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Does your LCP max have problems?

Ruger LCP Max Issues. Anyone else?

28K views 68 replies 35 participants last post by  FergusonTO35 
#1 ·
I just upgraded to one from my Original LCP. All I can say is I should have waited a year until Ruger worked out the kinks or upped their QC. The slide stop does not work. Unless I push upward on the mag. It does not go into battery about 25 percent of the time. Have to slap it in.. The other 25 percent. The nose of round jams on the feed ramp or the top of the breach. It's a mag problem. They are junk. The ramp and bore could use a good polishing. I wiped it down with some oil as soon as I brought it home. There was rust slightly forming on the barrel surface rust that could not be seen unless you shined a bright light on it. Same on the inside of the slide where the barrel breach rubs it. Horrible finish job. Needs to be really lubed up. The hammer spring scratches against the mag. Caused a pretty good gouge on it. I'm in the process of talking to Ruger's warranty department. So not worth buying right now. Seems hit or miss with these. Anyone else having issues?
 
#2 ·
I know the Ruger forum had a lot of failures to lock back. From what I understand they had a bad batch of magazines. Not sure the recoil springs are calibrated correctly. I had many problems with a LC9S, and it turned out that Ruger redid the recoil springs and it ran fine. I had a SR22 that I bought when it first came out. All kinds of problems with the slide. Sent it back twice and then they replaced the gun and it runs like a top and very reliable. All my other Rugers run great. I have had many LCP's. The Gen 2 (Not LCP ll) was the best they made IMO. Still have one. Do not shoot it very often, moved on to other pocket guns. The LCP's I owned all went down from cracks etc. However they were great at shooting just about anything.
Good Luck, It may take some time, but Ruger will eventually make it right.
 
#3 ·
I had rust issues. I ended up scrubbing the slide barrel with a brass brush and tons of clp and barricade. Need to stay diligent or the rust comes back. Ruger did send me a new magazine due to the spring issue in the mag. Other than inferior metal treatment and rust the gun works great. I just wish they charged a few dollars more and did a real finish on the slide / barrel
 
#5 ·
My LCP Max runs fine. When you say "The slide stop does not work. Unless I push upward on the mag.", do you mean that it doesn't lock open on an empty mag when cycled by hand, or do you mean that the slide stop lever does not work? If the former, that has been noticed by most. If I rack the slide vigorously with an empty mag, it will lock back. Mine has never failed to lock back on an empty magazine when shooting though. I don't see it as an issue as I always drop the magazine and then cycle the slide and use the slide stop lever to lock it open.

I have not experienced the failure to go into battery or the rust issues. Mine has not been ammo picky either. I have fired Winchester (both JHP and ball), Perfecta, and steel cased Wolf through mine. I've only had one failure to feed issue and that was within the first 10 rounds if I remember correctly.
 
#6 ·
The OP's reported problems have been repeatedly posted here and also on other forums I frequent. His issues are NOT "outliers" or just some random dissatsfied new owner. This is beyond troubling. Ruger seriously needs to get their pistol manufacturing act together imo. I don't think I'll spring for another Ruger when my LCPII wears out unless these kind of reports become less frequent. Seems like a crapshoot on what you're gonna get at this time.
 
#8 ·
Mine has functioned fine, however I’ve only fired 1 box of fmj through it.

I do believe it’s lighter recoiling and easier shooting than mine first LCP.


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My "failure to lock back on empty" started showing up after a couple of boxes of FMJ and about 15 rounds of my SD ammo.

The mags I bough work fine UNTIL they break in after 2-3 boxes.

Frankly, I don't REALLY care about the lockback, but I like everything I own to actually work as designed.

The odds of a private citizen like myself firing 11 rounds and still being in the fight when the lockback occurs are so small that it's not worth considering.

Biggest problem is now I can't 100% trust the tools I'm using.
 
#9 ·
My LCP Max had the fail to go fully into battery. About 3 times per mag using three different mags. It would be about 1mm from going fully into battery. I sent it back to Ruger and they replaced the slide and barrel. I have another 200 rounds since it came back and zero malfunctions. My only problem is hitting low POA vs POI. I installed Lasermax green laser and sighted in the laser at 7 yards. Using laser only,good groups one handed.
 
#10 ·
I have 2 of them. One has 595 rounds downrange, and the only problem is that it doesn't like feeding Fiocchi FMJ. They just stop on the feed ramp, and whacking the slide completes the chambering. First range trip 9 out of 100, second range trip 2 out of 50, third range trip 1 out of 50. No problems other than that.

The second one has 435 rounds. One failure to lock back on empty.

I like 'em.
 
#15 ·
I agree Ruger needs to upgrade QC. My LCP Max barrel exploded after 29 rounds. I took it to my gunsmith and stated barrel had a manufacturing defect That should have been caught by QC. This is unacceptable. I got minor cuts from shrapnel in my face. Thank God I was wearing safety glasses.
Did you send it back, were you compensated?

Factory ammo or reloads?


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#41 ·
Found this thread due to issues with my LCP Max. Mine also shoots 3-5" low at 15 yards. Not happy about that since my OG Ruger LCP is dead nuts on at that same distance. The trigger is also worse than the one on my OG LCP, but I've got 500 rounds through the LCP and only about 100 rounds through the LCP Max, so maybe it will improve with more range time.
 
#17 ·
Just ran a box of Fiocchi FMJ without any issues. It's hard to put 10 rounds in in the mag bare handed. If you do, I had problems getting the mag locked. Shoots low (30 ft) or that could be me. Would like to have a different rear sight (eyesight not that great anymore. Otherwise, no issues.
Road surface Gas Circle Font Recreation
 
#19 ·
Welcome Lenniec....
Were the jams a 1) fail to feed, or 2) a fail to completely go into battery (slide not completely closed) or 3) fail to eject fired round?. Also what ammo were you shooting. Some guns just don't do well with certain ammo.
On the trigger- they do limber after a while, but the LCP Max trigger is not great by any stretch.

Ruger may want you to shoot more rounds through it before you send it in. Most folks call 200 rounds a break-in.
Any way.....the number for Ruger is- 1-336-949-5200. Good luck

BTW- my LCP Max is at Ruger now for the 2nd time. Total round count now 577 with 3 different ammo's. I originally had a tremendous amount of magazine drops and fail to lock back after last round- which was fixed on first trip. Now the big issue is fail to go into battery-it will load the round, but will not completely close the slide.
 
#23 ·
Welcome Lenniec....
Were the jams a 1) fail to feed, or 2) a fail to completely go into battery (slide not completely closed) or 3) fail to eject fired round?. Also what ammo were you shooting. Some guns just don't do well with certain ammo.
On the trigger- they do limber after a while, but the LCP Max trigger is not great by any stretch.

Ruger may want you to shoot more rounds through it before you send it in. Most folks call 200 rounds a break-in.
Any way.....the number for Ruger is- 1-336-949-5200. Good luck

BTW- my LCP Max is at Ruger now for the 2nd time. Total round count now 577 with 3 different ammo's. I originally had a tremendous amount of magazine drops and fail to lock back after last round- which was fixed on first trip. Now the big issue is fail to go into battery-it will load the round, but will not completely close the slide.
failure to completely go into battery is my issue.
 
#35 ·
Welp, I went to the range yesterday with 3 handguns. My Rock Island (Alfa Proj) 9mm revolver, my Smith & Wesson CSX, and my LCP Max. The Rock Island and the CSX performed exceedingly well. The LCP Max...not so much. I only brought 1 box of 380 ammo with me (I SWEAR I had a 2nd box in the range bag). It was 94 grain round nose by PPU. In that 50 rounds, I had 2 failures to feed and 1 failure to lock the slide back after firing the last round from one of my 12 round mags. The failure to lock back, I can deal with. The 2 FTFs, I can't, as this is my everyday carry gun. I'm going to experiment with some different types of ammo, including the WWB that seemed to work so well last trip out, but if I can't eventually trust this thing, it'll be moving on down the road. I'm sure other manufacturers will be entering this same class of firearm (light weight, high capacity, 380 pistol) soon enough. I'm still hopeful, though.
 
#27 ·
I have 200 rounds through my Max. First 100, I had a couple of not in battery issues and the 10 round mag would not hold open after last round. 12 round mag was flawless. All rounds were brass FMJ. second 100 were also fmj, Monarch, no failures except the 10 round mag was reluctant to load first round a couple of times when inserted. again, 12 round mag was flawless. Might be the 10 round mag, could be me. I always slingshot a mag when I insert it. Maybe I'll try the slide release next trip.
 
#28 ·
Finally got my lcp max after waiting 10 days (in California where the weather is nice, but gun laws not so much). I put 100 rounds of maxxtech 95 grain ball ammo without cleaning or lubing it. I had one double feed which is possible due to me limp wristing. I fired 500 rounds of ammo total this range trip and my wrists and fingers were definitely fatigued by the time I got to the max. I had one failure to go into battery. There were probably 3 times the slide locked back with ammo still in the magazine. In retrospect I wonder if I was riding my thumb high and engaging the slide lock as I fired.

I've shot about 400 rounds of the same maxxtech in my lcp2 without much issue other than an occasional light primer strike. When I got home I cleaned and lubed the max and I will try again tomorrow with well rested hands.


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#30 ·
I solved my pocket carry dilemma and desire for a LCPMax -- keep my LCPII until it wears out. I won't be using it as much because I decided on and bought a Sig P365 instead. It's easy to pocket carry in a Desantis Nemesis holster, just prints a little more. The LCP will be reserved for true NPE situations. Bought the P365 lightly used in immaculate condition ( less than150 rounds) and have put 225 through it with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Very well made pistol. 10 rounds of 9mm instead of .380. :)
 
#32 ·
How does private party transfer work in California, through an FFL?
 
#36 ·
The new barrel and slide did not fix my LCP Max- for failure to go into battery. It did cut down on the frequency of these events. But still is unacceptable. A member here suggested a stronger recoil spring- and I have the Galloway 13# spring that I will test hopefully this week. We will see 🤨
 
#39 ·
Unfortunately my lcp max is having a couple of issues. But I just picked it up today, I did run 1 1/2 boxes of federal fmj through it(older stuff though) that I had left over after I’d sold my Taurus spectrum.

Anyway, I am getting the failure to feed, as well as sometimes having to push the slide into battery. The Galloway spring might be interesting. Haven’t tried another mag, but I can say it appeared from the factory that it was in need of oil, so I cleaned and oiled it after shooting. I may try to take it back to the range next weekend to see how it does.

From what I saw on some videos on YouTube, even with the older lcp models people sometimes had issues until they’d run 400-500 rounds through it. One guy actually used Eagle one mag wheel cleaner to polish the feed ramp. Might pick some of that up and see if it helps. Unfortunately I sold it, but my Taurus g2c I used to have, I had about 1000 shells through that, but it ran great after getting broken in. Would love to get this ruger to that point as it’s a perfect size to pocket carry.
 
#40 ·
Looked up the spring folks are talking about and it was only about 10.50, so for that I’ll give it a shot. If that doesn’t work I may try polishing the feed ramp though that may be a good idea anyway. In general I like ruger I think. I like that they are American made but I do wish their takedown was easier on handguns. Seems like they’d do more quality checks. But if a 10 dollar spring fixes it I’m happy. I’ll put the other one in the factory box in case I ever need to send it back.
 
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