Ruger SR9 Malfunctions

Hawk

North Central Texas
Got a friend with a unfired Ruger SR9.
He started shooting it and is getting a lot of failure to load jams using Winchester white box, ball ammo. I assume nose jamming in the feed ramp. I have not witnessed the jams myself.
I told him he needed to have the feed ramps polished and to shoot at least 200 rounds thru it to smooth it out.
Not to cast stones, but as I recall, Ruger used to have a reputation for strength, but not polish and were considered fairly rough guns, until broken it.
I have just one Ruger, an LCP in .380 ACP, that I have never had a problem with any kind of a Jam.
Other than what I have suggested, does anyone else have any insight as to what might be causing the jams and how to resolve the problems. Does this specific model have issues that need to be addressed to make it reliable?
 

Ian

Notorious member
Open the magazine lips at the front?

Agreed that Ruger has a habit of running machine tooling fast, hard, and well beyond the point it should be replaced and things like feed ramps, cylinder forcing cones, revolver forcing cones, and muzzle crowns can be pretty rough at times. Ask him to cycle it slowly by hand with the recoil spring out (if he has a safe place to do so with live ammo, assuming he doesn't have the means to create dummy rounds that are a clone of the Winchesters) and see if he can detect the cause of the hitch.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Two things first: One, lube the gun. Two fire at least a couple hundred rounds through it.

Then, a knowledgable person needs to see that EXACT "jam". A million things are called "jams" by
folks, and many have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Way too little info to offer
any meaningful help at this point other than LUBE IT and SHOOT IT. And try a different
magazine, if one is available.

If it is still happening with a different mag and after lubing and shooting 200 rds, I think the next
thing is to send it to Ruger, they have excellent customer service in my experience.

Bill
 
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Hawk

North Central Texas
I did describe the type of jam in the first post, so I may have eleminated a few hundred thousand types of jams.
I suspected lack of lube on the gun, but was assured they had lubed the rails and slide contact points.
I just thought there may have been something about the SR9 that was an issue.
Similar to the .45 GI mag discussion that is going on in another thread.
Never had any problem with all my Glocks, unless I tried too light a load. But, I always polish the feed ramp before the first round ever goes into the gun and Glocks don't require much lube on the rails.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
You said you had not witnessed it and you assumed nose jamming on feed ramp. Do you have info
to be sure that this actually what happened? It sounded to me like you just made a guess. If you know that
is what it was, that is helpful. If it is a guess, not so much. Written communications is pretty imprecise
at times, and sometimes things get tangled in the process.

Nose down is generally a magazine issue, IME, but if the nose is in the right position, just stopped,
it can be low power ammo, rough feed ramp, not enough lube....basically slide force not enough to
overcome the system friction. The friction can be the bullet against the feed ramp (so polishing can
help) or elsewhere. When new, it's likely a combination of friction from everywhere.

This is where lube and shooting a couple of hundred rounds to smooth up the system comes in. A
new, dry gun has a whole lot more energy going into the slide rails and other points of contact than
one that is lubed and new, or has had rounds runs thru it a bit to smooth things up. A gun that is new
wil need more lube, generally, than one that has polished itself smoother from just use. And energy
from the spring is a fixed quantity (assuming the slide is pushed back far enough by full power ammo,
which is probably the case with factory ammo) and if too much of it is eaten up in 'parasitic' friction,
not enough to push the round up the feed ramp and chamber it - and worsened by a rough feed ramp,
if it exists.

I have some old semiautos that have over 100K rounds through them, and they are just SLICK from parts
polishing themselves together. And almost all new guns today will not be like that at all, esp the more
affordable end of things. High end custom and semicustom guns are hand lapped and polished, but you
will pay 2 to 5 times as much as for a SR9.

Bill
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
Agree with everything you said.
I was told it was a failure to feed. No info on the nose down or up condition as my friend didn't really notice and doesn't have the expertise to no that makes a difference.
I assume tool marks and rough finish in general and more specifically, the feed ramp, is the cause.
I'll check the feed lips, but assumed the factory magazines were adjusted for this model of gun.
1911s are a little different, because there are so many different brands and models that take the same magazine and after market and GI mags differ in their configurations.
I'm suppose to receive the gun in a week or two and plan to do a little very light polishing of the feed ramp, slide rails.
I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a weak spring or other know factory flaw with this particular model.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
I may just tell him to sell it and buy a Sig or Glock.
I just don't trust guns for self protection that give you issues and back talk from the start.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I'd like to hear how the gun functions with different ammo.
Wouldn't be my 1st time to see an auto pistol that didn't like a particular type of ammo.

Ben
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Without casting shade on anybody is it possible that a less than firm grip combined with newness could be part of problem? Certainly want to see shooter as much as gun.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
a straight forward jam makes me want to agree with Ian's assessment.
a limp wrist usually ends in a stove pipe.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Geez, it's the 21st century here, mass-production and tolerances of machine technology has long been perfected to the point that break-in and adjustment is virtually a thing of the past with most mechanical things. Production automotive engines, for example. This is NOT a freshly-built match 1911 from a custom gunsmith. Struggling through 200 rounds of break-in shooting just to probably never regain confidence in a handgun is ridiculous and unacceptable for a production SD/combat weapon in this age. I can name any number of automatics that will run 100% or nearly so straight out of the box, without meticulous cleaning and lubrication and coddling first. My inclination is make a quick and dirty diagnosis before wasting any more ammo on it and figure out if it's a bad magazine or it needs to become Ruger's or someone else's problem. If he can't get happy with it real fast, his best option might be unloading it and buying something that will actually work....such as a Canik TP-9.
 

Ian

Notorious member
With you on that 100%, but least it's designed that way and not a production defect.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I "liked" the wrong comment, I meant to like Ben's suggestion, not buying another gun.

And 21st century or whatever. New guns often need a break in period, like it or not. And better
lube during that higher than normal friction period. And then after a couple of brands of
ammo do the same thing.....back to Ruger, see what they say. May be a bad mag.

Bill
 
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Hawk

North Central Texas
I'll only be able to find out when I get it in my hands.
I want to agree with Ian's comment about being the 21st century, but I don't know how old this gun is.
I don't think Ruger makes them any more and don't know when this one was made, just that it is supposed to have been "unfired, new in the box".
It could be a gun that has had a problem all along and been resold several times.
Still waiting to get my grubby paws on it.
 

Ian

Notorious member
And 21st century or whatever. New guns often need a break in period, like it or not.

I'm not saying they don't break in, I'm saying they'd better work out of the box or they're not worth a speckled damn. Do you have to coddle and baby a Glock to get it to run 100% out of the box? And M&P auto? An HK? An XD auto? Beretta? NOPE.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
But, pretty much all of them recommend a couple of hundred rounds of breakin.
I really don't see that lubing a gun and shooting it is "coddling".

Bill
 

Ian

Notorious member
My point is if it jams a lot in the first two magazines worth of shooting, why continue?
 

popper

Well-Known Member
When I took my LTC class a young gal had a 9mm that would stovepipe every other round. Said she hadn't shot it (and probably never lubed it). Instructor tried other ammo, limp wrist etc. Finally got someone else to lend a good pistol to her. Actually she was a pretty good shot. I run a new semi wet!