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Sturm, Ruger this week announced a new polymer-framed double stack 9mm that is poised to give most of the “combat” handguns on the market some serious competition.

Ruger’s polymer evolution

Back in 1996, Ruger revamped their P85/89 line by trading in the traditional frame of that gun for a new frame made of a fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane, based on Dow’s “Isoplast” formula. This new gun, the P95 managed to lower the price point (I picked up a new one at the time for $279) on the already affordable line to undercut the cost of the leading polymer 9mm guns of the time– Glock’s 17/19 series. The P95 was chunky but it was popular and you still see lots of them around. Heck, production didn’t end on these guns until 2013 when the last P95PR was made and the line was replaced by the more svelte and crowd-pleasing SR9 series.

When the SR9 came out, it was set to do what Ruger’s P85/89/95 has never really pulled off– being a large caliber pistol in a slim, ergonomic profile. Say what you want about the P85, it may have been reliable, inexpensive, and accurate, but it’s darn bulky. Well the SR9 fixed that, producing a striker fired combat handgun that still used a large capacity double stacked magazine (that held 17+1 rounds) whose overall width was just 1.18-inches. Now that’s slim, jack. Better yet, it tipped the scales at just 26.5 ounces.

Now, we have a new kid on the block that looks like a shadowy contender to the Army’s XM17 contract.

…The Ruger American Pistol

Read the rest in my column at Ruger Talk