Disassembly and Reassembly Of the Ruger SR9 Pistol

There are some semi-autos that can be taken down easily and go back together just as easily. The Ruger SR9 isn’t one of them. It isn’t especially difficult to disassemble, but returning all those bits and pieces to their rightful places can hurt your brain, destroy your pride, and present a serious challenge to your manual dexterity. In light of Ruger’s usually simple designs, this complexity came as no small surprise to me. You may have read or heard of a factory recall on the SR9.

The purported and often stated reason for it was "too heavy a trigger pull." Not exactly. It came to Ruger’s attention that if dropped at a certain angle from a certain height with the safety "off," some original production SR9 pistols could discharge. That was all Ruger’s management team had to hear. Production stopped, design changes were ordered, and extensive testing was done before the assembly line was allowed to start up again. Soon after, all previously made SR9 pistols were recalled for an upgrade.

Make no mistake. This upgrade did not result solely from the fear of New pistols currently coming off the line incorporate the redesigned trigger and wear a prefix of 331. litigation, nor is a design change something new for the highly respected manufacturer. Any fear that might exist is surpassed by along-standing insistence on product quality and serviceability, and any corrective action taken is swift. For example, when the late William B.

Ruger, Sr. learned there had been a single accidental discharge with one of his then-brandnew P85 pistols, he recalled them all for exhaustive testing and a modest alteration. This cleared the way for reintroducing the pistol as the P85 MK II’d espite the fact that Ruger’s army of engineers never did reproduce the conditions claimed to cause the initial discharge. And when fire cutting of the top strap on the Ruger revolver chambered for the .357 Maximum threatened safe, extended-use operation, the same William B.

Ruger, Sr. stopped production forever. In my opinion, Bill Ruger had a great

deal in common with Walt Disney; they both insisted that anything done by their respective companies was done only one way: Right. With the SR9, a close examination of the schematic will reveal a significant difference between the original trigger system (shown in the inset) and that of the revised version. Notice the difference in the outer (#36) and inner triggers (#34) and the presence of two pins (#37) in the newer system. About those two pins: Like most others in the SR9, they’re roll pins.

Therefore, a roll-pin punch must be used to move them. As I’ve often cautioned in these articles, if at all possible, do not drive a roll pin completely out. The first reason is that the diameter of a roll pin tends to shrink when it’s removed from its hole. When a shrunken pin is reinstalled in an unshrunken hole, the result is a loose fit. The second reason concerns roll pins used in frames or firing-mechanism housings made of light alloy or polymer.

Reinstalling a roll pin in aluminum or plastic can not only damage the pin but the component into which it’s being inserted. I know, I know. If you don’t completely remove a pin, how do you go about lining up any holes the pin must pass through? The way I’ve done it is to go easily, starting the pin back in to capture, say, an ejector. As I move the pin inward very gently, I wiggle the ejector back and forth or side to side until I feel the pin enter the hole in the part before continuing the reassembly. Tedious?

At times, but far better and less costly than damaging a major component. Of course, as you’ll learn in a moment, there’s no need to be concerned about the roll pins in the SR9s trigger, because you’ll never remove them. Field Stripping This part is fairly straightforward. With the magazine out, the chamber empty, and wearing eye-protection, pull the slide to the rear and lock it open by pressing up on the slide stop.

Maintain the upward pressure; a strong recoil spring is applying plenty of tension and would like nothing better than to painfully trap your finger in the ejection port if the stop lever moves down and the slide slams shut. (Older readers will certainly remember the day they first encountered the infamous "M1 thumb.") Now that you’ve been properly alerted to a similar risk with the SR9, insert your fingertip into the ejection port and press on the front end of the ejector (#42) until it locks down.

If you prefer, the eraser end of a pencil will substitute for the fingertip, but unless you get that ejector out of the way, you’ve already gone as far as you can go with this gun. Now get your finger or the pencil out of the way, and press inward on the takedown pin (#51) located above the trigger on the right side of the frame. This will start the pin moving out.

Move over to the left side of the frame without losing control of the slide, pull out the takedown pin, and ease the slide forward until you no longer feel recoil-spring tension. Then push the entire assembly forward and off the frame. Invert the slide assembly. Slightly compress the recoil spring (#27) to disengage it from its barrel-lug seat. Lift the spring up and forward for removal. To disengage the barrel from the slide, give it a little forward nudge before lifting it out.

When stripped down as just described, the SR9 can be subjected to a thorough, basic cleanup. Getting one ready for a detailed cleaning, an inspection, and possible parts replacement is another matter entirely. Detailed Disassembly In most of these articles, I approach the detailed disassembly in uninterrupted order beginning first with the slide, then the frame, and so forth.

I’ll still follow that basic format here, but due to the complex nature of the SR9, we will be taking some side journeys into the vital subassemblies. The disassembly of the slide begins simply enough with it inverted on the bench. The rear sight should be positioned to the same side as your dominant hand. You have to depress

Ruger SR9 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Specifications subject to change without notice) 1 Slide* 2 Front Sight 3 Loaded Chamber Indicator 4 Loaded Chamber Indicator Spring 5 Loaded Chamber Indicator Pin 6 Extractor Pivot Pin 7 Extractor 8 Extractor Spring 9 Rear Sight Elevation Screw 10 Rear Sight Leaf 11 Rear Sight Pivot Pin 12 Rear Sight Base 13 Rear Sight Elevation Spring 14 Rear Sight Lock Screw 15 Barrel* 16 Striker Blocker Spring 17 Striker Blocker 18 Magazine Disconnect 19 Striker Cover Spring 20 Striker Cover Plunger 21 Striker Cover 22 Striker 23 Striker Cross Pin 24 Striker Spring 25 Striker Spring Cup 26 Striker Shaft 27 Guide Rod Assembly 28 Camblock 29 Trigger Pivot Pin 30 Camblock Pin, Front Retainer 31 Camblock Pin Retainer 32 Magazine Disconnect Spring 33 Slide Stop Lever Assembly 34 Trigger, Inner 35 Trigger, Inner Spring 36 Trigger, Outer 37 Trigger, Outer Pin 38 Magazine Latch Spring 39 Magazine Latch 40 Trigger Bar 41 Trigger Bar Spring 42 Ejector 43 Trigger Bar Lift Spring 44 Trigger Bar Reset 45 Trigger Bar Mounting Spring 46 Thumb Safety Assembly 47 Ejector Pivot Pin 48 Safety Detent Plunger 49 Safety Detent Spring 50 Camblock Pin, Front 51 Takedown Pin Assembly 52 Camblock Pin, Lower 53 Camblock Pin, Upper 54 Magazine Latch Pivot Pin 55 Magazine Latch Thumbpiece 56 Fire Control Housing Pin Original Trigger Parts 61 Magazine, 17 Round 62 Magazine, 10 Round 63 Fire Control Housing Note: For factory part numbers, obtain a copy o nual from Sturm- Ruger 57 Backstrap Pin 58 Backstrap Insert 59 Backstrap Bushing 60 Magazine Loading Tool

the blocker, then the disconnect, and move the striker forward before you turn your attention to the hole in the striker cover (#21). The cover plunger (#20) seats in that hole. With a proper diameter punch, depress the plunger and initiate the upward movement of the cover in its slide slots. Once the cover has been elevated enough to capture the plunger, remove the punch, place a finger over the rear of the slide, and remove the cover. The finger will hopefully prevent the loss of the plunger and its spring (#19).

After they’ve been set aside, preferably on a magnetic parts tray (from Brownells), you can withdraw the complete striker assembly (parts #22, 23, 24, 25, and 26). The striker shaft is polymer and the striker cross pin has been pressed in with factory-designed tooling. Without the tooling to assemble the striker group, you can’t safely disassemble it. So don’t. When you withdrew the striker assembly, it released its hold on the magazine disconnect (#18) and spring (#32).

Pick them out with tweezers and relegate both to the parts tray. Now turn the slide right-side up. The extractor pin (#6) is a roll pin driven from top to bottom, but re- Amember my previous comments regarding all roll pins. The extractor spring (#8) is attached to the tail of the extractor (#7) and should come out with it. If not, go fishing. Also related to the extractor are the striker-blocker spring (#16) and striker blocker (#17).

After the extractor has been removed, invert the slide and tap it on a padded surface to free the blocker and spring. The roll pin (#5) for the loadedchamber indicator (#3) can be drifted in either direction to free the indicator and its spring (#4). Both sights have been press-fit into their dovetails from right to left. Both can be drifted for windage adjustments. The rear sight has a locking screw (#14) that has to be backed off a trifle before windage adjustments can be made.

After making an adjustment, retighten the screw, but don’t overdo it. Turning to the frame, there’s good news’all the camblock pins (#50, 52, and 53) and the fire-control housing pin (#56) are solid instead of roll types. Those retaining the camblock (#28) are set up for removal from right to left in any order. Right to left works for the housing pin. too, but only after the ejector has been tilted a quarter of the way forward so the pin clears the ejector slots.

You’ll know right away when the ejector has reached the right spot. The pin won’t budge otherwise’ and don’t force it. The camblock, fire-control housing, and trigger bar (#40) can be removed from the frame as a unit’ carefully. The camblock is started upward by prying it in that direction with a small screwdriver. No tool is employed in doing likewise with the fire-control housing. Instead, place your thumbs under the thumb safety levers and push upward.

Once both block and housing are loosened, lift them simultaneously from the frame. The trigger bar (#40) and complete trigger assembly will accompany them. Set the entire unit aside for further study and attention. (That study and attention shouldn’t begin until you’re confident you can link up everything to work like it did when the pistol left the factory.) On the left side of the camblock is the block-pin retainer (#31). If it didn’t fall off when you removed the block, pick it off with tweezers.

Beneath the retainer is a rubber O-ring (#30). It comes out next with the same tweezers and is followed by the trigger pivot (#29), which can be drifted in either direction to free the trigger assembly (#33 through 37). By the way, that O-ring has a specific job. It holds the camblock pin (#50) in place by surrounding the groove in the pin. Once the pivot pin is out, the trigger assembly will let go of the camblock.

I made a discovery at this point in the disassembly, and I’ll interrupt this message to let you in on it. There’s a spring that lives inside the trigger assembly that’s not shown on the schematic. It’s a close partner of the slidestop lever (#33), and one end of it fits into a tab on the inner face of the stop (also not shown). I’ll describe the spring and how it fits the lever in the "Reassembly Tips" that follow this section. The photo of the stop’s inside face should help you, too.

Okay, the camblock stands alone at this point. The trigger-assembly/ trigger-bar/firing-control housing are still joined, and things are about to become more complicated. Here’s how I was told to tackle them by one of Ruger’s top assemblers in Arizona. I suggest you do it this way, too: The front loop of the trigger-bar spring (#41) is connected to the hole in the tab extending down from the bar. The rear loop is pinned (#45) to the housing. It stays pinned.

If the ejector is in an upright position, tilt it forward slightly. Grasp the bar with one hand

and the housing with your other. Start pulling the bar toward the front, being careful not to stress the spring. Tilt the front end of the bar down, move its rear away from the ejector, and allow the bar to return toward the housing. Disconnect the front loop of the spring from the bar. The outer trigger on the original SR9 (part #36 on the inset in the schematic) is far different from the same part #36 in the current version. Yes, the new design does bear a resemblance to the now-familiar Glock trigger.

Though the resemblance is apparent, the new SR9 trigger and that of the Glock aren’t exactly the same. No instructions are made available for the disassembly of the trigger, and any repair of the assembly must be done by factory assemblers who have the special fixtures and jigs needed to perform repairs. I suspect, but haven’t confirmed, that a complete trigger system for the SR9 might become available to serve as a drop-in replacement for a damaged unit.

After all, if a gunsmith knows how to remove the complete assembly properly, it can be assumed he’s skilled enough to replace it with anew one. Hopefully, the powers that be at Sturm-Ruger will soon agree with me on this. To disassemble the fire-control housing, the first item you want to remove is the trigger-bar lift spring (#43). It simply lies in its recess on the side of the housing. The thumb-safety assembly (#46) is tilted downward.

Immediately thereafter, outward pressure is applied to its side arms to remove it from its clip-like slot at the rear of the housing. Be warned: When those arms are taken out of their way, the upper detent and spring (#48 and 49) will scoot. A spring, when re- Right top and bottom: The left side of the camblock/trigger/fire-control group is shown (top photo) as it appears when lifted from the frame.

The retainer spring in the block is marked "A." The O-ring retainer is located at "B." The lower photo shows the right side of the group. leased from captivity, will launch itself and any small part upon which it exerts pressure, so prevented their escape. Now disconnect the thumb safety from the housing. At the tops of the trigger-bar reset (#44) are two different angles. At its bottom, there’s a tab fitting a slot in the housing. Pull the reset straight up and out.

You can drift the ejector pivot (#47) in either direction. But don’t tilt the ejector for removal or remove it’not unless you’ve got a plan in mind to prevent the lower detent and spring from a flight to freedom. This leaves the bar spring (#41) and its pin (#45), which should remain as they are. The back strap (#58) is domed on one side, flat on the other, and reversible. Drift its pin (#57) in either direction, pull straight down on the backstrap, and the bushing (#59) usually falls out.

The magazine-latch assembly is disassembled by drifting the assembly pin (#54). Remember that it’s seated in polymer. The pin extends A Bthrough the latch (#39) and releases it along with its spring (#38), which is seated in the latch. Pull out the thumbpiece (#55) and the SR9 is completely stripped. Reassembly Tips The loaded-chamber indicator spring seats in the slide.

Push it down in its recess, place the indicator over it, align the hole in the indicator with the indicator pin hole, and push the pin through to flush or slightly below both sides of the pin recess on top of the slide. Invert the slide to install the extractor. Preassemble the extractor and its spring. Insert the striker-block spring into the blocker, the blocker assembly into the hole under the extractor, and then the extractor and spring.

You have to push the magazine disconnect itself up into the slide when replacing the extractor to hold it in place while you align and install the extractor pin. The latter should end up flush with or slightly below

The trigger pivot (B) retains the trigger and slide-stop assemblies in the camblock. the top of the slide. Readdress the magazine disconnect next. Reinstall the spring in the body of the disconnect, flared end first. Position the assembled disconnect in the slide with the spring to the left. Depress both the disconnect and the blocker. Install the striker assembly under them until the striker comes to a stop. This holds the disconnect and provides clearance for the striker cover.

Assemble the striker-cover detent (plunger) to its spring and install them in their slide cavity. A punch is used to press the detent inward until it’s flush with the outer edge of the cavity. Start reinstallation of the striker cover upward, keep it moving until it can capture the detent, pull the punch, and continue upward with the cover until you hear the "click" of the detent engaging in the cover hole. Check the loaded-chamber indicator, extractor, and striker for free movement and then take a deep breath.

The frame and the entire fire-control housing await. For the frame, you begin with the magazine latch and its associated parts. Its thumbpiece must be inserted with the concave center facing to the rear. Why? The magazine latch has to ride in there. The latch spring has a shouldered end, which is B Apush against the rear of the latch. When doing this, insert an empty magazine to make certain it clears the latch.

Start tapping in the latch pin, remaining aware of the fact that it must pass through the latch and end up about 1/16 inch below flush on both sides of the frame. Admittedly, you’re not likely to get this assembly all lined up for pinning on the first try. Having fun so far? There’s even more fun to come with the fire-control housing. Begin with the lower detent and its spring. Use a punch to push them both far enough into the housing to install the ejector. Align the ejector with its housing slot.

Starting at its top end, start pushing down on the ejector until you’re stopped by the punch holding in the detent and spring. You’re working blind here. There are two detents on the opposite side of the ejector. (They don’t show up on the schematic, either.) Slowly pull the punch while resuming the downward pressure. If you time your movements correctly, the detent the punch has been holding in will click into one of those ejector slots.

Don’t pull the punch completely out, and don’t install the ejector pin just yet. It is a snug fit and will likely require some tapping with a nylon or the correct end to install when joining the two parts as one. Position both spring and latch in the frame. Once you’re sure the concave section of the thumbpiece remains in position, use your index finger to

tainer and connect these rods with wire; these will become the "anode." You must be sure that the part you’re cleaning is not touching the rod(s). Suspend the part in the solution with a steel cable or wire so that it makes a good electrical contact with the part. The part will become the "cathode." Connect the black negative lead to the part being cleaned’ either to the part itself or to the suspending cable or wire’and connect the red positive lead to the rod(s). Then plug in the charger.

You will immediately begin to see bubbles. These bubbles are hydrogen and oxygen as the water breaks down. Allow the part to "cook" for three to four hours. The time really depends on the size of the part and the current of the power supply, rather than the amount of rust. After a short time, a foamy sludge will form on the top of the water. This is a normal byproduct of the electrolysis process and does not have to be removed. After you remove the part from the solution, immediately clean it and dry it off.

You’ll find the rust is gone and any bluing is intact. Then coat it with good-quality gun oil or rust-preventive oil. In my test of this process, I placed the 1911 frame upside down on wooden blocks in the electrolyte solution, and I placed a rod with o-rings through the magazine well. I connected a 1.5amp trickle charger and left it on for about four hours. When removed from the solution, the frame was completely free of rust and the bluing was intact.

Conclusions/Recommendations The advantage to removing rust with electrolysis is that it will remove the rust’even from hard-to-reach places’without affecting the bluing. Remember to follow the cautions, and never use stainless steel for the anode. Although this method does a great job of removing rust, even from deep pits, it won’t, of course, repair any pits or marks left by the rust.

For that, you might opt for one of the cold-bluing solutions, but that’s a whole different article. control housing is difficult is an outrageous understatement. Are you beginning to understand why I suggested it’s best to leave the housing alone? If you have to disassemble it, I suggest you leave it for a slow day when your patience knows no bounds.

Now it’s time to attach the trigger assembly and slide stop to the camblock. (The stop includes the spring mentioned earlier that’s a no-show on the schematic, as is the side of the stop to which one end of the spring is attached.) Of course, if you took the time to check out the slide stop and its attached spring when you separated the trigger from the camblock, the reuniting of the two components would present no great mystery.

The instructions that follow, therefore, are to assist those readers who neglected to take a close look at the stop and spring: Just behind the hole in the slide stop there’s a tab. One end of the spring has a pointed, bent end; the other end has a half loop and there’s a full loop in the center for the pivot pin. The half loop slides into the tab. The complete loop is pulled up and over to the left side of the stop.

The total width of this subassembly equals the amount of clearance to be allowed on the trigger’s left side. Position the camblock with its trigger end to the rear. Start the trigger pivot in from the right side until you can spear the trigger on it, while leaving sufficient room for the slide stop and spring on the left side of the trigger. The trigger pivot is pushed through to hold things together. Turn the camblock upside down.

Push the bent end of the stop spring left to clear the block, then down to seat it in its camblock notch. A small screwdriver is the right tool to use. A V-shaped notch ground or filed into the end of the screwdriver blade will provide greater control of the spring, which retains the lower camblock pin. Now reinstall the O-ring retainer. The next step is as tricky’or trickier’t han most of what you’ve undertaken so far.

Once the fire-control housing, trigger bar, and camblock I (with trigger attached) are assembled, they have to be placed back into the frame in the same manner they were removed; in other words, as a unit. Start the block and fire-control housing into their respective frame recesses at the same time. This will take some finesse. After both are started, aligned, and the bottom tip of the trigger is aimed at its frame window, press downward simultaneously until the block and housing are half-way in.

Position spring #31 on its camblock outline, hold it there with a screwdriver blade, and push the block down all the way to seat it and capture the spring. All camblock pins are reinstalled left to right. The front camblock pin (#50) secures the front retainer. The upper camblock pin (#53) has a groove located a lesser distance down its shaft than the lower pin (#52). A sideby-side comparison will instantly tip you off to which pin is which. The upper-pin groove locks in that pesky pin-retaining spring.

The lower-pin groove does the same with the equally pesky slide-stop spring. With the fire-control pin (#56), it’s a slightly different operation. This bugger has a flat on its head end that must be facing the underbelly of the thumb safety while being installed. How? Tilt the ejector one-quarter of the way forward, push in the pin until it stops, then pivot the ejector back to lock in the pin.

Reverse the steps taken to field strip the pistol, run a full function check on it with dummy rounds, test fire, and be proud of yourself when all goes well. Conclusions As I said at the beginning, the complexity of the SR9 is unusual for a Ruger pistol, and came as a big surprise to me. It’s definitely not one of the pistols that owners should take apart to "make better." If an owner does, you can be pretty sure he’ll be bringing it to you to reassemble. Charge him what your time is worth, but I