GUNS A
slip grip. Changing the grip requires only a quarter turn
of a retention screw with the aid of a supplied wrench.
And the gun is equipped with a lanyard attachment point
at the heel, something that is seeing a comeback on pistols.
At the front of the grip frame where there is often nothing more than a dust cover to keep dirt out of the recoil
spring assembly, Ruger put a Picatinny accessory rail
for the attachment of a light or laser. For a gun that will
be used for personal protection, those are good items
to consider, since most deadly force confrontations occur in diminished light. And lasers are not gimmicks or
toys they serve a very useful purpose when employed
properly after competent training. Each American Pistol
is supplied with two stainless steel nickel-Teflon plated magazines. The ones for the 9mm version hold 18
rounds, while the .45 ACP magazines hold 10. Diminished capacity 10-round 9mm magazines are available
for those who live in jurisdictions where the right to use
full capacity magazines has been restricted. Controls
are simple and will be familiar to anyone with experience
shooting striker-fired, semi-automatic polymer frame
pistols. However, Ruger has made an improvement not
found on all other pistols in the class. The magazine
release and slide stop are both ambidextrous so that
both right- and left-handed shooters are on equal footing with the pistol’s controls.While prominent and easy
to activate, the slide stop is not obtrusive and does not
interfere when the shooter racks the slide. The magazine release is located at the junction of the front strap
and the trigger guard, the preferred location by most. It
is a triangular button that is prominent enough to easily
activate, but not enough so that it is prone to accidental
activation during carry or shooting. Just to its rear is an
irregular quadrilateral shaped bump to partially protect it
from being accidentally pressed. Since the striker is partially cocked after the slide is racked, Ruger was able to
develop a short take-up trigger. The one on the test gun
did have a relatively short take-up and broke cleanly at
just less than 7 pounds with almost no creep and no discernible overtravel. A right-angle ledge built into the rear
of the trigger guard stops overtravel. For those readers
interested, reset was distinct.
Top End
The slide is manufactured of stainless steel that has been
finished in black Nitride because it creates a very hard
surface and is extremely corrosion resistant. Instead of
the square, blocky appearance of most semi-automatic
pistol slides these days; this one has the square corners
cut off so while not rounded it does have a more eye
pleasing appearance. At the rear of the slide are serrations that do a good job of affording a solid purchase
when racking the slide by hand. At the front of the slide is
a slight bevel on each side near the muzzle that should
help to guide the gun into the holster. Atop the slide, Ruger installs Genuine Novak LoMount Carry sights with
the familiar three-dot configuration. The sights are extremely rugged, used by many manufacturers as original
equipment, installed by many a