Ruger SR1911 Review
Part 5 - Internal Features
June 15, 2012

In the other parts of my Ruger SR1911 Pistol Review, I cover What's In The Box, External & Operational Features, and Disassembly with lots of photos and commentary.  In this part of the review, I cover the internal features and components of the Ruger SR1911 Pistol.  Throughout this review you can click on any photo to bring up a high resolution photo allowing you to see the details in the photos.  Although I have not commented on every photo, I have tried to provide views of all the features so you can form your own opinion on the components and features of the SR1911 pistol.  Not that it really matters, I have listed these parts in the basic order of reassembly which may help those less familiar with 1911 pistols.

 

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Frame

The frame is a stainless steel investment casting that is made from Ruger's proprietary blend of metal that is somewhere between 410 and 420 stainless steel and the frame is then machined to it's final dimensions.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Ruger rounded all sharp edges and did a good job with the evenness of the stainless matte bead blast finish.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

The plunger tube is integrally molded into the frame.

Figure 8

Figure 9

  Figure 10                                 Figure 11                              Figure 12
     

The Vertical Impact Surface (VIS) has a bowtie cut and it appears, by looking at the barrel lugs, that the barrel lugs are striking the surface properly.

Figure 11

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Trigger Assembly

The trigger assembly is actually made up of three parts; the aluminum skeletonized trigger, steel trigger bow and over travel stop set screw.

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14                                                   Figure 15                                              Figure 16
     

The over travel stop set screw appears to have some type of red thread locking compound to prevent the screw from working loose.

Figure 17

Figure 18

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Magazine Catch Assembly

The magazine catch assembly is made from steel.

Figure 19                                            Figure 20                                            Figure 21
     

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Disconnector

The disconnector appears to be a stainless steel MIM (Metal Injection Molded) part.

Figure 22

Figure 23

Figure 24

Figure 25

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Sear

Manufactured using the MIM process.

      Figure 26                        Figure 27                          Figure 28                       Figure 29
        

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Sear Pin

Figure 30

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Hammer & Strut

The hammer is a MIM part made from stainless steel with the sides of the hammer milled off to give the bright stainless finish.  The strut appears to be a stamped steel part.

                     Figure 31                      Figure 32                      Figure 33                       Figure 34
        

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Hammer Pin

Figure 35

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Sear Spring

Figure 36

Figure 37

Figure 38

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Mainspring Housing & Pin

The mainspring housing is a MIM part.  I didn't disassemble the housing to examine the internal components.

 Figure 39                       Figure 40  
  

Figure 41                       Figure 42                         Figure 43                     Figure 44
        

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Grip Safety

Manufactured using the MIM process.

Figure 45                                Figure 46                              Figure 47
     

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Safety Lock

Manufactured using the MIM process.

                        Figure 48                                                            Figure 49
  

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Grips

The grips on the SR191 are Rosewood panels with a plastic Ruger logo inlay that is held in place with a short stud that is expanded on the opposite side of the wooden grips.

Figure 50

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Slide & Sights

The slide is machined from 416 stainless steel bar stock and the sights are MIM parts.  Although the sights are made by Novak, I believe they are made to Ruger's specifications.

Figure 51

Figure 52

Figure 53

Figure 54

Figure 55                                Figure 56                                      Figure 57        
     

Figure 58

Figure 59

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Firing Pin Spring

Ruger states the firing pin spring to be a "heavy spring" to assist with passing a drop test.

Figure 60

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Firing Pin

The titanium firing pin has an undercut area on the rear end to assist with the weight reduction of the pin which is a key requirement to pass a drop test.

Figure 61

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Extractor

Figure 62

Figure 63

Figure 64

Figure 65

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Firing Pin Stop

Figure 66                                                             Figure 67
  

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Barrel & Link

The broached barrel is made from 410 stainless steel.

Figure 68

Figure 69

Figure 70

Figure 71

The photo below shows the proof mark on the left side of the barrel lug.

Figure 72

Using the pictures above and below, notice that the barrel appears to be properly throated with a mirror like finish.  Also in the photo below on the left, you can see where the barrel lugs are making contact with the vertical impact surface (VIS) by the bowtie marks appearing on the top of the lugs.

Figure 73                                                            Figure 74                   
  

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Recoil Spring Guide

The recoil spring guide rod is a one-piece short solid rod made from stainless steel.

Figure 75                                             Figure 76                                            Figure 77
     

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Recoil Spring

The recoil spring is a 18.5 pound spring weight.

Figure 78

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Recoil Spring Plug

Figure 79                                             Figure 80                                            Figure 81
     

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Barrel Bushing

One thing that is unique about the barrel bushing is that it is machined at the same time out of the same bar stock as the barrel which is 410 stainless steel .  I can see there may be an advantage to this method.  While the stock material is mounted in the machine for the turning operations, they are able to turn the bushing surfaces (both inside and outside diameters) to be concentric with the outside of the barrel which in turn may allow them to hold overall tighter tolerances on the fit of these parts.  Ruger then keeps the barrel and bushing together as a matched pair throughout the remainder of the pistol build.  The clearance between the barrel bushing and slide measured 0.0055" and between the bushing and barrel measured 0.0035".

Figure 82                                      Figure 83                                       Figure 84
     

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Slide Stop

Manufactured using the MIM process.  The pin diameter measured 0.1965" which appears to be less than the standard 0.1985" to 2.0005".  Another feature I found interesting was the flat portion on the bottom of the pin.  Maybe I don't know enough about 1911's, but I don't believe it was intended by John Browning based on his drawings.  Since a similar flat existed on the safety lock pin, the flats must be related to the MIM process or Ruger has something else in mind.  Also notice the wear in the left photo in the area of the barrel link.  The barrel link is riding the slide stop pin during lockup.  I confirmed this by installing the pin hanging down and then testing the amount of force to rotate the pin when in lockup.  The pin was not loose.

Figure 85                              Figure 86                              Figure 87
     

 

Thoughts

Actually several thoughts come to mind.  The first is it appears that the Ruger SR1911 pistol is a quality made pistol.  The only blemishes are those on the MIM parts which is related to the gate location on the mold and how they separate the parts after molding.  I didn't measure every dimension, but overall the quality seems good for the price.  My range tests show that the accuracy you can get out of this pistol is more than enough needed for self defense and probably more than your average shooter can fully utilize.  There are some components that could potentially be swapped (i.e. the slide stop, barrel link and barrel bushing) to tighten up the pistol and convert it in the direction of a custom/match pistol.  My next thought has to do with the use of MIM (Metal Injection Molding) parts.  Ruger has used several MIM parts and honestly I'm glad to see this trend.  When you look at a comparison of MIM versus Machining versus Casting for properly manufactured parts (see this link) , MIM parts have a clear advantage and it takes companies like Ruger who are willing to take the risks and invest in their process to bring quality as well as value to the consumer (us).  Will there be lessons learned along the way? Sure, but at least a company like Ruger will make things right when some type of issue comes up.  My last thought is that I'm sure my wife thinks I'm totally nuts for spending all the time it takes to put together a detailed review.  She is probably right, but I still like doing it.

For more detailed photos and commentary, make sure you check out the other parts of this review and feel free to leave comments on my Reader's Comments page.  The following links are provided to help you see other parts of this review. 

• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 1 - Introduction, Specifications and Summary
• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 2 - What's in the Box
• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 3 - External and Operational Features
• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 4 - Disassembly
• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 5 - Internal Features
• Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 6 - Range Test

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