LC9

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greener

LC9

Post by greener » Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:56 pm

Wandered through Ruger22's favorite Richmond gun shop this morning and they forced me to buy an LC9.

Overall
Not ready for primetime, at least for me. Good shooter, but I had a failure to fire problem that seemed like the firing pin was not striking the primer.

Larger than the pocket .380's but still fits a size 3 Uncle Mikes holster. Fit and feel is pretty good.

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The trigger is a bit stiff, but ok. It fired a little high with 115gr FMJ loaded to about 1150 fps. Seemed to settle down a bit with 125gr lrn loaded to about 1050 fps. We had a tendency to shoot ab bit right at 15 yards.

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Dislikes

Ruger's LCI, not a great idea for a pocket concealed weapon.

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I bought this pistol on the way to the range. toward the end of shooting, it didn't fire 7 consecutive rounds. No primer dent. I reserve opinion on this one until I get back to the range and shoot a thoroughly cleaned pistol.

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Georgezilla
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Post by Georgezilla » Sun Aug 07, 2011 1:29 am

Thanks for sharing, Greener.

I have been in the market for a pocket 9mm for awhile. There are so many of them in the market now one would think I could find one exactly like I want, but no dice.

I was really excited about the LC9 until I saw it/read about it. Looking at the pistol, I think Ruger first designed the largest LCI they could, and then designed the actual pistol around that.

greener

Post by greener » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:31 am

Looks like you can take care of the LCI with a pin punch.

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Post by bigfatdave » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:40 am

Georgezilla wrote:Thanks for sharing, Greener.

I have been in the market for a pocket 9mm for awhile. There are so many of them in the market now one would think I could find one exactly like I want, but no dice.

I was really excited about the LC9 until I saw it/read about it. Looking at the pistol, I think Ruger first designed the largest LCI they could, and then designed the actual pistol around that.
More accurate would be that Ruger designed the biggest LCI possible, and then pinned it onto a Kel Tec PF9 along with a manual schmafety lever and magazine interlock.

I really like Ruger's original designs, but blatantly copying the P3at and pf9 is sleazy and poorly done.

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bgreenea3
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Post by bgreenea3 » Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:14 pm

clean and lube it then try it again. not a bad group for a pocket size 9mm......
"Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway."

-John Wayne

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Post by Bullseye » Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:17 pm

Either that chamber's loaded or you've got mail ready for pick-up. :D

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bgreenea3
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Post by bgreenea3 » Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:56 pm

did you say the mail is ready for pick up?

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or that the dinner is ready
"Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway."

-John Wayne

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Post by Hakaman » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:47 pm

Overall
Not ready for primetime, at least for me. Good shooter, but I had a failure to fire problem that seemed like the firing pin was not striking the primer.
A fellow just purchased the same pistol, and he was having the same problems. The firing pin was not striking hard enough (or something?) and he was having failure to fires at about one out of five shots. Another individual said he thought it was the firing pin spring was not strong enough???
:?:
Haka

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bgreenea3
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Post by bgreenea3 » Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:33 pm

or a burr in the firing oin channel
"Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway."

-John Wayne

greener

Post by greener » Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:52 pm

Hakaman wrote:
Overall
Not ready for primetime, at least for me. Good shooter, but I had a failure to fire problem that seemed like the firing pin was not striking the primer.
A fellow just purchased the same pistol, and he was having the same problems. The firing pin was not striking hard enough (or something?) and he was having failure to fires at about one out of five shots. Another individual said he thought it was the firing pin spring was not strong enough???
:?:
Haka
The hammer strikes and pushes the firing pin forward. Weak hammer spring?

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Hakaman
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Post by Hakaman » Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:59 pm

The hammer strikes and pushes the firing pin forward. Weak hammer spring?
Yep, that's the spring he was talking about. I knew it was one of them springs!

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ruger22
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Re: LC9

Post by ruger22 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:18 am

greener wrote:Wandered through Ruger22's favorite Richmond gun shop this morning and they forced me to buy an LC9.
Same arm twisting tactics used on OM, huh?

Green Top is the best stocked gun shop I've seen since briefly living in Houston around '80. I remember one store in particular, can't remember name, but might as well have been Gun-Mart. This place was nearly as big as a Wal-Mart. Three whole walls of guns. An entire aisle of holsters. An aisle of scopes. You can imagine the rest. The place had everything.
Last edited by ruger22 on Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols

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ruger22
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Post by ruger22 » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:42 am

Georgezilla wrote: I think Ruger first designed the largest LCI they could, and then designed the actual pistol around that.
:lol: :lol: :lol: .......I like that! I'm glad they didn't do that on the Mark III, I'd have been filing on that plug for a year.
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols

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ruger22
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Re: LC9

Post by ruger22 » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:48 am

greener wrote:Wandered through Ruger22's favorite Richmond gun shop this morning and they forced me to buy an LC9.
Town Gun / Police Supply in Martinsville, VA isn't too bad either, if anyone is in that neck of the woods. I understand they have a Richmond store as well, but I haven't seen it.
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols

greener

Post by greener » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:15 am

I thoroughly, I thought, cleaned the pistol paying close attention to the firing pin. Based on some comments on the Ruger forum (red), I also bought a box of WWB 9mm. The pistol fired a few rounds of reloads with CCI primer and then started light/no strikes. Switched to WWB and it fired great for about 10 rounds and did the same for reloads with Winchester primers.

I field stripped the pistol, worked the firing pin and ejected a metal shaving. No problems after that with any ammo. So, I need to remove the firing pin and clean better, I hope. I'm disappointed that Ruger put this thing together like that.

When it fired, it did well. I could do better if I weren't concentrating on whether it fired or not and more on shooting fundamentals.

Not ready for prime time, yet.

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