Need some advide..Ruger LCP issue

[bambam1723]

Today I took my LCP to the range to run some rounds through it.

Some background:
I got the LCP in the summer and immediately ran about 20-30 rounds through it. During that seesion I had one stove pipe. That concerned me a little.

So today I wanted to give it a chance to redeem itself at the range. The ammo I shot the first time was PMC and I was hoping the problem was just the ammo. Today I shot the rest of the PMC and then ran some Winchester Wincleans through it. All in all I ran about 70 rounds through it today.

During today's session I had 2 Failure to Ejects...in 70 rounds. (Not just a simple "tap rack fire" would clear it. I had to drop the mag to get the round out, not something you can do in the midst of a fire fight). That seems unacceptable to me. I mean this is my concealed weapon that I count on to protect my family.

Is this just a problem that may work itself out?
Does it need broke in further?
Is there anything I can do?

I have never had a gun have this many problems in only 100 rounds. What do you guys think? What would you do?

Thanks Guys, this is really bothering me.

 

[TimeIsRunninOut]

You are supposed to run 200 rounds to work out the issues in these small guns. My KT was flawless during and after the 200 round break-in

 

[chihuahuatn]

Try here at the LCP forum

http://elsiepeaforum.com/forum/index.php?board=6.0

MIke

 

[bambam1723]

You are supposed to run 200 rounds to work out the issues in these small guns. My KT was flawless during and after the 200 round break-in

Then will these problems just go away after 200 rounds?

 

[FloridaSon]

polish the throat - instructions on LCP forum. Worked for me

 

[okespe04]

Run a bunch more ammo through it, clean it really well, run another 100 - 200 through it then clean it again, rinse, repeat. The LCP is a great little gun but is does need to break in. I had 2 stove pipes in the first 200 rounds, and have since put another 1000+ with out a single hiccup.

 

[XDShooter07]

Take it to a gunsmith and have them polish the feed ramp, throat the barrel, and check the extractor/ejector. Then make sure you keep that bad boy clean. The little guns like this are pretty finicky because they are so tiny. Do the above then run about 500 rounds through it as a confidence booster. I'd also recommend about 50 rounds of whatever ammo you'll be carrying in it just to make sure there are no issues with that specific round.

I have an LCP that I like quite well. I've put about 100 rounds through it now with no issues. I don't carry it yet though because I still don't trust it yet. These little guns like this have a lot to prove to me first just because of the track record of small guns.

It would be nice if .380 ACP was a little more in supply (although it's getting better) and a little cheaper, ($60 for 100 rounds at Gander Mtn. the other day). It would make running these guns a little easier to swallow and stay proficient with.

Oh yeah, if you still don't think you can trust it. Then ditch it. Confidence in your gun is everything in a carry weapon. Confidence is why I have my J-Frame. The LCP will be a BUG or I'm half naked carry weapon. Whenever I can get away with the J-Frame it will be on me instead.

 

[tkopp]

Take the slide pin out and pull the slide off. Look at the underside of the slide, and pull out the main spring.

That's it. That's all you have. If your grip isn't tight, if your wrist breaks, that sad little spring won't do its job. You have to let that tiny, hard pistol beat up your thumb. If the slide hangs on a burr, same deal. Failure to feed. You chose a tiny pistol in a novel design at a bargain price. You have to pay for that somewhere. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

That said, if you perform the maintenance prescribed above and run a few hundred rounds through it, it'll clean up. Those rounds are half to polish the slide and half to train you to hold that sucker tight. If you get blisters like I did, a hogue handy grip cut to fit works wonders at cutting the pain from the equation. I had to wrap my handle in tape (used cloth medical tape) to bulk it out enough so that the grip didn't fall off. Came out no wider than the slide+pocket holster, so I'm happy.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Choice of ammo certainly has something to do with it.

I have an LCP and, in reading this, it tells me I should shoot mine more. I probably have about 100 rounds through it and I believe one time the slide didn't close all the way until I pushed it.

I am in the process of loading about 1,000 92g Meister lead round nose bullets as I really want to get out and get good with this thing and know that it's reliable, however I refuse to use my factory loads (I have about 900 rounds of various stuff) while the .380 Auto ammo market is the way it is.

Hopefully, things will come back to normal so we can afford to buy lots of ammo to shoot a lot and get the "kinks" worked out.

 

[bambam1723]

Thanks guys

I feel better and see I just need to break it in much longer.

As far as the confidence factor, maybe it's time to put it in the safe until she's broke in and just keep my J-frame with me again.

 

[oldgoat46]

The LCP doesn't seem to like hollow points. Especially the cheap stuf by wolf and the like. I practice with hard cast solid reloads and I carry it loaded with hardcast buffalo bore. No feeding problems but I notice unless I clean it regularly (shooting or not) the slide is very sluggish and doesn't function well. I have to admit I do not trust the gun. I have stopped carrying the LCP in favor of a SIG P238 or my small Kahr.

 

[Vitesse304]

send it back to Ruger!

They have a great warranty policy. Just call and tell them you've had issues with your LCP and they will send you a shipping label.

I've also heard that if you polish the feed ramp yourself, Ruger won't warranty the gun after that...so send it to Ruger to get done!

 

[rcmodel]

Can't speak for the LCP, but the Kel-Tec P3AT they copied is very dependent of good lubrication.

Grease on the slide rails, barrel cam, and locking surface of the barrels chamber area will go far to promote good functioning during break-in.

Outers Gun-Slick graphite grease works especially well.

You have to keep in mind that these tiny guns put more load & friction on the short little slide rails then any larger gun you may have experienced in the past.
Light oil, or lubricants with a low film strength will get squeezed out of the way and can't do their job.

rc

 

[archigos]

If you follow the advice here and still have problems, don't hesitate to contact Ruger. I had a number of problems with mine (mostly FTLs) and told them about it when I sent it in for the recall. It came back with all the problems fixed. Its now my primary carry piece (that is, until my IWB holster for my M&P comes in) and I'm very happy to have it.

 

[wally]

Its feeding the rounds fine, the problem is ejection, don't mess with the ramp!

If the problem persists send it back to Ruger, they will likely make it right.

My LCP ran a box of Wolf steel cased ammo 100% out of the box, something my P3AT has never been able to do despite a lot of monkeying around with free replacement parts from Kel-Kec. My P3AT is reliable with all brass cased ammo I've ever tried, just can't handle any of the steel cased stuff. I was thrilled my LCP could shoot the Wolf I have on hand, given how hard .380 ammo is to find these days.

--wally.

 

[texas bulldog]

i disagree on the break-in. none of my autos (not that many, granted) needed a break-in to function properly, including my LCP. i have no interest in guns that don't work out of the box, but maybe that's just me. i would contact ruger.

of course this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[SwampWolf]

i disagree on the break-in. none of my autos (not that many, granted) needed a break-in to function properly, including my LCP. i have no interest in guns that don't work out of the box, but maybe that's just me.

And me too.

 

[CZguy]

i disagree on the break-in. none of my autos (not that many, granted) needed a break-in to function properly, including my LCP. i have no interest in guns that don't work out of the box, but maybe that's just me.

But not me.

To me any piece of machinery needs to wear in the moving parts in order to function properly. To put it another way, if I bought a brand new pistol, and it functioned flawlessly, I wouldn't trust it for carry until I had fired around 200 rounds through it. For me to trust my life to something I need to see it's function demonstrated.

 

[OldMac]

I have run several boxes of various ammo through mine to see if something would make it fail. So far everything functions flawlessly from the start. It should function out of the box but like any machine, will improve slightly as the parts work out the rough spots. 500 rounds should certainly tell you if it was just rough metal or if you have a mechanical problem. I haven't run 500 through but didn't see a need since it feeds and wildly ejects everything. That and the stack of $8 boxes of 380 seems to be shrinking too fast.

 

[texas bulldog]

To me any piece of machinery needs to wear in the moving parts in order to function properly. To put it another way, if I bought a brand new pistol, and it functioned flawlessly, I wouldn't trust it for carry until I had fired around 200 rounds through it. For me to trust my life to something I need to see it's function demonstrated.

fair enough, but where does it end? i see a lot of apologists on these threads to whom no number of rounds seems sufficient. it sounds like the OP is already at 100 rounds with a handful of failures. is 200 enough? what about the 1911 guys who say you need to run 1000? hey, i like 1911s too, but mine didn't seem to need the mythical 1000 round break-in.

i would say that if it doesn't improve right quick, you should contact ruger. there are already several posters here saying that their LCP functioned fine right out of the box. if the OP's doesn't correct itself soon, then a certain L-word comes to mind...

 

[CZguy]

fair enough, but where does it end?

I would think that you would need to pick a number, it is after all your life.

i would say that if it doesn't improve right quick, you should contact ruger. there are already several posters here saying that their LCP functioned fine right out of the box. if the OP's doesn't correct itself soon, then a certain L-word comes to mind...

I don't have a problem with sending it back to Ruger.

I'm just saying that even it it shot flawlessly right out of the box, that I wouldn't carry it until I had put 200 rounds through it.

This is an arbitrary number, but it has worked well for me.

 

[bambam1723]

I contacted Ruger today and they told me that 75-100 rounds is the break-in number. They said since I had just made it to 100, I should shoot more and if there are any more problems contact them and they would overnight the gun to get fixed, all on there dime. Not much more I can ask for as far as customer service. Hope the problems just go away on there own.

 

[SwampWolf]

To me any piece of machinery needs to wear in the moving parts in order to function properly.

"Break-in" is perhaps a good idea to insure longer life for a given piece of machinery but not for it to "function properly". Whether it comes to cars, lawnmowers or sewing machines, most consumers would feel rightfully aghast if the manufacturer of said products required the buyer to drive a few hundred miles, mow a few lawns or sew a few yards of cloth before they were expected to function properly. No, almost any piece of machinery being sold (including rifles, shotguns and most handguns) I'm aware of is expected to function correctly "right out of the box" . The exceptions are almost exclusive to certain pistol makers who require a certain number of rounds to be fired before they can necessarily be counted on to work. This situation persists because some brand-washed consumers act as enablers and routinely give a company a pass on failures to perform without being "broken-in"-apparently because they are so enraptured by the gun they make almost any excuse (including the usual-and, sometimes valid, suspects: limp-wristing, bad ammo, bad mags, bad springs, bad lubes, improper cleaning, not holding the gun right-oh, I already said that , etc.) for shortcomings solely the responsibility of the maker.

This is not to say that any firearm intended for self-defense shouldn't be given a thorough test with the ammunition to be used before relying on it(my personal minimum "standard" is the same as CZguy's-200 rounds; and more is better). Guns are made by man and to err is human-I'm just not so ready to forgive!

 

[rhoggman]

So apparently multiple people have confirmed there is a "break in period" for the LCP; however, there is no mention of this in the manual.

I have over 500 rounds through mine, and have had 1 FTE. This was with Blazer aluminum cased FMJ ammo (after I had already put a few hundred flawless rounds down the pipe). Many people have reported this ammo does not feed well in the LCP. I was kind of expecting it.

I have fired everything else without flaw. Any brand of ammo I could find I purchased.

Having said that, If I had a second LCP that performed like yours I would send it back.

 

[Gibbles]

My experience is with keltec...
but I would start by polishing parts, does the FTE leave the round in the chamber or does it fail to leave the extractor?
I would try a little oil on the extractor and see if that helps a little, to out of 70 rounds is not to bad in such a small and new gun.
Breakin may be all it needs.
My keltec P32 I had to clean up the extractor giving it a bit more of an edge to grab the round and I forced a screw driver through the coils in the spring to force more bite.
That gun has been running 100% for over four years now, but it's problem was it would leave the round in the chamber and try a double feed...
if it's a stove pipe I would take some 600 grit paper into the slide rails (light) and do some minor sanding on the maching marks on the barrel, then lube everything.

I had a PF9 that had issues with FTF, and it's problem turned out to be a combo of rough edges on the extractor and the rim of the round getting caught on the chamber edge, some fine sanding on the chamber face to round off the edges, and some minor debur of the extractor and the gun runs perfect.