I shot the Ruger today for the first time, just to get a feel for it. I shot a combination of 115 grain ball, and 147 grain subsonic ball - both suppressed and unsuppressed. It was at an indoor range, and I shot targets at 15, 20, and 25 yards.
Conditions weren’t ideal, as the lighting could have been brighter, and I had a little trouble picking up a clean sight picture. I believe that the OEM iron sights would have given me less trouble outdoors. Also, I shot without any kind of rifle rest, so I was a little wobbly today. Those are my excuses, and I’m sticking to them.
Although I struggled with the available light, the position of the stock relative to the sights was about perfect. The ghost ring rear really does draw the eye in to the front sight...I just had trouble picking out the front sight against the background. I didn’t bring a ruler, but the best groups were a guesstimated 1”-1.5” for 5 rounds at 25 yards. I’m sure I could do better under better conditions.
The trigger was fairly crisp and not too heavy. Recoil consisted of a small bump against the shoulder… less than an AR15, but more than a .22.
With the suppressor mounted (a Rugged Obsidian45, with a fixed spacer replacing the spring on the piston), groups seemed to improve a little bit over unsurpassed fire, and recoil was noticeably diminished when suppressed. Although I was unable to test the theory due to range rules and the presence of other shooters, I’d wager that it would have been totally hearing-safe with the subsonic ammo.
I shot about 75 rounds with 3 malfunctions toward the end, consisting of a spent case jammed in the ejection port, with a live round chambered. To clear, I locked the bolt back, dropped the magazine, released the bolt forward to capture the chambered round with the extractor, and reinserted the mag. All three stoppages occurred with the 33 round Glock factory fun-stick. The other magazine I was using was a 17-round Magpul unit, and it ran just fine. I
THINK the stoppages happened because I was supporting the weight of the rifle on the end of the stick magazine. The magazines aren’t an extremely tight fit, and there’s a little bit of room for some wiggle if lateral pressure is applied against the magazine body. The shorter magazine wasn’t affected because the gun's weight wasn’t resting on the mag. I’ve seen a couple of reviews where the reviewer experienced the same kind of malfunctions, with the 33 round mags only.
Also, by the time the jams happened, the gun was getting pretty dirty inside from the suppressor, and an alternative theory is that the stoppages were due to a filthy gun. But I get the sense that the gun would run like a top from now until Kingdom come, using 17 round mags and less time with the suppressor mounted.
For my next outing, I’ll have a Primary Arms RDS mounted to the rail, and I expect that I’ll have an easier time aiming. All in all though, it was a lot of fun to shoot, and I’m very happy with my purchase. Although the Ruger is heavier, it reminds me very much of shooting my M1 carbine, and that M1 always puts a smile on my face.
As to an RDS, I have a Primary Arms one that has been sitting unused on a Kel-Tec Sub-2000 that I plan to transfer to the PC9 - although, I have to say that I like the iron sights a lot. I’m already pretty well situated with Glock mags, although that could change if I like this gun enough.