Ruger LCR Opinions?

With similar grips, it's the same size as a hammerless j-frame and will thus fit in the front pockets of most casual pants just fine.

(I prefer cargo pocket or rear pocket, but to each his own.)
 
I’m not a big revolver guy, but I love my LCR, and believe the .38 to be the best model because it’s the lightest weight. It’s a Ruger, so it will stand up to use no problem. It can be a little bulky for pocket carry compared to say, and LCP, but certainly doable. For a lightweight concealed carry revolver, it’s very hard to beat.
 
My wife used to own an LCR in 38 Spc. Although she could get through a cylinder full, that was about it. It simply kicked too much. She now owns one chambered in 327FM. This one has the slightly heavier frame, and also fires 32 S&W longs. It is a sweet little shooter and with the 32's, it hardly kicks at all. It is just a much better set up than the 38 was for her. Maybe that could be an option as well?
 
Taurus M85
taurus_M85.jpg

I tried to like the LCR. I really did try. Of all thing said of Taurus I've tried to replace it. I just haven't found anything that is quite like it. I should have known it was going to be like this after the first shot. Out of the box with no name 158gr it cut the bottom right leg out of the X on a 25 yard pistol target, at 25 yards.

For several years it held 158gr "Nyclad" .38 Special until it was rebranded "Federal Premium" , before it eventually disappeared :-(

Rather than mess with the near perfect sight regulation it has spent the fest of its life fed with upside down hollow base wad cutters.

It just works. I thought I'd offer an alternative opinion.
 
My only experience was with a 9mm LCR. And unfortunately, it went back to Ruger for repair twice within ~30 rounds. (The gun would totally lock up rendering it entirely useless) . I lost all faith in that gun and sent it down the road.

Also, wasn't a big fan of moon clips. If I get another small revolver it will be in 38 sp.
 
I have the LCR in 9mm. It has the best trigger of all my snubbies and is the one I carry the most. You can shoot it without moon clips, though you would have to punch out each expired round.the extra velocity of a 9mm over .38 special means better expansion
 
I'm more of a semiauto guy, but I do own an LCR in .357. I've had it about 10 years. I shot .357s out of it one time and it beat the ever-loving snot out of my hand. I switched to .38s in it and recoil is pretty mild. The trigger is long, but smooth. I don't practice with it nearly enough, so I can't speak to longevity, but it's a good little pocket pistol. Even if I pick up a semiauto for pocket carry, my LCR isn't going anywhere.
 
I have a .38 special LCR and endorse it. If 5 rounds is enough for you then it's one of many good options. There should be a ton of them in circulation by now and reviews are plenty. I chose one because I liked the trigger better than a J frame, and I chose the .38 special model to save weight after discovering that .357 through a range rental LCR was way too much for me. These little guns kick. I have considered trying the 9mm version but honestly there's a legion of .38 ammo available to suit any purpose and mine has given me no reason to move on. They're one of the least beautiful guns out there, I'll give them that, but if anyone is eyeballing your snub nosed revolver you're probably using it wrong.
 
I tried one at the range when they first came out. I did not like it, but it was too long ago to remember why.

If I was carrying a pocket revolver at night it would probably be a J frame Smith.
 
Imo, though the LCR is a lot less than pretty, the da trigger pull on it is far superior to the typical Smith J-frame revolver (of which I like enough to still have kept a couple of them). My wife recently discovered that she could no longer pull the trigger comfortably on her S&W Model 640-1 but had no problem doing so with the LCR. The Ugly Duckling is the revolver that now nests in her purse and the 640 has been returned to its "rightful" owner.
 
kopcicle said:
Taurus M85
View attachment 1137233

I tried to like the LCR. I really did try. Of all thing said of Taurus I've tried to replace it. I just haven't found anything that is quite like it. I should have known it was going to be like this after the first shot. Out of the box with no name 158gr it cut the bottom right leg out of the X on a 25 yard pistol target, at 25 yards.

For several years it held 158gr "Nyclad" .38 Special until it was rebranded "Federal Premium" , before it eventually disappeared :-(

Rather than mess with the near perfect sight regulation it has spent the fest of its life fed with upside down hollow base wad cutters.

It just works. I thought I'd offer an alternative opinion.
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VoodooMountain said:
My only experience was with a 9mm LCR. And unfortunately, it went back to Ruger for repair twice within ~30 rounds. (The gun would totally lock up rendering it entirely useless) . I lost all faith in that gun and sent it down the road.

Also, wasn't a big fan of moon clips. If I get another small revolver it will be in 38 sp.
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Ruger is worse than Taurus for putting out lemons. Nearly everyone has a positive Ruger customer service story including me. The thing is I own dozens of handguns from different manufacturers including Taurus, and I couldn't tell you how good or their customer service is based off my personal experience because I never had any reason to contact customer service for warranty issues.

I only ever owned 3 Ruger handguns, e.i., a SR1911, LC9s Pro, and a LCR 357. The LCPs Pro and soon to be, my LCR will be the only firearms out of the approximately 100 I own that have ever had to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. I'm surprised by how many gun owners give Ruger a pass all the while holding less problematic pistols like the current crop of Taurus handguns 200% accountable.
 
ericuda said:
Maybe fine for target work but not enough capacity for self defense.
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LCRs are not target guns.
Snubbys are not target guns.
LCRs and snubbys are to be used with big targets at close range once in a blue moon - just to make certain they still work and the lint is blown out.

Contenders are target pistols.

PS: I love my LCRs, snubbys and Contenders
 
Styx said:
Ruger is worse than Taurus for putting out lemons. Nearly everyone has a positive Ruger customer service story including me. The thing is I own dozens of handguns from different manufacturers including Taurus, and I couldn't tell you how good or their customer service is based off my personal experience because I never had any reason to contact customer service for warranty issues.

I only ever owned 3 Ruger handguns, e.i., a SR1911, LC9s Pro, and a LCR 357. The LCPs Pro and soon to be, my LCR will be the only firearms out of the approximately 100 I own that have ever had to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. I'm surprised by how many gun owners give Ruger a pass all the while holding less problematic pistols like the current crop of Taurus handguns 200% accountable.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I'd go that far. I've had issues with 3 of the 5 taurus guns I've purchased and experienced poor to OK customer service from them

Wife mentioned she wanted a snub nose revolver to replace the junky Taurus she had a while back.... and she picked out a Taurus 856. We will see how this one goes.

As for Ruger, I have purchased several of those over the years and only had the 1 issue.(that I can remember off hand) I would hands down take a Ruger over a Taurus probably every single time.

But yes, Ruger does put out some lemons.
 
VoodooMountain said:
I don't know if I'd go that far. I've had issues with 3 of the 5 taurus guns I've purchased and experienced poor to OK customer service from them
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Not to drift the thread, but where they bought and when did you contact them and send them back? Pre Bainbridge Taurus compared to post Bainbridge Taurus is a night and day difference.
 
I have an LCR in .38. I planned on getting the 357 but held them both and got the .38. I carry it with hard cast wad cutters or Hornady Critical Defense and it is very comfortable to shoot. In fact, my 15 year old daughter likes shooting it. I bought an IWB holster from Muddy River Tactical and it is super comfortable. One word of caution, I took it apart and it is a little
More complicated than their big stainless revolvers. Somehow I got it seized up when putting it back together and it had to take a trip back to Ruger. I told them what I did and their customer service was great. They fixed it and sent it back within two weeks. The only negative is that it only has 5 rounds. I also have a sig P365 but honestly prefer packing the LCR.
 
TTv2 said:
Not to drift the thread, but where they bought and when did you contact them and send them back? Pre Bainbridge Taurus compared to post Bainbridge Taurus is a night and day difference.
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As with 98% of the cases, his experience is with older Taurus models. He has since sworn off Taurus for ever which is also standard.
 
When in the market I compared the LCR to a 642 side-by-side at my LGS.

The LCR was clearly the better revolver – fit, finish, ergonomics.

But the LCR is not $150 better than the 642 and I ended up buying the j-frame.
 
Styx said:
The main issue is the trigger. I too short stroke the trigger when I am rapid firing. I have used snapcaps, and I can not rapidly pull the trigger on a consistent basis without short stroking the trigger. If and when the trigger is short stroked, the trigger is dead and will no longer index the cylinder. That's the only negative over a S&W aluminum J-frame.
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nugi said:
What does this mean? If the LCR is short stroked depending on how much it’s short stroked it either skips a round or stays where it was ready to rotate to the next round as soon as you let it reset. Is that what you’re describing or something else?
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Styx said:
No, if the trigger is short stroked, the trigger will not work and will not index the cylinder to the next chamber UNTIL I manually index the cylinder by hand.
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If the OP does a Google search and a search on this forum, there will be a plothera of complaints about how easily the LCR can be short stroked. The issue with my example is that if and when the trigger is short stroked, the trigger goes completely dead until I manually index the cylinder (no-go for self defense). I was always under the impression that thus was normal as a Google search on the subject revealed that I wasn't the only one who this happens to, and it's always functioned that way... @Spats McGee It seems like we purchased our LCR 357s around the same time. Does yours function the same way mine does?

So that's 3 Rugers handguns that I've ever owned, and two of them were problemic out the box. Ruger is the one and only manufacturer that I had to ship guns back for repair out of the several dozen I've owned over the years including 7 or so post recall Tauruses I've owned over the years. (Still own 4).

With that said, I'm in the simular boat as @VoodooMountain, and understand why he feels the way he does. The difference is I haven't completely swore off everything Ruger currently makes and will ever make in the future like most former Taurus owners usually do. I'll take it on a case by case and a track record by track record basis on whether I will purchase another specific handgun from them again. I would be open to a GP100 or another SR1911.
 
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TTv2 said:
Not to drift the thread, but where they bought and when did you contact them and send them back? Pre Bainbridge Taurus compared to post Bainbridge Taurus is a night and day difference.
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All were purchased new and 2 were purchased from academy sports. This was ~8 years ago maybe.
 
Styx said:
If the OP does a Google search and a search on this forum, there will be a plothera of complaints about how easily the LCR can be short stroked. The issue with my example is that if and when the trigger is short stroked, the trigger goes completely dead until I manually index the cylinder (no-go for self defense). I was always under the impression that thus was normal as a Google search on the subject revealed that I wasn't the only one who this happens to, and it's always functioned that way... @Spats McGee It seems like we purchased our LCR 357s around the same time. Does yours function the same way mine does?

So that's 3 Rugers handguns that I've ever owned, and two of them were problemic out the box. Ruger is the one and only manufacturer that I had to ship guns back for repair out of the several dozen I've owned over the years including 7 or so post recall Tauruses I've owned over the years. (Still own 4).

With that said, I'm in the simular boat as @VoodooMountain, and understand why he feels the way he does. The difference is I haven't completely swore off everything Ruger currently makes and will ever make in the future like most former Taurus owners usually do. I'll take it on a case by case and a track record by track record basis on whether I will purchase another specific handgun from them again. I would be open to a GP100 or another SR1911.
Click to expand...

I haven't sworn off ruger. I am still a big fan of the company, just not the 9mm lcr.
 
Styx said:
If the OP does a Google search and a search on this forum, there will be a plothera of complaints about how easily the LCR can be short stroked. The issue with my example is that if and when the trigger is short stroked, the trigger goes completely dead until I manually index the cylinder (no-go for self defense). I was always under the impression that thus was normal as a Google search on the subject revealed that I wasn't the only one who this happens to, and it's always functioned that way... @Spats McGee It seems like we purchased our LCR 357s around the same time. Does yours function the same way mine does?

So that's 3 Rugers handguns that I've ever owned, and two of them were problemic out the box. Ruger is the one and only manufacturer that I had to ship guns back for repair out of the several dozen I've owned over the years including 7 or so post recall Tauruses I've owned over the years. (Still own 4).

With that said, I'm in the simular boat as @VoodooMountain, and understand why he feels the way he does. The difference is I haven't completely swore off everything Ruger currently makes and will ever make in the future like most former Taurus owners usually do. I'll take it on a case by case and a track record by track record basis on whether I will purchase another specific handgun from them again. I would be open to a GP100 or another SR1911.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat regarding Ruger, pretty much only applying to their revolvers. I've never had a Ruger semi auto be a problem and if they made one that I wanted I would consider it so long as I get good feedback on it from forums like this.

It's not often that I'm going to swear off a known brand, but there's only two that I've done so and it's Charter Arms and Remlin era Marlin. Now that Marlin is under new management, I'm not going to judge current products off one bad .22 rifle I bought almost a decade ago, Charter tho I decided after the Professional .32 and the sight issues to not go near them until things improve and the issues a member here had with his .32 Mag Undercover is keeping me away.

I have had an 8 rd .22 DA Taurus 942 on my mind for 3 yrs and they've been difficult to find at regular prices. My patience is wearing thin and will either be going with the LCRx or Charter before Summer is over. I would rather not take a chance and buy either of them, but I've waited enough and I guess the smart choice would be to buy the Ruger because apparently there will always be a base of fanboys willing to buy it.

That is probably the only silver lining to any problematic Ruger.
 
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