First look at The New Ruger SR1911 Target

As you might imagine, Ruger is far from finished building out their lineup of SR1911 pistols. Starting with a full-size pistol in .45 ACP we have seen the Commander size .45 in both steel and aluminum frame versions and, most recently, a lightweight Commander size 9mm. When you consider all the possibilities it’s easy to imagine the company staying busy producing 1911 variations for some time to come – and they plan to do just that.

The pistol I have at hand is the latest variation in the lineup, and one Ruger is introducing without a lot of fanfare. It’s a full-sized 5” barreled pistol called the SR1911 Target. It features a target crowned barrel, ambidextrous thumb safeties and an adjustable rear sight reminiscent of the Bomar target sight. Both the front and rear sights are black on black, just the way target sights should be, and there are no dots, glowing parts or other distractions. As with other SR1911s in the series the pistol features unique stocks, these in a gray color made of G 10, partially checked with the Ruger logo and complimenting the stainless steel finish very nicely. It’s an attractive pistol.

All the usual SR1911 features are there as well. These include a stainless steel barrel and barrel bushing machined from the same piece of bar stock, checkered mainspring housing, a target style trigger, lowered ejection port for reliability, and a plunger tube integral to the frame (so it will never come loose or fall off). Parts like the grip safety and thumb safeties are black so what you get here is a two-tone pistol that looks really nice in my estimation. The magazine well is beveled, the frame is undercut at the rear of the trigger guard, there are diagonal slide serrations on the rear of the slide (where they belong) and the hammer is a combat style. The pistol is a true “70 series”, meaning there is no firing pin safety. Ruger uses a heavy-duty firing pin spring along with titanium, lightweight firing pin in lieu of a firing pin safety that makes the pistol drop safe. What’s that mean? Well, somebody in the government once decided you had to be able to drop a pistol onto concrete from five feet in such a way that it landed on the hammer without firing in order to deem the pistol safe. This started the firing pin safety designs such as the Colt Series 80. Fortunately, a lightweight firing pin backed up by a strong firing pin spring will also pass the drop test and many 1911 enthusiasts prefer this system to the Series 80 that adds extra parts, makes disassembly more difficult and effects trigger pull. In other words, this is a nicely appointed pistol with everything you need and nothing you don’t with a retail price well below what you might expect to pay for a similar pistol from other makers.

So, what has Ruger done to make this a target pistol aside from adding adjustable sights? The answer is, nothing. But wait, you might ask, doesn’t a target pistol require extra fitting and tightening of parts? Well, they used to but these days CNC machines turn out parts that are as good or better than specialized “match grade” parts and barrels from just a few years ago. In many respects a pistol like the SR1911 is every bit as good a target pistol as one purpose built. Adding adjustable style target sights makes it a “target” model. Does it shoot better than a standard model? Is it more accurate? No, I don’t think so. In my testing the pistol was 100% reliable with a variety of target and defensive loads and I feel like the target sights helped my shooting. Considering my eyesight these days doesn’t lend itself to shooting small groups at 25 or 50 yards I can’t tell you the pistol will shoot tiny groups. It should, because the trigger is really good, breaking at just over 4 pounds, and I really like the sights, but I can’t prove it shoots any better due to these features. What did I do to test the accuracy of this pistol? I cut the cards. That is, I shot playing cards in half. It’s kind of fun and requires an application of shooting skills along with good sights and an accurate pistol. If you can do this at 25 yards you have my respect. I can’t so I cut cards at 3 to 5 yards. While it might not tell you too much about the accuracy of this pistol it’s a fun exercise that hints at what the pistol might be capable of.

This one’s a keeper. While folks have managed to talk me out of most of the SR1911s I’ve tested I’m going to try to hang onto this one. The sights, the trigger and the pistol work with me well enough to hit anything I can see within reason and that’s more than good enough. I think I’ll zero the sights at 100 yards and go shoot some of the rifle simulators at Gunsite. That sounds like a fun exercise for a 1911 with target sights.

For more information and specs, visit Ruger.com.

About the Author:

Ed Head is a regular on Shooting Gallery, Gun Stories and Down Range TV. He has worked for almost 30 years in law enforcement, first in the United States Air Force and then with the United States Border Patrol, retiring as a Field Operations Supervisor. During his Border Patrol career, Ed worked in a variety of patrol, investigative and training capacities. Ed has an extensive background as a firearms instructor, having trained thousands, ranging from beginners to police, military and special operations personnel. Having taught at Gunsite for 20 years, Ed first trained there under the world famous shooting school’s founder, Jeff Cooper, then later ran the school as the operations manager for more than five years. Ed lives in Chino Valley, Arizona, where he continues to teach and write.