Ruger MAX-9

Ruger · Introduced 2021

Ruger lists the MAX-9 model 3514 as an optic-ready, striker-fired 9mm Luger pistol with a 3.2 in barrel, a 12-round magazine, a black nitride through-hardened alloy steel slide on a glass-filled nylon grip frame, a manual safety, and a slide cut for JPoint and Shield RMSc pattern micro red dots.

Scope note: Model 3514, catalogue MAX-9: the optic-ready, manual-safety MAX-9 with a fixed front sight, a drift-adjustable polymer rear sight and one 12-round magazine.

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It is the catalogue number carrying the page's embedded specification object. THIS IS NOT THE LAUNCH CONFIGURATION, AND THE YEAR NEEDS THE LCP MAX CARE. 3514's own `introDate` is 2025-06-10, so it is a later catalogue number; Ruger's launch release of March 15, 2021 describes a MAX-9 with a tritium fiber-optic front sight shipping with two magazines, which is not this SKU. The record's year introduced is 2021, taken from that launch release, because the release introduces the model by name ("Ruger Introduces the MAX-9 Pistol") and this record's model is the MAX-9, catalogued under the bare name MAX-9. Read the year as the MAX-9 line's, and 2025 as the date catalogue number 3514 joined it. The page displays three further catalogue numbers — 3518 (tritium fiber-optic front sight, 10+1, California approved), 3519 (10+1) and 3523 (12+1) — all separate listings under the base-model rule; MAX-9 Pro models without a manual safety have their own manual and are separate too. MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM RUGER'S PER-MODEL SPEC SHEET, WHICH PUBLISHES BOTH UNIT SYSTEMS FOR EVERY ROW BUT ONE. Height is printed as 4.42 in with no metric figure, so its millimetre value is this directory's conversion and is flagged; every other value is as published. Ruger's metric is truncated rather than rounded (3.20 in is printed 81 mm, 81.3 mm exactly). A SAME-TIER DISAGREEMENT ON THE WEIGHT, DISCLOSED RATHER THAN RESOLVED: the spec sheet prints "18.4 oz. 523 g", while the models-page JSON carries `weight: 18.450`. 523 g is 18.45 oz, not 18.4 oz (which is 522 g by the directory's helper), so the spec sheet's two figures do not quite reconcile with each other and its metric matches the JSON. The row records the spec sheet's own two figures, since that is the document it footnotes, and flags neither; the launch release also says 18.4 ounces. OVERALL WIDTH IS UNSET BECAUSE RUGER LABELS ITS ONLY WIDTH "Slide Width" (0.95 in / 24 mm), and the launch release describes the figure as a slide width in its own prose; the JSON's bare `width` key would have reached an overall-width field unexamined — the Desert Eagle and Shield Plus rule. Height and weight carry basis notes because Ruger states no magazine state. ACTION AXES: ignition is striker-fired, stated on the spec sheet itself ("Striker-fired with a short, smooth trigger pull, clean break and positive reset") and again in the manual (PDF p. 11) and the launch release; `system` carries the spec sheet's "Striker-fired". Operating system is recoil-operated from the manual (PDF p. 11: "a compact, centerfire, single-strike, striker-fired, magazine-fed, autoloading, recoil-operated pistol"), footnoted to it via `operatingSystemSource` — the CZ, SIG and HK pattern of the page stating ignition and the manual stating the operating system. Trigger action is unset: "single-strike" is not a trigger mode the union carries and Ruger classifies the trigger nowhere else. NOTE THE MODELS PAGE CARRIES NO ACTION WORD AT ALL — neither "striker" nor "hammer" occurs on it — so reading only that page, as the RXM record did, would have left ignition unset for a maker who states it one click away. FRAME CLASS IS UNSET BECAUSE RUGER USES THREE SIZE WORDS FOR THIS PISTOL. The models page and launch release call it "micro-sized"; the launch release's CEO quote places it in "the popular micro-compact market"; and both the spec sheet ("Slim, lightweight and compact") and the manual ("a compact, centerfire...") call it compact. "Micro-compact" is an existing directory value, but a market-segment phrase in an executive quote is not a size-class field, and it is contradicted by the manual in the same tier; the release also claims "all the features of a full-sized handgun", the two-sided Hellcat Pro construction. "Medium-textured grip frame" on the spec sheet describes texture. Warranty is recorded from the manual (PDF p. 51): Ruger states it provides no written warranty, limited or full. Family is unset because the Family union has no MAX-9 value, although Ruger publishes it as a series name; note it is not part of the LCP MAX series despite the shared word. Also published and unrecorded for want of a schema field: a 1:10 in RH twist with six grooves, a through-hardened alloy steel slide and alloy steel barrel in black nitride, a glass-filled nylon grip frame, a JPoint and Shield RMSc optic pattern, UPC 7-36676-03514-4, a $299.00 suggested retail price, and no California or Massachusetts approval.

Reference fields

Manufacturer	Ruger^[2]
Manufacturer series	MAX-9
Firearm category	Handgun^[2]
Manufacturer chambering	9mm Luger^[2]
Generation	Not yet verified
Manufacturer listing	Listed on Ruger as model 3514, catalogue MAX-9 — a catalogue number Ruger dates to 2025-06-10, later than the model's 2021 launch^[2]
Ignition	Striker-fired^[2]
Operating system	Recoil-operated^[3]
Slide finish	Black Nitride^[2]
Controls	Fixed front sight and drift-adjustable polymer rear sight; slide optic-ready for co-witnessed JPoint and Shield RMSc pattern micro red dots; manual safety; integrated trigger safety; internal striker blocker; loaded-chamber inspection port; reversible magazine release^[2]
Warranty	No written warranty: Ruger states it has elected not to provide any written warranty, either limited or full, and refers owners to the implied warranties of their state's law^[3]
MSRP	Not recorded

Verification boundary: Published technical data are rounded, may not reflect manufacturing tolerances, and may change without notice. MSRP is not recorded: most cited product pages do publish a price, but it changes without notice and independently of the specification, so this directory has no field for it and the row stays blank rather than carrying a figure that would silently go stale. Values marked ≈ were converted by this directory from the unit system the source published; the unmarked figure in the same row is the published one.

Evidence tiers backing this record: Manufacturer. Unmarked values come from manufacturer documentation; any value drawn from a lower tier is labeled inline with that tier. Where two sources disagreed, the higher tier was recorded and the disagreement noted.

Sources

[1]
Ruger MAX-9 — models page (embeds the specification object for model 3514; displays four catalogue numbers)Manufacturer Manufacturer product page
Accessed 2026-09-30
[2]
Ruger MAX-9 — model 3514 spec sheetManufacturer Manufacturer spec sheet
Accessed 2026-09-30
[3]
Ruger MAX-9 pistol (with manual safety) instruction manual — PDF pp. 11 (general information and mechanical characteristics), 51 (warranty statement)Manufacturer Manufacturer owner's manual (PDF)
Accessed 2026-09-30
[4]
Ruger Introduces the MAX-9 Pistol (March 15, 2021)Manufacturer Manufacturer press release
Accessed 2026-09-30

Common questions

Answered from this record's cited fields only. Where a manufacturer publishes nothing on a subject, the question is not asked rather than answered with a blank.

01What caliber is the Ruger MAX-9?

The Ruger MAX-9 is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum. Ruger writes it as 9mm Luger. Ammunition should match the exact chambering marked on the firearm.

02How many rounds does the Ruger MAX-9 hold?

Ruger lists a 12-round standard magazine for the MAX-9. Ruger lists no optional capacities for this record. These are magazine capacities; a round carried in the chamber is not counted here.

03What is the barrel length of the Ruger MAX-9?

Ruger lists a barrel length of 81 mm / 3.2 in.

04What are the dimensions of the Ruger MAX-9?

Ruger publishes length 152, height ≈112.3 mm / length 6, height 4.42 in (height: magazine state not stated by Ruger; width not published). Any measurement basis shown is the manufacturer's own qualifier; where none is shown, the manufacturer states none.

05How much does the Ruger MAX-9 weigh?

Ruger publishes 523 g / 18.4 oz (magazine state not stated by Ruger).

06Is the Ruger MAX-9 striker-fired?

Striker-fired. Ruger publishes this as "Striker-fired". This is recorded from the manufacturer's own classification rather than inferred from the mechanism.

07When was the Ruger MAX-9 introduced?

2021, per the source cited on this record. Where a manufacturer publishes no dated announcement, this directory records no year rather than estimating one.

08Does the Ruger MAX-9 have a warranty?

Ruger states: No written warranty: Ruger states it has elected not to provide any written warranty, either limited or full, and refers owners to the implied warranties of their state's law. Terms are as published at the date this record was checked and may vary by region.