Today is May 12th as I hammer out
this brief piece on these new firearms from Ruger. I expected
the guns a few days ago, but production has just begun, and the
firearms arrived late yesterday. I have spent most of today
shooting these weapons, but have not had enough time to do as
thorough of a workout with them as I like to do, so this is just
an introduction. Look for a full review later. The urgency to
get this short review posted is that Ruger will introduce these
new firearms officially on Thursday, May 13th, but I will be in
route to Charlotte, NC for the NRA Annual Meetings.
Anyway, first up we have two new versions of
the highly successful Ruger LCR
revolver. These new variations are similar to the LCR that
has been in full production for several months. The first is
another 38 Special, also rated for Plus P ammo, but it wears a
more compact grip for better concealability, and a Trijicon
tritium front night sight for use in dimly-lit conditions.
The next LCR is chambered for the 357 Magnum
cartridge. The 357 is the same size as the original LCR, but has
a stainless steel cylinder frame instead of aluminum. It weighs
about 17 ounces, and can fire any 357 magnum ammunition.
Both of these revolvers have very smooth
trigger pulls that have a pull weight in the 7.75 pounds range,
and each holds five shots. Both retain the polymer fire control
housing of the original LCR.
The rifle is a shorter, lighter version of
the Ruger SR-556 AR-15 style semi-auto
rifle. The SR-556c is very similar to the SR-556, except for
the barrel. The barrel of the SR-556c is fluted under the hand
guard to reduce weight, and is about 1.75 inches shorter than
the barrel with the screwed-on flash suppressor on the SR-556.
Ruger made the flash suppressor integral with the barrel on the
556c, allowing the barrel length, including flash suppressor, to
be 16.1 inches in length. This keeps everything legal, offers a
shorter overall length, and a quicker-handling weapon. About one
half pound of weight is removed from the front of the weapon,
changing the handling dynamics noticeably.
Look for more in-depth review of these three
weapons in a few days. In the mean time, we are off to Carolina
to see what else is new at the NRA Show.
