Review of Ruger's New RXM: The Dream EDC Pistol

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

Rugged and reliable are the words most often used to describe Ruger firearms. They also aptly describe the innovative products that Magpul makes. Shooting Times readers don’t need a primer on either brand because we’ve been covering them in great detail for years and years. But the new RXM 9mm pistol represents an exciting new collaboration between the two iconic companies. Let’s get right into the details.

Clever Details

The new RXM is a striker-fired, polymer-frame, magazine-fed, recoil-operated autoloading centerfire handgun. It is chambered for 9mm Luger. The serialized component of the RXM is a stainless-steel fire control insert (Ruger refers to it as FCI) that fits into the polymer frame.

I think it’s always good to review how a pistol functions, especially a new-to-the market model. So, straight from the RXM’s instruction manual, “The pistol utilizes a tilting-barrel design in which the barrel and slide are locked together at the moment of firing. The internal striker is partially precocked by the closing of the slide. Squeezing the trigger first disengages the trigger safety. As the trigger continues rearward, the trigger bar disengages the striker blocker and fully cocks the striker. The last bit of trigger pull releases the striker and fires the pistol.

After firing, the barrel and slide recoil to the rear a short distance while still locked together. After this initial movement, the barrel is cammed downward from its locked position, permitting full recoil of the slide and the extraction and ejection of the spent cartridge case. Once the slide reaches its maximum rearward travel, the recoil spring pushes the slide forward. During forward travel, the slide strips the next cartridge from the magazine and pushes it into the chamber. It also partially cocks the striker. Upon return of the slide to its forward position by the recoil spring, the barrel is cammed back upward into its locked position in the slide. When fired, the pistol automatically reloads and cocks itself. When the last round in the magazine has been fired and the magazine is empty, the slide stop (located on the left-hand side of the pistol) automatically holds the slide open.”

The RXM’s steel barrel is 4.0 inches long and finished in black FNC nitride, and it has a view port on top and at the rear of the chamber that serves as a loaded chamber indicator. The pistol weighs 23.2 ounces unloaded but with an empty magazine inserted, according to my digital scale. It is 7.15 inches long and 5.31 inches tall (from the bottom of an inserted magazine to the top of the rear sight).

Speaking of magazines, the RXM comes with two polymer magazines, and they are made by Magpul. Specifically, they are PMAG 15 GL 9 magazines. They hold 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and they have removable baseplates and orange followers. Keen observers will notice that these magazines are for Glock pistols, too. In fact, Ruger states that the RXM is compatible with most Glock-style 9mm magazines. (A 10-round “capacity-compliant” version of the new RXM also is offered, and it comes with two 10-round Magpul 9mm magazines.)

Like I said earlier, the pistol features a polymer frame. Ruger refers to it as a “Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip,” EHG for short. The sample pistol we received has a gray EHG. It’s officially called Stealth Gray. The trigger guard is elongated and upswept where it meets the frontstrap. The sides, frontstrap, and backstrap of the EHG have a stippling sort of texture. It’s tacky but not overly aggressive. The dustcover area of the frame has an integral accessory rail with one cross-slot. The magazine release is located conventionally at the back and bottom of the trigger guard on the left-hand side. The grip’s circumference measures 5.5 inches, and the bottom of the EHG has an integral flared magazine well. At the magwell flare, the grip measures 1.30 inches thick. At the slide stop location, it measures 1.22 inches thick. A cutout on the right-hand side of the grip frame at the top reveals the serial number marked on the FCI.

The flat-top steel slide is made by Ruger, and it is marked “RUGER PRESCOTT AZ USA” on the right-hand side. All that’s marked on the left-hand side of the slide are the letters “RXM.” The slide measures 1.0 inch thick at the rear and the same up front. Our sample wears a black FNC nitride finish, and it sports grasping grooves up front and at the rear. The RXM design utilizes a stubby and stout external extractor. And it has a captive recoil spring guide rod assembly.

The slide’s edges are beveled, and the front end is contoured to make holstering easy. (Ruger says the RXM is compatible with holsters designed for Glock pistols.) The rear top of the slide is milled for installing a red-dot sight (RMR, DeltaPoint Pro, and RMSc footprints), and in fact, the pistol comes with a Torx wrench and several locator pins for installing an RDS. The slide optic-cut cover plate is located in front of the rear sight, and the sight is dovetailed into the rear the of the slide, making it drift adjustable for windage. The rear sight’s square notch is 0.175 inch wide, and the sight’s face is all black with what I would describe as coarse horizontal grooves.

The front sight is not dovetailed into the slide. It has a tritium dot with a white outer ring, and the post is 0.155 inch thick and 0.276 inch tall. The sights are designed to co-witness with an RDS.

As mentioned earlier, the trigger is the hinged safety lever type. The fingerpiece is 0.373 inch wide. The face is flat. Our sample’s trigger pull averaged 5.75 pounds over a series of five measurements. It was nice and consistent.Ruger says that the RXM can be dry-fired in moderation without damage to the striker or other components. However, the company recommends using a snap cap for extensive dry-firing. Be aware that the trigger will not reset unless the slide is moved approximately a half-inch to the rear and then released.

The RXM is easy to field strip for regular cleaning and periodic maintenance. Here’s how to accomplish the task. Be certain the pistol is not loaded and keep it pointed in a safe direction during the procedure. Remove the magazine. Pull the slide to the rear and lock it in the open position by pushing upward on the slide stop. Inspect the chamber and verify it is empty. Retract the slide slightly and release it. With the pistol pointed in a safe direction, squeeze the trigger. The trigger will stay in the rearward position. Hold the pistol in one hand so that your fingers grasp the top of the slide and pull down and hold both sides of the slide lock tabs using the thumb and index finger of the opposite hand. Pull the slide slightly rearward (no more than 1/16 inch) while holding down the slide lock tabs until the slide lock disengages. Remove the slide and barrel from the frame by sliding it forward carefully. Remove the entire slide assembly from the grip frame assembly. Hold the top of the slide and slightly depress the recoil spring to disengage the guide rod assembly from its seat against the barrel lug. Pull the guide rod assembly down and out of the slide. Pull the barrel down and out of the slide.

One of the nice things about the RXM is it arrives from the factory lubricated and ready to be fired. Cleaning it first is not required. After shooting, disassembling, and cleaning the RXM, only a light application of oil is needed to provide adequate lubrication of moving parts and to prevent rust. Apply a single drop of oil to the slide rails, the barrel, the barrel lug, and the frame rails. Do not lubricate the striker or the slide weep hole. An online video demonstrates these areas, and I encourage all users to check it out at ruger.com/techtips.

The RXM comes in a plastic case with Ruger and Magpul logos prominently displayed. Included are the previously mentioned magazines, Torx wrench, RDS locator pins, an instruction manual, and a cable/padlock gun lock.

First-Rate Shootability

I fired the new RXM with five different 9mm factory loads, ranging in bullet weight from 115 to 150 grains. All loads produced five-shot group averages measuring 3.75 inches or less at 25 yards. That’s for three, five-shot groups with each load fired from a sandbag benchrest. The tightest group average was 3.00 inches, and it came with Hornady’s 115-grain FTX ammo. That load produced an average velocity of 1,122 fps, with a standard deviation of 11 fps and an extreme spread of 20 fps. Details of the shooting are listed in the accompanying chart.

Using my jury-rigged setup, I measured the amount of pull required to rack the RXM’s slide. It averaged 18.75 pounds. That’s well within the range for other striker-fired 9mm pistols that I have measured. The pistol’s slide stop was easy to operate, and the magazine release was too. Empty magazines fell freely from the pistol when the release was activated. The pistol ate up all rounds without a hitch. It fired, extracted, and ejected with 100 percent reliability. Empty cases landed well clear of the shooting line.

The trigger pull was smooth and consistent. The pistol was soft-shooting, especially with the 150-grain ammo, which I have found to be true with just about every other 9mm pistol I have fired it in. The RXM’s grip allows a high handhold, which helps make shooting very comfortable, and I easily could fit all my fingers on the grip frame, making for a snug, secure grip. The texturing on the grip was effective. The sights were easy to acquire. And the pistol balanced well in my hand.

All in all, the new RXM striker-fired 9mm pistol is well designed and shoots great. It’s just what you’d expect from a collaboration between Ruger and Magpul. Plus, the modular design allows for the pistol to be reconfigured using interchangeable Magpul grip frames and slides, barrels, magazines, and internal components. Something tells me there will be other new versions of the RXM in the near future. 

RXM SPECS

• MANUFACTURER: Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. ruger.com
• TYPE: Striker-fired recoil-operated autoloader
• CALIBER: 9mm Luger
• MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 15 rounds
• BARREL: 4.0 in.
• OVERALL LENGTH: 7.15 in.
• WIDTH: 1.30 in. (at magwell)
• HEIGHT: 5.31 in. (from base of magazine to top of rear sight)
• WEIGHT, EMPTY: 23.2 oz.
• GRIPS: Integral to polymer frame
• FINISH: Black FNC nitride slide, Stealth Gray Magpul frame
• SIGHTS: Square-notch drift-adjustable rear, tritium front
• TRIGGER: 5.75-lb. pull (as tested)
• SAFETY: Trigger safety lever, striker block
• MSRP: $499

---