SR9c or an SR22?

I recently just got into shooting firearms. The first gun I ever shot was my friends SR22. Besides the occasional FTF (he said it hadn't been cleaned in a while) it was a fun pistol to shoot. However; I have just gotten my CCL and want to find a good pistol to carry. I thought about getting an SR22 to learn how to shoot and get comfortable carrying something around. I've had everyone and their mother tell me that if I am going to carry at least get a 9mm. So I looked at the SR9c and now I'm torn on which one to get. All thoughts and opinions welcomed.

I would get the SR9C. It is a pistol that is reliable, accurate, concealable, powerful (enough) and most importantly, you can practice with it to your heart's content. Aftermarket night sights are available, and very powerful and effective 9MM JHPs are readily available. A 22lr round is no comparison to a 9MM for self defense. Although a 22lr is good to have to practice, I would look at a 22/45 if you want a practice gun in 22lr. It has the just about the same location as the controls as the SR9c. Also, the SR22 requires that you flip the safety "up" and not "down" to fire the guy. That is counter-intuitive and contrary to most guns, including the SR9c.

robilmichael said:

I would get the SR9C. It is a pistol that is reliable, accurate, concealable, powerful (enough) and most importantly, you can practice with it to your heart's content. Aftermarket night sights are available, and very powerful and effective 9MM JHPs are readily available. A 22lr round is no comparison to a 9MM for self defense. Although a 22lr is good to have to practice, I would look at a 22/45 if you want a practice gun in 22lr. It has the just about the same location as the controls as the SR9c. Also, the SR22 requires that you flip the safety "up" and not "down" to fire the guy. That is counter-intuitive and contrary to most guns, including the SR9c.

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Agreed %100. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say owning both an SR22 and SR9c is possibly dangerous because the safeties are opposite from each other (down/up). The SR22 could possibly train you to instinctively flip the safety on rather than off under stress when you need it.

My advice is to get the SR9c now. Concentrate on it completely, then later you can always pick up a .22 down the road.

SR9c all the way. It will eat anything, whereas most .22's are at least somewhat ammo sensitive.

Rei40c said:

robilmichael said:

I would get the SR9C. It is a pistol that is reliable, accurate, concealable, powerful (enough) and most importantly, you can practice with it to your heart's content. Aftermarket night sights are available, and very powerful and effective 9MM JHPs are readily available. A 22lr round is no comparison to a 9MM for self defense. Although a 22lr is good to have to practice, I would look at a 22/45 if you want a practice gun in 22lr. It has the just about the same location as the controls as the SR9c. Also, the SR22 requires that you flip the safety "up" and not "down" to fire the guy. That is counter-intuitive and contrary to most guns, including the SR9c.

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Agreed %100. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say owning both an SR22 and SR9c is possibly dangerous because the safeties are opposite from each other (down/up). The SR22 could possibly train you to instinctively flip the safety on rather than off under stress when you need it.

My advice is to get the SR9c now. Concentrate on it completely, then later you can always pick up a .22 down the road.

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I'm still scratching my head as to why Ruger designed the SR22 to be the opposite of every thing else in their entire line-up. If the SR22 is going to be purchased as a trainer for the others in the line it is completely useless IMO. A MKI/II/III or 22/45 [II/III] would serve much better in the role IMO. I really wanted to like the SR22 pistol too...but every SA pistol I own with a manual safety moves in the opposite direction. After they introduced the gun I had originally hoped that enough people would complain and they would reverse direction [pun intended] but after several years of production...no luck.

All of that said.... I have had fantastic luck with my SR9c. Accurate enough for its role and stone reliable. With the sleeve on a 17rd it is also versatile right out of the box. I have recommended them to many people and not a single one that took my advice has had anything but high praise for the SR9c. Let us know what you end up getting!

Al James said:

I'm still scratching my head as to why Ruger designed the SR22 to be the opposite of every thing else in their entire line-up. If the SR22 is going to be purchased as a trainer for the others in the line it is completely useless IMO. A MKI/II/III or 22/45 [II/III] would serve much better in the role IMO. I really wanted to like the SR22 pistol too...but every SA pistol I own with a manual safety moves in the opposite direction. After they introduced the gun I had originally hoped that enough people would complain and they would reverse direction [pun intended] but after several years of production...no luck.

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My thoughts exactly, and I never got it either. In fact I kept waiting for Ruger to realize the mistake and correct it in another version but that never happened. It may be there's no easy way to change it now without a redesign.

It's a shame because I like the gun I've handled it in the shops and if not for the -up to fire- safety issue I'd most definitely have bought one by now. But my SR40c is my daily carry so as long as it is, I never will own one.

Given your post, I'd vote for the SR9C over the .22.

That said, a full size SR9E is not that much bigger than the C model, especially if you use the 17rnd magazine extension in the C. And the 9E is considerably less costly. Many, including me, have full size 9mm pistols that we carry regularly without any concealment problems. There have also been a few mechanical problems reported with the 9C that are not an issue with the 9E or the std SR9. A couple years ago I considered the 9C as an option, but elected to go with the 9E and am glad I did.

In addition to the firearm, choose ammo that will get the job done. Don't get cheap with ammo for defense. Your life may depend on it. You want ammo that is reliable, penetrates and expands well. The objective is to do as much damage as the caliber is capable of, not just piss off the bad guy.

Go with the SR9 or 9c, ammo is a lot easier to find and not that much more expensive . Get a SR22 or 22/45 later on for practice and fun shooting, everyone should have both anyway.

One more thing: Owning/carrying a firearm, or target shooting, is not the same as fighting with one. Get some professional training.

Al James said:

Rei40c said:

I'm still scratching my head as to why Ruger designed the SR22 to be the opposite of every thing else in their entire line-up. If the SR22 is going to be purchased as a trainer for the others in the line it is completely useless IMO......but every SA pistol I own with a manual safety moves in the opposite direction. After they introduced the gun I had originally hoped that enough people would complain and they would reverse direction [pun intended] but after several years of production...no luck.

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Ruger isn't the only one to do this. The original S&W Model 39/59 and their second and third generation models all had a safety that flipped up for off. So did the Ruger P-series with safeties.

Apparently this is common on slide mounted safety levers and the opposite of frame mounted safeties.

BTW, another vote for the SR9c. If you are going to carry, by all means get something powerful enough to be useful.

You are right. It does make marginally more sense on the SR22 since it is hammer fired and the safety also acts as a decocker just like the 3rd gen S&W and manual safety P guns that you mention. I don't like or own that type anymore as I never have liked that set up much and I much prefer either a decock only pistol where the lever springs back to firing position automatically or a manual safety only.

Currently the SR22 operates differently than the rest of Ruger's entire current line though. I would have much prefered it to be a traditional DA/SA with a manual safety that operates in the direction of the SR line, LC9, 1911, etc. Or make it run like a Sig or Ruger P series where it is DA/SA with a decock only lever. If it was a decock only DA/SA I would have broke my arm getting my wallet out to buy one :wink: I should have clarified my post so thanks for pointing that out.

FRAME MOUNTED SAFETIES GO DOWN TO FIRE

SLIDE MOUNTED SAFETIES GO UP TO FIRE

This should be chiseled on a stone obelisk somewhere!

FergusonTO35 said:

FRAME MOUNTED SAFETIES GO DOWN TO FIRE

SLIDE MOUNTED SAFETIES GO UP TO FIRE

This should be chiseled on a stone obelisk somewhere!

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Ruger had the right idea mounting it to the frame but they failed when they made it run like a slide mounted safety. IMO.

Al James said:

[Ruger had the right idea mounting it to the frame but they failed when they made it run like a slide mounted safety.

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Yeah, I forgot about the fact the SR-22 has the safety frame mounted. I agree it should work in the "correct" direction, particularly if the gun is used as an understudy for a centerfire carry gun.

If I really needed a self defense gun, I'd get the larger caliber first. I've carried a self defense gun for 37 years and have needed to pull it out a couple of times but have not had to fire it, so If I could wait on the self defense gun, I'd get the plinking gun first. This because there's much more chance that I'll find many targets and pop cans that need shooting long before I'll ever need to shoot in self defense. If I could afford it, I'd get both at the same time. The safety set up on the SR-22 is the opposite of what I would like, but the gun is too much fun to worry about that. There are lots of guns that have less than optimal safety set ups that I enjoy shooting anyway. I just rely on the old brain instead. Keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're ready to fire. Never point the gun at anything you don't want to shoot, and so on. The SR22 being a traditional double/single action you can just use the safety as a de-cocking device and leave it off. If you need to put the safety on after firing, it's pretty easy to just flip it the opposite of the way it was when firing. You can also carry it with the safety off and an empty chamber; it's pretty easy to rack the slide when you want to shoot it.

I love my SR9C and it's a really fun gun to shoot!

I'll second the SR9E...great value! Very basic and shoots straight.

Rocket welcome,

Get the 9mm and practice as much as you can, let the handgun become a part of your body & mind. Do not try to become Rambo but start becoming aware of your sourndings and become a people watcher, you will be surprised at what you will learn. It may save your life are that of someone you care about one day.
Eyes open :shock: and good luck.

Flip

Another vote for the SR9c. A .22lr carry weapon is for those who just cannot carry anything else IMO. I have had an SR9c for 4 years. It is a great weapon. I found that somewhere around the thousand round mark I noticed a change. I wasn't necessarily more accurate with it, but it felt different shooting it. It felt more natural, more a part of me, and less like something I picked up. I had been shooting off and on for over 30 years, with a fair amount of recurrent training, but for the first time I put a lot of rounds through the same weapon for a relatively short period of time (about 8 months).