The Paisley side were fresh from the visits of English sides Bradford City and Wigan Athletic, matches which they won 4-0 and 2-0 respectively and had clearly been working hard pre season.
St. Mirren showed their intentions as early as the 3rd minute when their free kick was first blocked and then saved by Gallacher, who was then called on a minute later when David McKenna played in Billy Mehmet to put him one on one with Gallacher but the Rangers keeper came out bravely to make the save at the feet of the Paisley striker.
It took Rangers quarter of an hour to make an impression on the visitors goal when Bob Davidson set up Stevie Lennon down the left but this time it was the turn of Archie Vercules, Saints keeper, to make the save.
Moses Ashikodi then shows his skill with a good run towards the St. Mirren 18 yard box but was brought down as he closed in. Bob Davidson's subsequent free kick from 20 yards out just floated narrowly over the bar by a matter of inches.
The deadlock was broken in the 17th minute when a long flighted ball from the visitors midfield soared over the Rangers defenders and found David McKenna with space and time to line up his shot and put the ball past the stranded Gallacher.
Ashikodi was putting pressure on the St. Mirren defence and his through ball to Davidson found the striker with space to place his shot, but on this occasion he was closed down too quickly and his effort was deflected just bye for a corner.
With Rangers by now having most of the pressure it was the turn of Dany N'Guessan to force his way forward but his shot was again saved by Vercules.
On the 1/2 hour mark it was the turn of Paul Emslie, who suddenly found himself with space, to try his luck against the impressive Saints keeper, but his shot went wide.
McKenna had the chance to increase the score and double his tally when he was played through on 38 minutes but Gallacher came to the rescue for Rangers.
At this point the match exploded into life as Rangers then made their way up field to be awarded a free kick out on the right, Jordan McMillan's cross deep into the 6 yard box saw the powerful N'Guessan rise above all others and head home for the equaliser.
A minute later and the Buddies were back in front as they were then awarded a free kick out on the left and in a copy cat move Mark Docherty then rose above the home defence to head the visitors into the lead again.
New signing from Chelsea, Dean Furman, then tried to fire the Young Gers level but his shot went over from a good opportunity.
From there the Englishman didn't have long to wait for his first Rangers goal as on the stroke of half time Ashikodi played him into space in the box and his low angled shot eluded Vercules and leveled the match with the last touch of the half.
Half - Time Rangers 2 St. Mirren 2
The second half saw a plethora of substitutes for Rangers as Sagar, Ure, Perry, Gilmour, Shinnie and Kinniburgh all came on for the second 45 minutes.
It didn't take long for Rangers to get themselves in front, after only 4 minutes of the restart a through ball found Dany N'Guessan who evaded his marker before rounding the on rushing Vercules and slotting the ball away into the empty net.
Dany was up for another goal in 55 minutes when his strong play saw him dispossess an opponent in midfield, then move through one on one with Vercules only this time it was the Buddies keeper who won the duel and sent the ball round the post for a corner.
A minute before the hour mark saw the goal of the match when out of the blue Billy Mehmet struck a volley from 25 yards, the dipping shot giving substitute keeper Joe Sagar absolutely no chance as the ball landed in his bottom right corner.
Both teams then settled into a midfield stalemate for 20 minutes as neither side could force the opening to take another lead.
There was no shortage of commitment as the referee had to have a couple of quiet words as a few meaty challenges made a mockery of the prefix 'friendly'.
The match was to change however in the last 10 minutes as openings were created, firstly when Brian McKay skinned Martin Ure towards the bye line and the Saints wingers narrow shot was pushed onto the bar by Sagar, only for the ball to fail to fall properly for the two Buddies waiting on the rebound and the danger was cleared.
The match then swung from end to end as Brian Gilmour tried his luck from the edge of the box only for Vercules to pull off a spectacular save.
Belgian youngster Jeroen Van Den Broeck, who had replaced Stevie Lennon, showed some neat touches as he tried to create openings for the forwards.
With only 4 minutes remaining the hard working left sided Ryan McCay floated in a deft chip to the on running Mehmet but Joe Sagar put the forward under enough pressure to force him to miss.
On the 88 minute N'Guessan again broke through the Paisley sides defence and again it was Vercules who prevented the big forward from netting what would have been the winner.
The match wasn't finished yet as the visitors looked determined to leave with a win and continued to go forward, their pressure on the Rangers goal earning them a last minute corner.
The danger from the corner was cleared but as the Light Blues broke forward the match official decided that was enough and blew for time to end what had been an enthralling encounter for those present.
The Teams;
Rangers - Gallacher (Sagar 45), McLachlan (Ure 45 ), Carcary, Smith, McMillan (Perry 45), Emslie (Hadden 82), Ashikodi (Shinnie 45), Furman (Gilmour 45), Lennon (Van Den Broeck 79), Davidson (Kinniburgh 45), N'Guessan.
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St. Mirren - Vercules, Rawcliffe, McCay, McGinn, Gaffney, MacAusland, McMenamin, Docherty, Mehmet, McKenna, MacKay
Substitutes - Carr, McLachlan (45), Weir, Mann (79), McColgan, Leitch, McGregor.