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A .380 LCP followed me home from a gun show

8K views 75 replies 25 participants last post by  MadViking 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello folks, i found a decent deal at a gun show yesterday on a .380 LCP. $269 new. It’s more at my local gun shops. I’ve been eyeing various pocket sized/micro guns for a while due to summer CCW desires and needs, such as hot weather, shorts, and tshirts. Any suggestions on magazines, ammo selection, grips etc? I read hogue grips may be good. There may be an extended mag out there?

At the gun show I bought 150 rounds of PMC Fmj and 20 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense. I’ve heard the latter is good.
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#3 ·
Hello folks, i found a decent deal at a gun show yesterday on a .380 LCP. $269 new. It’s more at my local gun shops. I’ve been eyeing various pocket sized/micro guns for a while due to summer CCW desires and needs, such as hot weather, shorts, and tshirts. Any suggestions on magazines, ammo selection, grips etc? I read hogue grips may be good. There may be an extended mag out there?

At the gun show I bought 150 rounds of PMZ Fmj and 20 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense. I’ve heard the latter is good.
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Congrats! No longer have my LCP, but when I did, I'd stagger HCD, FMJ, HCD, FMJ when I loaded the mag to work around the penetration bad rap you hear about .380s. Was a retired LEO gave me the idea. Not sure if it works, never been shot by that caliber in that particular order. :rolleyes:
 
#6 ·
They are snappy little buggers to shoot, but if it has to be really small and really work, the original is hard to beat.
Before adding anything that makes the gun bigger, thus defeating its purpose, shoot it. It's not a range gun or a target gun; shoot it enough for proficiency, but all you really need to carry it is an Alabama pocket holster.
Moon
 
#10 ·
Just curious, what made you choose the original LCP over the LCP II or the LCP Max? Was it price? Or size? Or both?
Academy (big box store in my area) carries the LCP for $250, the LCP II for $329, and the LCP Max for $379. Fairly big jumps in price between the LCP and the other models.

Glad you were able to find some ammo to go with it! When I bought my Max, I had two boxes of ammo and the stores didn't have any! Luckily I have been able to find some at normal retail prices since the first of July and build up a reserve of 10 boxes.
 
#11 ·
Just curious, what made you choose the original LCP over the LCP II or the LCP Max? Was it price? Or size? Or both?
Academy (big box store in my area) carries the LCP for $250, the LCP II for $329, and the LCP Max for $379. Fairly big jumps in price between the LCP and the other models.

Glad you were able to find some ammo to go with it! When I bought my Max, I had two boxes of ammo and the stores didn't have any! Luckily I have been able to find some at normal retail prices since the first of July and build up a reserve of 10 boxes.
It was totally the price. Otherwise I would have got a S&W bodyguard or Lcp max.

I had looked at them all. Initially leaned toward the Bodyguard. But it’s going for over $400 in my LGS.

Also there are no big box stores inside of 40 minutes from me, and BassPro the closest is often sold out of much. So, for your prices you cited at Academy, add $50 except the Max, which is $399 at my LGS.

I read the LCP I is just as reliable as the rest, albeit with a stiffer trigger and lesser sights. However, I wanted to just have a basic pocket BUG, and I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to invest in .380 yet. If the LCP wasn’t rated as reliable, I wouldn’t have bought it and would have stepped up to a different one.
 
#12 ·
Having had all three, I frankly rate the original as more reliable by a nose. My II suffered a dead trigger, and the Max had some defense rounds it didn't like. The LCPs always ran, even with a fair amount of shooting, mine and some friends.
Doesn't mean I wouldn't trust the newer versions, but I think there may be a reason Ruger keeps making the original.
I snagged a lightly used LCP from a buddy for a C-note.
BTW, still counsel a pocket holster, especially the kydex ones...the padded ones are thicker. It will smooth and hide the gun's shape, and it will present the grip to your hand, rather than have it turn upside down. And it is safer to have the trigger covered.
Moon
 
#20 ·
The Hogue grip adds substantially to the thickness of the gun. Let me humbly suggest using a bike glove for range duty; it really softens the rap.
If, God forbid, you actually have to use the gun on the street, a couple shots won't kill you, and the gun stays small and flat. You can walk around around wearing one bike glove, but folks will look at you funny. ;)
Again, it ain't a range gun. Shoot it for familiarization, and now and again to stay competent.
Moon
 
#21 ·
The Hogue grip adds substantially to the thickness of the gun. Let me humbly suggest using a bike glove for range duty; it really softens the rap.
If, God forbid, you actually have to use the gun on the street, a couple shots won't kill you, and the gun stays small and flat. You can walk around around wearing one bike glove, but folks will look at you funny. ;)
Again, it ain't a range gun. Shoot it for familiarization, and now and again to stay competent.
Moon
Right, it can’t be much worse than my s&w 642 with any kind of reasonable power .38 load. Probably less than the +p loads.
 
#25 ·
Great buy! I favor the original LCP for the longer double-action trigger pull. It is much safer as a pocket gun (with Sticky holster), IMHO, than the LCP II & Max which have the tab doohickey in the trigger, a la Glock. I'm very glad Ruger keeps producing the original as I'm looking to pick up a couple more before they go out of production. I had a Keltec P3AT which was basically the same, but the wife stole it from me.

Grip the gun firm & it's not so bad to shoot. Not meant to be a box-of-shells range gun anyway. Put a 100 rounds through it to break it in & then clean it & carry it. It's perfect for that. (Skip the extended magazines & grip sleeves. Not desireable or needed.)
 
#27 · (Edited)
My wife and I each have the LCP 2 with the Hogue grips on them and pocket carry in a DeSantis super fly holster. We carry in the jean front pocket and when you draw the gun it comes out and the holster stays in your pocket. I also have a leather Tagua OWB thumb break Holster that I use once in a while.
 
#31 ·
I bought my LCP when they first came out and it does the job it is suppose to do. I pocket carry it in a sticky holster but I don't like to shoot it much. I find it very snappy and not that much fun, but I do shoot it and I can hit the target. I don't shoot it much over 10 yards. I carry some self defense hollow points. A lot of folks talk down the 380 but they forget it is still a 9mm. it is just a 9mm short.
 
#34 ·
Sounds about right.

I pocket carried it to the grocery store tonight, with a pocket holster. Great for discrete carry due to size, exactly what I needed. Let’s be real, unless it’s winter with big jackets, even many sub compacts and especially compact pistols are not that small or light. I can fit a snubby or sub compact 9mm in pants or shorts pocket, but it’s a full pocket with a large bulge. IWB isn’t very comfortable. OWB obviously is much more comfortable for larger pistols but that’s not practical or even legal in many contexts.
 
#40 ·
The all time prize for miserable, hard kicking is my 340 with magnums; it's a last ditch GTFOM for bears when hiking. It's hard to say what might hurt most; the gun's recoil or the bear's bite. ;)
Oddly, the 365 is really pleasant to shoot, but it is a bunch bigger than the LCP.
As always, the first rule of gunfighting is 'have a gun', even a little one.
Moon
 
#51 ·
Right, I have some wadcutters I cut my teeth on. It helped me acclimate to #SnubbyLife.

Shooting Buffalo Bore +P .38 special out of that snubby makes the .380 seem like a pellet gun. I’d actually say the snap of the LCP was about like low powered wadcutter target loads.
 
#52 ·
IMHO, the grips are nice to add, but they grip your pocket or the pocket sleeve like you are using and tries to hang on when drawing it out. I left mine bone stock. My sister in law has in now and loves it. I bought mine when they first came out. Very reliable.
 
#53 ·
IMHO, the grips are nice to add, but they grip your pocket or the pocket sleeve like you are using and tries to hang on when drawing it out...
I'll make another pitch for using a bike glove for range duty, and I use one for anything that kicks, that 340 (with magnums) included.
Turning a really tiny gun into a bigger gun really isn't a solution. :)
BTW, those 'full charge' wadcutters (they are in the 750'sec range, unlike 600'sec target wadcutters) actually make a tolerable defense round, tho' you have to load them yourself.
Moon
 
#61 ·
Make sure and use only brass cased ammo. Absolutely no steel cases. It will destroy the extractor.
You bought it for a pocket gun. Keep it as it is. I have micro 9mm's and other supposed carry guns but this one is the only one I carry anymore. If I could find something smaller I would take a serious look at it.
Yeah, frankly even subcompact 9 mm (shields) and snubbies are too big or barely manageable during summer or limited concealment situations. Both are still tight with IWB. Both can be pocket carried but it is a full pocket with bulge.

I think an LCP size gun is important for summer carry or tight fitting clothes.
 
#68 ·
I carried my original .380 LCP for a couple of years. I kept it loaded with ARX ammo and carried it in my front pocket it a DeSantis Nemisis holster. It carried nicely but the double action only trigger pull was just awful ! But then I discovered the Sig P938 9mm. and for the last three years the LCP sits in the safe. Same front pocket concealability, same recoil, single action trigger but in 9mm. I pocket carry it almost every day whether I wear jeans or shorts and nobody has ever told me they could tell I was “carrying”.
 
#75 ·
Does anyone have any experience with these:

WOLFF RUGER® LCP® RECOIL SPRINGS | Brownells

They are said to reduce the recoil (which for me isn't that bad) and make it more shootable.
I have (or should I say "had"). I've had two LCP 380's, first in 2009, the original version; and second in 2016, the Custom version. Both guns I'd installed 13 lb Wolff recoil springs on them. When LCP first came out it had something like 9 lb recoil springs. People were saying it was too weak, so when Wolff came out with their version, I immediately changed mine. I can't really tell Wolff springs had any effect on the recoil. I actually enjoyed the recoil, it was the muzzle flip caused me to miss when I tried to shoot fast, the main reason I ended up selling both of them. The one noticeable difference for changing the springs is that: it makes the slide a lot harder to cycle manually.

I'm on my 3rd LCP now: an LCP II in 22LR. I can hit much better with this one, so I'll most likely keep this... :)
 
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