LCP2 Failure to Extract

[cloudsrest]

I have a fairly new LCP II that has been having failure to extract issues, about once per magazine at first with Freedom Munitions. I initially contacted Ruger and they had me send it in. They were quick to work on it and I already have it back with a new barrel and slide, but it’s still having extraction issues with most ammo. Armscore is the worst and fails almost every round.

The one round it does not have any issues with is Sig Sauer V-Crown JHP in nickel plated casings. This ammo is obviously more slick/easier to extract, but I also noticed that it doesn’t deform nearly as much after being fired. I can drop a spent Sig casing into the chamber and twist it 360 degrees with my finger nail. The spent brass casings (Blazer, Armscore, Freedom Munitions) all stick pretty badly in the chamber if I twirl them. The unfired rounds do not. I don’t know if the case deformation happens from firing or from jamming when it fails to extract.

Instead of sending it back again, I’d like to pick your brains on how to resolve this: Should I polish the chamber? Somehow stiffen the extractor spring? Any other ideas? I don’t see anything physically wrong with it, but some of the spent casings really stick in the chamber when I drop them back in.

Another thought: what if I put in a stiffer recoil spring? I know this seems counterintuitive, but if I slow down the slide then maybe the extractor won’t slip off the case as easily?

 

[murf]

get a magnifying glass and a flashlight and look at the inside of the extractor. there may be a bit of metal from the sprue that can keep the case from extracting (like mine did). i took a file and took the sprue down to flush.

luck,

murf

 

[WheelGunMan]

I have a new LCP with the same problem. Out of the first 80 rounds around 20 have failed to extract properly. I've noticed that the heel of the spent casing is catching on the lip of the subsequent casing awaiting loading. As it catches on it it deforms the the unfired case. Not sure if the extractor is putting undue downward pressure on the spent round or not. I've contacted Ruger and am sending it back to them in hope all of a remedy. I did look at the extractor with a magnifying glass and could not see any formation as described by @murf

 

[murf]

you can also take apart the gun and see if a case will easily slide up into the slide (push the case up past the extractor). the case rim would catch on the extractor on my gun.

luck,

murf

 

[JTQ]

The spent brass casings (Blazer, Armscore, Freedom Munitions) all stick pretty badly in the chamber if I twirl them. The unfired rounds do not. I don’t know if the case deformation happens from firing or from jamming when it fails to extract.

That is by design. Cases expand when the round fires, which allows the case to seal the chamber, and allow the gases to push the bullet out the barrel.

Do you clean your gun with brake cleaner or Gun Scrubber?

After cleaning, do you re-lube your barrel?

 

[JTQ]

Another possibility, especially with these small guns, is your hand interfering with the slide and causing the problem.

 

[WheelGunMan]

U P S picked it up this afternoon. It's on its way back to the mother ship. I'm hopeful that I'll have it back next week and will be shooting the shot out of it.

 

[cloudsrest]

I swapped recoil springs, will test again this weekend. There’s no visible defects/deformities on the extractor.

The gun has never been cleaned, it’s brand spanking new. If it still doesn’t extract I’m sending it back in.

 

[Homerboy]

I’ve been shooting for nearly 30 years. I have never given a thought to brand of ammo or reliability. Cheapest crap to most expensive carry ammo, it all went bang. 98% of what I have shot over the last 8 years has been my reloads, and other than the occasional light strike due to slightly high primers in .38 ammo, they all fed, fired, and extracted perfectly. I have a S&W Bodyguard .380 that has fired probably 400 rounds of my reloads. Random range brass, too. No issues.

 

[Homerboy]

I swapped recoil springs, will test again this weekend. There’s no visible defects/deformities on the extractor.

The gun has never been cleaned, it’s brand spanking new. If it still doesn’t extract I’m sending it back in.

the gun has never been cleaned? How is is still new if you’ve been shooting it and experiencing problems?

 

[LeftyRed]

I’ve been shooting for nearly 30 years. I have never given a thought to brand of ammo or reliability. Cheapest crap to most expensive carry ammo, it all went bang. 98% of what I have shot over the last 8 years has been my reloads, and other than the occasional light strike due to slightly high primers in .38 ammo, they all fed, fired, and extracted perfectly. I have a S&W Bodyguard .380 that has fired probably 400 rounds of my reloads. Random range brass, too. No issues.

After having several issues with four LCPIIs over the years, I find the M&P BG is my go to pocket 380. Just can’t beat them.

 

[JTQ]

The gun has never been cleaned, it’s brand spanking new.

Perhaps there is some packing grease or other debris in the chamber, or elsewhere on the gun that is causing the sticking or slowing the slide speed and preventing extraction.

 

[cloudsrest]

the gun has never been cleaned? How is is still new if you’ve been shooting it and experiencing problems?

It’s been failing to extract since the first round. I’m not shooting it for fun, it has maybe 50 rounds through it just from trying to get it to work right. It’s never been set down anywhere dirty. Does the LCP really require cleaning that often? If it’s something that needs to be field stripped and cleaned halfway through a firefight then it’s going up for sale. I’ve put hundreds of rounds through my Sigs without a single failure, they just get a barrel swab and a drop of oil every so often.

 

[JTQ]

The gun has never been cleaned, it’s brand spanking new.

It’s been failing to extract since the first round. I’m not shooting it for fun, it has maybe 50 rounds through it just from trying to get it to work right. It’s never been set down anywhere dirty.

Does the LCP really require cleaning that often? If it’s something that needs to be field stripped and cleaned halfway through a firefight then it’s going up for sale.

It can probably go several hundred rounds or a couple of thousand rounds between cleanings, but it would probably be worthwhile to at least clean and lube it once, just to rule that out as a possible problem.

Guns are often shipped with packing grease or other anti-corrosive coating to keep them from rusting during shipment or when sitting in a warehouse for months. This could be in your chamber and be the cause of the sticking, or on the rails or elsewhere that could cause the slide to cycle slowly enough to cause your ejection problems.

I'm not a big "clean your gun before you shoot it" proponent, though I am somebody that thinks you should probably lube it before you shoot. However, before shipping it back to the manufacturer, I'd at least take care of the simple stuff that I can control. Cleaning and lubrication are simple things I can do that may fix the problem, but if they don't, at least they'd be ruled out as the cause of the problem.

 

[cloudsrest]

It can probably go several hundred rounds or a couple of thousand rounds between cleanings, but it would probably be worthwhile to at least clean and lube it once, just to rule that out as a possible problem.

Guns are often shipped with packing grease or other anti-corrosive coating to keep them from rusting during shipment or when sitting in a warehouse for months. This could be in your chamber and be the cause of the sticking, or on the rails or elsewhere that could cause the slide to cycle slowly enough to cause your ejection problems.

I'm not a big "clean your gun before you shoot it" proponent, though I am somebody that thinks you should probably lube it before you shoot. However, before shipping it back to the manufacturer, I'd at least take care of the simple stuff that I can control. Cleaning and lubrication are simple things I can do that may fix the problem, but if they don't, at least they'd be ruled out as the cause of the problem.

There’s no grease or anything jamming it up. I’ve taken it apart and put it back together several times, the barrel has been cleaned and the entire thing has been oiled. I’m not much of a recreational shooter but I’m pretty dang handy, and I’ve never come across anything that I couldn’t fix (if it’s part of a modern car or 4x4 odds are that I’ve fixed it).

I honestly just don’t see anything visibly damaged or gunked up, but the rounds in the magazine do sit high enough to look like they could block extraction, at least in my mind. I can tell the tolerances aren’t great, just by twirling some 2000 grit sand paper in the chamber I can see pronounced high spots and high surface roughness.

The talk of “precision casting” with minimal machining on forums is making me nervous tbh. I’m not trying to diss Ruger, so far they have the best customer service I’ve ever encountered in any industry, but something just isn’t right with this little pistol.

 

[JTQ]

...the barrel has been cleaned and the entire thing has been oiled.

You can check that off the possible reasons for your problems then.

 

[Homerboy]

It’s been failing to extract since the first round. I’m not shooting it for fun, it has maybe 50 rounds through it just from trying to get it to work right. It’s never been set down anywhere dirty. Does the LCP really require cleaning that often? If it’s something that needs to be field stripped and cleaned halfway through a firefight then it’s going up for sale. I’ve put hundreds of rounds through my Sigs without a single failure, they just get a barrel swab and a drop of oil every so often.

I’m just saying I’ve never shot a newly acquired gun, new or used, without a thorough cleaning and oiling. Eliminates the possibility of malfunctions due to lack of maintenance. I’d clean the gun top to bottom. Use non chlorinated brake cleaner on the slide and under the extractor, followed up with compressed air and a proper lube. Then I’d hose down the inside of the frame with polymer safe gun scrubber, followed by a wipe and proper lube. I’d take the mags apart and clean them, too.

Then I’d shoot it. If it continued to malfunction I’d send it back to Ruger for one more attempt. If it happens again they’d be replacing it.

 

[WheelGunMan]

It’s been failing to extract since the first round. I’m not shooting it for fun, it has maybe 50 rounds through it just from trying to get it to work right. It’s never been set down anywhere dirty. Does the LCP really require cleaning that often? If it’s something that needs to be field stripped and cleaned halfway through a firefight then it’s going up for sale. I’ve put hundreds of rounds through my Sigs without a single failure, they just get a barrel swab and a drop of oil every so often.

My guess is that it boils down to tight clearances on a tiny gun. Ruger has built what, maybe a hundred thousand of the LCP's? One would think it would be down to an absolute science by now. But here we are 2 recent LCP's having the exact same problem. With high production rates comes a myriad of quality problems. Hopefully a single return trip will correct it.

 

[Snakeass]

Mine blew out the extractor after 74 rds. Sent back to Ruger easy to deal with customer service. They replaced the whole top end. Got it back and made it to round 48. Bam extractor went flying out again. Guess I'll send it back again. I really want to like this gun but I can't trust it.

 

[gbw]

I’ve had 2 .380 LCPs, both unreliable, fail to extract and/or eject. Both went back to Ruger and both got new slides, one a new barrel also. It did not help and I’ve given up on them, sad I really wanted to like them.

Kel-Tec .380s much more reliable ime. Their .32s and PF9s also btw.

Oddly to me, Ruger’s excellent LCPII .22s are by far the most reliable small .22s I’ve ever fired, go figure.