BONUS- SR-1911 RUGER SHARE OF THE DAY
Ruger SR1911 45 ACP Semi-Auto Pistol
by Jeff Quinn
photography by Jeff Quinn, Boge Quinn & John Taffin
April 18th, 2011
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.
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee
PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ]
SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) 1SG Dan Capri
SGT Steve McFarland SrA John Monette SFC Bernard Walko
SPC Michael Terrell SMSgt Anil Heendeniya CPL Douglas Chrysler A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney GySgt Jack Wallace