Ruger SR9c ammunition and sights questions

[UpTheIrons]

I mentioned in passing elsewhere that my lovely bride (finally!) bought her first gun this weekend, a stainless SR9c. We took it for a spin Sunday afternoon and were quite impressed. It seems to like PMC over Federal Champion (accuracy-wise), which didn't surprise me.

My first question for those of you who have one (or a full-size SR9), is how does it do with steel-cased ammo, like Tula or Herter's? I can buy factory cheaper than the components/dies to reload right now, but my wife needs to spend some quality trigger time with this gun to get it ready for carry. I suspect that, as a Ruger, it will digest whatever we feed it, but accuracy may be an issue with some types.

Also, the manual says on p.13:
"The SR9c pistols are compatible with all factory ammunition...loaded to U.S. Industry standards, including high-velocity and hollow-point loads, loaded in brass, aluminum, or steel cartridge cases. No...ammunition manufactured in accordance with NATO, U.S., SAAMI, or CIP standards is known to be beyond the design limits or known not to function in these pistols."

I am assuming that the red type above means that +P ammo is just fine in this pistol. Am I right?

As to the sights, it was shooting a little to the left for both of us. I had noticed that the front sight seemed a little too far to the right in the dovetail, but I didn't want to mess with adjusting anything until we shot it. Here's a picture of said sight:



What do you think? Does it need to be drifted a little to the left? Or should I just fool with the rear sight until things line up?

I guess it goes without saying that I am tickled pink that she finally found a gun she likes and likes to shoot. The two we were looking at Saturday were the SR9c and the Taurus TCP, but the best deal - by far - was on the Ruger.

[quoheleth]

Hmmm...steel cased ammo...would suggest, if you want to go that way, swinging by Academy and pick up a couple 50 round boxes before investing in large quantities. See how it runs. Could always call Ruger and see what they say, too. And, don't forget Rugerforum.net or .com - lots of Ruger-specific stuff there.

The rear sight is only elevation-adjustable, so if you want to adjust for left/right you have to drift the front sight. Hers does look a little off-center. Don't know if the SR9c/SR9 needs a sight pusher or if a brass punch or wood dowel would get 'er done.

Might make a phone call to Ruger and ask about the ammo and how to drift the front sight.

The Ruger can handle any +P ammo, but consensus seems to be that +P+, not having a SAAMI standard, is "on your own." Being a Ruger, it can probably handle loads just short of nuclear, but why take the chance? As it can handle NATO ammo, and you know military ammo ain't softball stuff, +P shouldn't be any problem. I'm going to be trying Winny's PDX 124gr +P loads shortly.

All the best & congrats to Mrs. Irons on a fine carry weapon!!! I love mine!

Q

[UpTheIrons]

The rear sight is only elevation-adjustable, so if you want to adjust for left/right you have to drift the front sight. Hers does look a little off-center. Don't know if the SR9c/SR9 needs a sight pusher or if a brass punch or wood dowel would get 'er done.

Don't read manuals much, eh, Q? Page 33 gives directions for adjusting windage, but I don't want to do that if I can 'coax' the front one over to the middle of the notch. I'll call Ruger, but since the rear sight can be moved with a wooden or plastic tool, I'm guessing the front can, too.

I also perused a few pages of the Ruger forum and already have an uh-oh. It appears that the 9c doesn't like UMC, and the Missus bought a big ol' box of 250 the other day. Guess we'll just have to see how well it works...

[JJVP]

What do you think? Does it need to be drifted a little to the left? Or should I just fool with the rear sight until things line up?

Aligning the front sight in the middle might not be the right thing to do. I have a Ruger P89 that was also shooting left. The front sight cannot be adjusted and the rear sight can be windage adjusted. The rear sight was in the middle. For months I thought it was poor technique on my part that all my shots were left of center, until I bought one of these:

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I adjusted the rear sight based on the laser (no longer in the middle) , now every shot is right down the middle. You can also find them at Walmart. I use it to sight all my guns.

[quoheleth]

Page 33 gives directions for adjusting windage,

I thought I was wrong, once, but I was mistaken.


Apparantly,lightening CAN hit the same place twice.

Mea culpa...

Q

[Millerk420]

We have an SR9c as well and we consistantly hit left of the target for about 100 rounds until the front sight fell off while my wife was shooting. She went to shoot and was like "HEY" "I have no sight" luckly we found it on the deck at the range just slapped some blue lock tight on it sighted it in with a laser bore sight and she tested with it at her CHL class no issues. I think it might be walking a little but there is no set screw or anything. I might have to find something better to lock that sight on than the lock tight. Love the gun other than that. as does my wife she will use it as her carry weapon

[UpTheIrons]

By the way, I called Ruger a while back, and the techs said just to clamp the slide in a vise and tap the sight over with a wooden dowel. I did that and the gun shoots just fine now. Well, I used a screwdriver, because the dowel was destroyed without even moving the sight.

[macattac]

So maybe I am confused, but why adjust the front sight when you can loosen the set screw on the rear sight and adjust for windage? Is moving the front sight a better adjustment? I have mine tracking pretty well with using the rear sight adjustment, as long as I dont feed it Winchester Bulk ammo. My P95 eats anything but the Win bulk doesn't seem to want to fire consistantly in the SR9c. It does run the UMC bulk very well. I have about 1000 rounds thru it now, mostly UMC with very few issues. Going to try the Win PDX1 this weekend.

[andy123]

Finally i post in a thread that is recent. But I have the black SR9C and i have yet to have any accuracy or feed issues with any brand ammo. Every time i see a different kind of ammo i pick it up and run it through just to see if it eats it, and its like a tourist at a vegas buffet. I will say i love mine, and it shot true right out of the box. I wish you good luck and long use out of it.

[macattac]

After reading a few posting today I wonder if I am not cleaning the striker area enough. I am going to try cleaning it. I love the gun, but don't like fail to fire issues. I keep thinking this one should run like my P95 which eats anything that resembles ammo.

[UpTheIrons]

So maybe I am confused, but why adjust the front sight when you can loosen the set screw on the rear sight and adjust for windage? Is moving the front sight a better adjustment?

I moved the front sight because it was so obviously far off. It was far enough off that the edge of the rear sight would have been outside the dovetail on the left side of the slide. I don't like inducing a possible snag point in a carry gun.

Tapping the front sight over a few hundredths of an inch and recentering it in the dovetail did the trick. Any further adjustments can be done by moving the rear sight, but it will be only a thousandth or two.

ETA: This gun eats everything you feed it. I had two FTFs in the first 200 rounds using Federal, but since then, it hasn't missed a primer. I think WWB might be about the only widely available ammo I haven't shot in it. Reloads do fine, too, and I use Winchester primers. UMC also had no problems. I took out the MDS and cleaned the striker, which was dirtier than I expected, but cleaned up real nice.