9mm LCR? What are the chances?

Never say never, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

minutemen1776 said:

I'd also prefer something a little more powerful than .38 Special without getting into .357 Magnum territory.

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Current .38 Special +P ammo is plenty powerful and I don't feel the 9mm gains anything when fired from a short barrel revolver when compared to being fired from a pistol.

ArchAngelCD said:

Current .38 Special +P ammo is plenty powerful and I don't feel the 9mm gains anything when fired from a short barrel revolver when compared to being fired from a pistol.

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If you count 200+ feet per second as "not gaining anything" then you'd be correct.

Besides getting to use cheap cheap practice ammo, moon clips and picking up TONS of free brass having a 9mm revolver lets you far outstrip what 38 can do from a snubby with only a fraction of the blast you get from a 2" 357 mag.

In other words with its 35k psi pressure rating 9x19 is actually better suited to a short barrelled revolver than 38 is.

Now if you'd like to respond I welcome the discussion. BUT JUST ONCE I would like do have this discussion without linking to or referencing Buffalo bore's factory overloads.

If ruger came out with a 9mm lcr I would buy one the NEXT DAY to replace my Taurus 905. Not because the Taurus has been unsatisfactory but rather because the cartridge platform combination has been so full of WIN!

Pricey at 699 at my local gun store The Kimber Solo is an alternative that keeps calling my name.

I could see somebody like Ruger making a 9mm. LCR. They definitely seem to be on the upswing with new products.

LCR in .327 federal would be cool too!!

If you count 200+ feet per second as "not gaining anything" then you'd be correct

Do you have a link to a actual side by side test between the 9mm and 38+P LCR?

I believe the information is inflating the velocity differences between the two calibers. If your data is correct then it would certainly something to consider.

Can you just have an LCR cylinder scalloped to take moon clips and shoot 9mm through it?

Girodin said:

Never say never, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

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This would be my answer too.

The 1911 Ruger was vaporware for years and they finally did it.

I agree about all of the advantages listed above for the 9x19 vs. 38 Special. I own a 9mm revolver. When it comes to snub nose revolvers I think the 9x19 is a great round to have them chambered in. It is too bad there is not a gun that takes advantage of the shorter case by having a shorter cylinder and frame (like the taurus 380 revolver does with that round).

However, since getting my Kahr CM9 my 9mm wheel gun doesn't have much of a role. The CM9 is smaller than the J frame, holds 7 rounds vs 5 for the J, has much less felt recoil (and my gun is a 940 not an airweight. My 940 with standard 115 grain ammo feels like my LCR with +p), and I shoot the Kahr much better. On paper one would say the J frame is more reliable. In practice, the CM9 is yet to have an issue and I have had to sort out a couple of problems with the J frame (I can attempt to describe them but I would need to look at a schematic to make sure I use correct nomenclature), which I bought second hand. I believe the J frame will now be fine. The CM9 is also less expensive. In sum, as a carry gun at this point I have to give the nod to the CM9 over either my 9x19 J frame or my LCR.

Do you have a link to a actual side by side test between the 9mm and 38+P LCR?

I believe the information is inflating the velocity differences between the two calibers. If your data is correct then it would certainly something to consider.

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I've chronoed my LCR against my 904 before. I cannot recall the exact differences off the top of my head. The advantage was to the 9x19 I'd like to do another round with a wider range of ammo. I'd also like to include a snub .357 (but all mine have 3" or longer barrels).

124g +p gold dots move out of my 2" Taurus at 1160 fps

Non +p about 100 fps slower

This I great deal faster than even +p 38 from the same length barrel of wich there's a plethora of chrony reports that all one needs do is search for. Most 2" 38 loads for a bullet this weight run in the high to mid 800fps range

http://www.snubnose.info/docs/snubby_ballistics.htm

Charter 9 Pitbull

http://charterfirearms.com/products/Charter_Pitbull_79920.asp

Has anyone used a Charter 9mm and can report on it?

HiCap

If they did not make the LCR in their own caliber, .327, I don't see them making it in 9mm.
Their previous efforts in 9mm Speed Six and SP101 have not sold well.

Whatever float your boat. Personally I'd be interested in .22WMR.

That's just me though.

The liittle 9mm does quite qell from a short barrel revolver. Several decades ago Widley Clapp tested the new s & w 940 against the sp101, both in 9mm. The highest recorded vecocity was from corbon's 115+P at a screaming 1247 fps. Not bad. I bought some of that ammo and it was way too hot loaded for me.

Very low at best, IMO. Every time a maker produces the 9mm revolver that everyone says they want, no one buys them.

The Lone Haranguer said:

Very low at best, IMO. Every time a maker produces the 9mm revolver that everyone says they want, no one buys them.

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True but ruger lately seems to be on a big kick of offering tried n true models in unique variations (al la Taurus)

When you get right down to it a 9mm lcr is just a 357 lcr with a different reamer used on the cylinder and a package of moon clips tossed in the box

For the OP, an option might be an LCR in 357 coupled with reduced/tactical 357 loads. The secret to the 9's performance in snubs is the pressure level it runs at. The 9's pressure falls between the 38 and 357. The reduced loadings of the 357 give you the same performance as the 9 would.
If you really must have a 9MM, you could rechamber an LCR to it. There is a poster here on THR that did this with a S&W snub nose. I believe he had it rechambered to 9X23, which allows him to also fire 9MM in it.

Chuck Perry said:

For the OP, an option might be an LCR in 357 coupled with reduced/tactical 357 loads. The secret to the 9's performance in snubs is the pressure level it runs at. The 9's pressure falls between the 38 and 357. The reduced loadings of the 357 give you the same performance as the 9 would.
If you really must have a 9MM, you could rechamber an LCR to it. There is a poster here on THR that did this with a S&W snub nose. I believe he had it rechambered to 9X23, which allows him to also fire 9MM in it.

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9mm operates at the same 35k psi as 357 magnum. +p operates at 38k!!

357 mag is actually between 9mm and 38 in terms of pressure if one were to include +p

Interesting, thought it was the other way around. But looking at SAAMI specs I see you are right. So, other than cheap 9mm ammo and the cool factor of moon clips, what is to gain from a 9mm revolver over a 357? If both are running about the same pressure, and pushing near identical bullets to near identical velocities, surely the blast and recoil are near identical as well? I've fired plenty of snub 357's but never a 9mm so I can't comment from direct experience. But it would seem to me there's no free lunch here.

That's what suprised me the most when I started shooting my 9mm re olver. The blast and recoil is nowhere near what it tends to be with full house 357's


Propellant burn rates and quantities are most likely determining factors