Can anybody tell me anything about the Ruger LCP .380 acp Pistol (good or bad)?  The price appears to be pretty economical through AIM, but sometimes you get what you pay for.  Look forward to feedback.

Pros: It's small, easy to carry, has very manageable recoil and doesn't cost very much.

Cons: It's .380

Edit:  I have no idea.  Wrong gun.

terrible trigger...not that it's a target gun but man that thing was rough!

Sorry, I only have one:


You are in the back of the convenience store when you hear a gunshot.  Some Asshats walked in and shot the clerk.  One asshat says to the other...... let's kill everybody.

Your thoughts when you have that little poodle shooter:.......I wish I had a gun with me!!!


If you are going to carry a gun for self defense, then carry a fighting pistol, ie Hi cap 9mm, 40, 10mm, or .45.  

On duty I carry a Glock 22 or 23 with a Glock 23 as my back-up.  It just makes sense.

This pretty much covers it.

Carry a weapon that you will carry everyday all day. If its a 380 then at least you have something. For what it is the LCP 380 is a great pistol for the pocket or around the house. The above statement is very flawed. Don't choose a pistol on the look or capacity. What is a fighting pistol anyway. The 1911 has been in more fights then any pistol around but its not high capacity. For me a Kahr .40 is my choice to carry everyday, its thin and conceals well, has the fire power to take care of most anything and with a second mag I have 13 rounds. The chance of me ever pulling the trigger is slim to none, the chance of needing more then 7 rounds is even smaller then slim to none. Pick a weapon that fits your carry style, clothes, and carry laws.

Back to the LCP. Its a great little weapon. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, light weight, and cheap. The trigger is long but most DA only triggers are. The recoil is sharp but manageable. Its a great addition to anyone's carry arsenal.

I have other handguns in various sizes and calibers but I do like the lcp because of the size. i think the chances of having to use it are slim. an ar15 doesnt carry well in walmart.

+1

Muddydogs––––-> <––––––-g-shooter

With this logic, why not just go everywhere with an AR15?  Here's the rest of the story––You pull your LCP out, duck down and sneak around the potato chip display, busting two rounds into the guy who just shot the clerk.  He falls, in shock, and coughs up a pint of blood as one of his lungs and his heart have been turned to jello from the hydro-shock from the two Hornady Critical Defense rounds that have mushroomed and made a mess as they entered his chest.  Meanwhile, the other asshat has taken off, fearing for his cowardly and worthless life.  A big-boobed blonde that was also in the back of the store offers you her body in appreciation for saving her life.  

I like how you think Dan.

LOL!  Good luck can strike just as easy as bad luck, right?

Got two.  Can't get over how fantastic they are.  Both ran flawless right outa the box and are amazingly accurate to boot!   The addition of the pierce type grip extension they added now, makes them alot more XXL hand friendly also.  Quickly got used to the goofy trigger.

If you knew you were going to need a gun for self defense you shouldn't carry any handgun, you should be carrying a rifle.  For a civilian, if you knew you were going to need a gun for self defense you would just avoid the situation altogether.

On duty I also carry a Glock 22, but if I anticipate a problem I grab an AR.  I carry a LCP when I'm not at work.  It carries and conceals well.  It goes everywhere with me and doesn't require me to dress around it.  I can wear shorts and a t-shirt and not have to worry about it.  I can do the things I like to do without carrying a gun being an issue.  That is what the LCP is good for.  

The cons are poor sights, small caliber, and heavy trigger, but these are because of what it was designed to be, a reasonably priced pocket pistol.  Okay, the sights could still be better.

The first rule in a gun fight is to have a gun.

I shot about 20 rounds with one today.

Very good for concealed carry.  I would not want to get into a gunfight with one, but if I had to get out of a room I think it would work.  I am looking at maybe picking one up later this year.

almost forgot.  The sights are extremly petite.  It took a bit of getting used to.

The last sentence FTW !

lol, yes it is! I picked up an LCP last Friday. Long, spongie trigger pull and all but non-exsitent sights. BUT it isn't a target pistol, it is a deep concealment gun. It isn't my daily CCW, but it is there for back up or times when I need something I can hide in formal clothing or my briefcase.

I think it would make a great backup gun.  For CCW I'd prefer a 9mm Kahr (not much else in this size/caliber), but a .380 is much better than nothing.  There are
times when you won't be able to conceal a full or midsize gun (like a G19 or XD9), and the LCP is small enough for even back pocket carry.

Concise and accurate.

I think this is why it is almost inevitable that you get a Crimson Trace unit for this pistol, which I guess is a con because of the expense.  Having it on there certainly does wonders for your confidence with the pistol, adds little to the bulk or weight, and you can find pocket holsters to fit the Ruger and the laser.  Once you do that, you have a very lightweight, compact little gun very capable of precision work in the short range.  I always try to carry something larger when I can, but feel for the size and weight the LCP i about the best thing going in its class.

Just make sure you do not shoot a coyote around hippy liberal Austin with one.

the best gun to have in a bad situation , is a reliable weapon that you have on your person. the one at home in the safe will do you no good.

Good is the ease of carry and the fact that it is a real gun.  The bad is the uncertainty regarding the .380 and the gun's capacity.

I watched a CCW show that discussed the .380.   They talked about the effectiveness of the .380 cartridge coupled with the number of rounds.  Discussion went to carrying a second mag and the recommendation was to carry 2 .380 guns since there's no time to reload when you're carrying a 6+1 with marginal stopping power.  I love my LCP and my 9mm's, but after watching that show I bought a compact 10+1 .45ACP when I saw a good deal.  I figured why not tilt the odds in my favor and end the debate - for me at least.

Now, if i need to discretely carry a pocket gun it's going to be my LCP.

Final comment, I hate shooting my LCP.  It's not a gun I'll shoot often for recreational purposes.  It is what it is.  A pocket gun.  Somewhat of a gun of last resort.  If you had your choice you'd have a rifle (earlier post), but when you're dropping something in your shorts, it's the LCP.

I have yet to hear a story about an LCP (or any other .380) being used in a CCW scenario.

A retired city correction officer working security at a Queens bowling alley was arrested Saturday after he shot two rowdy customers during a wild fight, police said.

Michael Iavecchio was charged with two counts of second-degree assault after the confrontation just outside the AMF Bowling Center in Woodside, police said.

Iavecchio, 54, ejected Gerard Hourigan and Justin Donaghy - both 29 - from the lanes at 1:45 a.m. after they refused to stop smoking cigarettes inside, police said.

Once he escorted them outside to 34th Ave., the two men turned and attacked him, the guard told investigators.

As he struggled with the men, Iavecchio broke free and pulled out his .380 Ruger and opened fire, cops said. He hit Hourigan in the chest and Donaghy in the stomach. Both men were taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center and were expected to survive, police said.

Iavecchio, a former captain with the Correction Department who had a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun, was arrested after hours of questioning, stunning his Rockaway Beach neighbors.

"He's a wonderful person, he helps everybody," said neighbor Roma Ciofalo, 77. "Everybody likes him."

Hourigan and Donaghy were later charged with menacing, police said.

A longtime patron said violence was out of the ordinary at the "family-oriented" bowling alley.

"It's a very safe place," said Nancy Jimenez.

Hold on, am I reading this correctly? You carry a G23 as your duty weapon and BUG is also a G23? So on patrol you carry on your person two G23s?

Or do you mean off duty you carry a G23?

Don't put an ATV on its side and fall in a mudhole and get muddy water in your spare mag cause it will cease up.

There are stories of people surviving nearly any caliber of handgun.  Here's a fun one.  (Although he did shoot the bear 3 times.)

Bear killed: Marquand man feared 400-lb. bear was going to attack dog

By SCOTT MOYERS ~ SEMO News Service
MARQUAND –– A 400-pound black bear was found dead Monday morning near Marquand, a day after it was shot three times by a resident who said he was afraid the bear was going to attack his dog.

Though it is illegal to kill black bears in Missouri, the man who shot the bear will not be charged because he was protecting his property, said Ken West, regional supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation in Cape Girardeau. The name of the man who killed the bear was unavailable Monday night.

The bear first showed up at the man's house, 3 miles south of Marquand near the Bollinger-Madison county line, on Saturday night, West said. The man ran the bear off Saturday night after it ripped boards off his shed to get to some animal feed.

Uncharacteristically, the bear returned Sunday night.

"Normally, once you run a bear off, he doesn't come back," West said. "But he came back. The guy tried to run it off again, but the bear apparently stood his ground."

The man said the bear stood up on its hind legs as the man's dog advanced. Standing up, the bear was 6 feet tall.

"He was afraid the bear was going to tear up his dog," West said. "So apparently he shot the bear three times."

The man used a .22-caliber rifle. The wounded bear ran into the woods, West said, and the man called the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department, which contacted the Department of Conservation.

The bear couldn't be located that night. The next morning, the man called the agency and said he'd found the bear dead 150 yards from the shed.

Monday morning, conservation agents retrieved the bear, a male, and stored the carcass in the walk-in freezer of a Fredericktown, Mo., taxidermist.

On Wednesday a member of the department's wildlife staff will transport the bear to Columbia, Mo., to be analyzed. The department will study stomach contents to see what it had eaten recently, take DNA samples and determine its age.

West said it's unusual for a bear sighting to end in a killing.

"He had damage to his property," he said. "We're confident this wasn't a case where the bear was just ambling by and he shot it."

West said agents had received reports of two black bears in that area during the past two or three weeks.

The black bear is the smallest bear in North America and the only one native to Missouri. Adult males generally weigh 200 to 600 pounds, and adult females weigh 100 to 300 pounds. Although most bears in Missouri are black, color varies from brown to blond.

West said multiple sightings of two bears had been made in Madison and Bollinger counties in the last few weeks. While sightings in Cape Girardeau County aren't impossible, West said, bears don't usually go into areas with high concentrations of people or traffic.

I agree with this 100%.  Yet I still carry an LCP while jogging.

this works for me








 

If you want a .380 the Ruger is one of the best small guns out there. I would never  purchase a gun without playing with a few others.  ie Dimond Back's baby glock and a sig P238 both which have better sites than most ot the baby guns........

The LCP weighs a bit less than the Beretta model 21A, 22 LR and it's thinner and carries better in a front pocket.

Mine has been extremely reliable, it has a smooth but long and heavy trigger pull and can hit silhouettes at 50 yards if I really try.  The LCP draws a lot faster and more reliably than the 21A Beretta or an LCR or SW J-frame.  Speedy and reliable draw count a lot.

BTW, a Glock 26 carried in the pocket of cargo pants or shorts and in a cut down pocket holster draws very fast and reliably but isn't much fun to carry since it swings the pants around when you walk.

Here's some reading about .380 ammo.  Would you let someone shoot you in the face with one? I wouldn't.

http://www.citybillys.com/380%20data.htm

http://www.brassfetcher.com/380ACP%20ammunition%20performance%20in%20ballistic%20gelatin.pdf

If you understand the limitations of the cartridge and the intended use for the gun (deep cover) then I highly recommend it.  It gets carried a ton when situtations rule out my primary carry gun (Kahr P45).  I found mine a little slippery, so a few minutes with a soldering iron took care of that problem!

My thought exactly. If a fool is gonna look down the barrel of a .380 and laff, he'll do the same with a .45.

There certainly are lots of stories of folks surviving multiple .45 hits, .9mm, .38 etc. It is placement. Are you less likely to kill with a .380 in the spot than a .45? yes, but I believe the point, firstly, is to survive. I see no reason to believe that is less likely with a .380.

Frankly, my edc floats between a 9mm, .38 (LCR) and a .380. I don't have an LCP, but if I keep reading this stuff, I will end up with one.    I really like the ability to pocket carry and not dress to conceal, but rather conceal according to how I dress.  My LCR fits in any pocket and is so comfortable I have forgotten it is there. I like this.

Now, if I know I am going to be in a more hazardous situation...I'll carry the 9mm or greater...I just do not feel the need to do this everyday and try to avoid dangerous situations.

JMO

Hello all,

Long time reader here,

My thoughts on the .380 & why.

Cons- its a .380

Pros:

In my opinion. As a law enforcment officer, I would have this weapon as a back up weapon ONLY! It compact and as we all know... concealable. Thats why I do like this firearm. I would not have this as an off duty gun to protect my family. I would only have this weapon as a back up weapon while on duty only, not for off duy. as my old gunny told me before going overseas in the Marines. "its better to have then to need" pack everything. I will purchase one later this year. It would be an "Ohh sh***" gun

I recently shot and purchased one. All of the positive feedback is correct. Cons it is a 380. I will carry it every day when size is more important than caliber. I have several other carry options (S&W j frame Glock 27) but the 380 is always in my pocket. It is also reliable. If you need one for survival it is always their.

I picked one up for the wife last year though I tried to coach her into getting a nice used 3" nickel plated 5-shot S&W. She didn't like the weight of it but she liked the weight of the LCR so I figured its better to get her what she'll carry than otherwise not carry because of weight. I carried it around for a few days myself in a shirt pocket and it wasn't uncomfortable. I wouldn't have carried my Berreta 21A or my Derringer that way, simply because of their weight and as someone else noted its thinner profile to the Berreta. So its a keeper in my book.

My LCP has not missed a beat in about 300 rounds. Would I rather have a .45? Yes sir. But this gun can be taken no matter what you are wearing. It goes everywhere with me and I forget its there. It truly has made CCW a lifestyle for me.
I honestly don't know how you can carry a full size gun with just shorts and a tee shirt. But I can have my LCP with me in the same clothes with a spare mag. Just my .02, do what work for you.

I didn't want to start a new topic on this, However if anybody could help me it would be apreciated.

I know this .380 costs aprox $300, Does anybody out there know how much the two toned ruger is of the .380? Do they charge you more ? if so how much?

Thanks in advance.

NICE!

Now that S&W came out with their "Bodyguard" .380 how much lower does anybody think the price will go on LCP's?

I had a LCP for a couple months and sold it for a j-frame. Having a .380 always made me slightly uncomfortable, but the consistent jamming of the damn thing sealed its coffin.

the only thing i don't like about the lcp is the trigger...

.380 hydroshocks should get you out of a situation if that's what you have to carry.  Summers in the south are hot so t-shirts and shorts are common for me.  The LCP is my concealment answer.  I carry bigger when the atire allows.

Long trigger pull, but I happen to prefer that for a pocket gun.  Would hate to have a discharge in my pocket because of a bumped trigger.  Because of it's size, it passes as nothing more than a cell phone in my pocket if anyone even notices.

Sights are weak, but work at the range should take care of the need for sights.  Body mass shots at 10' are no problem.

Recently had a chance to play with one of these toys. One thing that i did not like is that the magizine did not slide in the mag well smoothly. I had to press the release to make the mag lock into the weapon.

Definatly a con of this firearm.

in addition for those of you that do have this fine toy. Be sure to press the mag release while inserting a mag. If you force it pass the mag release and it catches, over time your mag release will wear down and it will need to be replaced. Be sure to avoid the headache

380 in pocket better than .45 in car...

Shot my 1st 100 rds threw the gun today. No problems. I just don't like that the slide doesn't lock to the back after you fire that last round. But I understand if it did lock back the gun wouldn't be the size it is.

No complaints