Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 2

Ruger American Pistol Review (9mm)

Part 2 - What's In The Box

February 26, 2016

In this part of my Ruger American Pistol Review, I show the items you get when you purchase this new pistol. I also document the "as-received" condition and give my first impressions on this new handgun from Ruger.

You can watch the video version of this review below. Also keep in mind that clicking on photos in this review will bring up high definition images allowing you to study the finer details.

The pistol came boxed in a hard case as shown below. Not that it really matters, but the case had some cosmetic styling molded into it to give it a more "industrial" look.

Figure 1

The end of the case had a sticker showing the critical information about the pistol such as:

Model Number: 08605
Model Name: Ruger American Pistol
Serial Number: Shown
Catalog Number: A9-PRO-DUTY
Caliber: 9mm Luger

Figure 2

When you open the case, the items came packed as shown below.

Figure 3

After removing the plastic bags and reinserting the items inside the case, you can get a better idea on how the items are arranged. One thing to note is the fit of the pistol in the molded portion of the case. It looks as if the slot for the front of the pistol is longer than needed and also has a molded portion to allow the barrel to extend out of the slide. Although I'm not sure, my guess is that Ruger may be planning for the future and potentially offering a longer barrel version or threaded barrel version. Only time will tell if the popularity of this pistol makes it worthy of these new models, but my thoughts are that this may be another good run for Ruger.

Figure 4

The most significant items in the case (not including the printed materials) were as follows.

Ruger American Pistol
Two 17-round magazines
An additional small and large grip insert
Torx wrench to change grip inserts

Figure 5

Other items in the case were the gun lock, chamber flag, Instruction Manual, Ruger sticker, Shop Ruger card and some other printed material.

These next photos show the near "as-received" condition. The reason I say near is that I did take the pistol to the range and put a couple hundred rounds through it before taking these photos. The pistol came in perfect condition just like a new pistol should. The only marks on the pistol were the slight wear marks that you get on the rear portion of the barrel in the areas where it contacts the slide. Clearly these marks are more pronounced in these photos than they were when it was new out of the box.

Figure 6

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Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

First Impressions

My first impressions were very positive. I feel the Ruger American Pistol has (my opinion) an attractive look and for some reason reminds me of a cross between the S&W M&P series and the HK VP series. Craftsmanship and quality looked good which I would expect from Ruger. The pistol seemed solid with a slightly hefty feel and the trigger pull felt short and relatively crisp (more on that in Part 3). When I consider the minimal safety features, my impression was also that this new pistol series deserves the classification of "PRO-DUTY" as identified in the catalog number. Not that only professionals should consider this pistol, but that this pistol is more in line with that carried by many law enforcement officers today.

For more detailed photos and commentary, make sure you check out the other parts of this review and feel free to leave comments below. The following links are provided to help you see other parts of this review.

Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 1 - Introduction, Specifications and Summary
Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 2 - What's in the Box
Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 3 - External & Operational Features
Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 4 - Disassembly & Internal Features
Ruger American Pistol Review: Part 5 - Range Tests

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