NRA Gun of the Week: Ruger MAX-9

Is Ruger’s MAX-9 the perfect concealed-carry gun? To help answer that, American Rifleman staff headed to the range this week with Ruger's optic-ready semi-automatic.

It is apparent that Ruger made great strides in its concealed-carry lineup when looking at the design and functionality its MAX-9 semi-auto pistol has to offer. Compared to its popular predecessor, the LC9, the MAX-9 offers up increased capacity with enhancements that further bolster the gun’s capabilities in the hands of its operator.

The Ruger MAX-9 bears little in common with its slim sibling—it features a slightly wider grip frame molded from glass-filled nylon that accommodates a flush-fit 10-round magazine and an extended 12-round unit. The frame contains generous stippling on all sides of the grip, and the undercut trigger and heightened beavertail for improved recoil control.

Weighing in a little more than 18 ounces, Ruger’s MAX-9 is a striker-fired design that, regardless of whether or not you choose the manual-safety-equipped model, comes with a blade-in trigger safety and a machined slide for reflex and red-dot optic mounts. A cover plate is supplied and installation of optic requires a JPoint footprint.

Ruger supplies S&W-pattern sights with a flat-faced, all-black rear sight along that works in conjunction with a bright-green, fiber-optic front sight that contains a tritium-illuminated circle. From our experience on the range with Ruger’s MAX-9, the gun proved that it may not be the smallest or have the most capacity, but it’s among the easiest-to-shoot guns within this corner of the marketplace.

Watch our NRA Gun of the Week video above to learn more about the Ruger MAX-9 pistol.

Ruger MAX-9 Specifications
Manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Co.
Action Type: recoil-operated, semi-automatic, center-fire pistol
Chambering: 9 mm Luger
Barrel: 3.2" hammer-forged steel
Slide: steel
Frame: glass-filled polymer
Sights: drift-adjustable for windage; tritium and fiber-optic front dot
Trigger: striker-fired
Height: 4.95"
Length: 5.95"
Width: 1.06"
Weight: 18.2 ozs.
MSRP: $499