I am thinking of buying a Ruger LCP tomorrow as between Cabela’s sale and a coupon i can get one for liek 285$ OTD.
I was thinking of using the gun as a BUG in a pocket holster and possibly a gun when i can’t carry my 26 or 19.
I have never shot one and have heard both good and bad stories of these guns, so can anyone chime in with their experiences?
I have been using my LCP for a bug for about a year and a half. It has only has about 400 rnds thru it, and it has been flawless thus far. Well worth the money. I
I’ve got one that I picked up on a FTF deal. It came with a pinky extension on the mag. I had the mag dislodge from the gun twice in the same day at my shooting area. Seems the pressure of my hand on the pinky ext and the snap of the recoil caused my hand to bump the mag release button just enough to let it pop out. It lives in the safe now.
I’ve got a kel-tec P3-AT with a 1rd mag ext that I’ve never had that issue with so it is my pocket gun that I carry near daily. While not as good FF of the LCP, it does produce better groups for me at least.
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Love mine, carry it every day. It sits in my left front pocket as a back up to whatever may come. I typically train with it shooting it left handed (my weak hand). To date, after 14 months, I have put eight different types of HP and FMJ down the pipe with no FTF. I love to shoot the little thing. The Pearce mag extentions made it much more controllable for me and I wear small to medieum mens gloves for a grip size comparison.
I have an LCP with a Crimson Trace laser, loaded with Hornady Critical Defense rounds.
I’m not a big laser fan, but the sights are very small, useful for short ranges. With the laser I can hit out to 25 yards without a problem. The gun has been very reliable. As a shooter, it’s manageable, but not comfortable.
I carry it when I’m wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt during the summer time. Otherwise I carry something bigger (Kahr PM9 or Glock 36).
Overall, I’m happy with it.
Ive had mine for about a year and half. I carry it every day loaded with Corbon DPX. Happy with it so far but I do choose to carry my P30 when I can…
A good friend of mine calls it the Ruger “Little Crappy Pistol” for good reason. We have had quite a few officers bring the LCP out to qualify with as a BUG and find out that their new cute pistol does not function very well. We have seen multiple failures to feed and failures to fire.
The pistol lacks decent sights. I’m not sure that I would want to get into a gun fight with a pistol that I could not shoot easily during a stressful encounter. I understand that having a small pistol is better than have no pistol at all.
My recommendation would be a Smith and Wesson 5-shot .38 revolver. It had better sights,reliablity, and ballistics. I can easily keep 5 shots on a b-27 at 50 yards.
It scares me that people carry these junk guns and consider themselves armed. The guns are low cap, unreliable junk in a ridiculously underpowerd caliber.
Back in the day we did a bunch of hill billy balistic testing on .380, and the round is friggin PATHETIC. I would NEVER use one of these trinkets for defensive purposes.
I like my LCP quite a bit. It’s an excellent BUG and good if you tend to not take your full size gun with you to do quick errands. The sights are tiny and solid black so I recommend a Crimson Trace laser for it. It’s also quite a handful, as its light weight means your hands and wrists are taking most of the recoil. I would not recommend it for an inexperienced handgun shooter. The grip is small so make sure your hand fits it. The 1 finger magazine extension became a necessity for me with the bit of grip lost to the Crimson Trace as it pushed some of my ring finger off.
It has its limitations, but all guns this size do. I’ve been considering a Rohrbaugh R9 as it is a slightly larger/heavier but 9mm, but haven’t been able to find one in the area to shoot to see if recoil is still manageable.
Well if that isnt a direct shot at those of us who happen to carry them, I dont know what is. Not gonna get me down though. I love mine. I carry it in the Talon Training wallet holster and it is never an issue to just drop it in my pocket whenever I am going anywhere (except for school). I carry my M&P9fs with Trijicon night sights, TLR-1, and APEX DCAEK in a Raven LC whenever I can, but that is usually not practical at formal events such as weddings, or at church which is where the LCP shines. It simply looks like, wieghs the same, and feels the same as a wallet in your strong-side back pocket.
Also, I dont know why anyone would have a huge beef with the sights on these guns. I painted my front sight with orange nail polish and they serve their purpose. I could easily keep my groups on the torso of a man sized target out to 25 yards, which is more than enough as this gun would be used at close range. It is not fair to assume that this gun would be any sort of “go to” weapon for law enforcement in a gunfight, that is what the primary if for. These are back up guns, to be used for back up only in that application. I am not a law enforcement officer yet, but I can’t imagine a situation where an officer would run dry with his primary, and still need to make hits beyond the effective range of an LCP. And as for the effectiveness of the .380, its better than nothing. I know this question is overused, but would YOU want to be hit with one?
The LCP has had mixed reviews. It seems to do fine in ideal range conditions. However, when the pistol is dirty or there is the slightest limp wrist it will suffer some hickups. Combat or self defense are never ideal conditions, and you are never at your best, but I want something that will shoot reliably at those times.
As far as the .380 goes, it is indeed better than nothing. Its advantages are that it the ammunition is considerably lighter than 9mm, and it allows you do use a pistol that is smaller and lighter than a 9mm. The downside of it is that it is a poor penetrator and even the best JHP loads will only average about 10" of penetration in calibrated bare ballistic gel. It’s even more weak through barriers. However, this does not make it useless, it just limits its applications. With proper training and understanding of this round, DOI has had several shootings involving our backup P232s with Remington 102gr GS in the last 5 years. They all turned out well primarily because the officer understood what his weapon would do and what it would not do in the board of reviews.
I have one, so does my Dad, and a friend of mine. No issues out of any of them. It is a great pocket pistol.My Dad got the Crimson trace for his and I think I will get one before too much longer.
Tell us how you really feel, Mark. 
My input: LCPs are product-improved P3ATs. They tend to be reliable with domestic, SAAMI spec, factory produced, newly manufactured ammunition. They are a carry-much, shoot-little type of gun. They are best as a BUG (2nd, 3rd, or more). I see a couple that are being used as pool guns and accumulating good round counts. They are doing well, but they are fed only high quality ammunition. Another is doing well on a diet of Win Ranger SXTs almost exclusively. The balance tend to be hit and miss, depending mostly on what they’re fed. They should also be run wet.
Awesome carry gun. You can’t beat the size and carry options of this gun. It took me a little bit of time to get use to because I’ve always shot larger handguns 9mm and up. I felt like the gun bounced around in my hand in the beginning but with a little bit of practice I was able to get a good comfortable draw and grip on it. For personal defense while wearing spedos this is it. Just kidding about the spedos. :sarcastic:
I’ve only put a few hundred rounds through my late model LCP, but its been flawless. Its small grip and poor sights make it dificult to shoot accurately, but its reasonably accurate at close distances. I try not to kid myself that I’m adequately armed with a marginally accurate .380, and I try to carry something else whenever possible. This is easier said than done for civilian CCW, so the LCP gets carried more frequently than I’d prefer.
Well i skipped out on the LCP, i held one and i really didn’t like the way it felt in my hands…not that i don’t like small guns as i carried a pm9 for almost a year.
I decided ill probably wait and buy a m&p 340 after Christmas or something.
Kind of how I felt about that comment. I hear the same criticism from some folks because I choose to carry 9mm GLOCKs and everyone knows 9mm is worthless. Everyone knows if it doesn’t start with 4 and end with 5 it’s just crap. :rolleyes:
The LCP is what it is … a tiny gun that’s better than carrying nothing. I don’t choose to carry a LCP. I carry it when I’m venturing somewhere I absolutely can’t get caught carrying a “real” pistol. I don’t feel it’s the best defensive option but it’s better than a knife … which I also carry. It’s better than a kick to the groin … which I can also do, if necessary. The trick to carrying a LCP is know it’s limitations and make sure you have functioned tested your particular specimen. I have owned several and all have functioned well with quality, factory loaded ammo.
I’m guessing if I chose to not carry a LCP when I absolutely can’t risk getting caught with my normal carry rig I would be lambasted for that too.
I don’t understand how you can train with Gun X and take classes with Gun X but when you have to get milk at the Stop and Rob at 11:00 pm, you pick up the LCP and stick it in your pocket because Gun X is too heavy or whatever.
Fucking bizzare.
B_C
Really? I think you’re missing the point. Do you only have one gun? Do you have one tool in your toolbox?
I carry the LCP when I can’t carry anything bigger. If I can carry something bigger, I do. While I’d love to carry my Glock 36 (or my duty gun, a Glock 22) every time, the situation doesn’t always make that possible. Cutting the lawn in gym shorts and a t-shirt, LCP. Wearing shorts or jeans and a t-shirt, Kahr PM9. With a sweatshirt or jacket, Glock 36.
I don’t see any of the posters above stating they carry the LCP when they’re too lazy to carry something bigger. It’s when they CAN’T carry something bigger.
Hypothetically, some folks might go places that are not legal to carry a firearm. They simply can’t risk strapping on their normal IWB or OWB carry rig and possibly getting caught. As good as Raven, Comp-Tac, Milt Sparks, or whomever holster guru you wear is they still sometimes print a bit.
Fucking bizzare … not really. I am guessing these hypothetical folks don’t want a felony conviction thus never being able to legally carry a firearm … or vote … or get a job … again.
I carry a LCP instead of a “real” gun maybe 5% of the time. I carry a “real” gun the other 95%. Sometimes I get crazy and carry them both.