On my lunchtime trip to the range today I rented their gen.3 Glock 19 to do a little head to head comparison with my SR9. I was tempted to do this because I keep hearing about what a great gun the G19 is and the SR9 is frequently mentioned as a direct competitor so to be honest I wanted to see what I might be missing.
Anyway, below are a few comparative observations from the session. FWIW my SR9 has almost 900 rounds through it and like I said, the Glock is a range rental but appeared in perfect condition. Also, I have never fired a Glock before today. I put about 75 rounds through each pistol and of course this is all my humble opinion.
Mag Loading: Might be a trivial issue for some but the first thing I noticed was how much EASIER it is to load the Glocks mag. I have tried to "break-in" my SR9's mags through use and keeping them loaded at home but they just seem unnecessarily stiff to load without the loading tool... especially compared to the Glock. 15 rds load smoothly into the Glock mag with just fingers, IMO the way it should be with a defense oriented pistol.
Racking the slide: Again, may be trivial but since I have seen a few complaints about the stoutness of the SR9's recoil spring I though it might be worth mentioning. The Glock requires maybe 15-20% less effort to cycle the slide but not a huge difference to me. I think I prefer the feel of the slide serrations on the SR9 though. It's also worth mentioning that the slide release lever on the Glock requires FAR less effort to actuate one handed... the release on my SR9 is really stiff and can barely be done 1 handed.
Ergonomics: The difference in grip angle was a non-issue for me. I was expecting to notice it more with all of the talk about the Glock design but it pointed fine and I didn't feel I was having to make any odd corrections once out in front of me.
The grip shape of the the Glock though was a different story. The rectangular profile combined with the "humped" backstrap shape was just odd feeling in my hand. I have medium sized hands and I could get plenty of solid feeling grip on it, as a matter of fact my fingers wrap further around it than with the SR9, but it just felt like I was hanging onto a utilitarian tool that wasn't sculpted with a whole lot of consideration given to the shape of the human hand. Going back and forth between the Glock and the SR9 was shocking from a comfort perspective. The SR9 simply feels organic, like an extension of your hand in contrast to the Glock. Also, for me a high, thumbs forward grip felt much more natural with the Ruger.
Sights: The Glock's blockier fixed sights lined up a little quicker and easier for me and I preferred the markings on the Glock sights as well. The sights on the SR9 are ok but I would gladly sacrifice the rear adjustable and trade them in for the Glock style.
Trigger: Glock wins. Not quite as crisp a break as the SR9 but the pull is lighter, smoother and more consistent and it seems to reset faster. I do not care for the SR9 trigger at all and hope to God that there is an aftermarket option available soon (GHOST!).
Recoil: Due to the weight difference I thought I knew what to expect here but was still surprised at how much sharper the recoil was with the Glock with the same loads. Not bad or anything but when compared directly the SR9 has noticably less muzzle flip and "softer" recoil and is quicker to get back on target after the shot.
Accuracy: Really close. If I had to choose I would say my Glock groups were slightly tighter. I would also have to say that this was because of the better trigger and better sights... things which will hopefully be easily fixable with the Ruger eventually.
That's all I can think of right now.
It was a lot of fun. I was honestly expecting to be swept off my feet by the Glock's amazingness to the point of rehearsing mock conversations with my wife about why I came home with a new Glock tonight but left the range/shop without one and pretty happy with my Ruger for now.
I did like the Glock though... it shot great for a little brick and would probably be a better CCW than the SR9.
Anyway, below are a few comparative observations from the session. FWIW my SR9 has almost 900 rounds through it and like I said, the Glock is a range rental but appeared in perfect condition. Also, I have never fired a Glock before today. I put about 75 rounds through each pistol and of course this is all my humble opinion.
Mag Loading: Might be a trivial issue for some but the first thing I noticed was how much EASIER it is to load the Glocks mag. I have tried to "break-in" my SR9's mags through use and keeping them loaded at home but they just seem unnecessarily stiff to load without the loading tool... especially compared to the Glock. 15 rds load smoothly into the Glock mag with just fingers, IMO the way it should be with a defense oriented pistol.
Racking the slide: Again, may be trivial but since I have seen a few complaints about the stoutness of the SR9's recoil spring I though it might be worth mentioning. The Glock requires maybe 15-20% less effort to cycle the slide but not a huge difference to me. I think I prefer the feel of the slide serrations on the SR9 though. It's also worth mentioning that the slide release lever on the Glock requires FAR less effort to actuate one handed... the release on my SR9 is really stiff and can barely be done 1 handed.
Ergonomics: The difference in grip angle was a non-issue for me. I was expecting to notice it more with all of the talk about the Glock design but it pointed fine and I didn't feel I was having to make any odd corrections once out in front of me.
The grip shape of the the Glock though was a different story. The rectangular profile combined with the "humped" backstrap shape was just odd feeling in my hand. I have medium sized hands and I could get plenty of solid feeling grip on it, as a matter of fact my fingers wrap further around it than with the SR9, but it just felt like I was hanging onto a utilitarian tool that wasn't sculpted with a whole lot of consideration given to the shape of the human hand. Going back and forth between the Glock and the SR9 was shocking from a comfort perspective. The SR9 simply feels organic, like an extension of your hand in contrast to the Glock. Also, for me a high, thumbs forward grip felt much more natural with the Ruger.
Sights: The Glock's blockier fixed sights lined up a little quicker and easier for me and I preferred the markings on the Glock sights as well. The sights on the SR9 are ok but I would gladly sacrifice the rear adjustable and trade them in for the Glock style.
Trigger: Glock wins. Not quite as crisp a break as the SR9 but the pull is lighter, smoother and more consistent and it seems to reset faster. I do not care for the SR9 trigger at all and hope to God that there is an aftermarket option available soon (GHOST!).
Recoil: Due to the weight difference I thought I knew what to expect here but was still surprised at how much sharper the recoil was with the Glock with the same loads. Not bad or anything but when compared directly the SR9 has noticably less muzzle flip and "softer" recoil and is quicker to get back on target after the shot.
Accuracy: Really close. If I had to choose I would say my Glock groups were slightly tighter. I would also have to say that this was because of the better trigger and better sights... things which will hopefully be easily fixable with the Ruger eventually.
That's all I can think of right now.
It was a lot of fun. I was honestly expecting to be swept off my feet by the Glock's amazingness to the point of rehearsing mock conversations with my wife about why I came home with a new Glock tonight but left the range/shop without one and pretty happy with my Ruger for now.
I did like the Glock though... it shot great for a little brick and would probably be a better CCW than the SR9.
