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I've had this pistol for a while now, and thought I'd give a bit of an update.
First the good - the American .45 eats ammo like a fat lady downing flapjacks at a Sunday after church buffet. And unlike those silver dollar pancakes, the Ruger seems to run pretty well "almost dry". I'm also able to hit the target - paper - when I try in a deliberate manner. Key words being try and deliberate. The Novak sights are above average.
And now for the not so good. And the "gun press" (read that, all the goodie-goodies who got to sign NDAs and get evaluation pistols to try out, along with a case of ammo) has glossed over the pistol, instead relying on the talking points put out by Ruger. The worst you got was "it hurt my hand", but they always followed up with "it must be me, because the other guy who shot it didn't have an issue" (or vice versa). They have to say that, to save face wtih Ruger.
This pistol is a camel. You give a bunch of corporate stuffed shirts the power to design a horse, and you'll get a camel every time.
The ergos basically suck. Some stuffed shirt someplace said "the bore axis must be lower than brand SW or G or W or S or whatever, so they conspired to do just that. The grip shape stuffs your hand under the back of the "frame" to get your hand up close to the bore axis. If they changed the shape of the grip, just a wee bit lower (and there's room to do just that) then the hand bite will go away. I've actually been shooting mine with the "grip" removed and it shoots better than with the grip on. Maybe I'll just stretch one of those rubber band things around it and call it a day.
And the trigger, while managable with deliberateion, is neither fish nor fowl. Its becoming evident that the pistols Ruger released to the "gun press" were not exactly like the pistols Ruger produced for the buying public. Gun press reports of sub 6lbs (5.5 was reported from one source) measured triggers, are actually about 2lbs heavier at 7.5lbs, and they're mushy. I have gone and tried a few, posing as a buyer, and folks.... they're mushy. The break is about like snapping off a chunk of one of those old fashioned big Tootsie-Rolls. You press, it mushes, you keep pressing, it mushes, and the trigger pull weight goes up as it mushes along until it gets real heavy and you get a bang. Put another way, the trigger on a HighPoint is better. The trigger on Luger (noted for pediculous triggers) is better. There is a full disassembly of the Ruger American fire control - no fewer than four springs, plus the striker spring (and not counting the recoil spring).
And those four springs.... are there because of an overly complex mess of parts. Another corporate deisgn "feature". "Lets make it so that if the pistol is cocked, you don't need to uncock it to disassemble it." It uncocks itself. So, there is a lever to takedown, a lever that uncocks things, a lever that prevents you from taking it down with a magazine in place, etc. Makes for complexity. Whatever happened to the elegance of design that is the Redhawk? Or the .22 Automatic Pistol (now the Mk III)?
So, the talking points:
"It doesn't have a magazine disconnect!" - wow.... news there, a groundbreaking feature
"It has a light trigger" - bald face lie
"It has a great reset" - total fabircation, as the reset is perhaps the worst of any striker fired pistol, even including Kahr on that list, as the trigger has to move all the way forward to reset.
"Its design makes it lighter!" - no, actually, its heavier than your other pistols, and one of the heaviest polymer framed pistols ever devised
"Its compact, for a full size gun!" - WTF that means I don't know, but its a Ruger talking point
"High capacity double column magazine" - which holds 10 rounds. Two more than a single stack. My FN holds FIFTEEN rounds. My PPQ holds 12 rounds. Ruger had to reduce magazine width to get what is effectively two grip - inner and outer, as part of the design.
I think ol' Hickok45 had it right. It goes bang, its accurate, but.... whats to like? It seems like a "do it all" pistol, that does not one thing well - since reliability is an expected item on all pistols. They tried to please everyone, and you know how that goes.... just can't be done.
First the good - the American .45 eats ammo like a fat lady downing flapjacks at a Sunday after church buffet. And unlike those silver dollar pancakes, the Ruger seems to run pretty well "almost dry". I'm also able to hit the target - paper - when I try in a deliberate manner. Key words being try and deliberate. The Novak sights are above average.
And now for the not so good. And the "gun press" (read that, all the goodie-goodies who got to sign NDAs and get evaluation pistols to try out, along with a case of ammo) has glossed over the pistol, instead relying on the talking points put out by Ruger. The worst you got was "it hurt my hand", but they always followed up with "it must be me, because the other guy who shot it didn't have an issue" (or vice versa). They have to say that, to save face wtih Ruger.
This pistol is a camel. You give a bunch of corporate stuffed shirts the power to design a horse, and you'll get a camel every time.
The ergos basically suck. Some stuffed shirt someplace said "the bore axis must be lower than brand SW or G or W or S or whatever, so they conspired to do just that. The grip shape stuffs your hand under the back of the "frame" to get your hand up close to the bore axis. If they changed the shape of the grip, just a wee bit lower (and there's room to do just that) then the hand bite will go away. I've actually been shooting mine with the "grip" removed and it shoots better than with the grip on. Maybe I'll just stretch one of those rubber band things around it and call it a day.
And the trigger, while managable with deliberateion, is neither fish nor fowl. Its becoming evident that the pistols Ruger released to the "gun press" were not exactly like the pistols Ruger produced for the buying public. Gun press reports of sub 6lbs (5.5 was reported from one source) measured triggers, are actually about 2lbs heavier at 7.5lbs, and they're mushy. I have gone and tried a few, posing as a buyer, and folks.... they're mushy. The break is about like snapping off a chunk of one of those old fashioned big Tootsie-Rolls. You press, it mushes, you keep pressing, it mushes, and the trigger pull weight goes up as it mushes along until it gets real heavy and you get a bang. Put another way, the trigger on a HighPoint is better. The trigger on Luger (noted for pediculous triggers) is better. There is a full disassembly of the Ruger American fire control - no fewer than four springs, plus the striker spring (and not counting the recoil spring).
And those four springs.... are there because of an overly complex mess of parts. Another corporate deisgn "feature". "Lets make it so that if the pistol is cocked, you don't need to uncock it to disassemble it." It uncocks itself. So, there is a lever to takedown, a lever that uncocks things, a lever that prevents you from taking it down with a magazine in place, etc. Makes for complexity. Whatever happened to the elegance of design that is the Redhawk? Or the .22 Automatic Pistol (now the Mk III)?
So, the talking points:
"It doesn't have a magazine disconnect!" - wow.... news there, a groundbreaking feature
"It has a light trigger" - bald face lie
"It has a great reset" - total fabircation, as the reset is perhaps the worst of any striker fired pistol, even including Kahr on that list, as the trigger has to move all the way forward to reset.
"Its design makes it lighter!" - no, actually, its heavier than your other pistols, and one of the heaviest polymer framed pistols ever devised
"Its compact, for a full size gun!" - WTF that means I don't know, but its a Ruger talking point
"High capacity double column magazine" - which holds 10 rounds. Two more than a single stack. My FN holds FIFTEEN rounds. My PPQ holds 12 rounds. Ruger had to reduce magazine width to get what is effectively two grip - inner and outer, as part of the design.
I think ol' Hickok45 had it right. It goes bang, its accurate, but.... whats to like? It seems like a "do it all" pistol, that does not one thing well - since reliability is an expected item on all pistols. They tried to please everyone, and you know how that goes.... just can't be done.
I am addicted to brake fluid...don't worry I can 
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