It is no secret Ruger makes a fine 1911, the SR 1911, and it was with great excitement my test sample came a couple of days after the 10mm Auto model was announced. Honestly, I have plenty of time with Ruger revolvers but my time with their 1911 style pistols is somewhat limited. I was looking forward to getting to know this pistol on a very personal level.

Initial Impressions  

Traditional style double diamond stocks, but these are made of rubber. The pistol looks to be a matte stainless and is quite attractive.

The aluminum trigger is adjustable for over travel and broke clean just over 5 pounds with little take up and some over travel. A generous beavertail grip safety with palm swell to ensure disengagement.

The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation. The face of the rear blade is serrated to eliminate glare. A skeletonized speed hammer and titanium firing pin help cut down on lock time. The thumb safety is extended for easy of use and the plunger tube is incorporated into the receiver

Front sight dovetailed into the slide, but is plain black. I would like to see some color on at least the front sight to contrast on the rear sight.

This pistol incorporates a bull barrel, reverse recoil spring plug and full length guide rod. I understand the bull barrel as they require less fitment to maximize accuracy but the recoil plug and full length guide rod require the included tool to field strip. That system does get a bit more weight at the muzzle to help with muzzle flip.

The ejection port is lowered and flared, while the barrel is ramped.

Detail stripping the pistol shows no observable wear, which leads me to believe the pistol is built and fit correctly. This pistol does not incorporate a firing pin safety but is drop safe with a titanium firing pin and heavy firing pin spring. The checkered mainspring housing is all steel. The barrel is black nitride coated to protect against wear and the elements.

3 shot group fired from a rest at 25 yards

Range Time 

Conclusions 

After about 400 rounds downrange by myself and several of my friends it is for sure the new Ruger SR1911 in 10mm Auto is reliable, as we had zero problems with all ammunition from mild range ammo to the warm defensive rounds. I am thankful the 10mm Automatic is making a comeback and I believe Ruger building this pistol in my favorite handgun caliber will only serve to further the rounds popularity. In my opinion the 1911 style pistol is an ideal carry/defensive handgun and the big 10 fits right into that category. The 10mm will do everything the .357 Magnum will do but will do it better, with a wider selection of bullet styles and ammunition choices. I would see this Ruger serving very well as a carry gun for the trail or sidewalk, with ammunition selection being the deciding factor on which role you need your pistol to serve that day. Groups averaged between 1 1/2″ to 2″ from 25 yards shot from a rest, depending on ammunition. Truthfully that is about as good as I can personally shoot so I am satisfied the 10mm SR1911 is plenty accurate for what it was designed for. All in all I am happy with the pistol and just a few things I would have done differently, but none were deal breakers. I believe Ruger has done well getting into the 1911 market and for sure by building one in 10mm Auto.

Specifications 

  • Capacity: 8+1
  • Slide Material: Stainless Steel
  • Barrel Length: 5″
  • Receiver: Matt Stainless
  • Stocks: Black Rubberized
  • Model Type: Target
  • Slide Finish: Matt Stainless
  • Width: 1.34″
  • Sights: Bomar-Style Adjustable
  • Weight: 40.4 oz.
  • Overall Length: 8.67″
  • Height: 5.45″
  • Grooves” 6
  • Twist: 1:16″ RH
  • CA Approved: No
  • MA Approved: No
  • Suggested Retail: $1019.00

Acknowledgments 

Ruger 

Double Tap Ammunition 

Hornady 

AmmoForSale.com

By Hunter Elliott

I spent much of my youth involved with firearms and felt the call early on to the United States Marine Corps, following in my father's and his brother's footsteps. Just after high school I enlisted and felt most at home on the rifle range, where I qualified expert with several firearms and spent some time as a rifle coach to my fellow Marines. After being honorably discharged I continued teaching firearm safety, rifle and pistol marksmanship, and began teaching metallic cartridge reloading. In the late 1990s I became a life member to the National Rifle Association and worked with the Friends of the NRA. Around that time my father and I became involved with IDPA and competed together up until he passed away. I began reviewing firearms for publications in the mid 2000s and have been fortunate to make many friends in the industry. Continuing to improve my firearms skills and knowledge is a never ending journey in which we should all be committed. I am also credited as weapons master on a few independent films.

21 thoughts on “Ruger SR 1911 10mm Auto, finally”
  1. I had a SR1911 Commander for awhile, and like every other Ruger I’ve owned, it was flawless. Sadly, I traded it for a different firearm, and have been looking at getting another one since. The 10mm might be a nice addition to the collection.

  2. This gun interests me because I am thinking this is the 1911 that can handle a steady diet of full power 10mm loads

    I disagree however with Hunter Elliott’s statement “The 10mm will do everything the .357 Magnum will do but will do it better, with a wider selection of bullet styles and ammunition choices”. The two cartridges are overlap each other in terms of power and performance; any difference being more attributable to the specific loads and guns being compared rather any design differences between the two. Also there are a huge variety of loads available for the .357 and you will have an easier time finding them than10mm loads. Which cartridge I would choose would boil down to whether I wanted a semi auto pistol (10mm) or a .revolver (.357 magnum).

  3. Great Review Hunter just watched the Vid on Youtube.used to Read a lot of your stuff on other forums now just come here

    Got the Dealer to order me one today few changes and it will be great the stocks blah .. only other change with be a Ambi Safety .

    Add this to my Dan wesson Razorback , Para longslide elite ,a Ria Double Stack and a 610 Smith i love the 10mm

  4. We Do have the same tastes for sure.. 1911’s are my Fav gun i have more of them in different calibers than i think i have another model .

    i don’t have a delta yet but well thats yet lol my Dan wesson is one of the old pre CZ ones

  5. Can the magazine be manipulated to restrict total ammo? Here in SD, we cannot use a handgun for hunting that is capable of holding more than six total rounds.

  6. I bought the Ruger 10mm when they first came out and love it. Just needs night sights. The factory sights are too dark.

  7. Got mine broken in groups well the front sight is either gonna be changed or painted .. anyone had issues with surface rust yet?

    I did after greasing it up and carrying for splitting wood and running chainsaw yes it was hot and got sweaty but go wiped off everyday and relubed and still go some rust under safety on slide .. Switched to dan wesson for rest of week and nothing on it

  8. Mine has feeding problems, consistently fails about 3 out of 50 rounds of Sig FMJ. Also failed with my reloads. I noticed that in Handguns magazine review they also had failures to load with the Sig FMJ. I am very disappointed. Any suggestions?

    1. Ed, I ran an awful lot of different rounds through the test gun, without a single issue. If you are having trouble with a specific manufacturer’s ammo you might look at the rounds you have and run them through a go-no go gauge. I always run reloads through such a gauge. I did not run any Sig ammo through the pistol.
      Having trouble with a single manufacturer leans to the ammo and not the pistol. Do you have a 10mm go-no go gauge? I would for sure measure the Sig rounds and your reloads and check that against SAAMI spec for COL.

  9. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on my situation. I was shooting the Sig ammo because it was cheap, $31 box of 50 and accurate. I bought another brand this past week, Sellier & Bellot and shot 50 rounds through the gun without a failure but I also used the second magazine thinking it may be a magazine issue. I have a measuring tool from Dillion and I noticed the Sig FMJ are 1.254 and I based my reloads on these cartridges. The cartridges that didn’t fail measured 1.244, and I bought some Sig V Crown and they are 1.245. I can’t believe that the small difference in length could be the problem since my reloading manual says C.O.L. should be 1.260.
    Meantime I contacted Ruger customer service and they told me to send the pistol to them so I guess I’ll be doing that.

  10. I really don’t understand the question. The cartridge gets stuck feeding into the barrel, it’s halfway out of the magazine, halfway into the barrel. This happens some times on the first round when the slide is released and other times when the magazine is almost empty. I also tried some new ammo, PPU, and had another failure with that. The gun is going back to Ruger I’ll let you know what they say.

    1. Some of that could have been me. There is still quite a bit of human error when shooting from a rest.
      To eliminate most of the human error I would need a Ransom rest but that is way out of my budget so I do the best I can with a rest.

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