Personally, I believe the gun is an excellent design with plenty for people to like. Is the compact version of the Ruger American Pistol innovative or is the company stuck in an institutional rut? SIG SAUER Elite Performance V-Crown 147 gr JHP SIG SAUER Elite Performance V-Crown 124 gr JHP Here is a look at how the testing ammo performed in the Ruger American Compact: Quite frankly, this gun felt a bit tank like, so when I headed to the range, I took no mercy on it. One of the things associated with Ruger is the idea that the company’s guns are built like tanks. Here are the specs on the Ruger American Compact pistol: Chambering There are also plenty of companies that are now making, or have plans to introduce, holsters for the Ruger American pistol. Other accessories from SureFire, Viridian and others should also work without any issues. The advantage to the TLR-4 G is that it gives you both a bright white light and a green aiming laser.
I had a Streamlight TLR-4 G on hand that worked perfectly with the gun. Although this is a compact handgun, there appears to be enough rail space to handle pretty much any accessory you might reasonably want to add. Under the barrel, Ruger incorporated a Picatinny-type rail for the addition of a white light or laser. High pressure ammo can cause accelerated wear on a firearm, so I would not be surprised to discover a little extra beefiness was required in the design to ensure long-term durability. I suspect that the comparatively heavy weight is partially because Ruger made these pistols to run on a steady diet of +P ammunition. The weight seems to be up and forward, which makes sense: that’s where much of the slide and all of the barrel are. Those guns would go through several iterations before being completely replaced by Ruger’s SR-series of handguns. The P-series handguns were widely regarded as reliable performers, just a bit on the large and heavy side. By way of comparison, the higher capacity Glock 19 Gen4 weighs less than 24 ounces and the Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0 Compact comes in at 25.9 ounces with a 15 round magazine.Īlthough the Ruger American pistols have a distinctly different look, the weights are reminiscent of the company’s P-series pistols from the 80s and 90s. For a compact 9mm pistol that makes ample use of polymer parts, I was expecting something 6-7 ounces lighter. Unloaded, the gun has a listed weight of nearly 29 ounces. The gun felt heavy and a subsequent check of the gun’s vital stats reinforced this belief. Picking up the gun for the first time, I was a little taken aback by its weight. The company includes grip module blocks with the gun to ensure the modules are not crushed inadvertently during storage. However, it may be a bit challenging the first time you try a different size.įor me, the small grip module worked the best and that’s the one I stuck with throughout this Ruger American Compact 9mm review.
The grip will be sight to the frame, which is good for shooting. With the included Torx wrench, turn the screw 1/4 turn counter-clockwise. To change the grips, remove the gun’s slide assembly and find the Torx screw head recessed in the backstrap.