Eleanor416Rigby
Member
Enhanced interrogation = not quite torture, but some may consider it abuse.
BACKGROUND:
I carried a Springfield XD-9 subcompact for a few years, but it was not a convenient EDC option for me because of the thickness and weight combined with my clothing. Texas summer is long, and in winter I rarely wear more than a long-sleeve shirt. I wanted to maximize comfort, even at the expense of caliber and shot capacity. Also, open carry is not legal in my workplace and many coworkers are firearm phobic. The only “external safety” I want on an EDC pistol is the holster. These considerations led me to the LCP II. Below I review it in several categories in descending order of how important they are to my situation. I’m not a fanboy of Ruger or of anything; I try to be objective about evaluating how the tool meets my subjective needs. The categories in order are: Comfort, Concealability, Reliability, Draw, Accuracy, Trigger, Recoil, & Finish.
ENHANCED INTERROGATION TEST:
I took it to the range right out of the box. Then, I pocket carried it for about three months of summer. I got it wet a few times, but not submerged. I got it damp with sweat several times by riding my bicycle with it or hiking. I put it into my wet pocket after swimming. I left it in my pocket all the time collecting a bunch of lint in the little empty space where you would expect a tactile striker condition indicator. I never cleaned it.
COMFORT: A+
I can’t count how many times I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa with it in the pocket holster that came with it. I’m not a heavy sleeper; rather, I tend toward insomnia. Most of the time, I can’t feel it’s there. I hope I don’t get into trouble by forgetting that I have it on me. It is a lot more comfortable than the XD-9 subcompact was.
CONCEALABILITY: A
My swim shorts have pockets. I carry in those with no problem. Khakis and slacks at work: no problem. I do print a little bit if I have my foot up so my leg is 90 degrees. It prints an angular shape, but not an obvious gun shape.
RELIABILITY: A
First trip to the range with it fresh out of the box, I had an early stovepipe. I think it was because the slide hit my support hand. After that, I went through a hundred rounds of 94 gr. FMJ without any failure. I never shot any HP or other ammo.
Second trip to the range after months of mild neglect, I drew it, lint and all, straight from my pocket and it fired the whole session without any failures. I didn’t count the rounds, but I went through several magazine changes. All was the same FMJ. That’s all I want from my EDC: to forget about it most of the time and then have it function when I finally draw it.
DRAW: A- (Reaching into the pocket to find the grip is a little slow; every pocket is different.)
The pocket holster that came with it works. It’s thin, so it doesn’t add much bulk to my pocket. (It can print a little.) The design is simple but effective. If I grab the pistol, the pistol comes out of my pocket and the holster stays in. If I grab the holster, I can take the pistol out still holstered. If for some reason, I grabbed the pistol but it came out with the holster still on, a flick of the trigger finger will discard the holster. It works as it should.
ACCURACY: What accuracy? .
Somewhat heavy trigger, plus short sight radius equals be sure you’re close.
It’s a pocket mouse gun for self defense. In my mind, mouse-gun self-defense shooting is not a long-range gun fight. It’s just outside hand-to-hand combat distance. I’ve only shot it at 21 feet. First time at the range, both my 90 lb noodle-armed kid and I put everything on the torso with plenty of room to spare. That’s good enough for my purposes. Second time at the range, my first shot hit the little 1.5 inch circle in the middle of the paper. It startled me. I actually stopped and looked at the little .380 as if to find something broken. I was confused. There is no reason for me to be a good shot with a pistol, especially this one. I’ve been a rifle guy all my life. I don’t even enjoy pistol shooting or any paper target range shooting.
The rest of the session, shots hit in or very near that little circle. My all-day group was about the size of a plump ruby red grapefruit + two flyers. I’m blaming the wind. Texas is about to absorb a hurricane. That should have been another all-in-the-torso-and-that’s-good-enough group, especially since half the magazines were shot fast. (Interestingly enough, the flyers happened with slower, aimed fire.)
TRIGGER: B
It’s a little heavy. But it’s not bad at all compared to other double-action or striker-fired weapons. I noticed it more right after shooting my Blackhawk. Heavy trigger is what I get for not wanting to train myself to draw and click off the safety. I’ll take it. The worst trigger I’ve squeezed was on a friend’s Smith & Wesson Sigma; it’s not nearly that bad. It’s not quite as good as I remember the XD-9, but it’s fine for a defensive pistol. I never felt like it was hindering me.
RECOIL: B+
I reckon you could shoot .380 through a soda straw. My dominant hand has some lingering deep nerve damage from a recent dog bite right into my wrist joint. There wasn’t enough recoil to aggravate my wrist. Back when I got the XD-9 subcompact, several people told me it was too small for 9 MM and the recoil would be unbearable. I didn’t experience that at all. My two 60 and 70-pound noodle-armed kids didn’t seem to mind the XD-9 either. Likewise, the LCP II doesn’t have much noticeable recoil. It’s a quick little snap, but not bothersome. Some folks advocate putting some puffy tape on the grip.
FINISH: C
As expected, my sweat caused some surface rusting straight away, especially on the mag release button and other high points. Thanks to an old timer on here, I was ready with the Johnson’s Paste Wax. Problem solved. I hastily wiped some on, rubbed it in, and holstered it a little sloppy. No more rust appeared during the rest of the enhanced interrogation.
Edited to add:
DISASSEMBLY AND CLEANING: Disassembly is a little pain. You have to push the slide back just a couple millimeters and simultaneously pull a small flat retention pin out. It's hard to get a grip on that pin without scratching the finish. It's hard to get it aligned just right because there is no clear indication of how far, except for when the pin comes out. (At least getting it back in is easier because you can see the hole line up.) One time, I had it fly out and fortunately, it hit a window so that I had an auditory indication of where it went. I do not like this at all. If I wanted to shoot this gun a lot, requiring frequent disassembly and cleaning, I would probably get aggravated long before I got good at it. I found a perfect tool for pulling out the pin without scratching the finish: a hole punch. Actually, the hollow handle of the hole punch has a rounded contour that allows you to get behind the little head on the retention pin and pry it without scratching the slide.
Bottom line: Keeper.
BACKGROUND:
I carried a Springfield XD-9 subcompact for a few years, but it was not a convenient EDC option for me because of the thickness and weight combined with my clothing. Texas summer is long, and in winter I rarely wear more than a long-sleeve shirt. I wanted to maximize comfort, even at the expense of caliber and shot capacity. Also, open carry is not legal in my workplace and many coworkers are firearm phobic. The only “external safety” I want on an EDC pistol is the holster. These considerations led me to the LCP II. Below I review it in several categories in descending order of how important they are to my situation. I’m not a fanboy of Ruger or of anything; I try to be objective about evaluating how the tool meets my subjective needs. The categories in order are: Comfort, Concealability, Reliability, Draw, Accuracy, Trigger, Recoil, & Finish.
ENHANCED INTERROGATION TEST:
I took it to the range right out of the box. Then, I pocket carried it for about three months of summer. I got it wet a few times, but not submerged. I got it damp with sweat several times by riding my bicycle with it or hiking. I put it into my wet pocket after swimming. I left it in my pocket all the time collecting a bunch of lint in the little empty space where you would expect a tactile striker condition indicator. I never cleaned it.
COMFORT: A+
I can’t count how many times I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa with it in the pocket holster that came with it. I’m not a heavy sleeper; rather, I tend toward insomnia. Most of the time, I can’t feel it’s there. I hope I don’t get into trouble by forgetting that I have it on me. It is a lot more comfortable than the XD-9 subcompact was.
CONCEALABILITY: A
My swim shorts have pockets. I carry in those with no problem. Khakis and slacks at work: no problem. I do print a little bit if I have my foot up so my leg is 90 degrees. It prints an angular shape, but not an obvious gun shape.
RELIABILITY: A
First trip to the range with it fresh out of the box, I had an early stovepipe. I think it was because the slide hit my support hand. After that, I went through a hundred rounds of 94 gr. FMJ without any failure. I never shot any HP or other ammo.
Second trip to the range after months of mild neglect, I drew it, lint and all, straight from my pocket and it fired the whole session without any failures. I didn’t count the rounds, but I went through several magazine changes. All was the same FMJ. That’s all I want from my EDC: to forget about it most of the time and then have it function when I finally draw it.
DRAW: A- (Reaching into the pocket to find the grip is a little slow; every pocket is different.)
The pocket holster that came with it works. It’s thin, so it doesn’t add much bulk to my pocket. (It can print a little.) The design is simple but effective. If I grab the pistol, the pistol comes out of my pocket and the holster stays in. If I grab the holster, I can take the pistol out still holstered. If for some reason, I grabbed the pistol but it came out with the holster still on, a flick of the trigger finger will discard the holster. It works as it should.
ACCURACY: What accuracy? .
Somewhat heavy trigger, plus short sight radius equals be sure you’re close.
It’s a pocket mouse gun for self defense. In my mind, mouse-gun self-defense shooting is not a long-range gun fight. It’s just outside hand-to-hand combat distance. I’ve only shot it at 21 feet. First time at the range, both my 90 lb noodle-armed kid and I put everything on the torso with plenty of room to spare. That’s good enough for my purposes. Second time at the range, my first shot hit the little 1.5 inch circle in the middle of the paper. It startled me. I actually stopped and looked at the little .380 as if to find something broken. I was confused. There is no reason for me to be a good shot with a pistol, especially this one. I’ve been a rifle guy all my life. I don’t even enjoy pistol shooting or any paper target range shooting.
The rest of the session, shots hit in or very near that little circle. My all-day group was about the size of a plump ruby red grapefruit + two flyers. I’m blaming the wind. Texas is about to absorb a hurricane. That should have been another all-in-the-torso-and-that’s-good-enough group, especially since half the magazines were shot fast. (Interestingly enough, the flyers happened with slower, aimed fire.)
TRIGGER: B
It’s a little heavy. But it’s not bad at all compared to other double-action or striker-fired weapons. I noticed it more right after shooting my Blackhawk. Heavy trigger is what I get for not wanting to train myself to draw and click off the safety. I’ll take it. The worst trigger I’ve squeezed was on a friend’s Smith & Wesson Sigma; it’s not nearly that bad. It’s not quite as good as I remember the XD-9, but it’s fine for a defensive pistol. I never felt like it was hindering me.
RECOIL: B+
I reckon you could shoot .380 through a soda straw. My dominant hand has some lingering deep nerve damage from a recent dog bite right into my wrist joint. There wasn’t enough recoil to aggravate my wrist. Back when I got the XD-9 subcompact, several people told me it was too small for 9 MM and the recoil would be unbearable. I didn’t experience that at all. My two 60 and 70-pound noodle-armed kids didn’t seem to mind the XD-9 either. Likewise, the LCP II doesn’t have much noticeable recoil. It’s a quick little snap, but not bothersome. Some folks advocate putting some puffy tape on the grip.
FINISH: C
As expected, my sweat caused some surface rusting straight away, especially on the mag release button and other high points. Thanks to an old timer on here, I was ready with the Johnson’s Paste Wax. Problem solved. I hastily wiped some on, rubbed it in, and holstered it a little sloppy. No more rust appeared during the rest of the enhanced interrogation.
Edited to add:
DISASSEMBLY AND CLEANING: Disassembly is a little pain. You have to push the slide back just a couple millimeters and simultaneously pull a small flat retention pin out. It's hard to get a grip on that pin without scratching the finish. It's hard to get it aligned just right because there is no clear indication of how far, except for when the pin comes out. (At least getting it back in is easier because you can see the hole line up.) One time, I had it fly out and fortunately, it hit a window so that I had an auditory indication of where it went. I do not like this at all. If I wanted to shoot this gun a lot, requiring frequent disassembly and cleaning, I would probably get aggravated long before I got good at it. I found a perfect tool for pulling out the pin without scratching the finish: a hole punch. Actually, the hollow handle of the hole punch has a rounded contour that allows you to get behind the little head on the retention pin and pry it without scratching the slide.
Bottom line: Keeper.
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