Ruger’s dandy
little LCP .380 pocket pistol has become the hottest
selling new pistol for 2008. After the introduction of the LCP
on February 2nd of this year, Ruger has sold several
thousand of the little pistols. They are still hard to get, with
my local gun dealer informing me that he can sell a lot more of
the pistols than he can buy. Ruger is producing, but demand
still exceeds supply. However, he does get one in occasionally,
but it never stays on the shelf for long. By any standard of
measurement, the LCP is an enormous success.
After the introduction at the 2008
SHOT Show in Las Vegas, I immediately began pestering
the good folks at Ruger for a test gun, which arrived within a
couple of weeks. The LCP proved to be a reliable, lightweight,
compact, and easy-to-use pocket pistol, and has served me well.
For more details on that little pistol, I refer you to my
earlier review.
A little over a month ago, Ruger learned that it
was a possibility with some of the early pistols that, if
dropped, they might accidentally fire. I know of no reports that
an LCP ever did actually unintentionally discharge, but Ruger
immediately issued a recall of every LCP that had a serial
number with the prefix “370”. Ruger began the retrofit of a
new hammer assembly a couple of weeks later, to correct the
potential problem. Ruger pays the shipping both ways, and they
are also giving the owner of a recalled pistol a new magazine
for his trouble. The new magazine also has a finger-rest
floorplate, which is a nice feature, and makes the LCP much
easier to hang onto while firing.
I recently received an LCP that has been through
the recall process. Included was the free magazine, and other
than the finger rest, there is nothing obvious externally
different between this pistol and my earlier pistol. There are
63,157 serial numbers between my older gun than this later one,
so Ruger has really been cranking out the LCPs during the past
several months! To distinguish that a pistol has been back to
the factory for the recall, Ruger stamps a small diamond on the
frame, at the bottom of the hammer relief channel. It can be
easily seen in the picture comparing it to the pistol that has
not been back for the recall. Again, if your LCP has a serial
number beginning with anything other than “370”, it already
has the upgraded hammer assembly, and is not affected by the
recall. Also, if you find an LCP for sale that has the diamond
stamped at the bottom of the hammer channel in the frame, it has
already been retrofitted and updated.
I was curious about whether or not the pistols
could discharge if dropped. To prove it to myself, I
intentionally dropped both my older pistol and the updated one
on the hard wood floor of my shooting shack porch. Not wanting a
.380 bullet to be flying around uncontrolled ( I have been hit
by one before), I loaded the pistols with an empty, primed
cartridge case. That way, if it did fire, I would hear the
report of the primer firing, but no errant bullets would be
involved. The earlier pistol that has not been sent in for the
recall would not fire, but the firing pin did leave a very
slight mark on the primer of the empty cartridge case. The
pistol that has been upgraded left no mark at all, so it was
obvious that the new hammer assembly is doing its job.
The trigger pull on the updated gun is still
very smooth, like the earlier LCP, but has a slightly heavier
trigger pull weight. It still is a very good pull, measuring
five pounds, ten ounces, and again, is very smooth to operate.
That is only four ounces heavier than my other LCP measured when
new, so the trigger pull was really not adversely affected at
all, as I had anticipated that it might be. The trigger on the
LCP does not pinch my finger like I experience with some small
auto pistols, and is very comfortable to shoot.
If you have an LCP that is affected by the
recall, there is no need to be apprehensive about sending your
gun in. Ruger is striving hard to get the guns back to their
owners in about one week, and again, there is no cost at all to
the LCP owner, and the free magazine will be included in the
package with the updated pistol.
Do not send in your LCP to Ruger until they tell
you to do so. They will send you instructions, a shipping
package, and shipping label.
Check out the full line of Ruger products
here.
Jeff
Quinn
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