Ruger SR45 break in experiences?

sea2weed · August 14, 2013, 11:59 PM

Posted this question over on the XD forum and didn't get any response yet so I'm trying here.

Just got a new SR45 and put the first rounds through it the other day. Out of the box I had only cleaned the obvious heavy grease from the slide. Started out with some Factory Blazer 230gr as that was all that was available. Despite the well noted odd trigger it shot extremely accurate and I'm quite happy with it. I did get several FTF's with obvious light primer strikes. Same round rechambered would fire on second try. After some web research it seems this has been common on new out of the box guns due to manufacturing grease and crud in the striker channel? I've since flushed the striker mechanism with action cleaner and dry lubed but haven't made it back to the range yet. Anyone else go through this with a new SR45 and what has your break in experience been like? I'm trying to decide if I should completely disassemble the striker firing pin mechanism or will flush-lube-shoot cycles eventually clear this up?

915A · August 15, 2013, 12:28 AM

I have the SR9c and while I did not expierience any issues I thouroughly cleaned everything before firing. That is a common issue on the SR and I am sure other firearms. Also as some will chime in on the mag disconnect will sometimes effect the striker mechanism. Knock on wood, I have not had that problem. Break it down as far as you cant take it and clean everything very thouroughly and go shoot again. The SR is a great firearm and it only gets better the more you shoot with it.

ritepath · August 15, 2013, 06:13 AM

I run 100 (reload HP, Wolf, Federal FMJ) rounds thru mine when I first brought it home with just a light 4 Q tip cleaning. I brought it home and gave it a good cleaning, later that week I read some of the threads you must have, so I pulled the striker and it was pretty "gunky" so I cleaned it pretty good. Next trip I run another 50 rounds without issue (wolf, federal). I cleaned it good and removed the striker again this time it was clean, so I left the mag disconnect out. I've fed it another 100 rounds without issue since. I'm pretty happy so far with it but I keep reading trying to find what issues people are facing. So far knock on Ruger it hasn't failed in anyway.

sea2weed · August 15, 2013, 12:06 PM

Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully I'll make it to the range today and try some more rounds. I always start out with some factory rounds on new guns but I'm also working up my reloads for this gun. I'm trying VV N320 and Remington 230g MC's and just looking for a minimal target load around 800fps that will cycle the action reliably. Plan is to work up to around 5.0g using Lupua's load data and watching the Chrony.

joe-lumber · August 15, 2013, 01:52 PM

I purchased an SR9 and some shells were not extracting properly at times. Someone at the gun range said to clean out the breech very well with a copper brush. I actually used a copper brush at low speed with oil and haven't had a problem since. Maybe there was grease left in the breech a bit and the spent shells were being held in after firing. Really enjoy the pistol now.
J

57K · August 15, 2013, 02:58 PM

I wouldn't worry about the trigger. After 300 - 400 rounds fired you'll notice quite a difference. No striker issues with my SR45 or SR9, but if you have some extra-fine grit sandpaper, I use 320, it will help if you polish the feedramp. The striker is easy to remove and although I resisted early on, I ended up removing the mag. disconnect from both of my SR's. Using the 320 grit sandpaper, you can polish the contact points on the trigger bar. The tab that engages the stiker safety, the tab that contacts the trigger reset bar and the cruciform on the trigger bar that engages the striker's boss. That and the few hundred rounds I mentioned is all that's necessary to get a very good trigger. A friend on another forum accidentally got the incorrect trigger reset bar from Ghost: http://www.ghostinc.com/ They sent him the one he actually ordered and told him to keep the incorrect one free of charge so he sent it to me. IMO, it's superfluous because once your SR is broken-in, the factory trigger reset bar in my SR9 is actually better. At the Ghost website you'll find good written instruction for disassembly as well as links to youtube video instructions. After you've done it a few times, it's a piece of cake because the SR's break down into sub-assembly groups similar to Ruger revolvers.

Some guys will tell you to run the striker dry. I do not. After removing the stiker and cleaning it and the channel, reinstall it in the slide. Then pull the striker back far enough that it's captured by the striker safety. Add a few drops of a good lube into the firing pin hole holding the muzzle end up and then work the striker back and forth until your finger becomes tired. Swab any excess lube and the striker will remain lightly lubed and IMO, you'll never have an issue with light primer strikes. Some will complain that gunk will build in the striker channel if lubed, but it will take a lot of rounds fired without cleaning the striker/channel for that to happen and you only need to clean and lube the striker/channel periodically.

passtime · August 15, 2013, 03:21 PM

I ordered and received my SR 45 last week. I really enjoyed shooting it. Out of ninety rounds I had one FTF (light primer strike) on the last round the magazine release broke..

... I should be getting it back from Ruger Monday...

sea2weed · August 15, 2013, 05:32 PM

Made it to the range and ran some more through it. Glad to hear from others the trigger improves with use but I'm still very surprised with the accuracy as it is now. I did have some more random FTF'S which all had evident light strikes, all fired on second try. I did pull the striker out and clean well (very easy after looking at the parts diagram) and I don't see where that should be the problem. I'm thinking now it's probably the mag disconnect hanging up, maybe because I'm still playing around with my grip to find what's most natural and possibly putting different pressure on the magazine base? I think I'll try removing the mag disconnect and see if that eliminates the problem as I've had no other issues feeding, slide lock back, etc. Must be some reason many of you have done this already? I'll do a little bit of light polish on the areas suggested also.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback....

Dragline45 · August 15, 2013, 05:35 PM

Could be the ammo you are shooting, some manufacturers use harder primers than others.

August 14, 2013, 11:59 PM	#1
sea2weed Member Join Date: March 23, 2013 Location: Alaska Posts: 31	Ruger SR45 break in experiences? Posted this question over on the XD forum and didn't get any response yet so I'm trying here. Just got a new SR45 and put the first rounds through it the other day. Out of the box I had only cleaned the obvious heavy grease from the slide. Started out with some Factory Blazer 230gr as that was all that was available. Despite the well noted odd trigger it shot extremely accurate and I'm quite happy with it. I did get several FTF's with obvious light primer strikes. Same round rechambered would fire on second try. After some web research it seems this has been common on new out of the box guns due to manufacturing grease and crud in the striker channel? I've since flushed the striker mechanism with action cleaner and dry lubed but haven't made it back to the range yet. Anyone else go through this with a new SR45 and what has your break in experience been like? I'm trying to decide if I should completely disassemble the striker firing pin mechanism or will flush-lube-shoot cycles eventually clear this up?

August 15, 2013, 12:28 AM	#2
915A Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 464	I have the SR9c and while I did not expierience any issues I thouroughly cleaned everything before firing. That is a common issue on the SR and I am sure other firearms. Also as some will chime in on the mag disconnect will sometimes effect the striker mechanism. Knock on wood, I have not had that problem. Break it down as far as you cant take it and clean everything very thouroughly and go shoot again. The SR is a great firearm and it only gets better the more you shoot with it. __________________ "I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it." Clint Eastwood

August 15, 2013, 06:13 AM	#3
ritepath Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,419	I run 100 (reload HP, Wolf, Federal FMJ) rounds thru mine when I first brought it home with just a light 4 Q tip cleaning. I brought it home and gave it a good cleaning, later that week I read some of the threads you must have, so I pulled the striker and it was pretty "gunky" so I cleaned it pretty good. Next trip I run another 50 rounds without issue (wolf, federal). I cleaned it good and removed the striker again this time it was clean, so I left the mag disconnect out. I've fed it another 100 rounds without issue since. I'm pretty happy so far with it but I keep reading trying to find what issues people are facing. So far knock on Ruger it hasn't failed in anyway. __________________ There's only one...

August 15, 2013, 01:52 PM	#5
joe-lumber Senior Member Join Date: January 11, 2013 Posts: 257	SR 9 I purchased an SR9 and some shells were not extracting properly at times. Someone at the gun range said to clean out the breech very well with a copper brush. I actually used a copper brush at low speed with oil and haven't had a problem since. Maybe there was grease left in the breech a bit and the spent shells were being held in after firing. Really enjoy the pistol now. J

August 15, 2013, 02:58 PM	#6
57K Junior member Join Date: March 2, 2013 Location: Heart of Texas Posts: 788	I wouldn't worry about the trigger. After 300 - 400 rounds fired you'll notice quite a difference. No striker issues with my SR45 or SR9, but if you have some extra-fine grit sandpaper, I use 320, it will help if you polish the feedramp. The striker is easy to remove and although I resisted early on, I ended up removing the mag. disconnect from both of my SR's. Using the 320 grit sandpaper, you can polish the contact points on the trigger bar. The tab that engages the stiker safety, the tab that contacts the trigger reset bar and the cruciform on the trigger bar that engages the striker's boss. That and the few hundred rounds I mentioned is all that's necessary to get a very good trigger. A friend on another forum accidentally got the incorrect trigger reset bar from Ghost: http://www.ghostinc.com/ They sent him the one he actually ordered and told him to keep the incorrect one free of charge so he sent it to me. IMO, it's superfluous because once your SR is broken-in, the factory trigger reset bar in my SR9 is actually better. At the Ghost website you'll find good written instruction for disassembly as well as links to youtube video instructions. After you've done it a few times, it's a piece of cake because the SR's break down into sub-assembly groups similar to Ruger revolvers. Some guys will tell you to run the striker dry. I do not. After removing the stiker and cleaning it and the channel, reinstall it in the slide. Then pull the striker back far enough that it's captured by the striker safety. Add a few drops of a good lube into the firing pin hole holding the muzzle end up and then work the striker back and forth until your finger becomes tired. Swab any excess lube and the striker will remain lightly lubed and IMO, you'll never have an issue with light primer strikes. Some will complain that gunk will build in the striker channel if lubed, but it will take a lot of rounds fired without cleaning the striker/channel for that to happen and you only need to clean and lube the striker/channel periodically. Last edited by 57K; August 15, 2013 at 03:23 PM.

August 15, 2013, 12:06 PM	#4
sea2weed Member Join Date: March 23, 2013 Location: Alaska Posts: 31	Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully I'll make it to the range today and try some more rounds. I always start out with some factory rounds on new guns but I'm also working up my reloads for this gun. I'm trying VV N320 and Remington 230g MC's and just looking for a minimal target load around 800fps that will cycle the action reliably. Plan is to work up to around 5.0g using Lupua's load data and watching the Chrony.

August 15, 2013, 03:21 PM	#7
passtime Senior Member Join Date: August 15, 2013 Location: NC Posts: 237	I ordered and received my SR 45 last week. I really enjoyed shooting it. Out of ninety rounds I had one FTF (light primer strike) on the last round the magazine release broke..... I should be getting it back from Ruger Monday... Last edited by passtime; August 15, 2013 at 03:36 PM.

August 15, 2013, 05:32 PM	#8
sea2weed Member Join Date: March 23, 2013 Location: Alaska Posts: 31	Made it to the range and ran some more through it. Glad to hear from others the trigger improves with use but I'm still very surprised with the accuracy as it is now. I did have some more random FTF'S which all had evident light strikes, all fired on second try. I did pull the striker out and clean well (very easy after looking at the parts diagram) and I don't see where that should be the problem. I'm thinking now it's probably the mag disconnect hanging up, maybe because I'm still playing around with my grip to find what's most natural and possibly putting different pressure on the magazine base? I think I'll try removing the mag disconnect and see if that eliminates the problem as I've had no other issues feeding, slide lock back, etc. Must be some reason many of you have done this already? I'll do a little bit of light polish on the areas suggested also. Thanks again for everyone's feedback....

August 15, 2013, 05:35 PM	#9
Dragline45 Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2010 Posts: 3,513	Could be the ammo you are shooting, some manufacturers use harder primers than others.