Ruger SR9c experience and/or opinions?

Long story short, my brother in law has fallen on some hard times financially. He's decided to (sadly) get rid of a few pieces. The one I'm interested in is a Ruger SR9c, for what I consider a great price.

Next to new in box, 10 rd mag for compact carry, plus a 17 rd with grip extension to make it more of a full size frame.

He's coming over Sunday to let me go check it out at the local range and see if I want to go ahead with the purchase, but I thought I'd see if anyone around here has any experience with, or thoughts on, this model. Reviews I've read so far seem pretty positive, but I mostly take paid-for reviews with a grain or two of salt.

Doubt it'll replace my Gen III G23 but...

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I owned a Ruger SR9 full size pistol.

Extremely accurate, went boom every time.

If you're getting it for a good price I'd say pick it up.

The SR9c is very concealable, reliable, and has excellent reviews online. Also, you can't really go wrong with Ruger.

My experience with it was very positive. I sold it for other guns years ago..But i can't seem to ever settle on what gun I want anyway.

SR9c is cheap, and has a few issues:
1.the trigger safety is gay, not like the lbtp, but, more like an iPhone.
2.it stovepipes when fired upside down.(don't try this)
offer 75-100 cash, it was retailing for just over 300 four years ago..

Extremely accurate and have seen no issues with it.

a reply to: SmikeS

1.the trigger safety is gay, not like the lbtp, but, more like an iPhone.

This isn't an issue. It's a preferential opinion, and a poorly expressed one at that.

2.it stovepipes when fired upside down.(don't try this)

Why would anyone fire a weapon upside down?

offer 75-100 cash, it was retailing for just over 300 four years ago..

It still retails for as much, sometimes a little more brand new. 75-100 bucks cash is purposefully lowballing and insulting.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I say go for it. My firearm of choice is a Ruger SR40C. Not the same, obviously, but I believe they are made pretty similarly. I absolutely love it. In my opinion, Rugers are beautiful both in their appearance and mechanics. My SR40C was at first what I describe as "stiff, or tight" both to rack and to disassemble and reassemble for cleaning. Ejecting the magazine felt stiff, the safety felt ridiculously stiff. BUT, the more I used it, the more 'broken in' it became. Again, I absolutely love it. Never had a problem with it, and it sounds great, looks great, and after some use it feels great too.

You'll get a great gun and help out your family. Good deal.

My humble opinion.

a reply to: projectvxn

it is what it is.
look bro, just give your brother 300 bucks , and let him keep the lilPOSc

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

My EDC is a SR9c. Mine has only jammed once (one of my first handloads) out of over 4000 rounds. It is super accurate and although it took a bit to break in, it is amazing. I have owned berettas (m9) Glocks (23) Springfield (XD40, 1911), and CZs before and none have shot as well as my Ruger. I love it. I actually love it so much I have switched over most of my firearms to Ruger.

Now for a story about my gun. The scene is 2012, summertime. I was hiking through the woods with my family and I was carrying my 9c for protection. We were hiking out back in the woods by my house and had stopped to get something to eat. I started a small fire to make my wife a hotdog or two while I waited for my MRE to heat up. My daughter started to wander off a bit until I heard her say "Dada DOGGIE, DOGGIE!" I quickly looked up to see a small size coyote about 25 yards from my daughter, maybe 45 from me. I yelled for my daughter to come to me, and as she moved the coyote started to run at her. I quickly drew my 9c and emptied the magazine at it. It collapsed after the second shot or so but I was always raised to fire until it stop moving, then fire some more. I loaded a second mag and checked to see that my daughter was okay. Everybody was okay and the green police showed up shortly after to make sure we were all okay. They told me that coyotes had been seen in the area recently and were getting ballsey. My 9c saved my daughter's life, and possibly mine too. I would always recommend it to anybody I meet.

a reply to: projectvxn

Thanks for the feedback. Had great experiences with Ruger long arms and revolvers (been drooling over a GP100 .357 Mag w/ 3" barrel at the LGS for a while now), wasn't too sure on their semi-auto handgun reputation.

I believe the compact accepts the same mags as the full size SR9, read that the included 17rd mag is just a standard SR9 mag with a slip on (removable) plastic sleeve to fit flush with shorter mag well of the C.

The mag options are a pretty major selling point to me. Pretty versatile set up. 10rd for CCW purposes, w/ either a flat baseplate or swappable with the included extended pinky grip base, depending on hand size. 2 way backstrap, flat or arched.

All that said, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go for it. Plan on running a box or 2 through it Sunday at the local outdoor range just to make sure i dig it though. Got my Glock 23 about 10 years ago as a "Well, it's your 18th birthday, welcome to manhood." gift. Been loyal to it ever since, and put thousands of rounds down range w/o a single issue.

From what I've read, the trigger is pretty similar to a Glock, but with less take up, and breaks a little lighter. Excited to give it a whirl, and to keep it in case the sister's hubby wants to buy it back later.

BTW, still totally jealous of that Chiappa Rhino you picked up recently!

ETA: Don't plan on firing upside down. Nor see any logical reason for doing so.

originally posted by: MojaveBurning
a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I say go for it. My firearm of choice is a Ruger SR40C. Not the same, obviously, but I believe they are made pretty similarly. I absolutely love it. In my opinion, Rugers are beautiful both in their appearance and mechanics. My SR40C was at first what I describe as "stiff, or tight" both to rack and to disassemble and reassemble for cleaning. Ejecting the magazine felt stiff, the safety felt ridiculously stiff. BUT, the more I used it, the more 'broken in' it became. Again, I absolutely love it. Never had a problem with it, and it sounds great, looks great, and after some use it feels great too.

You'll get a great gun and help out your family. Good deal.

My humble opinion.

Good to know. Much rather get first hand accounts than major publication reviews. Was reading a while back that some rifle manufacturers are known to actually order small batches (20-50) of top-notch barrels, then fit them for sending out to the critics, while the off-the-shelf product is nowhere near a "review gun."

Bro-in-law says hes only run about 80 rounds since buying new, and from research, the compact versions are known for a bit of initial slide stiffness due to running a dual recoil spring set up.

The way I see it, the cash he gets goes towards the Christmas gift fund for the kiddos, and I get a nice new piece. Win-Win. I only wish he would have went for the .40 like you did though so it'd be a bit more like my G23, but... oh well. If nothing else, it can be sold or traded for something else further down the road, or sold back to him if/when his situation improves. He got used to making obscene money out in the oil-patch, but its taken a down turn as of late. As they say, easy come, easy go...

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

Good to know. Wild story, brother. Glad to hear you and yours stayed safe! Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. My neck of the woods, coyotes are pretty fearful of humans and keep their distance, but not enough distance from my scoped Rem 700 .243 Gotta love the Great Plains.

Out hiking and such, snakes and feral boars are more of a concern. Nothing a good sharp trenching tool and my Mosin-Nagant can't handle though if i'm waaay out deep in the sticks.

My current EDC is a Gen III Glock 23, which i love to death and trust fully, but to hear you tell it... I may be swaying my tune pretty soon. How many rounds would you guess it took to get your SR9c good and broken in? What mag config do you carry with (flat base/grip ext)?

The stock adjustable irons seem more than sufficient, but I'm a firm believer in tritium, for low light situations when a self-defense scenario is most likely to occur. As far as I can tell, the Meprolight Tru Dot seems to be the way to go, (not a fan of the XS 'dot the i' sight picture) though they lack elevation adjustment of the factory equipped.

EDIT: How does yours do with various ammo brands? Fed it anything she didn't like too well?

sr9c fails/utube

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

From what I've read, the trigger is pretty similar to a Glock, but with less take up, and breaks a little lighter. Excited to give it a whirl, and to keep it in case the sister's hubby wants to buy it back later.

The trigger is very smooth. Uses the same basic design as a Glock trigger, but the travel and break are lightyears apart from Glocks.

If you do carry it, carry it with the safety on. It's a super light trigger.

BTW, still totally jealous of that Chiappa Rhino you picked up recently!

Loved that thing...But I traded it for a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm full size duty pistol with two 17 round mags. Brand new in box.

I LOVE the M&P duty pistol. But I gotta say, I put close to 2000 rounds through the Rhino 60 without a single hiccup.

a reply to: SmikeS

So I watched both videos.

The issues he was having could have been remedied by using a little bit of loctite 680 (high temp loctite) on the pin. Easy peasy.

The issue with the barrel and slide should have been sent to the manufacturer for warranty work. His filing and dremeling probably destroyed his warranty.

Sometimes the factory will produce a bad egg. By and large Ruger firearms are awesome. But if you do get a bad egg send it back with a letter detailing exactly the problems you are having and they will either repair it, or give you a new pistol entirely.

a reply to: projectvxn

Well, happy to report she's now mine, and I couldn't be happier after a quick trip to the range and sending 100 rounds to paper. Accuracy far exceeded what I expected. Love the sight picture, the stock irons were already dialed in dead-on. Felt best in my hand with the pinky-grip baseplate on the 10rd as opposed to the flat bottom.

Definitely right about the trigger being "light-years" apart from my 23. Nice clean break and reset, and a LOT less travel. And yeah, if carried will definitely be with the manual safety on.

Not too sure yet if it'll replace the 23 as an EDC, mainly due to years of experience with it and familiarity. But really looking forward to getting more familiar with this one. I was getting some pretty nice groups with it. Great little piece.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I'm going to be purchasing one for my wife in the coming months.

I'm all gunned out for the year. I've bought, reviewed, and sold off/traded so many that I think I'm actually suffering from some kind of problem lol.

That Ruger SR9c has THE finest trigger I've ever used on a hand gun. That is not an exaggeration either. That trigger is absolutely spectacular. Blows my M&P9 right out of the water, and the Glock 19(which I fired along side the SR9c), while still a nice trigger, just didn't come close. It felt mushy compared to the Ruger.

It's one of the more impressive guns Ruger has put out in recent years.

originally posted by: projectvxn


Why would anyone fire a weapon upside down?

I consider the SR series to be among the best values in handguns on the market.

They are more accurate than any shooter ive met.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Hmmm, I think mine started to get pretty broken in around 500 or so rounds, but there was a lot of cleaning, polishing and dry firing before that point. I carry it concealed with the smaller mag, but out in the woods I use the full 17(I think) with grip extension.

I used to feed it any kind of round I could get. The only ones it was ever finicky with were ones I bought in a ziplock bag from my local range (they require you use their ammo). I have no clue what brand they were, I just know that the slide wasnt going all of the way back every 3rd round or so and the grouping was bad. Nowadays I buy brass from my friends (and salvage it from the brass bucket at the range) and reload my own rounds.