Ruger and Magpul have teamed up to produce a new 9mm handgun complete with a modular stainless-steel chassis system, which could be a universal adapter.
Dubbed the RXM, the new pistol is striker-fired and familiar, having the same general dimensions as many popular carry guns of the past few decades. Diving deeper, it has a serialized Fire Control Insert that is independent of its grip frame, which gives it the flexibility to be easily swapped into different grips – which are developed and produced by Magpul. Optics-ready with a Tritium front sight, it runs popular 15-round G19-pattern mags.
American-made, the RXM has an MSRP of $499.
Guns.com has been running the new platform for a few months and has the details.
Summer introduction
In June, we attended an industry event hosted by the fine folks at Gun Talk Media in Louisiana to unveil the RXM. Top Shot contestant and career law enforcement officer Chris Cerino proctored the range time, so the new handgun was definitely put through its paces.
“We each got our own handgun that we put around 1,500 rounds through, while there was a test handgun that had almost 7,000 rounds cycled through over the course of a week,” said Guns.com’s Alexander Reville, who attended the event in the muggy Louisiana heat.
Our test gun while visiting the Sportsman’s Paradise this summer was fresh from the box and ate 1,500 rounds. (Photo: Alexander Reville/Guns.com)The ammo used was a mix of inexpensive 115-grain FMJs and more mid and top-shelf personal protection rounds across several bullet weights and profiles. (Photo: Alexander Reville/Guns.com)The group’s hard-test gun, which had a pallet of ammo through it, got a little spicy but kept on ticking. (Photos: Alexander Reville/Guns.com)The general feeling among attendees was that the handgun had familiar ergonomics, making it easy to master. (Photos: Alexander Reville/Guns.com)
“Outside of a few ammo-related malfunctions, the handguns ran well, and it was cool to see a collaboration between Magpul and Ruger, bringing the FCI concept to life in a new platform,” said Reville.
Continued evaluation
In November, Ruger sent Guns.com two new production RXMs to opposite sides of the country – one to Alexander and one to this author – for further testing.
Let’s dive into the features and specifics for a minute.
With a 4-inch 1:10-inch RH twist precision rifled alloy steel barrel with an FNC nitride finish, the overall length of the RXM is 7.15 inches. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The unloaded weight is 23.2 ounces. A full mag pushes this to 30 ounces. Height is 5.31 inches. The width of the slide is 1 inch, while the maximum width over the magwell flare is 1.3 inches. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)Compared to popular carry guns such as the Glock 19, S&W M&P9 Compact M2.0, and CZ P09 Nocturne, the Ruger RXM seems very familiar. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip includes the company’s well-known 3/4-scale TSP texture 360 degrees around the grip along with textured indexing pads. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)Surface controls include an extended magazine catch in a scalloped trench and a raised slide stop. The width over the controls is 1.25 inches at its maximum. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The trigger guard undercut and beaver tail promote a high grip for better control. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The low-profile, flared magazine well accepts G19 pattern double stacks, with the RXM shipping with a pair of Magpul’s PMAG 15 GL9s. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The accessory rail is a universal single-slot G19 pattern, not full Picatinny. We tried it with both an Inforce Wild2 and a Streamlight TLR-7A, with both fitting solid. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The slide is factory cut for direct mounting of RMR, Delta Point Pro, and RMSc pattern optics. The suppressor-height steel irons co-witness and features a tritium night front sight. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)Field stripping is easy for anyone familiar with a Glock striker-fired pistol. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)To remove the Fire Control Insert chassis, once unloaded and field stripped, use a 3/32 punch to remove the locking block pin. From there, depress the slide lock spring and push out the slide lock before using the punch once again to remove the takedown pin from the right side. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)And here you see the RXM with the chassis removed. Note the locking block pin, slide lock, and takedown pin. When moving to a new grip module (which are inbound) you would also take the takedown spring and slide lock spring with you to the new module. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)An exploded diagram of the pistol, left, and FCI, right. (Graphics: Ruger) We found the RXM to fit like a glove in several different G19-pattern holsters we had on hand. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)The flat-faced trigger, with its integrated trigger safety lever, has a smooth takeup to the wall, breaking at 5.4 pounds on average out of the box. It has a short (about 0.26-inch) and tactile reset, and it felt like the same trigger pull every time. We assessed it again after 500 rounds and it ran 5.2 pounds on average.
Below is a video of the average trigger pull and reset shown, in a strong-hand-only grip.
When it came to continued range testing with the RXM in Mississippi, we have put 500 rounds through this current pistol, spanning several different bullet profiles and loads to include 115-grain Blazer FMJ, 124-grain Federal Syntech, 147-grain Syntech Training Match, and 150-grain Syntech Action pistol. The only malfunctions to report are a tendency for the Magpul PL9s to fail to lock back occasionally on an empty chamber/mag. Accuracy is decent, with the RXM having great sights. This string of failure shots was delivered from one mag from the 15, standing and unsupported, at a decent cadence. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
At launch, Ruger has the RXM in both a standard (15-round mag) version and a state-compliant (10-round mag) version, both with the $499 ask. For that, you get a remarkably familiar feeling pistol, made in the U.S. (not in Brazil or Turkey), with probably the most popular double-stack 9mm magazine pattern, complete with steel night sights and an optics cut. Plus, the removable chassis system, backed up with grip modules from Magpul, gives it some serious modularity.
Ruger has long had problems bringing a 9mm pistol to market that people really, really liked. RXM could see that change.
Stay tuned for an extended review in the coming days from Alexander Reville, who is currently stacking up rounds in one while in frozen Hoth, err, Minnesota.
