The tightest group I shot was with the Black Hills 230-grain JHP +P ammunition. That group measured 1.25 inches and was followed closely by the Remington 230-grain FMJ ammunition with a single group of 1.35 inches. All of the ammunition that I tested performed well within the boundaries required for personal defense, however. Following my accuracy and chronograph sessions, I suited up to see how it would perform during rapid-fire, multiple-target drills. During an early drill I fired controlled pairs (each shot sighted) from 7 yards. From the leather, each pair should be delivered within about 1.5 seconds, with all hits within the 8-inch vital zone.

Another defensive drill that I ran with the SR1911 is what Gunsite calls “The Failure Drill.” It was designed to deal with resilient bad guys high on a substance or, for some other reason, just do not respond to hits. In this drill, two shots are delivered to the center of mass, and then a third shot is delivered to the head to stop the fight. The interesting challenge to this drill is that the two center-of-mass shots should be fired as quickly as possible. The shooter must follow through, regain his front sight, and then deliver a precision hit to the head. Shooting is done from about 7 yards, and the first two shots should be delivered, from the leather, within about 1.5 seconds. Gunsite describes it in this manner: “The signal for the succeeding head shot is not automatic but comes from the understanding that the two body shots did not produce the desired result. The shooter must then snap to sight alignment and shoot one careful shot to the center of the head.”

Throughout these defensive drills, the Ruger SR1911 performed very well. This pistol, and the one that I initially shot at Gunsite, did not malfunction. I took the time in both cases, however, to lightly lubricate the slide rails and the barrel lugs before the firing sessions.

While we were shooting the pre-production pistols at Gunsite several of us noticed that the grip safeties were difficult to engage. I shoot high thumb—my shooting thumb riding on top of the thumb safety—during any string of fire. And, because my hand doesn’t have a lot of beef to it, I often have trouble with grip safety engagement. Nonetheless, I was having trouble getting the grip safety with about one out of every four shots. Fortunately, one of the Ruger engineers shooting with us experienced the same difficulty. He suggested that it had to do with how the internal parts of the grip safety engaged with the sear spring. Even better, he said he had a pretty good idea of how to solve the problem. In the production gun that I used for these tests, the issue was resolved, so he clearly knew what he was talking about.

The other issue that I have with the Ruger SR1911 is the three-dot sight system. Although it seems to be in vogue these days, I think it is useless and, worse, could get someone hurt. The deadliest defensive encounters are those that occur at close range. In these cases it is important to quickly acquire the front sight, deliver an aimed shot, and stop the fight. While a dot, or gold bead, on the front sight can be an aid in quick sight acquisition, dots on the rear sight may distract those who are unfamiliar with them. In a close-range fight, you don’t need to be worrying about lining up little white dots; you just need to find the front sight and get a hit sooner.

Ruger plans to offer a full line of accessories for its SR1911 pistol, including a black rear sight and ambidextrous safeties, in the very near future. And I suspect that the SR1911 is just the beginning of a family of Ruger 1911 pistols. The company is considering target-sighted guns, pistols with light rails and compact M1911s for future production.

In my view, Ruger took the right course in designing its initial offering in the M1911 series. Working with experts—both in house and out—Ruger has designed an accurate, reliable pistol that has everything a person needs and nothing that he doesn’t need. With two magazines and a zippered case, the all-American-made SR1911 is a solid value at $799—more importantly, it is a classy 1911 that is good to go right out of the box.

Manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc.; (603) 865-2442; www.ruger.com
Caliber: .45 ACP
Action: recoil-operated, center-fire semi-automatic pistol
Frame: investment-cast stainless steel
Barrel: forged stainless steel, 5"
Rifling: six-groove; 1:16" RH Twist
Trigger Pull: single-action; 4 lbs., 8 ozs.
Sights: Novak Lo-Mount three-dot sights, drift adjustable for windage
Magazine: seven-round stainless steel, detachable box
Stocks: checkered wood with Ruger Medallion
Overall Length: 8.67"
Height: 5.45"
Width: 1.34"
Weight: 2 lbs., 7 ozs.
Accessories: zippered case, lock, manual, one eight-round-capacity magazine
Suggested Retail Price: $799