SR9c Slide Stop/Release Mod

[GeorgeP]

It's no secret that I've never liked the Ruger design on the SR9c to limit the slide lock to just that, a stop/lock, and not a release. It's otherwise a perfect gun, hammer or not. Sooo..... as Slingshot said, I started "hacking the gun to death"...I'm not a gunsmith by any stretch of the imagination. Here's what I did.

To make the slide lock a release also, like all my other semi-autos, I filed, carefully, the opposing angles of the slide notch and latch until they were square with each other...not enterlocking. The notch on the slide was angled slightly forward and to the inside. A compound angle of some sort. The angle of the latch face was angled slight backward and to the outside, the opposite compound angle. When I finished I had them as nearly zero square to each other as I could eyeball them. I found that I had to change the slight forward angle on the notch to slight backward for better, smoother release. The angles were still trying to enterlock a little. Now the latch is both a stop, which wasn't effected at all, and a functional release. I left it a little stiff to see if it would "break in" a little. One oberservation is that the metal of the slide is SO hard that I don't think wear will ever be an issue.

I'm not recommending this modification, only sharing my experience. I'm much more pleased with my SR9c now.

 

[Yawn]

is it really that big of a deal to pull back to release the slide? (note: if you read that question in any other way, other than a calm curoius person, you have misread that question.)

 

[jhearne]

@Yawn, to some, yes. Also, people with arthritic hands/joints might have issues manually cycling the slide. It's not terribly uncommon for younger/middle aged adults to have arthritis either. I do wish Ruger had designed the 9c with a slide release in mind, not limit it to only a slide stop.

Also, some people have certain muscle memory techniques when shooting and if the 9c is the only pistol in their bag/carry rotation that doesn't allow for a slide release, but it is a preferred gun for any or all of the other features it brings....I could see anyone wanting to do this mod. I like common denominators....the more the better IMO.

It's not a difficult mod, but it is a good general idea (if you want to do this) to take your time. Also, remember that if your slide is blackened, the metal underneath isn't black, some shiny spots will surface if too much (>~.0005-.0001") metal is removed.

Josh

 

[Kagetora]

is it really that big of a deal to pull back to release the slide? (note: if you read that question in any other way, other than a calm curoius person, you have misread that question.)

Not until you are trying to do it all one-handed. :wink: Thats a Rosie O'Donnell even WITH a slide release.

Honestly, when I reload a pistol (two-handed), my left hand, holding the magazine, ends up in the natural (for me) two-handed shooting position automatically after inserting the magazine. Reaching up with my right thumb to hit the slide release on other weapons is also a natural movement. Pulling my left hand away from the pistol to re-pull the slide is NOT, and seems to take an inordinante amount of time and attention as an action (even though its only an extra second or so). Therefore, I wish it were a Slide Release on my SR9c.

Its my only complaint about the pistol, actually. I could care less about the fact that it won't fire without a mag in place, or the loaded chamber indicator that people think is too large, or other issues people mention. I simply hate the fact that it only has a slide stop.

Not enough to sell it though. I still like the pistol a lot. I'll simply have to do one of three things:

1) The mod above
2) Practice a whole lot more sling-shotting until it becomes natural
3) Hope Ruger comes to their senses and releases a parts kit to change the pistol

 

[vacextar]

Thanks for posting George. I attempted to make mine work by just polishing up the mating surfaces, but as you said, I could quickly tell that at the angles that exist there, more would have to be done. Next time I have my gun apart I will probably do what you have done until I get it to work.

As others have mentioned, it is just one other "minor" thing about the gun that has always bugged me, and the only gun I've ever owned or handled that operated this way. Not exactly sure why Ruger would decide to make it function this way when no other auto pistols that I know of are like this. My guess is that it's just another "glitch" in the original design that was probably supposed to work as a release when they designed the gun, but since it doesn't work right, they just re-named it......why else would there be an exposed "release" lever in the traditional location if it was never meant to be used as a release?

 

[GeorgeP]

is it really that big of a deal to pull back to release the slide? (note: if you read that question in any other way, other than a calm curoius person, you have misread that question.)

Took it as you meant it...a curious question...

I really love the gun so selling or trading wasn't an option. So for me it was a big deal to fix this for two reasons. One, I have several other pistols, including Rugers, that the latch is also a release so I prefered to have a consistant method with all my semi-autos. Two, the recoil spring is too strong to do a "rear pinch" rack with my 70 year old hands so I was over-handing it, but about half the time I couldn't get my hand out of the way of the rear sight. That sucker hurts when it slams into the palm of your hand.

 

[Dusterman]

Both my SR9 and my SR9c I can release the slide by pushing down on the Slide Stop lever. At first it was a little difficult but now I have no problems. I wouldn't say its easy if it was it might not hold back the Slide. I guess I just got lucky with mine.

 

[homefront]

I putt 100 rounds through a rental SR9 and found it easy to release the slide with the slide stop lever.

I recently ordered an SR9c... it will be interesting to see if break in time plays a part with that function.

 

[rammerjammer]

I have been able to use the stop as a release as well with my SR9c.

It was harder to manipulate at first but now I have 911 rounds through it and it functions just fine.

 

[vacextar]

George motivated me to get on this project tonight. As I said above, I looked at this a bit last time I had the gun apart and noticed that there was a huge (relatively speaking :wink: ) burr right on the face of the release lever where it contacts the slide. I filed it off, hoping that would solve the problem, but no dice. Tonight, I pulled it apart and got to looking at the notch in the slide, and noticed that the burr that was on the release lever had left a big ding in the notch where those 2 surfaces mated together. A few strokes with the file to eliminate the crater (and put a bit more angle on that surface to help the release lever slide down) followed up by some 500 grit sand paper until all my file marks were gone, and now I have an SR9c with a real slide RELEASE lever! :mrgreen:

Thanks for the motivation to get this done! With the mag disconnect gone, the heavy trigger fixed, and now the slide "stop" fixed, I really can't think of much improving that can be done for my use. I think it's a great little carry gun that I'd put up against almost anything in the "shootability" department.

 

[Yawn]

Thanks for the comments guys... your points make sense! It isn't an issue for me at this point, but I can easily see how it could be.