my thoughts on the Ruger LCR

[chicagogunsmith]

Abotu a year ago a friend of mine asked me how I liked the Ruger LCR and this is what I said...

I like most lasers, but what I dislike is the position of that laser. Let me explain. Good gun discipline is to leave your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. This prevents accidental mis-fires from a bump or a flinch. However if you do that, your indexed trigger finger will most likely block the laser. I do not understand why crimson Trace doesn't place the laser high up on the left side.

Having said that, I think the laser is THE ONLY way you can accurately shoot the gun. After all its' sights were terrible for me. To be honest they are the worst sights I have had the dis-plesure of using, but then again very typical of a revolver on the market today. If I owned one I'd LOL take some white out and make some dots. The LCR has no such dots on the rear or front sight. It was very hard for me to aim to be honest. One other thing all of my shots went low even when I really really took my time to get the aim perfect. I don't know if it was a sight issue or my grip or what.

I got very good results shooting the LCR when I brought my grip up as high as the pistol would allow. However I ended up putting alot of pressure into the web of my thumb on my shooting hand. The first shot was dead on, the 3rd shot I found myself flinching because it hurt that bad... so I went back to a low grip. I sacrficed some accuracy for comfort. I'd probably be better off wearing a glove because I have big hands and the LCR's handle is tiny.

I did like the very consistent smooth trigger pull A+ for Ruger. But I experienced something I never before felt to such a degree and that was a tremendous pain in my trigger finger. However I did fully enjoy the consistancy of the trigger pull. I don't mind so much that it was double action, we're not shooting precision rifles here. Plus my current carry pistol is double action, so I'm used to it. I did enjoy the LCR's trigger pull more than my current carry pistol.

Great weight though, I'll give it that. But the lack of weight is part of the reason it has such a felt recoil. I'd like to try an all steel J frame Smith and Wesson now to compare. I'm wagering the S&W has slightly less recoil, to spite they are very much the same size. I also don't think the added weight will matter because comparing it to my fully loaded keltec p11 with 10 rounds of 9 mm, the revolver with 5 rounds will weigh less.

With my accuracy issues and hand discomfort, I decided to pay attention to the muzzle flip and suprisingly there was almost none. That's a good thing that means in the hands of a shooter a little tougher than me, the gun can be deadly.

One thing I told the guy at the range, basically in a self defense situation if you are shooting off 100 rounds you are probably going to go to jail LOL so it's really only the first 5 rounds that matter anyways. Basing my opinion solely on the first 5 rounds it'll definetly get the job done. At this point I need to do some more research before I trade in my curent carry pistol but I don't think the LCR will be its' replacement. I want to try the Sig p238 but I do want to get a revolver for the house so my wife can shoot it. She's got a problem with the technacilities of auto loaders and it doesn't get any more simple than a revolver. I'll probably get her a 357 and then load it with 38 spl. The added weight of the 357 frame will greatly reduce her recoil.

[Glockinghouse]

CG, I feel your pain. I have a S&W Bodyguard .38 and it is also hand numbing to shoot. I also have the Sig P238 and it is a pleasure to shoot! The Smith is the wife's car gun so it is shot little. She can put 5 on COM but that is all she wants to shoot. I also have a Ruger SP101, 2.25" barrel. It is my winter car gun and part-time CCW gun. I love shooting it with the .38 special round. Almost no recoil (I did say almost ). It makes a good house gun as well with the .38 +P rounds. I have used some .357 rounds at the low end and they are fine to shoot as well.

[B2Tall]

I don't know of any .357 snubbie that's fun to shoot when using the big rounds. That being said, my LCR has a Hogue grip that (for me at least) takes much of the sting out of shooting the gun. I really, really like Hogues and have them on several of my firearms.

As far as the sights go, I agree that the stock sights weren't much good but one should remember that the LCR is a pocket gun and the sights are small and low-profile for a reason. This is a weapon designed to be used at very close range. I replaced the front sight with an XS Big Dot (from Trijicon) and now find it much easier to visually pick up the front sight when shooting rapid-fire. As a result my shot speed and accuracy with the pistol has increased by a good margin.

[chup]

I put another 100 rounds of 357 through my LCR this past week. Thats at least 500 357 rounds and 100 or 200 rounds of 38+P. This has become my favorite carry and shooting Snub. It just fits me right.