The handgun under review in this article is, the Ruger SR 40. The SR40 is the bigger brother to the 9mm Parabellum Ruger SR9. I jumped on the SR9 when it came out, as did many other gun writers. However, the new SR9 wasn’t without some birthing pains. The trigger pull was very gritty, and there were some reports of the SR9 firing if dropped. Ruger is quick to acknowledge when there is a problem, and they quickly sent out a recall for the first run of SR9s. Most owners got their guns back within a couple weeks – with a free magazine for their troubles.
The Ruger SR40 is chambered in, .40 S&W, just in case the model of the gun didn’t give it away. What we have in the SR40 is a glass-filled polymer-type frame, with a stainless steel slide, weighing in a slightly over 27-oz, with the 4.14″ barrel. This is a full-sized duty gun, to be sure. However, I’m sure Ruger will eventually chop the SR40 down, as they did with the SR9, and make a more compact version for easier concealed carry. The SR40 can be had with either a brushed stainless finished slide, or a stainless slide that has a Nitridox Pro Black coating. Three-dot, fully adjustable sights are standard, and they are extremely rugged. There is also an ambidextrous (“ambi”) safety and ambi magazine release. I like both features. As with many handguns being made today, there is a Picatinny-style rail on the frame of the gun for mounting a laser or light – good idea!
Okay, enough on the boring features of the gun – if you want to read more, go to Ruger’s web site for further information. I’ll admit, I’m a fan of the .40 S&W caliber – in some guns. In the SR40, it makes sense – as I can see law enforcement departments taking a close look at this gun for duty issue. Make no mistake, Ruger doesn’t make “artsy” type handguns in my humble opinion. Nope, they produce meat and potato handguns – meant for the working Joe! I’m a fan of Glock handguns – at least most of them. I like the short trigger pull, and the high magazine capacities on many of the Glocks. However, the one Glock I don’t care for is their Model 27 – that is their sub-compact .40 S&W pistol, that holds 9+1 rounds. I just find the Glock 27 harder to shoot than it should be – it torques in the hand, and shot-to-shot recovery is slower than on many other .40 S&W handguns. I’ll say, that to date, I believe the new Ruger SR40 is the softest shooting .40 S&W on the market in my humble opinion. Recovery time from shot-to-shot is very fast, and the thing is super accurate, too. With 15+1 rounds on-hand, I find it comforting, to say the least. The SR40 is only slightly, ever so slightly bigger than the Glock 23, which is also a .40 S&W chambered handgun, that holds 13+ rounds.
Now, as most SurvivalBlog readers know, when we talk about “survival” we are talking about what you might have to survive, at any given time. It may be a close encounter on the mean streets of America. It could be surviving a home invasion. Or, it could mean survival on the battlefield, or when the SHTF. I think the Ruger SR40 can fit into any of these survival situations. I find I can easily conceal the SR40 in a Blackhawk Products ballistic nylon holster underneath a loose-fitting shirt or other cover garment. Ruger has a list of factory holsters that will fit their handguns, on their web site. (BTW, I wish more gun companies would do this when they come out with new model handguns. It’s always been a hassle in the past, to find a holster that will fit newly introduced handguns – many times, it’s trial and error. Ruger takes the guesswork out of it, by listing holster makers that make holsters for their newly introduced handguns. Why more gun companies aren’t doing this is a mystery to me. )
Ruger really did a good job on the trigger pull on the SR40. It is very short and crisp. Like the Glock, Ruger has installed a safety lever inside the trigger itself. Additionally, you have the already mentioned ambi thumb safety, as well as an internal passive safety, and on the top of the slide is a neat little indicator that pops-up when there is a round in the chamber – it can be seen as well as felt (in the dark) so you know if you have a round in the chamber. Reset on the trigger is very short, which made for some fast and accurate shooting with the SR40. Resting the SR40 over a sleeping bag on the hood of my car, I was able to keep most of my shots within 3″ at 25-yrds. I tested a variety of .40S&W ammo in the Ruger, and had zero malfunctions. Ammo tested was from Black Hills Ammunition as well as Winchester and lastly, some super-hot ammo from Buffalo Bore Ammunition that was a real eye opener. I used the blue box (reloaded) 180-gr FMJ ammo from Black Hills for a lot of my shooting, as well as their fantastic red box (new ammo) 155-gr JHP – which would be an excellent carry load for self-defense. The Buffalo Bore ammo I used is their 155-gr JHP +P stuff, that was screaming out of the barrel at 1,300 f.p.s.. The Ruger can handle it – but don’t shoot this load in your Glock! I also fired quite a bit of the Winchester 180-gr FMJ ammo as well as their 180-gr JHP Bonded JHP. Any of these Jacketed Hollow Point loads would make a dandy self-defense load, to be sure.
I can usually find something to fault in most guns and knives I test. However, when it came to trying to find fault with the SR40, I couldn’t find anything bad to say about the gun, it’s a real winner in my book. It will come as no surprise, that Ruger also prices their guns where the average consumer can afford them. While the SR40 has a suggested retail price of $525, they can usually be found heavily discounted in most gun shops and sporting goods store – what’s not to like here? We have a gun that feels extremely good in the hand, shoots any kind of ammo you feed it, comes with a spare magazine, and will last you a lifetime, and it’s affordable. In my book, the SR40 would be an excellent survival handgun, and will fill many needs.