lcpII first impression

[Lloyd Smale]

got the gun Thursday. Picked up 5 boxes of ammo. 3 ball and 2 ww hp. Took it to the range. To much snow to fool around accuracy testing and to be honest accuracy testing a gun like that is about a waste of time anyway. I shot all 250 rounds through the gun. I didn't pull it apart and oil it. I shot it right out of the box. It fed and shot all 250 without a single hiccup so it runs well. The trigger is much better then my old lcps but is far from wonderful, not near as smooth or light as my wife's lc9. I was expecting a bit better trigger after reading all the praises on the new trigger but its still hard to shoot off hand while keep the sights aligned perfectly. Overall though for 250 bucks its pretty hard to beat. It came with a pocket holster which is nice but it is a cheap one and I would have much rather had them put two mags in the box instead of one. Ruger is about the only black pistol manufacture that only puts one mag in the box with a gun.

[Hickory]

An extra magazine would raise the price to $300.00

[winelover]

Kahr or Kel-tec doesn't give you but one magazine, either.

Winelover

[Lloyd Smale]

found two brand new lcp2 factory mags for 28 bucks for the pair shipped on ebay.
An extra magazine would raise the price to $300.00

[jmort]

I have two and find them to be perfect pocket pistols.

[Lloyd Smale]

I have two and find them to be perfect pocket pistols.
I wear Jeans and to me there still on the large side of a pocket pistol. I wish ruger would scale them back. Maybe wack 3/4-1" off the barrel and make it a 5 shot mag instead of a 6. Or even bring out a downsized version in 25acp (I know, go ahead and bash) But it is what it is and as is its one of the better choices on the market and a heck of a bang for the buck.

[winelover]

Five years ago, when I got my carry permit, I switched from jeans to Wrangler Riggs Pants.

http://www.denimexpress.com/riggs-jeans-106.html

Fabric tougher than denim, more color choices and pockets conducive to concealed carry.

In the warmer weather I go with Bass Pro Redhead Canvas Zip-off pants. Same deep pockets that swallows up the Mika pocket holster.

http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/redhead-canvas-zip-off-pants-for-men


Here in Arkansas, it isn't against the law to "print". Nonetheless, I like the cargo style pants because the that cargo big pocket hides the printing, if you carry using the standard pocket.

Winelover

[jmort]

I like jeans, but they have small pockets
Now all I wear is 5.11 Tactical Stryke Pants and Taclite Pants.
Incredible comfort and utility
I put on a pair of my All American Carpenter Jeans, made in the USA, the other day and it had been a while. I put my hand in the pocket and did not even attempt pocket carry. Pockets are way too small. They have the crotch gusset but so do the 5.11s. Not made in USA but great product. Also love their Taclite shirts and shorts. I like the cut of their jib so to speak.
I have been asked by a few times, where did you get the pants, shirts, shorts? Good for everthing, including casual business, travel, and work aroud the property, shopping, dinner, recreation, knocking around in the woods, fishing, hiking, walking, whatever. That, and pocket carry. If it is cold, they work fantastic with thermal underwear. And, again, they are great for pocket carry. Do yourself a favor. I let mine air dry, no wrinkles. They travel well rolled up in a back pack or suit case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068K4TL2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Lloyd Smale]

to poor to pay 65 bucks for a pair of jeans. Wranglers are high dollar to me. They are my dress pants.

[jmort]

The difference in both comfort and utility are well worth the $$$ for me.
I have no interest in selling anyone on anything, just sharing what I found to make my life better, and in this context, pocket carry in particular.
I drive a 97 Ford truck, so we all make buying decisions on our budget/resources and pick and choose.

[fecmech]

LLoyd--I owned a ruger lcp and a Keltec P3AT, sold the Ruger. IMO the Ruger is a little better made gun but my KT is 100% reliable and just enough smaller and 1 oz. lighter to make it better for me to pocket carry. I had a local shoemaker sew me up a little pocket holster out of very thin leather, rough side out. I carry it behind my wallet in the front pocket of my walmart wranglers. I won't win any quick draw contests but the gun is always with me.

[Lloyd Smale]

I looked at the kel-tec but the internet reviews on it were just to hit and miss. Maybe its worth a chance at buying one. I guess I can always trade it off if it doesn't run.

[Shuz]

Lloyd--Like fecmec, I too had a Ruger LCP (old model) and a Keltec P3AT, I've had no problems with the Keltec and I carry it wherever I go. I also have a Taurus TCP and it rides in a holster on my 4 wheeler. No problems with it either, and I like the "stays open after the last shot feature".The Ruger never gave me any problems, but I didn't like the heavy trigger pull. When a friend said he wanted an LCP for his wife, I sold it in a heartbeat. I'd like to try the new Taurus Spectrum, but I've yet to handle one.

[fecmech]

I got a little crazy with my KT in the beginning. I only had the Lee 120 tc bullet and did maybe a thousand of those till I got the Ranch Dog mold. I ran the RD's pretty hard (about 875 fps in that short barrel) and about the 1400 rd mark noticed a crack in the top of the slide. KT replaced the whole top end no charge. Since then I've backed off my practice rounds to a more sane level but still occasionally shoot and carry max loads. They are pretty snappy (but accurate!)little guns with the RD@900 fps!

[Lloyd Smale]

what are you using for your sane level 120 loads?
I got a little crazy with my KT in the beginning. I only had the Lee 120 tc bullet and did maybe a thousand of those till I got the Ranch Dog mold. I ran the RD's pretty hard (about 875 fps in that short barrel) and about the 1400 rd mark noticed a crack in the top of the slide. KT replaced the whole top end no charge. Since then I've backed off my practice rounds to a more sane level but still occasionally shoot and carry max loads. They are pretty snappy (but accurate!)little guns with the RD@900 fps!

[fecmech]

what are you using for your sane level 120 loads?
I quit using the 120's when I got the Ranch Dog mold. The Ranch Dogs I was pushing at the top end according to RD's published data. I've since backed the practice loads down to 2.8/BE with the RD bullet and occasional mags at max just to make sure everything still works. For the 120's I was using data from the Lyman 3rd CB handbook. The 120 RN they used had the same case capacity and bearing surface as the Lee 120. I was using 2.0/BE.

[jmort]

The 100 grain Ranch Dog design is a winner. Only one I will use.
I know of a fellow who has killed at least two hogs with it in a .380 ACP case.

[Lloyd Smale]

problem is its not available anymore.
The 100 grain Ranch Dog design is a winner. Only one I will use.
I know of a fellow who has killed at least two hogs with it in a .380 ACP case.

[jmort]

NOE has many in stock now
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=34_384

[Lloyd Smale]

don't know if I make sense or not with this thought but I wont be shooting thousand of cast bullets out of 380s so a 60 dollar lee 6cav will probably last my life and is a lot cheaper then the custom route. I actually have so 105 lees casted up to try and if they run in the gun I wont even bother with another mold. Ive got a 1000 rounds of brass and if I load that all up I probably will never need to load for it again.

[Ronald]

I'm waiting on the new Bond 9mm semi. Nothing smaller and has great reviews. Not cheap but very concealable.

[BD]

A good deal in concealed carry jeans are the Sam's Club house brand. Plenty of pocket and under $20 last time I bought them.

[Cary Gunn]

Gents,

I bought an LCP for my son not long after the pistol hit the market in the mid-2000's. It was the worst-shooting handgun I've ever handled. I couldn't hit squat with it, and neither could my son, who's a pretty fair pistoleer.

The little Ruger's trigger-pull was so heavy and long that, by the time the sear broke, the trigger was butting up against the rear of the trigger guard. No matter what we did, or how tightly we held the little devil, we couldn't keep the ****ed runt from dancing a jig when that heavy trigger finally broke. Bushel-basket sized groups at 15 yards weren't out of the question.

I gave up on the Ruger LCP, bought a Kahr CW380, and have lived happily ever after. The sweet little Kahr -- almost the same size and weight as the Ruger -- is an easy-to-shoot tack-driver in comparison with the LCP. We shoot the Kahr CW380 so well, it functions fine as a close-range pot-shooter, easily grouping its slugs in a circle the size of a rabbit's head at 15 yards.

I'm told that Ruger engineered two or three improvements on the LCP's trigger over the years of its production run, and I don't know how those later guns shot, but I do know the original version had a trigger so horrendously bad that we found it impossible to shoot well. I sure hope Ruger's new effort -- the LCPII -- is better than the old one, but I don't plan to personally test it. I'm very content with my easy-to-shoot Kahr CW380.

Happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --