The safety is in a seemingly strange location for those with 1911-conditioned hands. At first I was worried that the safety tab was going to spear my hand on each shot--that is, if I could swipe it off when drawing. I need not have worried. After half a case of NATO-spec ball I could see where the safety was hitting me, but it did not otherwise bother me. I also had no problems in pushing the safety to the Fire position as I picked it up or drew each time. The ambidextrous magazine catch was a bit more of a problem, as it took me a little fussing to find the right pushing angle to get the catch to release.

A thoroughly dehorned adjustable rear sight and an ambidextrous thumb safety are two excellent features of the SR9

The only time I found it a problem was in checking capacity of a nearly full magazine. And then only if I simply mashed the button, as if it were a mag catch on a highly tuned IPSC 1911. After a few tries the new button was old hat. And the grip contour? For those of you who might be worried, think 1911. If you've gotten used to that, the SR9 is going to feel very much at home.

Replaceable backstraps are all the rage. And for good reason: We do not all have the same-size hands. While the idea of a slew of different-size inserts is good, we all know what will happen: Most of us will lose most of them. The SR9 backstrap is simple: reversible. One side is flat and checkered, the other side is arched and checkered. Want to change? Pull it out, turn it over, and put it back in. You can't lose it if there is only the one to be used. With the arched side up, it points like a 1911. With the flat one in, it points like a Glock.

One grip fit: To change the grip configuration, simply reverse the backstrap.

The famous Ruger casting process goes into various parts of the SR9, but not as many parts as you'd think; at present Ruger only casts six parts, and it plans to bring that down to four in the near future. Apparently, some parts are simply easier to make when machined from bar stock, and Ruger tracks the time and cost of parts very closely. Which is why you can buy a Ruger handgun for less than what its competitors' pistols typically sell for. In this era of exorbitant ammunition prices, many are coming back to reloading.

The SR9 barrel starts as a casting, then is bored, reamed, honed, rifled and the outside is profiled. It has no problems with lead bullets--no Ruger handguns do. The barrel is stainless steel and through-hardened; it should last you a good long time. The slide as well as the cam block in front of the magazine well are also through-hardened.

After all the machining, the SR9 slide and frame get laser-cut markings and serial numbers and then go off to assembly. Test-fire comes next, then boxing and shipping.

The SR9 is an accurate carry gun, staying within two inches at 25 yards with Hornady and Magtech ammo.

The important part is not how it looks but how it shoots. And I can report that it shoots very well indeed. After the tour, rundown, exploded diagrams, coffee and new-product fondling in the factory, the small number of us who were there went off the next morning to a nearby range to get a feel for the latest Ruger pistol. What I found was quite interesting.

First of all, the flatness and the checkering of the frame keep the SR9 from squirming in my grip. For me, anyway, a lot of the pistols with a more-rounded profile try to twist in recoil. I find on some of them that I have to struggle to keep the sights from dancing around. Not so the SR9. It tracks up and down for me. I can hammer close targets at warp speed and know the sights won't drift right or left.