The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) ion source is required to provide a 35 kV, 30 mA H−beam, with a normalized rms emittance (&egr;n‐rms) of less than 0.18 &pgr; mm‐mrad and a pulse width of 7–35 &mgr;s at a 10 Hz repetition rate. An RF‐driven volume source is chosen for the initial commissioning of the SSC linear accelerator (LINAC). An extensive experimental program has been under way to characterize the SSC volume ion source. We have achieved &egr;n‐rmsas low as 0.06 &pgr; mm‐mrad with the RF volume source while meeting all other SSC ion source operating requirements. The available experimental results pertinent to the performance of the SSC RF volume ion source will be discussed.