Riomouse911
Member
I posted a couple of weeks ago that I bought a Ruger LCP II after trying the trigger and mentally comparing it to my current well-worn LCP. After a test pull or two of the demo gun I was hooked, and the $225.00 (plus tax, DROS, etc.) asking price wasn't bad at all.
I picked it up after the ten-day wait here in Ca. on Tues, and fired about 50 Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ though it Weds when I was qualifying some new-hires at the outdoor range. Weather was windy and cold, so it wasn't a fun day to be shooting a small-framed auto bare-handed, to say the least.
Despite chilly winds and shivering hands it functioned 100% that day, and the sights (while not match-grade) are a HUGE improvement over the pimples left on top of the original LCP that are called sights. I could actually aim this gun, rather than just point and shoot like the original LCP. The LCP II's trigger pull is worlds better with much less travel and pull-weight, and the last-round slide hold-open feature was nice. It only comes with one mag, but they're not all that expensive and I can order them anywhere and have them delivered to my house despite Ca's draconian "public safety" laws that ban just about everything else.
On Friday I figured I would run to the local range with this gun and three other .380's I have haunting my safe; the LCP, an FEG SMC-.380 PPK/s knock off, and an original Covina Ca. AMT .380 Backup. I had boxes of the Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ and a box of Remington 95 gr FMJ to compare. I fired one 10-shot group with each brand at just over 8 yards (25 feet), loading 5 in the mag at a time, shooting, loading 5 more, etc. Function with all rounds and guns was 100% for this limited test, and all measurements were the furthest-apart center-to-center measurements I could get with a flat ruler.
FEG-SMC-.380:
This is a near-copy of the Walther PPK/s, with a nearly identical loading, operating, and take-down manual of arms. Mine is blued, with an aluminum-ish frame and steel slide. It was a back up that I carried on duty during the 1990's, and despite being carried 5 days a week for a few years it is still really nice with the only wear showing on the slide rails and frame when the gun is broken down. Sights are fixed, blue, PPK-style miniatures that make for a limited sight picture. A DA/SA gun, the first round was fired DA and the following 4-per-mag were fired SA. The mag has a finger-hook extension and the left grip panel has a really nice thumbrest making it sit in the hand solidly.
I haven't shot this gun in ages, and I was surprised at the recoil. It was snappy, and the gun rocked back in my hand more than I expected it to. It also seemed to really punch the web of my hand with each shot (I actually looked to see if I had a slide-cut after about 3 shots), and all this despite being a bit thicker and heavier than the LCP's I have been shooting over the past few years. I guess because it feels so much better in the hand while holding it I was expecting it to feel better when fired! The 10 Fiocchi rounds went into a 2 1/4" group (The first shot was a bit high, my fault!) while the Remington's resulted in a nice 1 5/8" group.
AMT Backup .380:
I'll be honest; I have no idea why but I bought this thing of GB about 18 months ago and I haven't ever fired it! It is all gray stainless with plastic grip panels, and has absolutely nothing "dehorned" or smooth about it, period. The magazine has a steel finger hook, making the two fingers on the grip stay pretty well in place. The SA trigger is heavy and vague, and after the FEG smacking my hand I was not looking forward to shooting this gun with it's metal-grip-safety backstrap at all. Sights? HA! They consist of a U-grooved topstrap forming the rear "sight", and the front "sight" is a bump down in the valley of that groove. This gun was truly made to be shot while pushed against the ribcage of someone trying to kill you, period! All that being said, I pressed ahead and loaded up.
The Fiocchi went into a 3 5/8" group, with my first ever shot being high and outside of the target circles. The Remington landed in a 4 3/4" group, with operator error playing a larger factor as a round hit the top and bottom of the black rings.
LCP:
I have been shooting this gun several times annually for the past several years, and I have become used to the narrow grip, snappy recoil, lengthy trigger pull and the nearly useless sights. It is a good bit smaller, lighter and narrower than the FEG, and while a tiny bit larger it is a lot lighter than the all-steel AMT (18 oz AMT vs 9 oz LCP).
By this point the web of my shooting hand wasn't all that happy, and a blood-blister that I had on the side of my trigger finger from a pliers-pinch earlier in the week was starting to be felt with each trigger press. These aren't excuses for my fair-to-middlin' shooting, just relaying what was going on.
The ten Fiocchi rounds went into an odd "V-shaped" group that measured 2 1/4" from the furthest points. I couldn't tell if the shots landed in this group randomly and ultimately formed the "V", or if I was subconsciously tracing some imaginary lettering like a bush-league Ad Topperwein at a demo. The Remington rounds formed more of a "group", well it was shaped sorta like a football, that also measured 2 1/4" between furthest points.
LCP II:
Honestly, by now I was already getting tired of these little guns and I couldn't wait to be finished. (I had brought a couple of 9mm Glocks to shoot, too, but they're another story). The LCP II has a differently configured grip, which is a tad bit thicker across the web than the original LCP, and the trigger guard is larger and a bit squared-off as well. The front of the slide and "dust cover" portions of the LCP II slide and frame are also a bit blockier than with the original LCP, but I don't think that will affect concealability at all. Front slide serrations are now present to give a bit more grip for those who prefer a hand-over-slide charging style and the actual, though still rudimentary, sights make for a much better sight picture for aimed shots. The improvement is in the trigger, which no longer has the full-length take up ala; a DA-only revolver, it now has the "Glock-style" blade inset in the trigger face that moves a safety-lever out of the way allowing for a smoother and lighter press.
The 10 Fiocchi rounds went into a well-centered 1 1/2" group that landed just to the 10 o'clock position at the edge of the orange center ring. The Remington rounds were roughly in the same location on their side of the target, but operator error looks like I put one a bit lower, opening it up to a 2 1/4" spread.
OVERALLS:
After the 80 sighted shots were fired in these guns back-to-back, I was done with these small .380 autos. Larger 9mm, .40 and .45 guns just seem to rock my hand less, and I like shooting them a lot more than these pocket guns. (That and the stupid pliers-pinch blood-blister I gave myself on the side of the trigger finger earlier in the week didn't help.) I was really surprised how the FEG just didn't seem to fit my hands during recoil as well as the LCP's do. This may just be because I am used to them now, who knows. The AMT? Nothing was ergonomic about that gun at all.
The trigger pulls made a difference, with the FEG and the LCP II producing groups that were fairly respectable and the LCP and AMT being larger on average. There is something to be said for a good trigger making a positive difference on any gun, and these pipsqueaks with the better triggers certainly lived up to that axiom.
I was happy to say that all four of the .380 guns loaded, fed, and fired without a hitch using both of these standard-fodder 95 gr FMJ bullet loads, and all would be "minute-of-felon" accurate out to 10 yards or so in my less than match-winning hands should the range extend out that far... and I do my part.
Let me know what your impressions are when you are shooting your pocket guns...
Stay safe!
I picked it up after the ten-day wait here in Ca. on Tues, and fired about 50 Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ though it Weds when I was qualifying some new-hires at the outdoor range. Weather was windy and cold, so it wasn't a fun day to be shooting a small-framed auto bare-handed, to say the least.
Despite chilly winds and shivering hands it functioned 100% that day, and the sights (while not match-grade) are a HUGE improvement over the pimples left on top of the original LCP that are called sights. I could actually aim this gun, rather than just point and shoot like the original LCP. The LCP II's trigger pull is worlds better with much less travel and pull-weight, and the last-round slide hold-open feature was nice. It only comes with one mag, but they're not all that expensive and I can order them anywhere and have them delivered to my house despite Ca's draconian "public safety" laws that ban just about everything else.
On Friday I figured I would run to the local range with this gun and three other .380's I have haunting my safe; the LCP, an FEG SMC-.380 PPK/s knock off, and an original Covina Ca. AMT .380 Backup. I had boxes of the Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ and a box of Remington 95 gr FMJ to compare. I fired one 10-shot group with each brand at just over 8 yards (25 feet), loading 5 in the mag at a time, shooting, loading 5 more, etc. Function with all rounds and guns was 100% for this limited test, and all measurements were the furthest-apart center-to-center measurements I could get with a flat ruler.
FEG-SMC-.380:
This is a near-copy of the Walther PPK/s, with a nearly identical loading, operating, and take-down manual of arms. Mine is blued, with an aluminum-ish frame and steel slide. It was a back up that I carried on duty during the 1990's, and despite being carried 5 days a week for a few years it is still really nice with the only wear showing on the slide rails and frame when the gun is broken down. Sights are fixed, blue, PPK-style miniatures that make for a limited sight picture. A DA/SA gun, the first round was fired DA and the following 4-per-mag were fired SA. The mag has a finger-hook extension and the left grip panel has a really nice thumbrest making it sit in the hand solidly.
I haven't shot this gun in ages, and I was surprised at the recoil. It was snappy, and the gun rocked back in my hand more than I expected it to. It also seemed to really punch the web of my hand with each shot (I actually looked to see if I had a slide-cut after about 3 shots), and all this despite being a bit thicker and heavier than the LCP's I have been shooting over the past few years. I guess because it feels so much better in the hand while holding it I was expecting it to feel better when fired! The 10 Fiocchi rounds went into a 2 1/4" group (The first shot was a bit high, my fault!) while the Remington's resulted in a nice 1 5/8" group.
AMT Backup .380:
I'll be honest; I have no idea why but I bought this thing of GB about 18 months ago and I haven't ever fired it! It is all gray stainless with plastic grip panels, and has absolutely nothing "dehorned" or smooth about it, period. The magazine has a steel finger hook, making the two fingers on the grip stay pretty well in place. The SA trigger is heavy and vague, and after the FEG smacking my hand I was not looking forward to shooting this gun with it's metal-grip-safety backstrap at all. Sights? HA! They consist of a U-grooved topstrap forming the rear "sight", and the front "sight" is a bump down in the valley of that groove. This gun was truly made to be shot while pushed against the ribcage of someone trying to kill you, period! All that being said, I pressed ahead and loaded up.
The Fiocchi went into a 3 5/8" group, with my first ever shot being high and outside of the target circles. The Remington landed in a 4 3/4" group, with operator error playing a larger factor as a round hit the top and bottom of the black rings.
LCP:
I have been shooting this gun several times annually for the past several years, and I have become used to the narrow grip, snappy recoil, lengthy trigger pull and the nearly useless sights. It is a good bit smaller, lighter and narrower than the FEG, and while a tiny bit larger it is a lot lighter than the all-steel AMT (18 oz AMT vs 9 oz LCP).
By this point the web of my shooting hand wasn't all that happy, and a blood-blister that I had on the side of my trigger finger from a pliers-pinch earlier in the week was starting to be felt with each trigger press. These aren't excuses for my fair-to-middlin' shooting, just relaying what was going on.
The ten Fiocchi rounds went into an odd "V-shaped" group that measured 2 1/4" from the furthest points. I couldn't tell if the shots landed in this group randomly and ultimately formed the "V", or if I was subconsciously tracing some imaginary lettering like a bush-league Ad Topperwein at a demo. The Remington rounds formed more of a "group", well it was shaped sorta like a football, that also measured 2 1/4" between furthest points.
LCP II:
Honestly, by now I was already getting tired of these little guns and I couldn't wait to be finished. (I had brought a couple of 9mm Glocks to shoot, too, but they're another story). The LCP II has a differently configured grip, which is a tad bit thicker across the web than the original LCP, and the trigger guard is larger and a bit squared-off as well. The front of the slide and "dust cover" portions of the LCP II slide and frame are also a bit blockier than with the original LCP, but I don't think that will affect concealability at all. Front slide serrations are now present to give a bit more grip for those who prefer a hand-over-slide charging style and the actual, though still rudimentary, sights make for a much better sight picture for aimed shots. The improvement is in the trigger, which no longer has the full-length take up ala; a DA-only revolver, it now has the "Glock-style" blade inset in the trigger face that moves a safety-lever out of the way allowing for a smoother and lighter press.
The 10 Fiocchi rounds went into a well-centered 1 1/2" group that landed just to the 10 o'clock position at the edge of the orange center ring. The Remington rounds were roughly in the same location on their side of the target, but operator error looks like I put one a bit lower, opening it up to a 2 1/4" spread.
OVERALLS:
After the 80 sighted shots were fired in these guns back-to-back, I was done with these small .380 autos. Larger 9mm, .40 and .45 guns just seem to rock my hand less, and I like shooting them a lot more than these pocket guns. (That and the stupid pliers-pinch blood-blister I gave myself on the side of the trigger finger earlier in the week didn't help.) I was really surprised how the FEG just didn't seem to fit my hands during recoil as well as the LCP's do. This may just be because I am used to them now, who knows. The AMT? Nothing was ergonomic about that gun at all.
The trigger pulls made a difference, with the FEG and the LCP II producing groups that were fairly respectable and the LCP and AMT being larger on average. There is something to be said for a good trigger making a positive difference on any gun, and these pipsqueaks with the better triggers certainly lived up to that axiom.
I was happy to say that all four of the .380 guns loaded, fed, and fired without a hitch using both of these standard-fodder 95 gr FMJ bullet loads, and all would be "minute-of-felon" accurate out to 10 yards or so in my less than match-winning hands should the range extend out that far... and I do my part.
Let me know what your impressions are when you are shooting your pocket guns...
Stay safe!
