Ruger Max 9 trigger??

[leadhead]

Has anyone had any problems with there new Ruger Max 9 pistols?
I bought one a few weeks ago, and it has the very worst trigger of
any handgun I've ever had. The creep is so long and gritty, it almost
feels like it's full of sand.I've put around 200 rds through it hoping
it would smooth it's self out, but no luck. I don't know if I should
call Ruger or not. I carried the LC9s for a long time, and it was a joy
to shoot. and very accurate. This max 9... I have a very hard time
hitting anything with it. Very disappointed with it. Any ideas?
leadhead

[Dusty Bannister]

Sounds like the same kind of trigger on my Ruger LC9. The pull is extremely long, and just before let off, it seems like it is very "notchy" before it breaks. Lots of rounds (and snap cap cycles) and still very disappointed. I will be interested in hearing how your problem works out.

[contender1]

First, a call to Ruger may be in order.

New guns can have a few kinks to get worked out.

But I also was cruising another site looking for something else, and found a company offering a "shorter stroke" quicker resetting trigger already for the Max9. Check out Galloway Precision.

[leadhead]

I already checked out Galloway. All that does is make the stroke shorter, it dosen't
take the creep out from the sear. It is a nice trigger but I wonder if it would come
into question if you were in a shooting. I think I'll call Ruger om Monday and see
what they say. Thanks for the replies.

[Bigslug]

Always call Ruger. They're easy to deal with, and they're pitching the quality of trigger on their website. Never hurts to let the manufacturer try to make it right, and Ruger has a history of doing so.

Granted, if what you're used to is hammer-fired guns, keep in mind it will always be a challenge to get the triggers of striker-fired systems on the same level simply because there's more metal parts sliding against each other, where the engagement/release surfaces on the hammer guns are usually a lot smaller and of shorter travel. Realistic expectations and all that, but if it truly does feel like a gravel road, send it back to the mothership.

[leadhead]

Well I called Ruger and was told that this is normal for this firearm.....
They said when you get to the stop, then you just pull hard and you
won't feel the creep. In the meantime, you pull the gun off target.
Never heard a explanation like that. I know it's not a target pistol
but damn. I'm sorry I sold my LC9s. It was a dream to shoot. I should
have bought the Hellcat. No joy.............
Denny

[FergusonTO35]

We sell the Hellcat, Shield Plus, and Max 9 at my side job shop. The former two are miles ahead of the Ruger in every way and cost only a little more. Now, if Ruger got the price down to $300.00 or less I think we would sell alot of them, as is most people don't even ask to look at it.

[leadhead]

You sound like your VERY anti Ruger....... Are you?

[FergusonTO35]

You sound like your VERY anti Ruger....... Are you?

No, I love Rugers and have bought two of them this year. I just get really irritated when they release subpar products, especially when they are supposed to replace a previous stalwart product. The Max-9 does not look or feel like an almost $500.00 gun to me. The Ruger American pistol is a poor replacement for the P series and SR series. Its big and heavy and no one here cares about it. The Security Series is an inferior design to the S&W SD series for the same price, its like a slightly more refined Kel Tec or Sccy.

There are Rugers that I absolutely love. My American Ranch 5.56 just rocks, and dealers here cant keep them in stock. My Wrangler is an awesome $190.00 sixgun, I really don't miss the Single Six I had before it. My LCP .22 might be the best .22 pocket gun ever made, it doesn't miss a beat and is surprisingly accurate. So yeah, when Ruger lays an egg it gets under my skin considering all the awesome guns they have made over the years.

[leadhead]

OK, Thanks for clearing that up... I have a number of Rugers and enjoy them. I just bought this max 9 and just can't seem
to get use to it. I'm 79 years old and have shot handguns for a lot of years. I shot handgun silhouette for 22 years and
I got pretty good at it. Maybe I still think of it as a target gun.... I know better than that. I had the LC9s and it was a real
joy to shoot,, and very accurate. Sorry I sold it. I'll figure it out with the max too.
Denny

[FergusonTO35]

Life is too short for guns that just don't work for you. After a couple hundred rounds I know if its a keeper or not. If not, down the road it goes in favor of something else!

[BC17A]

Has anyone had any problems with there new Ruger Max 9 pistols?
I bought one a few weeks ago, and it has the very worst trigger of
any handgun I've ever had. The creep is so long and gritty, it almost
feels like it's full of sand.I've put around 200 rds through it hoping
it would smooth it's self out, but no luck. I don't know if I should
call Ruger or not. I carried the LC9s for a long time, and it was a joy
to shoot. and very accurate. This max 9... I have a very hard time
hitting anything with it. Very disappointed with it. Any ideas?
leadhead


Don't get discouraged with your Max, it will get better as mine did. What you're feeling is the rough finish on either the sear, striker face or both. If you slowly dry fire it while looking at the sear and striker through the back plate you'll see exactly what's going on. As you feel the gritty you'll also see the sear skip rather than slide smoothly down the striker.

You have two choices, either wear in the two surfaces with more range time/dry firing, or speed up the process like I did.

My Max wasn't too bad initially, about 4-3/4 pounds with some grit feel, but with a little effort I made it extremely smooth while dropping the pull to 4 pounds. The striker face was very rough on one side and caused a gritty feel as the sear tried to slide over it before the break. If you look closely at my pics you will see where the roughness was (yellow arrow) and also where it was starting to contact/polish only one side of the sear. What I did was remove the striker and run the face over some 800, 1000 and 1500 grit paper to smooth it all the way across the face. After reinstalling the striker I put a dab of Mother's polish on the striker face and dry fired several times, then put another dab of polish and repeated. After about a half dozen times of repeating the process I thoroughly cleaned off all the polish and put a dab of gun grease on the striker face before reassembly.

If I had to guess, my trigger feels about 50% better than when it was new. Yours would probably improve more than that from your description.


285799 285800

[leadhead]

Thank you sir... I've looked at those parts and I see what your talking about. I'm trying to figure out how to
remove the back cover from the slide. I want to remove the striker (firing pin) and clean everything up. I have
removed it from my LC9s before, but the max is different. I bought the Galloway short stroke trigger and will
replace the stock when I figure out how to remove the other parts. Thanks again for the pics.
Denny

[BC17A]

Thank you sir... I've looked at those parts and I see what your talking about. I'm trying to figure out how to
remove the back cover from the slide. I want to remove the striker (firing pin) and clean everything up. I have
removed it from my LC9s before, but the max is different. I bought the Galloway short stroke trigger and will
replace the stock when I figure out how to remove the other parts. Thanks again for the pics.
Denny

The back plate on the Max is removed the exact same way as the LC9s. Push the striker's plastic sleeve forward with a 1/16 punch or scribe and the plate slides out.

[leadhead]

Thanks for the info Bc17A..... I'm going to tear it down and see whats what.
Denny

[leadhead]

BC17A Did you take the sear out? And if you did, how did you get it back together?
I took the sear, spring, out and now I can't figure out how to get it back together.
Denny

[BC17A]

BC17A Did you take the sear out? And if you did, how did you get it back together?
I took the sear, spring, out and now I can't figure out how to get it back together.
Denny

No, I didn't remove the sear since it's a MIM part and pretty smooth as is. The back part of the striker is stamped and why it's so rough, so it needs the most attention.

[leadhead]

Well, I did the back of the striker but now I can't get the parts for the sear back in right. Can't find any videos on how
to do it either. The exploded views really don't show anything either. I've torn down many different guns, but this one
takes the cake.

[leadhead]

I finely got it back together and it's very much better than before.
Mission accomplished.
Denny