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Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:01 am
by BadCrosshairDay
I am having a problem with my LCP II where about 1 in 10 rounds will get stuck on the frame just below the feed ramp. So the slide is half forward, with the round correctly positioned in the extractor, but unable to chamber because the edge of the casing is caught.

Any ideas what might be causing this? Is it the blazer ammo, or am I limp wristing the pistol?

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 6:49 am
by JustaShooter
Have you tried other ammo? Some guns are ammo-sensitive and although rare with ball ammo it isn't unheard of.

Does it happen with more than one magazine? If you have more than one magazine but aren't sure if it happens with more than one, mark them in some way so you can tell them apart.

Does it happen when someone else shoots it? If you know another experienced shooter it would be worthwhile to have them shoot it (especially if they have a lot of experience shooting small guns like the LCP II).

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:37 pm
by BadCrosshairDay
Happens for several mags and several shooters. So far just on the blazer ammo, but that's because I've only tried blazer and a few dozen rounds of Hornady so far. I'll pick up another brand FMJ later this week and try that.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 4:24 pm
by JustaShooter
Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. (Though I have a sneaking suspicion it needs a trip back to the mothership...)

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 5:41 pm
by Mr. Glock
JustaShooter wrote:Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. (Though I have a sneaking suspicion it needs a trip back to the mothership...)
I would definitely try another brand of ammo first. Very small guns have smaller tolerances in terms of slide speed etc. However, if another ammo brand has the same issue, send it back. It is a most likely a bigger issue.

Cheap ammo is cheap for a reason (and I shoot a lot of cheap ammo), so you can't say it is the gun until you try another brand. Makes sense. Save money on ammo, but problems need a bit more diagnostic work because you can't rely on cheap ammo.

Also, make sure the gun is lubed too.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:09 pm
by curmudgeon3
BadCrosshairDay wrote:I am having a problem with my LCP II where about 1 in 10 rounds will get stuck on the frame just below the feed ramp. So the slide is half forward, with the round correctly positioned in the extractor, but unable to chamber because the edge of the casing is caught.

Any ideas what might be causing this? Is it the blazer ammo, or am I limp wristing the pistol?
This is a fairly common occurrence with smaller semi-auto pistols that most competent gunsmiths' first recommendation is to polish the face of the breech with a fine grit.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:42 am
by BadCrosshairDay
Thanks for the tips. I'm picking up different ammo and trying a few hundred through the LCP this Saturday.

I saw a video on polishing the feed ramp - I'll try that if it isn't ammo related. The lip of the casings is getting stuck against the frame just below the feed ramp and leaving an indent, so I may need to flatten that too.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 6:43 pm
by techmike
Since it may be a warranty issue, a call to Ruger Customer Service might be in order before polishing. One other thing to check is to make sure the extractor is not stuck or binding, that can cause FTF. Have read that problem on the LCP's can be caused by (new) stiff springs in the magazines - remedy was to only load 5 rounds and test fire it again. the extra tension caused by the 6th round in the mag was causing the round to bind during feeding. If that is the issue it will go away after the mag springs "loosen up". Good luck and let us know what the fix is.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 2:34 pm
by Luv2Camp
I have had great success using HPR 90g JHP in mine. I also polish all of my feed ramps. I use green jewelers compound on a Dremel with a polishing cone.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:18 am
by BadCrosshairDay
I think the pistol is fine, I'm the problem. One strange thing I've noticed is that the LCP II sprays little lead shavings at me while shooting. Anyone know why that is?

This is the ammo I used, and results with it:
- 75x Hornady with no issues
- 400x Blazer with feeding issues every few rounds (casing gets stuck on the frame below feed ramp, need to remove mag and rack to resolve). Sprays lead back at me while shooting.
- 250x Blazer Brass with what seem to be limp wrist induced failures every few rounds, and the same feeding issue when chambering the first round sometimes. Sprays lead back at me while shooting.

The reason I think my grip is the problem now is that I asked a 4th person to try it and he had no cycling issues. I have yet to have an issue with the Hornady ammo, and I think the other ammo works when I remember to squeeze the pistol hard enough to print the grip into my hand, but I will focus on this more next time to make sure.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:42 am
by Mr. Glock
Are you sure that is lead? I ask as the only way you are getting lead spraying back at you (as far I can reason) is from the rear of the bullet. There is no exposed lead on a Blazer bullet except for possibly the base (FMJs can have an exposed lead base to save cost on jacketing material). I haven't looked closely at those bullets outside of the case, but they are budget brand, so probably an exposed base.

The copper plating is very thin on Blazer bullets, but I can't see how that would spray back at you. And you don't mention copper.

I'd wonder if it was aluminum from the Blazer case, but you say it with both regular Blazer and Blazer Brass, thus eliminating aluminum.

All that said, the only thing I can think of is that the gun is unlocking way too soon, and thus you are getting the pressure from the barrel coming back at you with partially burned powder flakes and maybe some lead?

In any case, if the gun is spraying back at you, it isn't a feeding ramp issue. I'd send it back, as, the way you describe it here, you could have a safety issue related to slide timing. If it is unlocking too soon, that is a safety issue (as well as creating a feeding issue as the slide is moving too soon and too fast).

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:06 am
by BadCrosshairDay
Thanks for the info! I will look into slide timing issues and see if that might be the case here.
Mr. Glock wrote:Are you sure that is lead?
I'm not sure if it's lead - I actually get some of this residue from the glock 19 with blazer brass, but not nearly as much - possibly because the barrel is longer. It looks like little dark grey, almost black, metallic specs and shavings. I see it pretty often on my forearms and face after shooting at least 100 rounds from most my guns, just not in this quantity. The reason I thought it was lead is that it looks like the material that revolvers sometimes spray sideways, especially 22LR revolvers.

If that's not normal, at this point I may really have to send it in. I'll take it down for cleaning late this week and see if I notice anything unusual. I might do one or two more range sessions with carry ammo to make sure it doesn't actually work correctly with that.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:23 am
by AlanM
You can test for lead in and around you and your environment fairly easily.

There are lead in drinking water kits available nearly everywhere, Walmart, Lowes, etc.

To test for lead particles this might be cost effective:
http://www.home-health-chemistry.com/Le ... ction.html
Sodium rhodizonate doesn't seem to be easily available currently so purchasing the test kit seems to be the only course of action.

I researched this some time back because I was curious about how much the range I was using at the time was contaminated.
I didn't follow through unfortunately.

Side note: a man I worked with back in the '90's was diagnosed with lead poisoning and it was traced to the water in the house he was renting (old lead pipes). He was actually absorbing the lead through his skin while showering. He moved.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:06 pm
by marca
I had a brand new LCP II that would fail to eject a fired case and then jam the next round up against the fired case. It was unable to get through a magazine without jamming. I tried several types of ammo with the same results. I called Ruger and they sent me a shipping label and I sent it back for repair. They turned it around in less than 2 weeks and the note said they replaced the barrel, slide, and some other stuff. Pretty much everything but the grip frame. It was still dirty from test firing when I received it. It has been perfect ever since.

I wouldn't mess with it. It is not right and Ruger should fix it. If you go messing with it, Ruger may not cover it under warranty. The return process was about as quick and painless as could be.

Re: Help diagnosing LCP II issue

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 11:25 am
by BadCrosshairDay
When shooting these small semiautos, do you have to squeeze your grip much harder than larger pistols?
AlanM wrote:There are lead in drinking water kits available nearly everywhere, Walmart, Lowes, etc.
I'll collect the particles next time and see if they're lead or not, thanks for the idea!
marca wrote: I wouldn't mess with it. It is not right and Ruger should fix it. If you go messing with it, Ruger may not cover it under warranty. The return process was about as quick and painless as could be
Thanks for the info on return process, that's the route I'd take. At this point I won't polish before sending back. Haven't decided whether to send it back or not yet because it's been working with carry ammo. Still need to look into the possible slide timing issue Mr. Glock mentioned.

I'll look for unexpected marks during cleaning later this week and do one more range session mid-late September with Hornady and a 3rd kind of fmj ammo before sending to Ruger. This is my smallest pistol and only 380, so I was expecting it to be ammo sensitive. If it continues to work problem-free with Hornady there may not be a problem with the pistol.