Ruger LW 1911

I don't believe Ruger's Lightweight Commander size 1911 ever had front serrations on the slide. All of the ones I have looked at online only have the rear serrations. My slightly older Colt Lightweight Commander has them but I noticed current Colt models do not.

Range report???

iawolfeman said:

Just picked up this commander size lw. Was surprised that it has no front serations. I was under the impression they had vertical grooves. Did Ruger discontinue this feature?
Otherwise pretty impressive gun for the price.

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For clarity, you are referring to the front strap serrations rather than front slide serrations, correct?

I don't think any Ruger 1911 has ever had front slide serrations. It is possible there are some "special editions" with front strap serrations, but I don't think most Ruger 1911's have front strap serrations either.

JTQ said:

For clarity, you are referring to the front strap serrations rather than front slide serrations, correct?

I don't think any Ruger 1911 has ever had front slide serrations. It is possible there are some "special editions" with front strap serrations, but I don't think most Ruger 1911's have front strap serrations either.

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That's what I figured. I've never seen serrations on the forward of the slide on Rugers, since that's one of the features I was looking for in a lightweight commander until recently.

My Dad really likes his LW 1911 Ruger. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet.

It depends on what model you bought. Ruger has a lot of 1911 models, and I suspect the "Special Editions" like the Talo models, etc. are the ones with the front strap serrations and probably include the extra "swag".

http://www.ruger.com/products/sr1911/models.html

The other thing to consider is models come and go from a manufacturers catalog all the time. What you see at the local gun store, or on line may be "new, old stock" and have been siting on the shelves for quite some time, or been a short "we've got these extra parts laying around so lets slap them together" run.

However, if you have a question, you could just call Ruger and ask.

As JTQ said, Ruger is famous for building what they call "cleanup guns". They take parts from several different variations of the same gun and build a run of guns in order to utilize all of the available parts. I can't say if yours is a specific clean up run or not.

It also may be that the frame from your gun came from either a newer or older mold (i.e. no serrations).

In all honestly, the serrations that most manufacturers put in the front strap don't really do anything for improving the grip. In an alloy frame like the LW Commander, they are also a place where you can ding the frame more easily than a regular smooth surface. (I have heard numerous complaints about the Dan Wesson Valkyre for just this reason). I agree it looks nice but a LW Commander is supposed to be a carry gun, and it will likely see some honest holster wear and dings from living it's life on your hip. The smooth front strap will wear better than the ridges.

Honestly, vertical grooves don't really make a boat load of sense to me.
Recoil pulls the gun mostly straight up, the grooves run along that axis and don't really give you a better purchase I feel.

Horizontal grooves would most likely provide better recoil control but would look a little funky.

I prefer checking, and went with a LW commander with it (and forward slide serrations).

Forward slide serrations are a fad that is passing.