The Compact comes with a finger-piece extension floorplate for the short 10-round magazine that replaces the flat-bottom floorplate that is standard-issue. Thus we have four different magazines that will work in the Compact: a stock 17-rounder, and one with the collar; and a stock 10-rounder, and one with the fingerpiece extension. In this way the Compact can take on a number or roles. It might be a service gun in a duty holster for a uniformed officer, but the same officer’s off-duty gun when he changes from a long magazine with collar to a short one. There is a great deal of flexibility built into this system.

At a local range, I fired the two pistols in the standard American Rifleman protocol of five consecutive, five-shot groups at 25 yards. Without the proper Ransom Rest inserts, I was forced to shoot over sandbags from a concrete bench. Accuracy was well-within the norm for competing 9 mm designs. However, I must note that I have had much better results with other Ruger pistols, particularly the P345. The trigger has the predictable first stage, during which pressure serves to fully load the striker, followed by a release stage. Both are gritty and have some movement. Although not an easy system to use for great accuracy, for the guns’ intended purpose—self-defense—it’s acceptable.

But this criticism is more than balanced by the gun’s 100 percent reliability and excellent ergonomics. If I were to get the question of which gun is best—among service 9 mms with higher-capacity magazines—for small-handed shooters, the answer is obvious. It is the new Ruger SR9. A slim pistol with an easy-to-manage trigger reach, the SR9 series guns in both sizes are great new semi-automatics for the nation’s handgunners.

Manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Co.; (928) 778-6555; www.ruger.com  
Caliber: 9 mm Luger
Action Type: recoil-operated, semi-auto center-fire pistol
Frame: glass-filled nylon
Barrel: 4.14”; compact 3.50”
Rifling: six-grove, 1:10” RH twist
Magazine Capacity: 17; compact 10
Sights: fully adjustable, three-dot
Trigger Pull: double-action only; 10 lbs.
Overall Length: 7.55”; compact 6.85”
Width: 1.27”
Height: 5.52”; compact 4.61”
Accessories: lock, lockable hard case, owner’s manual, spare magazine
Suggested Retail Price: $565; compact $525