Ruger SR1911

[Kwik2010]

Howdy everyone,

I've been saving pennies for a while and finally have enough for a firearm I've been wanting for a long time, the venerable 1911. I've always wanted one in my collection. Not for any particular reason other than just to have.

I've always been a huge Ruger fan so I'm looking at their SR1911s. I've got it narrowed down to 2, the standard and the target both in the government size.

From what I understand they are both pretty standard 1911s with the series 70 slide. The only difference is the standard has wood looking grips and drift adjustable rear sight and the target has G10 grips and a bomar style adjustable rear sight. I can get the target for 10 bucks less believe it or not. This handgun won't have much of a use outside of paper punching and riding around in the pickup when I'm out in the hills.

I'm curious what everyone thinks of one versus the other. Pros and cons maybe or just general thoughts.

One of my concerns is I'm not sure how tough the bomar type sight is so I was debating buying the standard and then buying my own adjustable sight later on. Another is the plunger tube. I don't know what it would take to damage one but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to have it repaired if I were to somehow damage it.

[weblance]

I have the original issue 45, and the target 9mm. The Bomar style rear on the target model is solid, and a non-issue as far as Im concerned. I think an adjustable rear is always a good thing on any gun.

The SR1911 is an excellent pistol. Both of mine have great, creep free triggers that are crisp, somewhat light, and have a nice reset. Ruger has had some quality issues with their other products, but the SR1911 line doesn't seem to be suffering from that. My Target 9mm is a great pistol.

[CDR_Glock]

If the sights and grips suit you on either, then get that. If you plan to deviate part from either one, then get the cheaper of the two.




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[RickB]

I have generally adjusted sights once, and not touched them again.

If you shoot a lot of different loads, at distances where POI will vary noticeably, then adjustable sights are the way to go.
The Bo-Mar sight cut is one of the industry standards, so you can always get a replacement, even if you can't get one repaired.

[Fishbed77]

From what I understand they are both pretty standard 1911s with the series 70 slide.

While the Rugers are very well-regarded pistols, there are some pretty significant deviations from the original 1911 design, with the cast frame and cast-in plunger tube being among them.

At this point, though, even Colts show considerable deviation from the original 1911 design.

[L-2]

I've got a #6702 4.25" .45ACP Ruger 1911. The front sights have broken off twice since I've owned it with ~7,000 rounds through it. The 2nd front sight has ~6,000 rounds now (so far, so good).

This gun came with fixed sights. I found shooting with these sights the impacts were a bit too low for me. I've replaced the rear sight with an adjustable version.

I found the plunger spring a bit too "soft" for my liking and replaced it with another (generic part, unknown brand I had in my spare parts stuff) which gave the thumb safety a more definitive click.

[Stats Shooter]

I have a Ruger SR 1911 Target 10mm. I love it. The trigger is pretty good...not quite as good as my Dan Wesson's , but comparable. The Bomar style sight took a little getting used too but I like it now and its adjustable. I put a flat bottom firing pin stop in mine and some wood grips.

I really like it and it handles everything I feed it including full throttle 10mm hand loads . I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again and at that price point I think it's a great value. Plus with a couple upgrades you can do later it looks really sharp (grips).

I would assume the SR 1911 Target 45 acp would be of similar quality but I dont have one in 45.

[BBarn]

Keep in mind that the slide cuts are different between the two rear sights. A fully adjustable rear sight that replaces the standard rear sight won't give as nice of a sight picture as the (factory) adjustable sight model. If you ultimately want adjustable sights, I recommend buying the factory adjustable sight model.

[Martowski]

Go with the target, no reason to get non-target sights on a gun that will be primarily for paper punching if the price is comparable.

I have a Ruger SR1911 and several other 1911s. I will say that while I'm a fan of the Ruger line, Kimbers are much smoother and "tighter" in my opinion. Fitting of the Ruger trigger was horrible... very sloppy as well (not that it really matters to me because i replace all my 1911 triggers, but it's the truth).

The Ruger isn't a bad gun, just a little more "rough around the edges" than the Kimbers.

[Kwik2010]

Thank you all for the info. I'm gonna go around town this week and see what I can put my hands on. I'll take a look at the Kimbers too while I'm at it.

[Bayou]

My SR1911 cycles very reliably. The biggest issue for me was the creepy, gritty trigger that broke @ 5.25 pounds. Not good for target shooting.

To address, I had a Cylinder and Slide 3.5 pound trigger kit installed. The kit (CS0226) works as advertised, and also eliminated the creep and the grit.

Hope this helps!

Bayou

[rodfac]

I have two Rugers, the 5" bbl'd model as well as the CMD in 4-1/4", and both have been every bit as good as any of the Colts I've owned over the years. Accuracy with them hovers around 2" at 25 yds from a rest.

Reliability is 100% with factory ammunition and nearly that with my handloads so long as I get the OAL correct for my favored SWC's. Triggers were both good right out of the box, ~5.0 lbs with little creep. Too, neither pistol has shed its front sight, and combined they have over 5000 rounds through them.

And BTW, a trigger with less than 4.0-4.5 lbs breaking weight is asking for problems if you day to day carry it. For strictly range/target work, the NRA Bullseye spec in order to compete is 3.5 lbs. Check out Kuhnhausen's shop manuals on the 1911 for further trigger specs. He strongly suggests nothing less than a 4.0 lb weight for duty or carry purposes, and will not personally install a lighter weight for a customer whose stated purpose is carry.

One last note, on Kimbers....pretty....but they should have spent more time in QC and less in advertising...the four that friends have brought out to our farm range were unreliable with any ammunition tried. New, the individuals called Kimber and were told that they would need 200-300 rounds down range to "break-in" because they were so well fitted. This is BS of the first order for a defensive, carry weapon, IMHO. At $32/100 for cheap American Eagle, this amounts to $64 + to see if a new gun needs to go back to the factory.

Your money, your choice, but I think you'd be better served with a pistol that's GTG as it comes from the box. Were it me, I'd opt for the factory installed adjustable sight model...banging away on a rear sight to get the windage right is a royal PITA...and if you reload a variety of bullet weights, adj. sights are a necessity to keep your sanity.

Best Regards, Rod

[Stats Shooter]

Again I only have 1 Ruger Sr 1911 (in 10mm). But I echo @rodfac. Everyone who tries my Ruger Sr1911 Target wants one. I have even been asked to sell mine (but I wont unless someone is willing to over pay). The fit on mine is very nice, virtually no wobble and I have yet to have a single jam/feed issue in over 2500 rounds including hard cast, jhp's, and fmj's. Most of which were my hand loads.

So I really cant say enough good things about it for the price. The fit and finish is not as good as my dan Wesson 45's, but the reliability and function is there.

Also, ruger has been making 1911 frames for a very long time. They made them for other companies. (I mean ruger ownes the company that made the frames- Pine Tree Castings). So they are not newbies at this either.

Plus, customer service from them is top notch.

[dahermit]

Another is the plunger tube. I don't know what it would take to damage one but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to have it repaired if I were to somehow damage it.

The Colt plunger tube was a weak point in the design. They are known to come loose. Also, what ever could crush a Ruger plunger tube would also crush a separate Colt tube. If in the very unlikely event the Ruger tube were to be crushed, it seems to me that any machinist/gunsmith could use an end mill to machine it flat, drill a couple of holes for the mounting pins and mount a separate Colt style plunger tube in its place without any significant difficulty. If anyone doubts this, please explain why that could not be done.

[RickB]

And, there are a few "improved" plunger tubes, with four mounting legs, screws, and other ways of making the mounting stronger.

I've had to have a couple of loose plunger tubes re-staked, it's not a big deal, and if you have proper grips that extend up to cover the tube, you won't know that the tube is loose until you remove the grips for maintenance.

[kenny53]

I managed to get a Ruger 1911 when they first came out, Shot great but only fed ball ammo. Any hollow point or ballistic tip ammo jammed, and jammed hard enough to push the projectile back into the brass. Sent it back to Ruger and it came back and preformed very well. About a year ago I was shooting the gun and the front sight disappeared. Research showed this was a problem with early models. Sent the slide in and all is well. My 1911 is about my favorite hand gun. Even with the couple of problems I had I would take the Ruger over the Kimber every day all day. I have seen with my own two eyes the failure of Kimber. At the time I had a full size Llama 45 acp. My buddy had his brand new Kimber. We shared a lane at the range and I was shooting circles around his new gun. Twenty rounds into his box of ammo the slide on the Kimber locked up and would not move. It didn't lock all the way forward or all the way back, it was stuck some where in the middle. Nothing would move the slide. I guess he got it disassembled at home with the use of a hammer. The gun was full of shavings and had the S/N hand engraved on a wear surface on the frame. Some of the problems could have been fixed if he cleaned the gun before the range. But this is suppose to be one of the best guns on the planet. I would think if you bought one of the best guns in the world it would be good to go out of the box.

My other friend had a Kimber in 40. No matter what magazine or what ammo he used there was always a failure to feed. I don't remember if it was first or last round but always a failure.

I would pick a full size Ruger 1911 in a heart beat. Sorry about the rant on Kimber but somebody mentioned saving more money and buying Kimber. I hope which ever gun you pick it does you a great job for many years.

[Kwik2010]

Well I got the chance to look at a few today before heading in to work tonight. Didn't have any target models sitting around but I handled a few of the 6700 model. If I find a target model in town this weekend it'll end up heading home with me. If not I'll look into ordering one. Thank you all for the insights. Been very helpful.

[Cirdan]

I've got the Commander in stainless. Shot pretty good right out of the box, sights are right on.

I assume you mean series 70 trigger(?) It doesn't have the trigger safety, but does use a light weight titanium firing pin which should take care of the fairly low-risk AD problem.

[Spats McGee]

I've never owned an SR1911. Never even shot one. (Warning: what follows is based entirely on my internet readings.) If I were in the market for a 1911, the SR1911 would absolutely be on the list to evaluate. As someone pointed out, there seem to have been some early growing pains, but it sounds like those have been worked out.