Tokarev
06-26-10, 08:52
I just returned from a writers’ conference that was held at the prestigious Gunsite Academy in Paulden, Arizona. I spent the last three days in the presence of Gunsite instructional staff, Ruger managers and officials and members of the gunwriting community. I had a great time, got to make some new friends, eat some good food and shoot some cool guns. I had never been to Gunsite before and came away greatly impressed with the facilities and staff. I spent too much money in the Pro Shop but I suppose that was to be expected. This trip came about in large part due to my postings here and on TOS about the SR556. I know there have been a number of us who were early adopters and I in no way have an opinion that’s more valid than anybody else’s. I believe this was really a case of being in the right place at the right time and my hat’s off to Mark Gurney for making all of this possible. I’m neither a professional writer nor photographer but I will do my best.
The trip’s primary focus was to introduce some of Ruger’s new products to the writing community but that wasn’t the only objective. Ruger also wanted to pick our collective brains in an effort to find out what they need to do with their current production line and what they should focus on in the future to really propel Ruger to the top of the heap. Ruger called this a “voice of the customer” event. They also plan to conduct similar market research with dealers, distributors, law enforcement agencies, etc. This was kind of a structured brainstorming session and all manner of features on both rifles and pistols was discussed. I think the best response came from Sheriff Jim Wilson when asked about rails on pistols. His response was, “Don’t hang shit on your pistol.”
Day One was spent with a tour of the factory in Prescott. I had never been to a firearms manufacturing facility and was surprised at the size and complexity of the operation. Ruger has a very large facility in Arizona and I enjoyed the chance to see how things come together there at the factory. I’m sure we’ll be seeing some thorough articles on the plant and its capabilities within the next few months. Writing about manufacturing processes is beyond my level of expertise and I’ll leave that to the professionals.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1064.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1063.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1073.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1069.jpg
After the tour, we loaded up and headed to Gunsite where we shot the Ruger SR-9C and another pistol that should be on the market shortly. Ruger has asked those in attendance to keep quiet until they are ready to go public. I’m not trying to be secretive or leave anything out but Ruger asked that we not write about this new pistol until they are rolling off the production line. Rest assured that the gun should be available very soon and will be something that most of us see as the logical progression of one of their current lines. Ruger’s hope is to avoid the mistake of announcing a new model, stirring up huge interest and then disappointing potential customers with long wait times and huge backorders. Ruger is certainly not the only company to have problems with early product announcement in the past and I’m glad to see they are trying to end this practice.
Day Two was spent working with the LCR in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. The Magnum is a handful but the .38 was very easy to shoot ever with +P ammo. I put probably 100-150 rounds through my sample and found it quick on target and accurate out to about fifteen yards even though I tended to shoot high at the farther distances. The XS sights mounted on the .38 LCR are quick and intuitive and good for the gun’s intended purpose. By all accounts, the LCR is really in a league of its own and Ruger has hit a home run with this design. I’m not a revolver guy but I’d give the LCR a hard look if I was in the market for a 5-shot concealment revolver.
I’m not meaning to skip giving my thoughts and opinions on the SR9C or the LCR but would rather focus on the SR556C and Gunsite’s facilities. If anyone’s got a question on either pistol, let me know and I’ll do my best to respond.
Day Three—the real reason for my post—was spent with the SR556C. I brought my carbine out and it remains unchanged from pictures you’ve all seen before. I’ve been running my gun almost exclusively on steel cased ammo and I did use some of the Hornady training ammo here even though Ruger supplied Black Hills 55gr ball ammo and Remington frangible ammo for us to shoot. Some of the writers, such as Denny Hansen of SWAT, Jeff Quinn of Gunblast.com and Patrick Sweeney have some decent trigger time on the platform but about half the group had not yet had the opportunity to play with the 556 and several of the writers in attendance told me they were looking forward to shooting the new carbines. I should note here that Ruger doesn’t recommend the use of Russian ammo in their guns because it doesn’t meet SAAMI specs.
My original plan was to pick three or four of my fellow shooters and document their experiences with the guns. I wanted to photograph their guns’ internals, keep track of the number of rounds fired and note things like which gas settings were working best, etc. My plan was to then talk to these men and ask their opinions on the guns and note any wear and tear, etc. The specter of carrier tilt and cam pin drag are still much discussed and I’m sure these unique wear areas are still a concern to new piston owners. Cam pin drag and carrier tilt are not limited to Ruger, by the way.
Well, my plan fell apart right off the bat. Not that my ideas were bad but I got distracted with the chance to shoot the Fun House and Donga with the LCR. The Donga is an outdoor shooting scenario where various pepper poppers are spaced throughout a wash. The Fun House is a closed structure set up similar to a house complete with furniture, doors, windows, etc. Both of these simulators teach shooters how to search and similar tactics can be used in both simulators. I had not been able to run either of these courses on Day Two. There were several of us who wanted to shoot so we broke off while the rest of the guys broke out their carbines and went to work on the square range. This took most of the morning and by the time I got back, the carbine shooters were about done running basic movement drills, having spent the morning getting comfortable with their guns.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1083.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1086.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1085.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1082.jpg
Before we broke for lunch, we all had the chance to run the Donga and also got to try the Scrambler with our carbines. The Donga, as mentioned above, is set in a wash and targets are fairly close. The Scrambler is a seven target event with steel targets set from probably about 50 to maybe 80 yards. Targets can be engaged from a variety of positions and there were several of us to make it through without too many misses. My best time through the Scrambler was just over fifty seconds and I was told that the record for this event is about twenty-nine seconds. Hmmm. I guess I need to get more practice.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1095.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1116.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1108.jpg
In talking with some of my fellow attendees, I didn’t hear any complaints about reliability and switching from ball to frangible didn’t cause any problems. Everybody enjoyed shooting the guns and the only negative feedback I received was still overall weight and the finger groove pistol grip. We, as a group, seemed to have more trouble attaching slings and grip covers than we did with anything else.
I did crack open three of the guns to check for carrier tilt and cam pin drag. All three of the guns I looked at showed a tiny bit of wear in these two areas but it was nothing that compared to the tilt I saw in my original rifle. Mark Gurney told me that they’ve tightened up the tolerances between the uppers and lowers and this has really made a big difference in alleviating the wear seen in some of the very early guns.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1091.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1090.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1088.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1125.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1124.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1123.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1122.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1121.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1120.jpg
I got to talk to several of Ruger employees regarding the design of the piston system and the SR556 itself as well as some of the future plans for the platform. Ruger is a publicly traded company and is very cautious about public statements and things like potential liability and misuse of its products. While this is somewhat frustrating from a consumer’s standpoint, I guess it is understandable given some of the company’s black eyes over the years. Who remembers Colin Ferguson, Michael Platt, and William Matix? With that said, I came away impressed with Ruger’s desire, as a company, to produce the best products they can and still offer consumers a good value. Ruger has some interesting things coming down the pike in the near future and I look forward to getting my hands on many of them. The SR556’s piston design was thoroughly tested and abused before that gun went into production and, after talking to the staff, I’m fairly certain it’s the most tested and tried American piston on the market. That’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement with some small things but I doubt we’ll see the basic piston design and layout change from what we’ve got now.
Well, that’s about it in a nutshell. It was a whirlwind couple of days and I hope I didn’t forget anything. My thanks go out to the fine folks of Gunsite and Ruger for making this trip possible!
The trip’s primary focus was to introduce some of Ruger’s new products to the writing community but that wasn’t the only objective. Ruger also wanted to pick our collective brains in an effort to find out what they need to do with their current production line and what they should focus on in the future to really propel Ruger to the top of the heap. Ruger called this a “voice of the customer” event. They also plan to conduct similar market research with dealers, distributors, law enforcement agencies, etc. This was kind of a structured brainstorming session and all manner of features on both rifles and pistols was discussed. I think the best response came from Sheriff Jim Wilson when asked about rails on pistols. His response was, “Don’t hang shit on your pistol.”
Day One was spent with a tour of the factory in Prescott. I had never been to a firearms manufacturing facility and was surprised at the size and complexity of the operation. Ruger has a very large facility in Arizona and I enjoyed the chance to see how things come together there at the factory. I’m sure we’ll be seeing some thorough articles on the plant and its capabilities within the next few months. Writing about manufacturing processes is beyond my level of expertise and I’ll leave that to the professionals.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1064.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1063.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1073.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1069.jpg
After the tour, we loaded up and headed to Gunsite where we shot the Ruger SR-9C and another pistol that should be on the market shortly. Ruger has asked those in attendance to keep quiet until they are ready to go public. I’m not trying to be secretive or leave anything out but Ruger asked that we not write about this new pistol until they are rolling off the production line. Rest assured that the gun should be available very soon and will be something that most of us see as the logical progression of one of their current lines. Ruger’s hope is to avoid the mistake of announcing a new model, stirring up huge interest and then disappointing potential customers with long wait times and huge backorders. Ruger is certainly not the only company to have problems with early product announcement in the past and I’m glad to see they are trying to end this practice.
Day Two was spent working with the LCR in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. The Magnum is a handful but the .38 was very easy to shoot ever with +P ammo. I put probably 100-150 rounds through my sample and found it quick on target and accurate out to about fifteen yards even though I tended to shoot high at the farther distances. The XS sights mounted on the .38 LCR are quick and intuitive and good for the gun’s intended purpose. By all accounts, the LCR is really in a league of its own and Ruger has hit a home run with this design. I’m not a revolver guy but I’d give the LCR a hard look if I was in the market for a 5-shot concealment revolver.
I’m not meaning to skip giving my thoughts and opinions on the SR9C or the LCR but would rather focus on the SR556C and Gunsite’s facilities. If anyone’s got a question on either pistol, let me know and I’ll do my best to respond.
Day Three—the real reason for my post—was spent with the SR556C. I brought my carbine out and it remains unchanged from pictures you’ve all seen before. I’ve been running my gun almost exclusively on steel cased ammo and I did use some of the Hornady training ammo here even though Ruger supplied Black Hills 55gr ball ammo and Remington frangible ammo for us to shoot. Some of the writers, such as Denny Hansen of SWAT, Jeff Quinn of Gunblast.com and Patrick Sweeney have some decent trigger time on the platform but about half the group had not yet had the opportunity to play with the 556 and several of the writers in attendance told me they were looking forward to shooting the new carbines. I should note here that Ruger doesn’t recommend the use of Russian ammo in their guns because it doesn’t meet SAAMI specs.
My original plan was to pick three or four of my fellow shooters and document their experiences with the guns. I wanted to photograph their guns’ internals, keep track of the number of rounds fired and note things like which gas settings were working best, etc. My plan was to then talk to these men and ask their opinions on the guns and note any wear and tear, etc. The specter of carrier tilt and cam pin drag are still much discussed and I’m sure these unique wear areas are still a concern to new piston owners. Cam pin drag and carrier tilt are not limited to Ruger, by the way.
Well, my plan fell apart right off the bat. Not that my ideas were bad but I got distracted with the chance to shoot the Fun House and Donga with the LCR. The Donga is an outdoor shooting scenario where various pepper poppers are spaced throughout a wash. The Fun House is a closed structure set up similar to a house complete with furniture, doors, windows, etc. Both of these simulators teach shooters how to search and similar tactics can be used in both simulators. I had not been able to run either of these courses on Day Two. There were several of us who wanted to shoot so we broke off while the rest of the guys broke out their carbines and went to work on the square range. This took most of the morning and by the time I got back, the carbine shooters were about done running basic movement drills, having spent the morning getting comfortable with their guns.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1083.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1086.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1085.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1082.jpg
Before we broke for lunch, we all had the chance to run the Donga and also got to try the Scrambler with our carbines. The Donga, as mentioned above, is set in a wash and targets are fairly close. The Scrambler is a seven target event with steel targets set from probably about 50 to maybe 80 yards. Targets can be engaged from a variety of positions and there were several of us to make it through without too many misses. My best time through the Scrambler was just over fifty seconds and I was told that the record for this event is about twenty-nine seconds. Hmmm. I guess I need to get more practice.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1095.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1116.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1108.jpg
In talking with some of my fellow attendees, I didn’t hear any complaints about reliability and switching from ball to frangible didn’t cause any problems. Everybody enjoyed shooting the guns and the only negative feedback I received was still overall weight and the finger groove pistol grip. We, as a group, seemed to have more trouble attaching slings and grip covers than we did with anything else.
I did crack open three of the guns to check for carrier tilt and cam pin drag. All three of the guns I looked at showed a tiny bit of wear in these two areas but it was nothing that compared to the tilt I saw in my original rifle. Mark Gurney told me that they’ve tightened up the tolerances between the uppers and lowers and this has really made a big difference in alleviating the wear seen in some of the very early guns.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1091.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1090.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1088.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1125.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1124.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1123.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1122.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1121.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/tokarev/Ruger%20Writers%20Invitational/DSCN1120.jpg
I got to talk to several of Ruger employees regarding the design of the piston system and the SR556 itself as well as some of the future plans for the platform. Ruger is a publicly traded company and is very cautious about public statements and things like potential liability and misuse of its products. While this is somewhat frustrating from a consumer’s standpoint, I guess it is understandable given some of the company’s black eyes over the years. Who remembers Colin Ferguson, Michael Platt, and William Matix? With that said, I came away impressed with Ruger’s desire, as a company, to produce the best products they can and still offer consumers a good value. Ruger has some interesting things coming down the pike in the near future and I look forward to getting my hands on many of them. The SR556’s piston design was thoroughly tested and abused before that gun went into production and, after talking to the staff, I’m fairly certain it’s the most tested and tried American piston on the market. That’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement with some small things but I doubt we’ll see the basic piston design and layout change from what we’ve got now.
Well, that’s about it in a nutshell. It was a whirlwind couple of days and I hope I didn’t forget anything. My thanks go out to the fine folks of Gunsite and Ruger for making this trip possible!