Ruger 380 LCP Opinions

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My GF is allegedly getting me this holster for my LCP w/crimson trace for my birthday...It's $50 on the crimson trace website.
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FWIW-I'm pretty sure this is the same holster minus the embossed CTC Logo.

I thought 'bout getting the one from Crimson Trace-the darn embossing would help me know what the heck it is when it ends up in my holster box!

It's $29.89 at Optics Planet-buy 6 cents more and you get free shipping (free shipping on $29.95 orders). You can also Google 'Optics Planet Discount Code' for easily found 5% off codes.

I wouldn't mind having the embossing, but I'm a cheap SOB donchaknow! :D
I ended up with the one from Optics Planet for about 1/2 the price of ordering from Crimson Trace.
 
For anyone who has been following my LCP problems, after sending it back for the third time Ruger got jams too, and they're offering to refund my money. I'll probably take their offer, and get a Kel-Tec due to my bad LCP experience and Ruger's no-warranty policy and questionable customer service.

They said I should have bought a bunch of different types of ammo to see what works best. Apparently they haven't heard of the ammo shortage, or cost of .380. Call me crazy, but a gun should work with any factory ammo. The guy there said he's been working with guns 30 years, and you have to do that with all pistols. I said that was BS, that I've been shooting for 30 years and have had a CZ, Sig, Colt, Kel-Tec, and Taurus that never jammed on any ammo, including the Russian stuff.

I do like the LCR I have.
 
Paul,

The guy at a local gun shop warned me off of Ruger because he had the same type of experience. He said " you can take your chances with Ruger but there is no written waranty." I asked if I would need it and he he told me a story similar to yours.

After 300 rounds it started having trouble with hollow points. He sent it to Ruger and they sent it back with a note saying that they had no issue with failure to feed or failure to extract with hollow points. He took it to the range and ran 2 clips of FMJ with no problem. It then started failing to feed hollow points. He stripped it and cleaned it. When he started firing hollow points again he got through one clip before it stopped feeding.

He returned it to Ruger a second time and they sent it back with a note saying that it was an ammo issue. They said he wasn't using the correct ammo. So he took it out and started shooting. More failure to feed issues. He sent it back a third time with a video of him loading it with Hornady CD ammo. They sent it back to him with a note saying they fixed the problem, but that he should try using Winchester Silver Tip ammo or another type of standard factory ammo. He tried Silver Tips and the problem returned after about 30 rounds.

He sent the gun back a fourth time, and they finally offered to buy it back.

Then the clerk told me he had switched to the Smith & Wesson Body Guard. He also recomended the Taurus TCP because it has a life time waranty, two clips, and a carrying case.
 
Mike, that does sound exactly like my experience. If the ammo choice is so critical Ruger should mention it in their ads. The fact some of these guns are acting up AFTER hundreds of rounds should be very worrying for anyone relying on the LCP for a CCW. :what:

I'm looking at the IO Hellcat .380. $229 delivered from Bud's and comes with two magazines, not one as the LCP and Kel-Tec do.
 
From Paul:"I informed them I'd be telling the gun world about their scam, but they didn't seem to care. Believe me, if they screw me on this it will cost them a small fortune in advertising to make up for the negative PR I'm going to give them."

Well I have not heard of you problem till now.
I own a LCP and I have shot FMJ & JHP's all with only a single failure to eject.

I have since bought 2 MORE Rugers due to that fine little gun, Plus Ruger's history of building good guns. Not the "finest" but they WORK and Ruger stands behind them.

I am planing on getting at least one more, maybe two, Rugers.
Good guns at a fair price and a company that stands behind them.
(They offered to buy yours back, NO?)

My .02
Lateck,
 
As the two most recent Rugers I bought were lemons, I'd have to disagree with the 'good guns' part. Plus there is no warranty of the LCP. Since this problem came up I've searched the internet and found a number of LCP problems, FWIW.
 
Paul,

The funny thing is they told him to use Winchester Silver Tip. My neighbor's LCP has trouble with Winchester Silver Tip hollow points. He doesn't have any trouble with Hornady CD. So I don't think it is one particular problem or issue. That to me is more worrisome than one or two iffy guns.

My neighbor loves his though. His first one wouldn't feed anything when he bought it. Ruger did replace it free of charge when they couldn't fix the gun. It was on the first trip back.

His new one is picky with hollow points. He is happy with it though, and carries it daily now.

I wouldn't say Ruger is a bad brand. I think thy just had some QC issues with the rush of orders. Nobody expected it to sell the way it did. I think they just pushed a little too hard.
 
I wouldn't call Ruger a bad brand either, I would call the LCP a problematic model.
 
This thread seems to be turning into a "popular consensus" by a few posters that the LCP is trouble-prone. I have to state again that this is not my experience, and I'm not a Ruger fanboy. The LCP that I own, the one my brother owns, and the one another friend of mine owns have all been flawless with any ammo. I understand that this is anecdotal evidence, but I had to say it anyway.

Les
 
WRS, that is the way it goes. I've owned a trouble free Taurus. My father has owned several trouble free Rossi revolvers. Yet there seems to always be somebody that shows up and talks about how horrible their Taurus or Rossi was.

Every brand has a few QC issues from time to time. Unfortunately a disastified customer is 10x more likely to talk about their experience.
 
Big fan, carry in an Uncle George wallet holster. Use the Ruger finger extension and the larger Pearce in the backup mag. Range time is a little rough with the recoil but I have had about 200 trouble free rounds during the break-in of Gold DoT JHP's and S&B FMJ's. It's not my primary carry but as a ultra concealable backup or a quick no hassle carry option it's been great.
 
Order some 11lb recoil springs from Wolf springs and your problems will most likely go away. My LCP shoots anything I feed it and has for months now ever since I replaced the stock springs.
 
Ohwell, why couldn't Ruger figure that out when they had it three times?

X102, glad you have 200 trouble-free rounds, so did I BEFORE all the problems arose that Ruger couldn't fix. I understand all gunmakers have problem guns, but I'd just as soon buy from a company that has an actual warranty. I'm beginning to see why Ruger doesn't for the LCP.
 
I dont know some say the reason Ruger uses lighter springs is its easier to rack, I do know the only problem I ever had with mine was failure to go completely into battery with certain ammo and it threw brass twice as far as any other auto I have. I changed to the 11 lb springs and it shoots everything brass lands more in a normal range also. Check the Ruger forums the spring change is very common.
 
All Ruger LCP owners:
Just did first field strip, cleaning, lube'ing and reassembly.
There is a great video on the internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1pcLtfAQA4
credits to: Talon Training Group. They do an outstanding job!
The video covers all the above.
Note of Caution: when you disassemble the recoil spring guide assembly, one end of the spring is slightly larger than the other end. My recommendation is to lay them out in the same direction as you disassemble. Then, clean, lube and put them back in the same order and direction. Just something I noticed and caught while I was doing my first total cleaning. (hope this helps someone.)
 
Ammo: I fired the Winchester "Ranger" ammo (talon type ball). It feed flawlessly.
Maybe I am just lucky. I've had no problems at all with the LCP.
 
Check the Ruger forums the spring change is very common.
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If you look at different forums you may notice that "Recommended spring changes" are very normal, with many of the old hands of that forum swearing by whatever spring they are all using.

I've even fallen for it a couple of times myself. There are many critical things in the firing of a semi auto that have to happen at a certain (exact) time. Changing spring tension can alter that, which may be a bad thing.

Having said that........it's your gun experiment away.
 
No problems to date with my LCP except that the slide sometimes needed a push to chamber the first round. Not always, but if it was held in the back position even for a second to chamber the first round, the spring tension was not sufficient to chamber. Never had this problem when shooting. Wolf Spring is now installed with an added 2 pounds of tension. Have not shot it yet, but it seems to chamber fine by hand. Finger extension is nice on the magazine. I've shot half a dozen types of ammo with no failures. I trust this gun. I carry this gun often. Perhaps if i leave the heat of florida at some point, i'll trade it in for something a bit bigger, but for now, pocket carry and a Crossbreed microclip make carrying in the florida heat a breeze. no pun intended.
 
As for people complaining about Ruger's "nonwarranty" and poor customer service, at least two posters on this page have acknowledged that Ruger has offered to refund their money for LCPs with problems. Not many companies in my experience would go that far. I don't blame people for being upset that their pistols can't seem to be made to shoot reliably and that the company appears unable to fix it. But, to me at least, the ultimate "fix" is getting your money back. My advice is to take the money; buy something else and put your bad experience with Ruger behind you.
 
On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 6.

If I had it to do over I might consider a Taurus. I played with one last week and the trigger was way better than the one on my LCP. I haven't shot my Ruger much but it works fine for small a CCW. If I want to hit anything at a distance I'll use my Hi-power.
 
I have had one since the second week they came out. I have put roughly 750 rds through mine as I shoot it every other range trip. I love it cause even when wearing scrubs it still rides well and I keep it loaded with blue glazers at all times!
 
I keep it loaded with blue glazers at all times!
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Not to bash Glaser's, but my research has shown a hit and miss record on frangible ammo's effective. Why not grab a good well proven hollow-point round?
 
MrOldLude said:
Not to bash Glaser's, but my research has shown a hit and miss record on frangible ammo's effective. Why not grab a good well proven hollow-point round?
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I think just about everyone else's research agrees with you with the exception of those involved in making and selling Glaser ammo.
 
I have 6 friends that have LCP's, and I bought mine based on their experiences. I have about 250 rounds through it so far with 50 of those Federal Hydrashoks. It did jam on me once about the 4th shot, after that it's been solid, if it starts acting up in the next few hundred rounds I'll be the first to admit it. That being said I'm not going out and firing rounds just to see if it'll start crapping out at 500 rounds. In my pocket it only has to feed the next magazine, and I have faith it will.
 
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