice Ruger padlock, for
those who wish to use it. I have Ruger padlocks on all of my
farm gates. The thumb safety is of the extended style, and is a
right-handed user only unit. I am told that a variation with an
ambidextrous safety will be offered later. While on that topic,
the SR1911 shown here is but the first variation of Ruger 1911
pistol. Other variations are also planned, for those who prefer
different features on a 1911 pistol. Looking at the picture of
the frame casting, it appears that Ruger is thinking ahead, with
perhaps a version with an accessory rail to be produced later. I
have no verified information on this, so that is just my
speculation, but there is a market for such, as many shooters
like to hang flashlights and such on their pistols. As for the
ambidextrous safety, I can place a call to Brownell’s and have
one on the way, and as soon as I purchase this Ruger, I will
install one on it immediately. There is, thankfully, no magazine
safety on the SR1911.
Shooting the SR1911 at Gunsite, my gun ran
perfectly, and I know of no problems encountered by any of the
others shooters either. The Rugers ran like a well-built 1911
should, and they were the first pistols off of the new line. The
SR1911 has other nice touches that we have come to expect on a
quality 1911. The barrel is throated to reliably feed
hollowpoint ammunition, and the feed ramp is polished. The
ejection port is lowered, and the pistol uses the
slightly-extended Commander style ejector for positive ejection
of the empty cases. There is a witness hole at the rear of the
barrel hood, to serve as a loaded-chamber indicator. The trigger
released crisply, and the release measured four and one-half
pounds on my gun. The magazine well is slightly beveled to
facilitate quick magazine insertion. The finely-checkered
mainspring housing is made of steel. The extended thumb safety
clicks on and off positively, with just the right amount of
resistance. There is no discernable play between the barrel and
slide, nor between the slide and frame. Lockup is tight.
Critical specifications for the SR1911 are
listed in the chart below. The weights are listed in ounces, and
linear measurements in inches. The grip and frame widths were
measured at their widest points. The maximum width is measured
across the grip panels, and includes the thumb safety. The
height includes the sights but not the magazine base. The
trigger pull is listed as pounds of pressure. The weight
includes the empty eight-round magazine, with the base pad.
Length is measured from the muzzle to the tip of the beavertail
grip safety.
| Weight |
43 oz. |
| Height |
5.5" |
| Length |
8.63" |
| Slide Width |
0.918" |
| Maximum Grip Width |
1.33" |
| Frame Width |
0.765" |
| Maximum Width |
1.36" |
| Trigger Pull |
4.5" |
| Trigger Reach |
2.8" |
| Barrel Length |
5.05" |
| Magazine Capacity |
7 or 8 |
| Magazines Supplied |
2 |
Besides the extensive amount of shooting that
we did at Gunsite, I wanted to put a lot of rounds through this
new SR1911, so I ordered a large quantity of 230 grain Remington
hardball (full metal jacket) ammunition from Lucky Gunner. I
like those folks. Their prices are good, and shipping is usually
the same day. Anyway, besides the hardball, I also tested the
Ruger SR1911 with every type of 45 ACP ammo that I had
available, mostly high performance Buffalo Bore and Cor-Bon Plus
P hollowpoint ammunition. Shooting at Gunsite was a lot easier
than the shooting that I did here in Tennessee. At Gunsite, the
Ruger folks showed up with hundreds of magazines already loaded.
Here, I had to load my own, but that gave the weapon time to
cool a bit between volleys.
The SR1911 fits any holster that is built for
a 1911, and I tried out a couple while involved in shooting this
weapon. One new maker to me is Peters Custom Leather. The
holster from Peters is a high quality unit built for strong-side
carry outside the belt, and does a good job of keeping the butt
of the pistol tucked in tight for good concealment, as does the
excellent Range Master shown here from Simply Rugged Holsters. I
have used Simply Rugged leather for many years, and it never
disappoints. This holster is beautifully tooled around the
border, and is designed to do double duty as a concealment
holster or for field and range use.
There are lots of good choices on the market
for a quality 1911 auto pistol, and from the vast amount of
email I get on the topic of choosing the right one, it is a hard
decision for many. One must weigh the features, materials,
finish, quality, and price. Another important feature to many
purchasers is the country of manufacturer. There are many
high-quality imported 1911 pistols on the market, but given a
choice, most shooters in the US choose an American made 1911, if
everything else is equal. However, in many cases, the price
difference between a US-made 1911 and an import of the same
quality is large. This new Ruger SR1911 is one hundred percent
American made, down to the last pin and screw, but it is priced
lower than many of the import 1911 pistols. I usually do not
list the suggested list prices in my reviews, but in this case,
price is one of the SR1911’s strong selling points. MSRP as of
the date of this writing is $799 US. That is well under the
price of other stainless American-made 1911 pistols, and it is
even lower than comparable imports. The Ruger SR1911 is a
quality pistol that could compete with any other quality 1911
pistol, even if it was priced like its competition. However, for
an American-made 1911 of this quality at this price, the SR1911
has no competition.
I have a few 1911 pistols already. I do not
know how many, but I do know that I will be buying this new
Ruger SR1911 pistol, and ordering an ambidextrous safety from
Brownell’s.
The SR1911 is in production, and will be
shipping to distributors shortly.
Check out the extensive line of Ruger
firearms and accessories online at www.ruger.com.
For the location of a Ruger dealer near you,
click on the DEALER FINDER at www.lipseys.com.
To order the SR1911 online, go to www.galleryofguns.com.
To order the quality holsters shown here, go
to www.simplyrugged.com
and www.peterscustomleather.com.
To order quality 45 ACP ammunition, go to www.buffalobore.com
and www.luckygunner.com.
Jeff Quinn
