Whenever I hear the letter combination “SR” I think of the SR-71 Blackbird, the sexiest object ever created by hand of man. While the Ruger SR45 doesn’t quite achieve the legendary spy plane’s height of horniness, it is, nonetheless, a deeply desirable ballistic battler. It’s the kind of gun that reminds a Glock guy why he’s like a happily married man; constantly reminding his high school buddies that looks aren’t everything. True dat. At the end of the day (or the muzzle) a gun’s got to git ‘er done. Does the Ruger SR45′s performance and utility match its suave demeanor? Yes and no. But first a little more about the Ruger SR45′s siren song . . .
In the same way that a tall woman can make even the most style-challenged dress seem drop-dead gorgeous, the jumbo-sized SR45 elevates the already comely SR series to supermodel status. The big Ruger’s a perfectly scaled and wonderfully proportioned minimalist classic. The indent on the slide at the muzzle end shows its designer’s attention to detail. The handgun’s bold graphics, grip-angle aligned slide striations and fine-checkering make it Ermenegildo Zegna of semis.
The SR45 may look tall and tan and young and lovely but the gun is something of an optic illusion. The big Ruger’s exactly the same width as the sine qua non of full-size .45-caliber striker-fired polymer pistols: the 1.27″ wide Glock 21. Even though the American pistol holds three fewer cartridges than Gaston’s handiwork (10 vs. 13), an unloaded SR45 is almost four ounces heavier than a G21 (30.15 vs. 26.8 ounces). That said, no full-size .45 is for the feint of hip.
The SR45′s handle offers enough grip space to accomodate a gorilla-sized support hand. With plenty ‘o heft and a low bore axis, muzzle flip’s a moot point. As you’d expect from a modern gun at this price point, accuracy’s not an issue. Exploiting a sight radius longer than the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, peering through remarkably useful adjustable three-dot sights, your humble scribe fired 11 rounds on a sheet of computer paper at 10 yards in less than three seconds. I also shot a mag’s worth of bullets through the same hole at five yards. [That's Steve above and below.]
The SR45′s trigger accounts for much of my mad shooting skilz. The semi-automatic handgun’s go-pedal has none of the grit that bedeviled the SR40; it’s as smooth as a snifter of Speyside. Rhode Islanders will be pleased with the trigger’s relatively short travel in both directions. And Glock guys will be happy with the solid CLICK on reset. Unfortunately, the SR45′s trigger has no appreciable breaking point. At some point in the squeezing process the thing just goes off. The surprise break is great for square range marksmanship but not so great for self-defense . . .
You’re pushing the SR45 out during a defensive gun use (DGU). The bad guy’s in your sights. Your finger is on the trigger. You squeeze your index finger to “register” the trigger. You decide not to fire. Only you do, anyway. Or the bad guy’s moving. You’re squeezing the big Ruger’s trigger slightly, subconsciously deciding on the exact moment to fire. Only you shoot a fraction of a second too early. Or a moment too late. And yes, “average” armed self-defenders can make such fine distinctions—even or especially under stress.
And then there’s still the SR45′s ergonomic issues: the largest member of the SR family retains Chicklet-sized external switches. It takes enormous pressure and dexterity to work the SR45′s minuscule slide stop. You can sweep off the SR45′s safety easily enough. Putting it back on with your thumb is like trying to play chopsticks with one hand. During an adrenalin dump, when fingers turn to flippers, you’d be SOL. If you want to re-holster your gun in a safe condition after a DGU, fuhgeddaboudit.
I’m also no fan of any self-defense handgun whose sights are round-edged at the front; you can’t cycle the gun with the heel of your shoe. But that’s me. Zooming out, we’re talking about an all-American polymer pistol that’s a full Franklin cheaper than the Austrian alternative; a 1911-sized gun that’s Helena Svedin to Glock’s Rosie O’Donnell (and Springfield’s Predator-styled XD). And while the big Ruger may not match the Glock’s proven reliability, yet, the SR45 ate a thousand rounds of mixed brand ammo like Adam Richman downing sliders.
If you’re a capacity-relaxed buyer who wants to carry a cool-looking big ass .45 with a proper-sized external safety I’d recommend stumping-up another $90 for the Smith & Wesson M&P45 (soon to feature the Shield’s most excellent trigger). Or save-up another three bills for a drop-dead gorgeous Ruger SR1911. That said, if you’re a sucker for a pretty gun it’s best to buy a Ruger SR45 sooner rather than later. The big semi doesn’t go Mach 3 but I reckon it’ll sell mach schnell. Whether it’s high-flying military machines or large-caliber firearms, sex appeal is its own reward.
The SR45 for this review was provide by The Kentucky Gun Company.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Caliber: 45 Auto
Grip Frame: Black, High Performance, Glass-Filled Nylon
Sights: Adjustable 3-Dot
Barrel Length: 4.50″
Length:8.00″
Height: 5.75″
Width: 1.27″
Weight: 30.15 ounces unloaded
Capacity:
Price: $529 msrp
RATINGS (Out of Five Stars)
Style * * * * *
Sexy.
Ergonomics (carry) * *
Big, wide, heavy, long.
Ergonomics (firing) * * * *
Minimum muzzle flip, OFWG-friendly three-dot sights. Smooth trigger doesn’t break cleanly enough for self-defense work.
Reliability * * * * *
One-thousand rounds of mixed ammo. No problems.
Customize This * * * * *
Lights and lasers on their way.
OVERALL RATING * * *
A reliable, accurate, good-looking gun that doesn’t “get” self-defense.
“Slide Release”?
What is that?
One should never use the ‘Slide Lock’ as a ‘Slide Release’.
Never.
I don’t. People do, so it’s a problem. Still, text amended.
Not this crap again.
The “Slide Lock/Slide Release” debate is pointless.
You run your gun your way, Ill run my gun my way. Either way, the bad guy won’t care.
ST, you are more than welcome to run your gun your way. Far be it for me to think you would run your gun any other way.
Still, many shooters have yet to be informed of the true function of the ‘Slide Lock’, and the potential hazards of using it for any other purpose, especially releasing the slide into battery.
Any reputable defensive gun training program will advise you to not use the slide lock as a slide release, because the recoil spring will not be fully compressed and will therefore (potentially) not have the correct energy required to properly strip and chamber a cartridge from the magazine while returning the slide to full battery.
To accomplish this task properly without risking ‘short stroke’ failures, the slide should be pulled back fully, and released, without riding it home.
Sure, the difference may only be an eighth or a quarter of an inch in slide travel, but the recoil spring is storing a lot of energy during that final compression, energy the firearm engineers calculated as being necessary to guarantee flawless operation.
And, yes, no gun is ‘flawless’, but why learn bad habits that can (and will) contribute only to the list of potential failure scenarios when your life is on the line?
I know SWAT officers who use it as a slide release with no problems. If the gun runs properly that way, I don’t see a problem with it, though I don’t do it myself.
I think the bigger danger is that it’s a fine motor skill, and even if the gun works, you might not do it right under stress unless you practice a lot.
There are many reputable trainers that teach depressing the slide lock/release to get the gun back in battery in a slide-lock reload.
This is a matter in which people can arrive at valid yet contradicting conclusions.
“…energy the firearm engineers calculated as being necessary to guarantee flawless operation”
Can’t agree with you on this assumption. There are guns that the factory claims were specifically designed (by the engineers) for using that little button as a release as well as a lock. Your statement almost certainly does apply to some models, but it certainly does not apply to all.
Heck, there are guns that are specifically designed to drop the slide from lock upon insertion of a loaded magazine.
Some gun manuals do not say one way or the other, but the distance you can retract the slide beyond where it rests on the lock is so incredibly small as to have nearly no measurable difference in spring tension or slide speed upon release (and, yes, I actually do have experience designing springs). Heck, considering how so many people accidently ride the slide just a little bit after pulling it back and “releasing” it, they may very well have higher slide speeds (or, at least, consistently higher) by using the lock as a release. It may be harder for some people to mess that up.
^^^ all that said, for my own training I personally choose to pull back on the slide to release it. It DOES slow down mag changes vs. using the strong hand thumb to release. Whether you think it’s a lot of time or an inconsequential amount of time is also subjective.
I may not be a firearms engineer persay, but I am an engineer who has worked on firearms, as well as a whole host of other things. And no, if you evaluate Hooke’s law and elastic moduli, its a linear function. The extra energy you get from the last 1/8 of an inch of compression compared to the overall travel length of the spring is negligible. If that last 1/8 of an inch was the difference between a feed and a jam, there are a lot of other issues to deal with, like a spring rate that is too low.
Besides, to put a more common sense angle on it. If the firearms engineers didn’t want you use the slide release as a slide release, they wouldn’t design it to work like a slide release. You want an example. The PPK has no slide release. The mechanism is all internal. You have to sling shot it on a loaded mag (or no mag). You put a button on the side of the gun, in easy reach of the shooter’s thumb, if you expect the shooter to push it.
Using it as a “Slide Release” has never given me any problems with Glocks, M&P’s, and XD’s.
This issue is very minor in the grand scheme of things when shooting semi-auto pistols.
The owner’s manual for my Kahr CM9 says to ALWAYS use the slide release.
Colt 1911, S&W 3913, Kahr K9 Elite, Kahr K40 Elite, Walther P99CQA, HK P2000SK, XD 9811,9802,9301,9402
Forty- five years, wife twenty-two years, untold thousands of rounds.
Always use slide stop.
Never had a problem.
The trigger is what breaks it for me. That’s a serious safety issue, one that needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.
I’m not a .45 fan. But the big Ruger (aren’t they all) actually feels good in my hand.
What detrimental effect does using the slide lock as a release have on the firearm? Or is it a safety/other concern? I try not to do this, however, it is something that seems to be pretty common.
Please see my reply above.
Well, it’s said that over time, repeated use of the slide stop as a release can wear the stop down to the point where the slide won’t lock back anymore. I’ve seen this on a number of rental guns, and the occasional used gun.
Some guns will not reliably chamber a cartridge when using the slide stop (though most will), and not all guns have an external slide stop and many that do don’t have one in the same spot. So if you have multiple pistols it would make more sense to train without using the slide stop as a release.
Finally, there’s also the idea that, in a life or death situation, you defer to “gross” motor skills instead of “fine” motor skills, and trying to thumb a slide stop is going to be a lot more difficult than yanking back on the slide. That’s something that people say a lot, though I haven’t seen anything that actually backs it up besides sounding good in theory.
The argument also comes down to the habit some have of dropping the slide on an empty chamber. Most people who don’t see harm in doing so will use the slide stop to do it. Whether that actually causes damage or not, beats me.
Hope I answered your question
Makes me miss my Ruger P90… A b!tch to conceal but it could out shoot my Colt Commander and SigP220.
External safety is a non-starter for me, but I’m glad to see it nonetheless. One hopes the SR series is an evolutionary step for Ruger.
This. Lose the external safety and I might be a buyer.
I am not a fan of this gun. The only semi auto Rugers I like are the lcp, lc9, and sr 22. Other than those I thinks they are all ugly and cheap looking, and I have heard of to many reliability issues with them.
Reliability issues? I had an SR9c for over a year, put well over 1,000 rounds of the cheapest, nastiest stuff I could find through it with nary a hiccup. Light, 17+1 capacity, and more accurate than I am. Putting the safety on was a pain, but thumbing it off during a draw was plenty easy. All in all, anyone who complains about ‘reliability’ issues with the SR series comes across as attempting to justify spending a lot more for a name-brand plastic fantastic that does the exact same thing. Sometimes not as well.
I love my SR9c as well. Just holding it makes me feel better, and I’ve never had a problem with it.
+1
Ugly? Cheap looking?
Have you SEEN the Mark III Hunter?
I’d rather have an M&P 45 for that price.
Great review RF. Loved the Man v. Food reference…now that is the life.
From what I have read and seen, the street price is around $440. Not a bad deal.
Hey, most stock AR triggers have a bunch of creep. It doesn’t stop them from being used in military, civilian, and LE applications. It is, arguably, more of an issue in a handgun. I’m not defending the trigger, just thinking out loud. All my ARs – work guns included – have creepy single stage triggers.
The SR45 does not seem to be a superior gun, on paper, than the Glock 21 SF. 13 rounds of .45, relatively decent accuracy, and stone cold reliability are a tough combination to beat. It is, however, better looking. Please don’t compare Glocks to Rosie O’Donnel. Glocks are not *that* ugly, and they have a certain utilitarian charm. Not so much for Rosie O.
Looks nice if Ruger improved trigger pull then we it might be interesting. It dose look like another Glock clone but if it has a grip normal people can grip (Glocks way too bulky) then it may get use in LE and Security.
Looks cheap to me. Why buy this when the m&p is a proven platform for a similar amount of money.
Yep, tons of proven platforms already.Ruger making pistols is like Remington making pistols, stick to what you do best. You don’t see Glock trying to take on Beretta in bird guns.
+1, I’d like to see some more Ruger revolvers added to the lineup (The only addition this year was one in 480 Ruger)
If you want to have only one 45 caliber pistol don’t waste your time with a polymer. Get a 1911. For those of you who don’t like 45 and live in a state with or soon to have restrictions on JHP learn to love the big round because when you are restricted to FMJ you are going to want that 230 grains of mass for personal defense.
+1
I still prefer to buy a used Sig, Beretta, Glock or H/K than a new Ruger. Just my experience with the brand.
+1
Am I the only one thats not impressed with the look of Rugers handguns? 5 stars & “sexy” is a bit much. Give me Sig, FN, Glock, S&w, Beretta, CZ,…but they definitely look better than Hi Points…
Ruger’s an old man brand, no reason to give them a chance in category already chock full A+ performers. They should stick making rifles. Their .22 takedown is a nice plinker and their scout rifle is pretty nice.
No, you’re not alone. I don’t find the Ruger handguns any more than “meh.” Five stars and “supermodel sexy” is really, really overstating it.
I’m really not a fan of the billboard model name down the side of the slide. For comparison, I like the looks of both SIGs and XD(M) variants for different but basically equal reasons. SIGs are great looking guns, and XD(M) variants are tough but functional in appearance, and functional is beautiful. I don’t dislike Glocks, I just don’t find that they give me an opinion in either direction.
Agree, not top shelf pistols. Would take one over a Taurus but not much else. Good .22 pistols and rifles. Centerfires just don’t have it. Feel clumsy.
Yeah in fairness to ruger I forgot to mention their little LC line of super compacts are pretty good for what they are too.
Hey now, Ruger makes some really nice revolvers.
Nothing special here. I’d pick a G21 over the Ruger anytime. Or a P220 at twice the price.
Still, it’s worth a closer look if it’s half as reliable as the Ruger P345 I had. That damn thing was a garbage disposal–fed my worst reject handloads and the best premium hollow points with total reliability. Accurate too.
Helena Svedin?
The pistol is far better looking.
I don’t need a handgun that has to be pin-point accurate more than 100 yards, that’s what rifles are for. I do need a handgun that is anvil reliable. It has to go bang, all the time , every time. I think the ruger SR45 will fit the bill. I have never had a Ruger that was not 100 percent reliable. This sucks, just last month I told myself, “OK, no more guns!” Well’ maybe just this and a M1 Garand, then thats it!
I’m afraid I don’t get the criticism of the Ruger’s trigger. I am a police detective, and sufficiently skilled to shoot 100% on my department’s qualification course almost every year. I’ve been a cop 12 years, and have seen our department go from S&W 6906s, to 5946s, to Glock 17s, and now we’re about to switch to Glock 21s. When we got the Glocks, our range personnel instructed us to feel the trigger reset when we were shooting, but I can tell you that no one at our range, or the other LEO-focused training I’ve attended has EVER taught me to feel when the trigger is about to break. It’s a complete non-issue. Your finger is supposed to stay off the trigger until you decide to shoot. When you decide to shoot, you just press the trigger back in one smooth motion and shoot. You don’t need to feel when the gun is about to shoot, because you have already decided to shoot before even putting your finger on the trigger. If you are in any way uncertain as to whether or not you need to take the shot, your finger should not yet be on the trigger.
It actually sounds to me like you’ve got it exactly backward. Staging a trigger is something target shooters have done with double action revolvers for decades because it allows them to shoot consistent, tight groups on the range. But combat shooters are taught to execute a smooth, complete trigger stroke in one continuous motion.
“A reliable, accurate, good-looking gun that doesn’t ‘get’ self-defense?” I think it gets it just fine. If you’re planning on staging your trigger in a self-defense shooting, on the other hand, I think maybe you don’t.
Darren, agree 100%. Do not understand where staging the trigger is coming from lately in regards to defensive/service pistols. The pistol is also a good bit slimmer than a Glock 21…unless you compare a small lever on one pistol to the entire slide and frame of the other and consider it the same.
Regarding the Ruger SR45 and the other Ruger SR Models. I think they are one of the better looking and more attractive pistols on the market today. They also have a grip shape that is very ergonomic and fits my hand like a glove. I has a SR40C (Compact) model and loved it for CCW carry in an outside the belt holster. It was very reliable and pretty accurate. About other guns mentioned: Sigarms pistols are accurate, but fairly old school and heavy in weight. The ergonomics is not that great and they are way over-priced. But I still like them. I bought a Springfield Armory XDm 4.5 in .45acp. The Ergonomics were great and after shooting it I really loved it. It was the most accurate pistol I ever shot. One hole bulls-eye performance. I tried the Compact model but found the grip of the pistol feeling thicker and not as comfortable as the 4.5 size pistol. I have owned several 1911 style pistols over the years. Some of the Best have been a stainless 3-1/2″ barrelled Titan model in 45acp, and a full-size and Commander sized Smith&Wesson 1911′s in Stainless, and also a Para-Ordnance Commander sized pistol in Stainless with High Capacity and with their Double-Action type Hammer/Trigger. I have also owned one of the first SR1911′s from Ruger – However I was vastly dissappointed with the accuracy. As for which gun I miss the most – that is the Smith & Wesson Model 4506-1 in .45acp. The first edition that was a stainless / silver colored – with the silver anodized Trigger, Hammer, and safety levers. And with the rounded trigger guard. I owned many and unfortunately sold them. I always thought they would be available. Also – I think a lot of people who commented on this article got way off track in discussing the Safety Lever and about releasing the slide. The proper use of this section would be to comment on the pistol in the article – the Ruger SR45 pistol.
A-men brother, I bought my SR45 about 6 weeks ago and my buddy bought a SR1911 the same day. Mine cost $489, I bought the first one I found, his was $799. But the first range session 300 rounds in my SR45 slide stop quit working (not the guns fault), I switched mags and 20 rounds later, same thing. So I called Ruger and told them their mags sucked, 4 days later I got 2 mew mags. No problems since, So far Ive shot about 1000 and he has shot about 700 rounds of lead cast bullets through our Rugers flawlessly. In this ammo drought we just keep a shootin cause we were prepared. Its hard to not like a 1911 (in fact I love it and he loves my SR45) but as gunnies we respect each others prefrences. I wouldnt trade. Just for kicks the other day I set up a human souloette target 100 yds and fired 10 rounds standing and put 9 on target (not aiming high) not bad for 5 cents a round! Triggers are triggers for arguments, what I like the next guy wont, so I respect opinions on triggers but the SR45 is fine for runnin and gunnin or targeting for me. The STANDARD will always be the Glock in striker fire, but I am a youth shooting instructer so I will never own a w/o safety gun period. Also Lead cast is a NO NO unless you order a standard twist barrel and never use the original in Glocks.
I don’t go with this guy.. With the pull distance and reset, in a gun battle your are going to be looking at your finger?
10 or 13.. What? Your going to the OK corral? I would rather hit the target than spray bullets all over the landscape, besides that is why we have police and gang bangers..
The SR45 was $419.00 with the crooked (I am in Illinois, the outlet for crooked Politics) governor getting $29.33.. $448.33 out the door on Saturday..