Ruger SR45 Review
Part 6 - Range Test
October 15, 2013

Ruger SR45 Pistol Review

In this part of the review, I performed some basic range testing on the Ruger SR45 Pistol.  Fortunately, I had some .45 Auto value ammunition on hand and was also able to get my hands on some premium Hornady defensive ammunition.  This gave me the opportunity to check out the functionality and accuracy with both practice (target) and self defense loads.

 

The ammunition used during my range tests varied in bullet weight, type and velocity.  Each type of ammunition used during the review is listed below.

I started out shooting some of the inexpensive Sellier & Bellot ammunition to give me a feel for the recoil of the pistol, to get an idea on point-of-aim versus point-of-impact, and to make sure the pistol was functioning properly before I switched to the higher cost ammunition.  The recoil felt manageable and I quickly learned I would need to make some sight adjustments.  The pistol was shooting high and to the left for my preferred sight picture (top of sights in line and on the center of the target).  I also had one failure to eject and immediately thought this pistol may need a "breaking in" period and I would have to see how it performed in the rest of my range tests.  For my sight adjustment and accuracy portion of my range tests, I shot at 20 yards from a bench using my homemade bar rest to support the front of the pistol frame and a bag to support my hands.

Figure 1
Ruger SR45 Pistol Review

During my range testing, I was not able to get a full set of chronograph data for all ammunition types because I had to dodge the rain showers and finally gave up on setting up and taking down my chronograph.  The chronograph data that I was able to take was with the chronograph located about 10 feet in front of the muzzle.  Fortunately the rain did bring some cooler weather and the temperature was in the mid 80's° F.

Figure 2
Ruger SR45 Pistol Review

When making my sight adjustments, I found that while the rear sight was adjusted fully down, I was still shooting between 1.5" and 3" high depending on the type of ammunition used.  Also, I unfortunately left my punch set at the shop and didn't have the tools I needed to drift my sight to the right to correct for windage.  For shooting groups and understanding reliability, neither of these were critical, but I would need to look closer at the rear sight in the future because there seemed to be a slightly more adjustment available if the elevation adjustment screw (0.2500" in length) were shortened by a thread or two.

In an effort to determine the accuracy of the pistol (not the shooter), I shot four 5-shot groups and took the best 4 out of 5 shots to calculate my group size.  The results are tabulated below.  By averaging all 20 groups, I came up with a total average group size of 1.79" at 20 yards which I feel is a good representation of this pistols capability and I feel most people would be extremely pleased with the capability of this pistol.

45 Auto Ammunition Measured Velocity1
(ft/sec)
Energy
(ft-lbs)
Group Size2
(in)
Manufacturer and Type Bullet
Weight (gr)
Velocity3 (ft/sec)
/Energy3 (ft-lbs)
Average Std. Dev. Maximum Minimum Average
Hornady Critical Defense® FTX® 185 1000 / 411 986 10 399 1.35 1.01 1.20
Hornady Custom™ XTP® 200 900 / 360 - - - 1.77 1.11 1.49
Hornady Critical Duty™ +P FlexLock® 220 975 / 464 - - - 2.64 0.95 2.01
Sellier & Bellot FMJ 230 853 / 372 795 12 327 2.80 2.19 2.49
Winchester FMJ 230 835 / 356 - - - 2.56 1.11 1.79
Average All Groups = 1.79
1 - Average velocity based on 10 shots through chronograph placed 10 feet in front of muzzle.
2 - Group sizes based on four 5-shot groups and taking the best 4 out of 5 shots to determine group size.  All groups were shot from a rest at 20 yards.
3 - Muzzle Velocity and Energy were taken from manufactures specifications with a test barrel length of 5.0"

Recently, authors for both HANDGUNS magazine (June/July 2013 issue) and GUNS Magazine (October 2013 issue) performed reviews of the SR45 pistol.  They found the SR45 pistol to produce a total average 5-shot group size of 2.8" at 25 yards and 1.61" at 20 yards, respectively.  As another data point for comparison, if I compared my true 5-shot groups, I came up with a total average group size of 2.64 which still isn't too shabby.  Their reviews along with mine give three independent reviews that show the accuracy capability of three different SR45 pistols to be very good.  I believe most people will practice and shoot at distances between 5 and 15 yards and the SR45 can easily deliver the results as long as you can do your part.  These next three photos give you a look at my best 4-shot groups with the Hornady defensive ammunition.

Figure 3                                    Figure 4                                    Figure 5
Hornady Critical Defense                    Hornady Custom                     Hornady Critical Duty     
      185gr FTX                                 200gr XTP                            220gr +P FlexLock
    1.01"                                        1.11"                                          0.95"    
Ruger SR45 Pistol Review   Ruger SR45 Pistol Review   Ruger SR45 Pistol Review

A little over half way through my accuracy portion of the range tests, the SR45 started to have fairly regular failure to eject issues and I also noticed that the magazine was coming unlatched.  Initially I blamed this on my grip style at the bench, but after a being very careful to make sure that I was not touching the magazine latch button, I finally came to the conclusion that something was not right.  In some cases, the magazine would just come unlatched and the slide would cycle without picking up the next round.  After struggling to finish the bench testing, I loaded up a couple of magazines with some 230 grain value ammunition (Winchester white box) to shoot freehand at some steel targets.  Each time I fired the pistol, the magazine would drop out of the grip.  I checked this with both magazines and the results were the same.  I studied the pistol carefully and other than being dirty from about 200 rounds so far, I couldn't see any issue so I decided it was time to let Ruger take a look at the pistol.

I sent the pistol to Ruger and received it back at my house approximately two weeks later.  I was extremely impressed with the quick turnaround on the repair.  Ruger stated they replaced the "magazine latch spring, magazine latch and magazine latch thumb piece" and then they checked the function by firing 30 rounds using both of my magazines and the pistol functioned without issue.  I drifted the rear sight to the right slightly to correct for windage and I took the pistol back to the range and put another 120 rounds through it and I also found it to function without issue.

 

Thoughts

The Ruger SR45 can deliver the accuracy if you can do your part.  Initially the pistol had an issue with the magazine latch allowing the magazines to drop out of the pistol, but Ruger quickly took care of the issue just like any good manufacturer should.

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. 


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