Ruger Security 9 owners...

[rpenmanparker]

PS: I appreciate all the input. This has taught me another lesson: don't buy any gun online without having thoroughly gone over it in person first. I would have been very upset to have bought this gun and then learned about this issue. At this point, I'm afraid to order a gun sigh unseen because what if that gun also requires being slingshotted?

Horrors!

 

[Tilos]

 

[gc70]

So I got hands on a Security 9 today. (They're in short supply up here.)

I mostly liked it. The grip fit an felt good in my hand. Liked the sights. (Same as my Redhawk.)

What I didn't like was the slide release. It took an enormous amount of force to release the slide. I was unable to release it with just my thumb while retaining a full grip on the gun. I finally had to turn the gun 90˚ (a.k.a. breaking the 180 and a DQ) and release the slide with my left hand.

Is this normal for this gun, or is this something that "wears in"? (i.e. is this something that if I just sit and lock&release the slide repeatedly while watching TV it will go away?) Or is this possibly a defect with that particular gun?

#1: the design of the slide lock/release lever for every type of semiautomatic pistol has different characteristics which contribute to how easy or difficult it is to manually push down the lever to release the slide from its locked position.

Here is a photo showing a Security 9's slide locked back. The part of the slide lever that engages the slide is immediately behind the lever's finger pad and engages the back of the slide's takedown pin notch. The slide lever pivots on a pin that is forward, closer to the takedown pin. With the finger pad between the pivot pin and the engagement point, the Security 9's design has less leverage than a design in which the finger pad is as far out on the lever as the engagement point (i.e. a 1911), or a design in which the finger pad extends even farther out on the lever than the engagement point (i.e. Sig P226).

#2: differences in how individual slide lock/release levers are manufactured for a specific semiautomatic pistol design will contribute to how easy or difficult it is to manually push down the lever to release the slide from its locked position.

Look at the notch in the Security 9's slide; the back of that notch that the slide lever engages looks pretty square. The exact angle of that notch and the exact angle of the engagement surface on the slide lever can have a big effect on how easy it is to manually operate the slide lever.

The lever will be relatively easy to manipulate if the parts are angled from front-top to bottom-rear ( \\ ). The recoil spring will be pulling the slide forward and the angles on the parts will tend to push the slide lever down and out of engagement with the slide.

The lever will be harder to manipulate if the angles of the parts are vertical ( || ). The recoil spring will be pulling the slide forward but the angles of the parts do not favor engaging or disengaging the parts.

The lever will be extremely hard to manipulate if the parts are angled from front-bottom to top-rear ( // ). The recoil spring will be pulling the slide forward and the angles of the parts will tend to push the slide lever up and into tighter engagement with the slide.

Even slight differences in the angles of the engagement surfaces of the slide and slide lever can move those parts from positive engagement to negative engagement. And we have not yet considered whether those engagement surfaces are rough or smooth.