I have noticed a general consensus among the gun community of emotions ranging from annoyance to downright hatred of the Ruger LCP, and equivalent pocket .380 Automatics...
Lots of gun owners have an emotional response (like/dislike) about firearm choices. Often reminds me of how people like to promote sports teams and brands of pickup trucks.
Personally, I never had much use for the .380ACP caliber after an unsatisfactory experience with a little Double stack Beretta in the 80's. Time and needs can change, though. At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century I was seeing more of the diminutive plastic .380's coming through our range (off-duty weapons), and had a chance to watch how they worked in the hands of folks.
I finally decided I needed something just a bit shorter and slimmer than my J-frames for those times I wished to pocket-holster a retirement CCW. I tried out a LCP and S&W Bodyguard 380 on our range, and decided the LCP deserved a second look. Granted, the .380ACP is at the bottom of what I normally considered 'minimal/adequate', meaning a rung just below the .38SPL. However, it was seeing growing approval among LE agencies as an off-duty/secondary (backup) duty weapon, albeit primarily for the conveniently size smaller plastic models becoming available.
I ordered one from a local cop shop. Blued carbon steel slide/barrel, just post-Recall in Ruger's production. Rudimentary sights and small enough to require some attention regarding grip. Mine also has an issue with the take-down pin waling under recoil, but a replacement pin from Ruger resolved that issue. What really caught my attention was how it fed and functioned with an assortment of JHP's and Ball loads, and was more accurate than what I'd expected.
I liked that little pocket-holster option so much that I ordered a second one, in stainless, with the revised trigger/hammer geometry and marginally improved sights. That little LCP handled every JHP I tried - and take-down pin didn't walk
- and it was easier to shoot at speed, accurately, than my favored J-frames. Aside from the short mag capacity and manipulations required for reloading the small gun with the small mags - not helped by lack of a hold-open feature
- it made short work of the usual duty and off-duty qual courses-of-fire and the normal drills.
I still look at the caliber as being a bit
light, considering the light bullet weight and velocity produced by the short barrel, but it suits my desires for those days/nights when my retirement activities and risk assessment leans toward the
"I probably don't need to be armed today" frame of mind. That, and when my jeans have such short and tight pockets than they can't conceal one of my J-frames.
Easier to run fast and accurately than a NAA SA mini revolver (which I look at more as a last-ditch "Onion Field" type hideout weapon).
Bottom line? My opinion? The littlest .380's, like the LCP, aren't for everyone. I've watched guys with very large hands experience difficulty in trying to manipulate and shoot them. (
Thumbing that itty bitty size slide during cycling can induce stoppages.)
Not everyone likes the DAO trigger pull, either, especially those shooters who have come up basically only learning to handle and shoot plastic pistols with shorter & lighter trigger pulls. Harder to shoot well than a larger pistol, although there are some larger choices for folks who still feel a .380 is adequate for their perceived needs.
Different strokes.
There are a growing number of cops who don't mind the small/smallish .380's employed in the role of a duty/backup, or an alternative option for off-duty carry. It still comes down to being able to put the hits where you want them to go, though.
Just some thoughts. I don't care what other active and retired cops carry, nor private citizens ... nor why they make the choices they make. It comes down to what I've found
I can run controllably, hard and accurately, and whether some option works for
my desires when it comes to retirement CCW. Life is all about choices and consequences, after all.
