Ruger SR9 Question

[bass806]

In the January 2008 issue of Guns and Ammo, author Patrick Sweeney mentioned "making a dummy dry-fire magazine so I can get the actual trigger pull and not beat up mags in dry-fire practice". I have an SR9 as well as several other striker fired pistols and was curious if anyone knows what this entails. Is it simply removing the follower and spring so that you can cycle the action enough to reset the striker for continued dry-fire practice? Any info. or guesses are appreciated.

 

[roscoe]

Why not just buy a 9mm zoom cap (or three) for dry firing?

 

[Neophyte1]

simple

bass806: Sir; go to 'RugerForum.com' they are all about Rugers and can answer your question. I know how but wouldn't be comfortable writing. Very simple.

 

[lee n. field]

I'm aware the magazine needs to be there on account of the magazine safety (unless Mr. Home Gunsmith has removed it). I'm curious as to why dry firing an SR9 would beat up a magazine.

 

[DPris]

Snap caps make no difference in this design. With the mag removed, as most of us learned to do in dryfiring an auto, a striker block moves down to block the striker from going far enough forward to hit a primer when the trigger's pulled. The damage here comes from repeated dryfiring without a mag in place, it will eventually damage the the striker and the block.
The improperly named "magazine disconnect" does not disconnect anything. A mag inserted pushes the striker block up out of the way to let the striker go fully forward. Essentially, the pistol will still try to fire when the trigger's pulled without a magazine in place.

I have no idea why dryfiring would damage a magazine.

Denis

 

[Princi]

If you believed everything you read in magazines (or forums),...

I read that article and wondered about it myself. If you pull the slide all the way back with no round in there, let it lock, then release it, the magazine is getting a little bit of work, but no more than with any other gun.

The point is, and a lot of people don't realize this, is with this gun, or any Glock type mechanism, there is no need to fully pull the slide back all the way. With my SR9, I just have to move the slide back about 1/2" and then let it go forward and the trigger is reset.

There may be some rubbing between the bottom of the slide, but I would think you would wear out your finger before you would wear through the plastic follower. If you are worried about it, remove the insides of the magazine.

I did quite a bit of fluff and buff on my SR9, and took it to the range today. I asked my buddy to shoot it and see what he thought. He thought it was a big improvement. I had too much stuff in my range bag and managed to pull a muscle in my back taking it out of the SUV, so I only shot 10 rounds through the SR9 myself, but all but one was touching. Compared to before, this was a big improvement.

I know that a person that is "a good shot" can adapt to a heavy or bad trigger. However, I'm reconciled to the fact I'll never be a good shot and a good trigger makes a world of difference to me.

Incidentally, after I finished with the gun, I tried it with and without the magazine disconnect. I couldn't detect any difference, so I put it back in. My only complaint with the gun now is that the magazine release is a little sticky, but not enough to warrant me working on it.

 

[DMZ]

When I read that about a dummy mag, I assumed it was a safety issue in that dry firing with a mag that can be loaded is not a good practice. A dummy mag would be disabled (the follower removed) and unable to hold live rounds and be painted with blue Krylon.

 

[ElrodCod]

I'm more interested in what seven parts are cast and which three will be made from bar stock in the near future. I also find it interesting that Sweeney said that the barrel was made from a casting.

 

[DENALI]

I find myself in agreement with princi and would urge you not to believe a lot of what you read, particularly in the magazine article mentioned. I believe Ruger has compensated for the poor design of this pistol's so-called mag disconnect by allowing you to disable it. Personally, I'd disable it!

 

[bass806]

Thanks for the replies. I might try to email the author and ask him about it. I know to use a snap cap, but this mag thing has me wondering. If I can make contact with him I will post any response I receive from him.

 

[DPris]

Again, the snap cap will make zero difference in this pistol.
Denis

 

[alzo]

I believe Patrick Sweeney is a more than reliable source for shooting-related information. I have four of his books on 1911's and AR-15's and they are excellent, plainly written, and full of useful information rather than fluff.

If I had to guess, I would say that normally, when dry firing a pistol, one would remove the magazine, cycle the slide, pull the trigger (holding it to the rear), cycle the slide, allow the trigger to reset, and then pull the trigger again and repeat however many times is desired. You can't do this with the Ruger because the slide would lock back each time with the magazine inserted. So you would need to pull the trigger, drop the magazine, cycle the slide, put the magazine back in, reset the triger, pull the trigger and repeat as needed. This is obviously a pain and all of the re-insertions of the magazine might cause some unnecessary wear.

The dummy magazine most likely would have no follower, so nothing would engage the slide stop and lock the slide open. It is the lip of the magazine that engages the magazine safety in the Ruger, so as long as that lip was of the right size/position, it would deactivate the magazine safety. So this would allow you the leave the magazine in the pistol while dry firing. Again, this is just my guess as to what he meant by a dummy magazine.

Patrick Sweeney participates over at the Brian Enos forums, so if you really wanted to ask him, you could PM him there and he'd more than likely respond.

 

[kokapelli]

All this controversy, when It only takes 5 minutes to remove the magazine safety and eliminate your problem.

Just do it!

There are instructions with pictures at the Ruger forum<<HERE>>