Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Ruger SR 9 Pistol...



While we at Fat Boy love Ruger and consider them a consistent brand you can rely on, we don't particularly love the SR 9.

Usefulness... 1... Because the SR 9 only comes in 9mm (hence the "9") and 9mm is a great target round but a poor personal defense round we have to mark off two points. The SR 9 is not a target gun. It is a personal defense gun. It also has a poor trigger pull and rough action. The action is not terrible but it could be better.

Satisfaction... 3... The weapon fires well. There is ample "gear" to go with the SR 9 like holsters, mag pouches, etc. It is not too heavy and will conceal reasonably well enough in the Winter months. Fat Boy HQ was impressed with the smooth cycling between shots and a reasonable muzzle climb. Very satisfying!

Durability... 4... This is a Ruger quality gun with all the fit and polish you would expect from Ruger. We take off one point because the SR 9 did suffer from a recall in the past. In another year Fat Boy will be willing to give back that one point when we are satisfied there are no more recall issues.

Overall... 2... Comparing this gun with the Smith and Wesson "sigma" series I have to award the trophy to S&W. The Ruger costs more but delivers the same performance. It also only comes in the 9mm caliber. (Bullet speed coupled with low bullet weight make it a poor defense round.) While this is a quality firearm it is not a great value comparatively. And Fat Boys want a heavier round, 180 grains minimum. I think the saying goes, "never show up to a gun fight with anything that doesn't start in '4' ". (44 mag, 45 acp, 40 S&W)

Fat Boy HQ searched for ways to give this Ruger product the nod. We just could not. It came down to the S&W "sigma" series being generally $50 cheaper and having strikingly similar performance. Denied!

No comments:

Post a Comment