A few days ago, still trying to recover from my short visit to the SHOT Show, I made a quick trip to the range to work with a few guns that I have from manufacturers. The wintry season keeps those trips short, so little gets done.

This was the third range trip for the Ruger Security-9 sample, all those trips done in January. An earlier trip saw me using Ruger ARX +P ammo and Remington Golden Saber 147 grain BJHP. The gun easily handled the +P loads. On another trip, actually “warm” enough to get on paper, I did some handling drills. I found the Pachmayr Tactical Grip Glove, sized for Glock Compacts (e.g., 19, 23, etc.), and available from ShopRuger.com had slipped some. I used a Birchwood Casey “Dirty Bird” 12”x18” BC-27, a downsized version of the NRA B-27 target. There were only a pair of hits outside the 10” x 6” “8-“ ring, which is the maximum 5-point scoring zone on the barn-sized NRA B-27 when used for qualification.

The ammo used for those exercises was Federal “Aluminum” featuring 115 FMJ bullets. It’s also a likely round to be used for casual range activity or qualification.

That was the trip that I rounded out by shooting the dueling tree. By looking over the gun – shooting “out of the notch” – I found that I was hitting the ca. 6” plates from fifteen yards. The index is correct, but I tend to shoot left with the Security-9 on paper as I do with many other guns . . . whether shooting right hand or left.

On an earlier trip, a pair of loads were tried from the seated bench at a 25 yard target. Not exhaustive, but ambient temperatures prevented real precision anyway.

I’d also fired the Security-9 from a seated rest to try to get an idea of its accuracy. I found that an older load, Hornady 147 grain TAP-FPD, featuring an XTP bullet, gave a four-inch group at 25 yards. Black Hills 115 grain FMJ put five rounds into 2 ¾” from 25 yards.

On the last trip, 13 MPH winds, with periodic gusts, drove the temp into the mid-20s. Fingers were numb, targets blew about and the air was tinted blue with my language. As smarter folks had remained indoors my verbal indiscretions can be left to the imagination – no witnesses.

I’d decided on the Kansas law enforcement qualification, found here, to evaluate the Ruger Security-9 as a possible carry gun. The course is easy to set up, quick to shoot, especially if you run it a lot over time.  You can dress it up by turning some of the close stages into “failure drills” and by using a Q-target with scoring rings like the IALEFI-Q.

I used that target. The Ruger Security-9 was loaded with Winchester USA Forged 115-grain FMJ range ammo. I used it because it’s the kind of ammo that people will buy for range training, annual requals and such. And it uses a steel cartridge case, something unusual for non-wartime production in the US. If any ammunition can cause the new gun to choke, low-cost ammo is the most likely.

The holster I used was the Safariland Model 576 GLS Pro-Fit (Compact) Holster. It combines the Grip Locking System with an adjustable holster body made to fit a wide variety of guns with a single holster.  The holster fits the Glock 19 without adjustment – even the Gen5. It also fit the S&W M&P9 M.2 Compact and the Ruger Security-9, all without turning the adjustment screw. The holster is fitted with the “high ride” belt loop back featuring slots for an inch-and-a-half belt.

My custom is to start at distance to do the long stage, but I wasn’t playing that game in the cold. After the target was up, I shot the stages in order.

The course includes moving and shooting, three-shot strings, shooting with either hand, shots fired from the draw and from low ready. Ten rounds of the fifty are shot from the furthest distance, 25 yards.