Ruger SR1911 Review: Part 6

Ruger SR1911 Review
Part 6 - Range Test
June 6, 2012

I started out my range testing the Ruger SR1911 .45 Auto Pistol by shooting some PMC 230 gr FMJ ammunition to get a feel for the pistol and see if it needed any sight adjustments. The pistol had a good feel and the sights seemed to be close enough so that I didn't have to make any adjustments throughout the review. The ammunition used during my range tests is shown below.

Figure 1

After getting a feel for the pistol, I wanted to get some basic accuracy data. To do this I setup on a bench and fired 5-shot groups by hand at 25 yards. These next two targets show my best two 5-shot groups while shooting the PMC 185 gr JHP and they measured 1.86" and 1.94". My group average from four 5-shot groups which were shot consecutively was 2.33". This 20 shot string was enough to show me that this SR1911 was a very accurate pistol right out of the box. Maybe one day I will invest in a Ransom Rest because It would be nice to see what the pistol (excluding me) could really do, but then again, that may take a little fun out equation.

Figure 2 Figure 3

These next two targets show my best two 5-shot groups shooting the Winchester 230 gr FMJ and they measured 2.06" and 2.77". My group average from two 5-shot groups and two 4-shot groups which were shot consecutively was 2.45". Since two of my groups had really bad flyers (clearly me), I didn't penalize the group size based on my error so I dropped the shots during my measurement.

Figure 4 Figure 5

Having convinced myself that the Ruger SR1911 is an accurate pistol, I moved to shooting steel plates and cycling some ammunition through the pistol. I shot a combination of PMC 230 FMJ, Remington Golden Saber 230 gr JHP and some 185 gr HP reloads. During this session I put about 200 rounds through the SR1911 and the pistol functioned flawlessly. The only issues I found were that the hole in the front of the trigger, the one that allows for adjusting the over-travel, seemed to be in just the right spot to start rubbing the tip of my finger. The other was that the grip had become slightly loose during the shooting.

Thoughts

I had high hopes for Ruger's new SR1911 and was not disappointed. I was very pleased with my group average of 2.39" based on eight 5-shot groups from two different types of economical ammunition which was shot at 25 yards by hand on a bench. Feeding it with some target ammunition along with using a pair of (or at least one) good eyes has the potential to achieve even greater accuracy. I was pleased to see that I had achieved a better accuracy than that shown in the Guns and Ammo Review where they achieved an average accuracy of 3.65" at 25 yards. Although my tightest groups weren't quite as good as some listed (1.25" and 1.35") in the American Rifleman Review, I was still very pleased. The pistol functioned without any issues just like you would expect from a platform that has been proven for years and I'm already looking forward to getting in some more range time with the Ruger SR1911 Pistol.

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 (this page)

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