Ruger LCP

Handgun review photo: Right-side thumbnail of LCP.
Editor’s Rating: 7.0/10

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Summary: Walt Rauch’s review of and rating for the Ruger LCP pistol, including a range report, photos, pricing, specs, user ratings and user comments. (Click here to see all of Rauch’s handgun reviews.)

Editor’s Review

LCP left side photo
The LCP from the left.

The Ruger Lightweight Compact Pistol (LCP) is a compact .380 ACP semi-auto. It’s Ruger’s interpretation of the Kel-Tec P-3AT pistol (the P3-AT name is a play on words: 3AT sounds like 380 when spoken). The LCP evokes the pocket pistols of two other gun companies as well: SCCY Industries, formerly known as SKYY, and Cobra Enterprises of Utah.
I’ve gotten my hands on an LCP; my review and thoughts follow.

The Details

LCP sights photo
The LCP carries rudimentary but adequate fixed sights.

The LCP is double-action-only (DAO) without restrike ability. It holds six rounds in its metal magazine, which features a removable polymer base plate. The LCP weighs 9.4 oz. and measures 3.6″ tall, 5.16″ long and .82″ thick. Its barrel measures 2.75″ long.

The through-hardened steel slide is dull blue and my glass-filled nylon (polymer) frame is black.  You can also get the LCP with a stainless steel slide with a brushed stainless finish, and a wide variety of frame colors. (The NRA version features a camo frame, NRA Logos on the slide and a special serial number range (NRA000xxx). Davidsons is distributing it.). The polymer trigger is rounded and smooth faced. Trigger pull weight measured 7 lbs. out of the box, but after my shooting, it dropped to 6.5 lbs.

Sights are rudimentary: a smooth black ramp front and square notch rear. Because they are part of the slide, they’re not easily adjusted, although if for whatever reason you wanted to further regulate the sights, you could perform some very careful filing. (Note: Ruger now also offers the LC9 with the LaserMax Centerfire laser sight or the Crimson Trace Laserguard laser sight, both of which attach to the frame/trigger guard. —ed.) As best I can determine, the gun shoots to point-of-aim at 18 yards and closer.

Ruger has rounded the more abrupt areas of the pistol, as well as cleverly adding a spring-loaded slide stop on the exterior of the removable ejector while retaining this function. It’s also made the rudimentary sights slightly more pronounced while giving the front and backstrap areas a more attractive surface treatment by reshaping the frame, adding ambidextrous finger swells and lowering the magazine catch so that it’s now partially surrounded by the frame surface to better prevent accidentally releasing the magazine. This protection is also seen in the added semi-circular raised ridge around the lower half of the large head of the take-down cross pin.

magazine catch photo
The magazine catch is protected by the frame.

The slide stop is horizontally grooved and flush-fit to the frame at the frame’s top left rear. It’s not activated by the magazine’s follower, so it won’t lock back after the last round is fired.
The metal frame is held in the polymer frame shell by two pins, and the frame provides the metal rails for slide travel as well as holding some of the operating parts. A third and upper rear pin retains the semi-exposed spurless hammer.

The frontstrap is horizontally grooved and the backstrap features molded checkering. As noted earlier, the LCP’s six-round, metal-body magazine has a removable polymer base plate, the combination of which extends the magazine below the frame. To provide a better gripping area, the hammer spring seat (a polymer insert at the bottom rear of the frame) has been made longer to match up with the bottom of the magazine.

backstrap photo
The backstrap is lightly checkered, and the magazine base pad blends well with the backstrap insert.

A spring-loaded Glock-like external extractor is at the right rear of the large ejection port. Ruger removed some of the rear of the barrel chamber area so you can see a portion of the cartridge case when a round is chambered and the slide is closed, creating a visual loaded-chamber indicator. Two recoil springs, one inside the other and supported by the non-captive metal guide rod, are in the usual location beneath the barrel.

After ensuring the gun is unloaded and the magazine is removed, you begin disassembly with the slide forward. (A very good reason to triple-verify the gun is unloaded!) Per the instruction book, it helps to move the slide about 1/16″ to the rear before prying out the large-head take-down pin, which is retained by spring pressure. Moving the slide makes prying the pin out easier because the pin is centered beneath the overly long slide stop notch on the slide, giving you more room to get to the pin.

LCP right side photo
The LCP from the right.

The dual recoil springs must be slightly compressed to get them free of the barrel’s lower rear. After this, other than taking the magazine apart for cleaning, no further disassembly is recommended or necessary.

Range Report

Ruger LCP disassembly pin photo
This cross pin must be removed for disassembly.

Shooting the LCP proved uneventful—it performed as I anticipated. I had no malfunctions, and my sample accommodated a decent assortment of .380 ACP bullet types, weights and velocities.

My first act was removing the factory-applied heavy coating of gun grease from the LCP’s rails. While such heavy lubrication helps ensure a gun will work right out of the box (particularly an unfired lightweight gun), this isn’t how the gun will be lubed in real use. Most of the carry guns I’ve had cause to examine are, if anything, under lubricated, usually to avoid staining your clothing. I re-lubricated the LCP with a very light coat of Mobil 5W30 motor oil and, at the range, fired two magazines worth of ammo into the backstop to see that it did work and how well or not I was able to manage the gun.

LCP disassembled photo
The LCP disassembled.

I then shot to establish a level of accuracy. Shooting at 18 yards indoors, seated, using a gun-bag rest, I placed five rounds of Hornady 90-grain JHP/XTP ammo into a 2.5″ (sort of) group. “Sort of” because the sights are hard for me to see clearly under indoor lighting.

Later I chronographed the LCP outdoors with the ammunition listed below without malfunctions. I used a Chrony chronograph at 300 feet above sea level with an ambient temperature of 43 degrees F. The velocities listed are five-shot averages:

  • CCI Blazer 88-grain JHP: 899 fps
  • Cor-Bon 90-grain +P JHP: 1,002 fps
  • Federal 95-grain JRN: 927 fps
  • Federal Hydra-Shock 90-grain JHP: 958 fps
  • Hornady 90-grain HP/XTP: 944 fps
  • IMI Samson 95-grain FMJ: 971 fps
  • Remington 102-grain Golden Saber BJHP: 885 fps
  • Winchester 95-grain Ranger SXT JHP: 841 fps
  • Winchester Silvertip 85-grain HP: 966 fps

I shot mostly one-handed. With a two-hand grip, I found that sometimes I drove my the tip of my trigger finger into my support-hand palm due to the small grip and had to re-grip the gun to fire it.

The gun is not unpleasant to shoot a little, but gets downright uncomfortable for me after more than 20 rounds or so.

LCP target photo
The author’s 2.5″ five-shot group at 18 yards.

I had some Kel-Tec accessories on hand (but not a P-3AT pistol), including the metal belt “holster” clip and the lanyard loop attachment, and I thought they might work on the LCP. No luck here, though, because the LCP’s various retaining pins are in slightly different locations than those of the P3-AT and P32 pistols. I did find that a Kel-Tec .32 ACP magazine locks into the Ruger LCP, so the two in .380 ACP might interchange.

Pocket holsters from Galco, Alessi, High Noon, Gould and Goodrich, and DeSantis all took the LCP, with the DeSantis Superfly model a perfect fit.

The LCP is a very easy to conceal and carry handgun, as I inadvertently rediscovered. At one one point while writing this article I wanted to check something or other on the LCP, so I went looking for it in all the usual places. As I was failing to locate it, I finally realized where it was—in my back pocket!

Final Thoughts

With Ruger adapting and producing this model under the Ruger label, the LCP receives Ruger’s reputation of offering quality, durable low-cost firearms, which are in turn backed by top-notch customer service. I also think the LCP helps re-legitimize the .380 ACP caliber for self defense, as well as advance the use of a small, lightweight semiauto for this purpose.

Bottom line: The Ruger LCP is an excellent representation of the polymer and steel genre of pocket semiautos.

walt rauch photoWalt Rauch received a BS degree from Carnegie Tech and completed service as a Special Agent in U.S. Army Intelligence. Rauch was a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent and a Philadelphia, Pa., Warrant Unit Investigator. He now operates a consulting company for defense-weapon and tactical training. Rauch & Company services include expert witness testimony on firearms use and tactics.
Rauch is also a writer and lecturer in the firearms field. He’s published in national and international publications including InterMedia’s Handguns, several Harris Publications specialty magazines, Police and Security News and Cibles (France). He is the author of a book on self-defense, Real-World Survival! What Has Worked For Me, as well as Practically Speaking, a comprehensive guide to IDPA defensive pistol shooting.

The Specs

Caliber Capacity BBL OAL Height Width Weight
.380 ACP 6+1 2.75″ 5.16″ 3.6″ .82″ 9.4 oz. unloaded
.380 ACP 6+1 2.75″ 5.16″ 3.6″ .82″ 10 oz. unloaded, w/Laserguard

Note: The LCP is not approved for sale in California or Massachusetts.

Ruger LCP Pricing

MSRP: $373
MSRP: $548 (w/Laserguard)
MSRP: $410.95 (NRA Special Edition)

More Reading

Check out Walt Rauch’s review of the LCP’s sibling, the LC9.

More Ruger LCP Photos

The NRA Special Edition, from the left.
The NRA Special Edition, from the right.
Ruger LCP Kryptek Neptune photo
The LCP with the Kryptek Neptune-colored frame.
Ruger LCP Kryptek Pontus photo
The LCP with the Kryptek Pontus-colored frame.
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22 thoughts on “Ruger LCP”

  1. Shot one of these for the first time on Monday. It was also my first time (I think) shooting double-action-only (DAO), and my first time shooting one of these tiny subcompacts. I frankly had a hard time holding onto it for quality followup shots, and I wasn’t great with the DAO trigger either. Of course, these problems weren’t necessarily any fault of the gun’s. Probably due more to my lack of experience with it.
    It did function flawlessly, and it certainly is concealable.

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  2. Reliable, accurate, light, safe!

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  3. Best thing about the gun is its size, you can fit it anywhere.

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  4. I was lucky enough to get one of the first LCP’s way back in 2008. It’s a good idea to “break-in” the gun with at least 100 rounds or more to make sure it’s reliable. I had one FTF round in the first magazine. Google “fluff and buff” for the LCP. That helps break-in. After many practice rounds, my gun has proved to be a reliable, wear-anytime gun. I recommend the Gold Dot .380 round for self defense. Plus-P rounds are too harsh (and not recommended by Ruger). The pinky finger add-on to the magazine makes the gun far easier to shoot, especially one handed. I highly recommend that magazine extension. It changes the feel of the gun, without any appreciable size or weight increase.

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  5. Fun little gun, very reliable. Begins to sting the hand after a few rounds.

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  6. I’ve had an LCP for a couple of years now and it has never failed to fire. Very concealable. My wife liked it so much she gave me her KP345 back and now carries the LCP!. Now I have two KP345’s and am considering selling one for anoter LCP. Great little pistol for self defence.

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  7. The Hogue Handall Hybrid makes the gun more tolerable to shoot. I didn’t care much for shooting it more than 30 rounds before installing the Handall. Afterward, I put 70 rounds through easily.

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  8. Really enjoy my LCD, only complaint, trigger pull takes some practice to get comfortable with.

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  9. fired 50 rounds out the box federal. bought for wife. laser sight good at 30 yds. wife doesnt like pull back weight. Small women with little hands I cut my thumb several times drawing blood trying ti find a firing position. Trigger pull in the most tengthy of all my hand guns. affecting accuracy an confidence while at the range.
    Help SSG Eric Johnson USA Retired

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  10. Pingback: LaserMax CenterFire Ruger LCP Info & Photo | HandgunLasers.net

  11. Pingback: Crimson Trace Laserguard Ruger LCP Info & Photo | HandgunLasers.net

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  16. Very pleased, reliable out of the box with both Hornady Critical Defense and American Eagle FMJ. Added the Hogue grips which made it much more controllable and a pleasure to shoot at the range. The sights on my recent production model are much easier to acquire and the gun is more accurate than I expected. The trigger release point has also been improved and was the primary reason for my selecting it over the S&W Bodyguard 380.

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  17. Pingback: Viridian R5-R-LCP Info & Photo | HandgunLasers.net

  18. Very reliable gun, rudimentary sights, very concealable.
    The extended magazine almost makes this gun shootable, almost.
    I’ve experienced no failures to feed or eject.
    The gun shoots to point of aim.
    The trigger pull is as expected for a DAO.
    The problem with the gun is that muzzle flip is uncontrollable and target reaquisition time is unacceptable.
    I bought it for my wife to be used as a CCW as it would easily fit in a purse, she shot it once (muzzle flip) and went back to a .357 revolver.
    I can see a place for this weapon, but only as a point blank, belly gun. It will not replace my Kimber as my CCW nor do I enjoy shooting it.
    I never sell guns, so this one is sitting in the safe.

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  19. I own a shooting school and bought an almost new LCP from a student. It was an early production pistol and was a lemon. I wrote the VP or Ruger about this and he immediately replaced it–not before testing this new pistol personally. The new LCP is flawless being 100% reliable. I and my students shoot it during classes which is a great deal. It is so light that sometimes I forget it’s in my front pocket. It is also very accurate–easily clover-leafing at 3 to 5 yards away. It is designed as a concealed weapon and not a target pistol. The engagement distances with this weapon are going to be very near as all encounters…I have rapid fired this pistol and all the rounds go into a hand sized area within 2 to 3 yards. Everything in life is a compromise: Concealment vs performance, practical distance in combat vs pure target work. It is perfectly designed for police back-up and civilian EDC…

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  20. I have an LCP and like it. It fits PERFECTLY (and fairly securely) in that little pocket above the right pocket on a pair of jeans. I feel like I’m well armed when heading into rough parts of the hood or just to the gas station, or wherever. I can put 7 rounds into a 10″ plate rapid fire without aiming. Every time. Good enough for govt. work as they say.

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  21. best 380 pistol i ever owned. no problems or issues. shoots well with any type ammo. good job ruger. you folks do not m,ake junk.

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  22. LCP is a well made fun gun to shoot. I have shot about 200 rounds through mine without any failures to fire. I am using handloads 99gr. bullet with a light charge of Unique. Still have had no failures to load between fired rounds.
    The grip seems small and my hands are not overly big; but after all it is a pocket pistol. The only negative is the trigger. I have no problem with the 7lb pull; but the length of the pull makes it difficult to shoot with any degree of accuracy.
    Would I buy another one, absolutely, the quality is there. I only wish someone would come out with a trigger fix.

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