New Ruger American Pistol

Omaha-BeenGlockin said:
I wonder if the SR series, with all the lawyer features, will become the ban state model and the new American will be the pistol for the rest of us... Just send out SR's with 10 round mags to Kali and Jersey and be done with it...
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The SR series isn't CA compliant now, and unless and until the laws change, no newly-designed automatic pistols—much less the American—will be compliant without microstamping.

It shouldn't be too difficult for Ruger to incorporate a mag disconnect and/or "Massachusetts trigger" into the American. The videos demonstrate that the American can be field-stripped without pulling the trigger (like a Glock) or flipping any ancillary levers (like an M&P), so there's obviously some internal mechanism to disengage the striker.
 
This pistol appears to be intended for the LE market, of which Ruger has never been a serious entrant in, certainly the cheaply fabricated SR9/.40's never will be. In fact the only guns Ruger has ever produced that have been at least partially well received by that market were the Security Six/GP100 revolvers, and the mini carbines in either 7.62 x 39 or 5.56!

These pistols are also considerably heavier than their Glock counterparts at 30 oz each, it would appear that they are intentionally built up to meet the demands of firing high volumes of +P and +P+ ammunition!
 
Watched a few reviews today... I actually like it.

The ascetics are not my cup of tea, but not horrible.

The one piece internal frame and beefy rails, make me think it will be a very tough pistol.

The trigger seems to be decent as well.


All but one reviewer was shooting very good groups with it, some even shot at longer ranges. The reviewer that didn't shoot it well, I believe simply wasn't familiar enough with the pistol, or didn't try to shoot well. They pulled left a lot, and had a large group.


As far as mags... is the SR ambi? If not, it may be a derivative of the SR mag, and not be fully interchangeable. In a similar fashion as the original PPQ mags and the PPQ M2 mags are externally the same but for the locking tab, so they will not interchange.
 
If it takes the SR mags I'm in.
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It appears from the pictures on Ruger websight, the cut out in the mag body for the magazine latch is off center on the American magazine.

The cut out for the latch on the SR mags is dead center in the mag body.

I doubt the magazines interchange.
 
I doubt the magazines interchange
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It's just like anything else. They want you to have to spend more money on extras, so they make it just different enough that the old stuff won't work with it. That's how they make a profit.
 
I also find it interesting that it will initially be offered in both 9mm and .45 ACP, but not .40 S&W. The reason that I find this interesting is because a .40 S&W version could likely be built on the same frame as the 9mm, but the .45 ACP requires a larger frame due to it's larger dimensions. The fact that Ruger has chosen to offer two frame sizes from the get go and not offer a .40 S&W version (exactly the opposite of what they did with the SR-series) indicates that perhaps the .40's popularity has shrunk even more than I realized.
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I've been doing a lot of gun shopping for the last month or so, and I've noticed that a large percentage of the used semi-auto guns in the cases of my local gun stores are .40S&W.

Not sure why that is, but I have a theory. In the last craze (after Sandy Hook), I think a lot of people who wanted 9mm guns were late to the party and bought .40's because that's what was more available. Those guns probably sat in closets for the last 2 years. Now, after Paris and San Bernardino, those people are heading back to the gun stores with their .40's as trade-ins for a 9mm.

I specifically was looking for something in .40S&W because I didn't have one and I remember that .40S&W was usually available during the 9mm ammo shortage a couple of years ago. I found a smoking deal on a gently Glock G27 Gen 4 with night sights and bought it.

I'm stocked up on 9mm ammo for now, but I wanted to have another caliber to shoot if/when 9mm disappears again.

So, I think 9mm and .45 constitute the vast majority (probably 90%+/-) of the demand these days, so Ruger is just shooting at the heart of the market (no pun intended). I'd be surprised if they don't eventually follow up with a .40 version.
 
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ok I'll point out a few things and probably never visit this thread again.

1. the American is not a hipoint Clone, wannabe, look alike, or any other comparison. it is quite simply, a new pistol that shares a lot of common features with other polymer framed pistols... being the umpteenth newcomer to the handgun game, it's not like they're going to be able to release anything that doesn't bear a resemblance to some other design in some way.

2. it's not cheaper, more corner cutting alternative to the SR series, in fact it's more expensive. which brings me to my next point.

3. they've listed the MSRP since they brought the new site up, $579, a whopping $10 more than the "better produced" "higher quality" SR line.

5. I don't really see how or why the SR line needs modernized? they have high cap mags, so many safety devices people can't keep them straight, replaceable backstraps... that stupid doo-whop on the trigger... looks pretty modern to me.

6. unfortunately, no magazine interchanging with the SR series, look at the pictures on Ruger's site side by side... they have different floor plates.
 
Looks are close enough to other polymer striker fired guns to me. I'd be likely to give it a shoot along side a M&P 9mm and go with which ever one feels best. All things being equal, I might go with the M&P -- I have too many Rugers already.
 
Forget about the Ruger American's looks for a minute. My question is WHY? What does this gun do differently than any other striker fired polymer 9mm or 45? I suppose it says "RUGER" on the slide; perhaps that makes it special.

The one piece internal frame and beefy rails, make me think it will be a very tough pistol.
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Tougher than a Glock 17? It hasn't been around long enough for anyone to put hundreds of thousands of rounds through it to even approach the toughness of a Glock 17 (and I'm not a Glock fan!)


The trigger seems to be decent as well.
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Decent as in - it's just another glock-a-like trigger? With a glock-a-like trigger dingus? That ain't grabbin me!!!
 
Badfinger said:
This pistol appears to be intended for the LE market, of which Ruger has never been a serious entrant in, certainly the cheaply fabricated SR9/.40's never will be.
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Can you provide an authoritative citation for your assertion that the SR's are "cheaply fabricated"?

Ruger seemingly has never made a serious effort to push SR series on the LE market, but there may be other reasons for this choice besides the pistols' robustness or lack thereof. Namely, selling to gov't agencies requires a completely different type of marketing than commercial sales – specifically, it's heavily one-on-one, it often requires expensive product-demo junkets for potential users and dog-and-pony shows for higher-ups (most of whom will never even touch the product), and it's very paperwork-intensive.
2ndsojourn said:
Meh....it's just another Ford Taurus in the parking lot. (I would've said Toyota but the Ruger is made is the USA).
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Many if not most Toyotas sold here are made here. :p
 
Skans:

Tougher than a 17?

Maybe... but that wasn't the purpose of my comment, I simply meant it looks to be built to last. It may be the classic Ruger over building, it may be designed with a steady diet of high pressure ammo in mind. This is possibly the pistol Ruger was designing for the MHS program, before they decided to not participate. 9mm Nato is known to be hotter than typical 9mm loads.



Just another glock-a-like trigger...

While visually similar... many... most striker triggers (past the little dingus on the actual trigger) function completely differently than a Glock.

The partial tension trigger of a glock is not used in many striker pistols. They tend to be full tension instead... no matter how much they insist the striker is partial tension (looking at you M&P) the striker is tensioned to well past the point of reliable ignition by the action of the slide... with a rotating/dropping sear, that has no actual (or meaningful) rearward travel.

So I never really got the whole comparing triggers to a glock thing, when they merely look similar externally, and function so differently.

This pistol seems to have a short pull, clean break, and decent reset... many people do not like the Glock trigger... I am one of them. I can use it, but I am not a fan.



For those wondering what this pistol is for.. what it does...

In the end this pistol does nothing different than many others, but it allows Ruger to step into a popular market segment in a meaningful way.

Many people do not consider the Ruger SR line, due to all the safeties it has built in... the mag and thumb safety specifically. This means those pistols have never been a major consideration for serious shooters and agencies. The SR line appealed to new gun owners, those less familiar with firearms and who the extra safeties give piece of mind.
 
Forget about the Ruger American's looks for a minute. My question is WHY? What does this gun do differently than any other striker fired polymer 9mm or 45? I suppose it says "RUGER" on the slide; perhaps that makes it special.
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Couldn't the same thing have been said about the Glock 43 and Glock 42? Glock was way late to the single stack 9mm party and the pocket (or almost pocket size) .380 market, but that didn't stop them. They wanted their piece of the action.
 
So I never really got the whole comparing triggers to a glock thing, when they merely look similar externally, and function so differently.

This pistol seems to have a short pull, clean break, and decent reset... many people do not like the Glock trigger... I am one of them. I can use it, but I am not a fan.
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Marine, I really can disagree with that, since I have the same complaint about the Glock trigger. True, the triggers can be different internally and perhaps the Ruger trigger has more of a SAO feel to it.
 
I got to handle an American and SR9 at Gander Mountain yesterday. It looks like a cross between a Beretta 9000 and a SIG 2022. With the small grip frame, it felt like a Walter PPX. The slide is as broad as a SIG 320, and the sights are similar to a third-gen S&W 5900-series. The weight difference is noticeable. I would pick it over a Glock (I hate finger grooves), but I think I prefer the SR9 series over the American. In fact, my next purchase will probably be a 9E. But the American does seem like a contender in the poly-pistol race. Maybe they're looking for the new FBI contract.....

Side note: Every time I call it "The American", I keep thinking about George Clooney. Does anyone else do that, too?.....
 
From what I have seen, it seems that is the feel they went for.

If the trigger is similar to the VP9 and P320, then it will be a very good trigger. (Or the PPQ, but I feel the PPQ is superior in break than the other two, so I put it above them)
 
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