I’LL BE EXPANDING THIS TODAY!
I have one of the new Ruger Max-9 mini 9mms. It seems to be a nice little gun. I was going to film with it this week and still may be able to when I finish shoveling…at the very least, I can shoot at snowmen.
I’ll get some comparison pics up with my Sig 365 as soon as the computer finishes updating…
A few quick bullet points:
• With the flat magazine pad in place, the MAX-9 is only very slightly bigger than the Shield. I do not have a Hellcat for comparison, BTW.
Weight is 18.2 ounces, over a 365’s 17.8 ounces.
• 10 shot and 12 shot magazines
• The fixed sights may eclipse the 365’s sights, which I thought of as “best in category.” The Ruger has a big fiber optic (green) night sight, Both are larger sights that one might expect, because they’re set up to cowitness with the Shield/JPoint red dot. The MAX-9 is optic ready for sights with that platform…just take off the 2 screws that hold the top plate on.
• The fixed sights are S&W pattern, so aftermarket sights are no problem.
• The trigger is sweet for a polymer-framed striker-fired little bitty gun, but I have alway said that the Ruger LC9s (which is obviously the MAX-9’s progenitor and which the MAX-9 should effectively cannibalize) were the “best in category,” better than the 365s I’ve shot, which are not chopped liver. It’s a little over 6 pounds on my Lyman gauge.
• Strict in the interest of science, I stepped out my front door and put 5 rounds of ARMSCOR 9mm ball into Frosty the Snowman. Recoil was a little spicy, but no different than any mini-9mm. To me, the texturing on the grip seemed pretty good. I have to say I like the sharper stifling on the Taurus G3c I was shooting all last week, but the Ruger is par with the 365 and just fine.
• It has a manual safety…get over it! As Bob Dylan said, perhaps not in specific reference to manual safeties, “You will not die. It is not poison!”
• Slide is a spec too wide to fit 365 holsters.
• Here’s Dah Bomb — $499 MSRP. Sigs are between $500 and $600 depending on the racing stripes you choose. I’ve seen them down as for as $450. Hellcats in the same ballpark. Assume the Ruger street price is going to be substantially less than either the Sig or the Hellcat, so say nothing of the FN.
When I finish up today’s podcast I’ll go fish the LC9s out of the safe and do a side-by-side comparison. May even shoot some more snowmen…
How did the LC9 comparison go?