The
Ruger LCP (lightweight compact pistol) comes chambered in .380ACP and sells for around $300, give or take a few bucks depending on location. But don't look for them on too many store shelves, apparently they are flying out of stock rooms as soon as they come in. Mine hadn't even been booked into inventory when I purchased it! They'd received 3 in the morning shipment, 2 were already spoken for and I snatched up the last one. Never had a sub 500 serial number on a piece before.
Obviously there's a comparison to KelTec's P3AT. There are a few notable differences. Mostly in dimensions, weight and quality of workmanship. KelTecs come out of the factory a little rough but with lots of character, machine marks are nothing uncommon on their products. The LCP, however, is a very finished product, inside and out.
You can see from the photos that the lines area a bit cleaner and the finish much more polished. It seems as if a real effort has been made to equip the frame with some ergonomic features, well, as much ergonomics as you can fit into a small package. Such as the lines behind the trigger for the thumb and index finger.
First most obvious difference is: the LCP comes with a manual (pseudo) slidelock. It will not lock the slide open after the last round, it's just for holding the slide open after you slide it into place with your thumb. It's a pretty nice feature to have on these little guns.
Another is how the barrel is slightly recessed. I don't recall my old KelTec sitting this far back. Maybe Ruger has spec'd out a slightly thicker face to the slide to solve some of the P3AT problems around the guide rod hole. Also, the guiderod has two recoil springs to the KelTec's one.
The ejector doesn't fall out of the LCP. It's set securely in the frame with that pseudo slidelock, sorry no pic of that area.
The extractor ... wow!! It is beefy & powerful by comparison to the P3AT's little limp flat metal spring. Take a look at what the LCP's claw did to this brass. Failures to eject were not a problem.
That's about the end of the obvious physical differences between the two; the extractor, recoil spring and Ruger's pseudo slidelock. I could cite weight and dimensional differences, but I'd just be repeating the specs Ruger already has on its site or you could read a professionals review
here .... so let's move on.
Speaking of brass, by the way, one of the first things I thought this piece could benefit from is an LCI (loaded chamber indicator). Always a good idea for a tactile way of checking for a round in the chamber. Look for that in the next gen maybe. Meanwhile, you can skip the press-check with the LCP and check for brass at a glance. But remember, treat every gun as though it were loaded!
The ramp on the LCP barrel seems longer. I have no data to prove that but it certainly looks it to me.
SHOOTING or where the rubber meets the road:
I used Magtech & American Eagle each in the 95 grain flavor. And, just for fun a few rounds of Federal's JHP low-recoil (if they say so...). Magtech won this competition hands down, still the best 380 auto ammo I've shot.
Trigger pull is supposed to be around 8#s according to Ruger. I don't have any device to measure but my guess is my LCP is at least a pound lighter than that, maybe a little more. Either way, the trigger pull is long with a nice consistent breaking point. You can short stroke the reset, which I demonstrated for myself today despite having read the warnings about how to avoid that.
I didn't try doing any real accuracy tests, so no shooting from rests or bags. I'm not that good a shot to begin with and what's the point, this is a pocket 380!! Overall, I'd say accuracy under 25 feet was good. Muzzle flip and "bite" of the snappy little round is what it is, but not as bad as I was expecting it to be.
Maybe I'm just in better shape for shooting, but it used to be that a 100 rounds with a Keltec and I was done for the day. By contrast, 100 rounds with the LCP today and I was no worse for wear. *shrugs* Maybe the extra 1.22 oz. in the LCP really does make a difference in absorbing the shock. Frankly, this is where the LCP really stands head & shoulders above the Keltec P3AT. It is much easier to shoot by being much easier on the hand.
So how did it go in it's first 100 rounds? Real good. Gradewise I'd give it a solid
B+
I did have 3 FTF malfunctions. The first two happened while I was shooting rapidly with strong-hand only. I switched back to two-handed grip, rapid fire and had one more FTF. Point of interest; all three FTFs happened on the next to last round from the mag. Hmmmm, this could be a sign of weak mag spring? Keep an eye on that.
Should I buy one?
If you have a Keltec you've worked with, buffed, polished and done whatever you need to make it right and you trust it, no reason to change and you probably won't anyway.
However, if you don't and are one of those who are looking at a nice little pocket pistol in 380 for warm weather carry, put the LCP at the top of a very short list, you won't be disappointed.
Bottomline:
The Ruger LCP is the next evolutionary step in little pocket 380s. Not the quantum leap advertising would have you believe, but it is a step in the right direction. It has excellent fit & finish, good price, backed by the Ruger name, quality construction and much nicer to shoot than comparable guns in its class.
Conclusion:
Ruger finally has a winner on their hands with this "Little Cool Pistol".
UPDATE: Last Saturday I visited a friend in Cincy, stopped by Target World to pop off a few. He's new to guns but I let him try my LCP. Even in the hands of a novice, 50 rounds went flawlessly through my little Ruger LCP. It just keeps getting better and better.
Edit: spelling
, here it is a little closer with some points of reference
