Skip to main content

Review: Ruger SR1911 Officer-Style .45 ACP

Review: Ruger SR1911 Officer-Style .45 ACP

You might say this is the year of compact Model 1911s. A bunch of major manufacturers have added the easily concealed Officer’s-size 1911s, and Ruger is the latest. Here’s a detailed look at Ruger’s short and sweet model.

Ruger began offering its new Officer’s-size models in .45 ACP and 9mm a few months ago, and the company calls its short-form 1911 the SR1911 Officer-Style. Shooting Times received an early-production model chambered for .45 ACP, and it features a 3.6-inch barrel, a stainless-steel slide, a stainless-steel frame, and textured G10 grip panels.

The 9mm SR1911 Officer-Style has a two-tone finish, with the slide being low-glare stainless and the frame being black ano-dized aluminum, but with its stainless-steel frame and slide, the .45 ACP Officer-Style’s finish is low-glare stainless, except for the sights, slide stop, thumb safety, magazine release button, grip safety, and mainspring housing, which are matte black. The grips on both models are black. Unloaded, the 9mm pistol weighs 27.2 ounces, and the .45 pistol weighs 31 ounces.

//content.osgnetworks.tv/shootingtimes/content/photos/Ruger-SR1911-Officer-1.jpg
The pistol’s cone-shaped bull barrel is fitted to the slide, so there is no barrel bushing. The muzzle is precision crowned.

The pistol’s stainless-steel bull barrel is fitted to the slide, so there is no barrel bushing, the muzzle is precision crowned, and the chamber is fully supported. The SR1911 Officer-Style uses a full-length recoil spring guide rod with a dual captive recoil spring. The slide has grasping grooves at the rear only, and the ejection port is lowered and flared.

The pistol has a low-profile, drift-adjustable Novak rear sight and a post front sight. Both sights have white dots (two at the rear and one up front) and are dovetailed into the slide.

Slide-to-frame fit on my sample pistol was good. There was a small amount of side-to-side play but no movement at all when I pushed down on the barrel hood with the pistol in full battery.

//content.osgnetworks.tv/shootingtimes/content/photos/Ruger-SR1911-Officer-2.jpg
The mainspring housing is checkered, and the beavertail grip safety has a grooved speed bump.

The grip frame’s frontstrap is smooth, and the flat mainspring housing is checkered. The bottom of the mainspring housing is rounded, and the bottom of the grip frame is beveled for easy magazine insertion. The stainless-steel magazine holds seven rounds of .45 ACP ammunition. Each pistol comes with two magazines.

The thumb safety is slightly extended and so is the striated slide stop. The hammer is a skeletonized Commander type. And the grip safety is a beavertail type with a grooved speed bump.

The trigger is a three-hole aluminum speed type with a striated surface and an overtravel adjustment screw. My pistol’s trigger pull averaged 4 pounds, 4 ounces, and letoff was crisp, clean, and consistent.

//content.osgnetworks.tv/shootingtimes/content/photos/Ruger-SR1911-Officer-3.jpg
The low-profile Novak rear sight is dovetailed into the slide, is drift-adjustable, and has two white dots and a square notch.

I put five types of .45 ACP factory ammunition through the SR1911 Officer-Style during a full afternoon of shooting. The bullet weights ranged from 185 to 230 grains, and the overall average accuracy for three, five-shot groups at 25 yards with each load was 3.33 inches. The details of how each load averaged are listed in the accompanying chart.

After shooting for accuracy from the bench, I did a little action shooting, drawing the pistol from a Galco Avenger holster and firing it on swinging steel plates and a stationary man-sized steel silhouette. The SR1911 Officer-Style functioned perfectly, and double-taps were easy to make.




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Guns

Browning X-Bolt Mountain Pro

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Guns

Taurus TX 22 Competition

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Gear

Federal FireStick Precharged Loads

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Gear

Remington Core-Lokt Tipped

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Guns

Walther PDP

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Learn

Hodgdon Shooting Powder

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
News

A World Record Attempt: Practice Round and Media Day

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Learn

How to Aim with Iron Sights

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Learn

SHOOT 101: Know Your Handgun Types

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
News

Interview with Israeli Defense Forces, Part 1

The Mossberg 500 Pump Action Shotgun is one of the most popular home defense shotguns on the market. Joseph Von Benedikt...
Guns

Custom Mossberg 500 at the Range and Live Turkey!?

Shooting Times Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Buy Single Digital Issue on the Shooting Times App

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Shooting Times stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Shooting Times subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Shooting Times stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use