Any comment on Ruger LC380?

A

Alan0354

New member
Hi

I think I should start a new thread on Ruger LC380. After I read the responses on Kahr, I don't think I am interested anymore. I am looking at LC380, for one youtube seems to be very kind to it, also I have option to turn it into LC9. So this might be a good choice for my next gun.

What do you think?
 
I have read your post and commented on the Kahr. But now have to ask, and to not mean do be anyway insulting, but simply inquiring. How much actual experience to you have with firearms (Pistols).
I do not have any experience with the LC380 but quite a bit with the LC9 and the LC9S, LCP's and other small guns.
But I personally would not advise you to get any smaller gun at this point especially with a huge ammo shortage. Small barrel guns are great. But they take due diligence in time and ammo to shoot with competency. And that means ammo.
Hard enough to get 9mm and 380 is insane to get right now. And a shame because I love shooting the small pocket guns, (Kahr, Pico,LCP, etc.)

I would not have one clue as to what would make a good first time firearm in today's world. How much money are you willing to invest in ammo? Normally I would say go to the range and try out many guns before relying on the internet and you tube. But that is easier said than done and expensive as well.
I am guessing maybe something larger like a Glock 19. a Ruger Compact like the SR9 or Taurus G3 or similar. But you still need to shoot often.
I have never owned the Smith and Wesson Governor, and never cared to own one, but now rethinking them for new shooters for close range with the 410. defense ammo.
I wish you luck, not a good time for new gun owners, (not a good time for the rest of us either.)
 
A friend of mine has one; he likes his.
For comparison purposes, he also shoots Walther PPS and single action cowboy pistols.
 
Carl the Floor Walker said:
I have read your post and commented on the Kahr. But now have to ask, and to not mean do be anyway insulting, but simply inquiring. How much actual experience to you have with firearms (Pistols).
I do not have any experience with the LC380 but quite a bit with the LC9 and the LC9S, LCP's and other small guns.
But I personally would not advise you to get any smaller gun at this point especially with a huge ammo shortage. Small barrel guns are great. But they take due diligence in time and ammo to shoot with competency. And that means ammo.
Hard enough to get 9mm and 380 is insane to get right now. And a shame because I love shooting the small pocket guns, (Kahr, Pico,LCP, etc.)

I would not have one clue as to what would make a good first time firearm in today's world. How much money are you willing to invest in ammo? Normally I would say go to the range and try out many guns before relying on the internet and you tube. But that is easier said than done and expensive as well.
I am guessing maybe something larger like a Glock 19. a Ruger Compact like the SR9 or Taurus G3 or similar. But you still need to shoot often.
I have never owned the Smith and Wesson Governor, and never cared to own one, but now rethinking them for new shooters for close range with the 410. defense ammo.
I wish you luck, not a good time for new gun owners, (not a good time for the rest of us either.)
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Hi Carl the Floor Walker

Thanks for you advice. I am not new to guns at all. I own like 18 to 19 guns( never really count). I have from Freedom Arms 22 magnum, Beretta 950BS 25ACP, Walther PPKS 380, S&W659 9mm to Colt Gold Cup 45ACP and many 22, 38 and 357 revolvers. I used to go to the range twice a week for years for the whole afternoon. I have been out of shooting for 30 years, I won't have got back into this not for the political climate and all the riots, lootings and burning. I just bought a Glock 26, never shoot it yet.

I don't believe anything is harder to shoot than the Freedom Arms 22magnum, not only it's so small to hold, it kicked really hard as it's only about 4oz!!! I definitely have enough experience in shooting all different size guns. It never bother me on the kick and the size of the gun. So the small one is harder to shoot, you just shoot more and get used to it. Learn how to hold the gun. Like I said, shooting the Freedom Arm is another level of difficulty, I shot them smoothly with one hand.

More importantly, I got into gunsmithing. My S&W659, Walther PPKS and Colt Gold Cup were all unreliable before, I worked on the gun, reshape the extractor, ejector and polished the feedramp and ejector port to make them all reliable. I even worked on revolvers to improve the DA trigger. So I am very familiar with guns. I even acurized the Gold Cup for competitions. The Gold Cup were made very sloppy, I have to squeeze the slide to take up the slack, change the link to make the barrel fit tightly to the slide when locked by finding the right link.

I spent a lot of time watching the youtube videos on assembling and disassembling all the guns, looking at the constructions, the shape of the ejector and all to look for potential issues from my experience.

I am impressed the LC380 uses a hold metal frame assembly in the frame, it does not compromise the critical part, the slide rail are all in one single piece and the rest of the non critical frame part are glass filled nylon. That's the reason it's not the smallest nor the lightest gun. Reliability, light weight and compact doesn't go together. the lighter the slide and small the gun, the feed ramp path has to be steep, recoil spring has to be stiffer to compensate for the light weight slide, this make it very hard to control the consistency of manufacturing. That's the reason some people get lucky and get a reliable Kahr, some just buy a lemon.

Narrowing down to LC380 is an educated decision. I am not at all worry about how they shoot, I just believe choosing the gun for the occasion and get use to it. I got used to the Freedom Arm 22magnum, I doubt I can't get use to any guns.

I really think people are making too big a deal on the kick of the small guns, my wife went with me shooting her small snubies every time I went shooting, that was our hang out place and weekend activity!!! She shot so much she wear out her Charter Arm snuby. When I said wearing out, I mean I actually open the gun up and look at each component, the SA notch on the hammer almost wear out and become unsafe!!! We got rid of the gun. That's how much she shot with the snubby. She never once complain of the kick. Here, you see people complaining how hard to shoot snubbies!!! You practice and get over it. Choosing the size is the most important, then get use to it by shooting more.

Thanks
 
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Alan0354 said:
Hi Carl the Floor Walker

Thanks for you advice. I am not new to guns at all. I own like 18 to 19 guns( never really count). I have from Freedom Arms 22 magnum, Beretta 950BS 25ACP, Walther PPKS 380, S&W659 9mm to Colt Gold Cup 45ACP and many 22, 38 and 357 revolvers. I used to go to the range twice a week for years for the whole afternoon. I have been out of shooting for 30 years, I won't have got back into this not for the political climate and all the riots, lootings and burning. I just bought a Glock 26, never shoot it yet.

I don't believe anything is harder to shoot than the Freedom Arms 22magnum, not only it's so small to hold, it kicked really hard as it's only about 4oz!!! I definitely have enough experience in shooting all different size guns. It never bother me on the kick and the size of the gun. So the small one is harder to shoot, you just shoot more and get used to it. Learn how to hold the gun. Like I said, shooting the Freedom Arm is another level of difficulty, I shot them smoothly with one hand.

More importantly, I got into gunsmithing. My S&W659, Walther PPKS and Colt Gold Cup were all unreliable before, I worked on the gun, reshape the extractor, ejector and polished the feedramp and ejector port to make them all reliable. I even worked on revolvers to improve the DA trigger. So I am very familiar with guns. I even acurized the Gold Cup for competitions. The Gold Cup were made very sloppy, I have to squeeze the slide to take up the slack, change the link to make the barrel fit tightly to the slide when locked by finding the right link.

I spent a lot of time watching the youtube videos on assembling and disassembling all the guns, looking at the constructions, the shape of the ejector and all to look for potential issues from my experience.

I am impressed the LC380 uses a hold metal frame assembly in the frame, it does not compromise the critical part, the slide rail are all in one single piece and the rest of the non critical frame part are glass filled nylon. That's the reason it's not the smallest nor the lightest gun. Reliability, light weight and compact doesn't go together. the lighter the slide and small the gun, the feed ramp path has to be steep, recoil spring has to be stiffer to compensate for the light weight slide, this make it very hard to control the consistency of manufacturing. That's the reason some people get lucky and get a reliable Kahr, some just buy a lemon.

Narrowing down to LC380 is an educated decision. I am not at all worry about how they shoot, I just believe choosing the gun for the occasion and get use to it. I got used to the Freedom Arm 22magnum, I doubt I can't get use to any guns.

I really think people are making too big a deal on the kick of the small guns, my wife went with me shooting her small snubies every time I went shooting, that was our hang out place and weekend activity!!! She shot so much she wear out her Charter Arm snuby. When I said wearing out, I mean I actually open the gun up and look at each component, the SA notch on the hammer almost wear out and become unsafe!!! We got rid of the gun. That's how much she shot with the snubby. She never once complain of the kick. Here, you see people complaining how hard to shoot snubbies!!! You practice and get over it. Choosing the size is the most important, then get use to it by shooting more.

Thanks
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Since you are familar with small guns, and you could get use to shooting them, and you do not want a Kahr, then I would highly suggest the Beretta Pico. I personally think that ounce for ounce it is one of the finest firearms made. A real beauty. Modular design, easy to work on, change grips, best sights in class, all stainless steel construction other than the polymer grip and obviously very easy to conceal and all three of mine run like a top. Totally reliable and second shot capability. And they shoot very mild. And they are built to last a whole lot of ammo down range.
I mentioned I owned the LC9 and the LC9S. I loved these gun and mine were very reliable. I always like the looks and feel of them and the slim design.
I have not owned the LC380 but if I am not mistaken it has a differerent trigger. A DAO vs the LC9S that has a very light Striker fired trigger. I got rid of mine as much as I liked it, but just thought the trigger was way too light for my taste. I bought another Kahr CM9 to replace it.
Have you thought about a revolver. I love my LCR's.

Good luck in your hunt. Just hunting for a gun can be a lot of enjoyment. I usually spend about 6 months of doing research and shooting as many as I can before I purchase a firearm. I do not rush it. You might also look at the Beretta Carry, a solid built firearm. Great shooters. But again a DAO trigger albiet a great one.

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Thanks Carl the Floor Walker

I live in kalifornia, I don't have a choice of pico nor LCR380!!!

My choice is limited to LC380 and Kahr for the most part. Also what is attractive of LC380 is that it's not hard to convert to LC9.

So you like the LC9, that's very encouraging.

Thanks
 
Dont know if.allowed in your state but...take a look at Remington RM380...mines been 100% reliable and a pleasure to shoot.
 
kymasabe said:
Dont know if.allowed in your state but...take a look at Remington RM380...mines been 100% reliable and a pleasure to shoot.
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Sadly no, There is no 'R' in the list at all, jump from 'N' to 'S'.(Ruger is Sturm Ruger). Unless there is another name in front of Remington, that's it.
 
My wife bought an LC380 several years ago and it has been enjoyable and reliable.

While my wife is a very experienced shooter and preferred .357 Magnum revolvers, she lost grip strength and became recoil sensitive after extensive hand surgery. She bought the LC380 for very specific reasons: the .380 caliber and locked breech design resulted in both low recoil and a slide that was very easy to rack.

Although the LC380 is listed as having a DAO trigger, the hammer is partially cocked and does not have restrike capability. Nevertheless, the trigger stroke is somewhat long but reasonably light (not like the nearly-too-light trigger of the LC9s or EC9s), which my wife finds ideal in a small self-defense pistol.

In short, the LC380 is the smallest concealable pistol my wife can operate consistently given her medical limitations.

My neighbor across the street had an LC9. While recoil was not bad, both he and I could accurately shoot the LC380 substantially faster than the LC9.
 
I have owned a Keltec P3At which the Ruger is a copy of for over 15 years now. Have not shot it too much as it is pretty snappy but for close in back up purposes it fits the bill better than a small revolver mainly due to it's size. The only issue I have is that the magazine constantly pops out when it's holstered and in my pocket. Not good especially for a defensive weapon. Whether the Ruger does this is something to look at unless your just buying it for a range gun. Overall it has been 100% effective and is accurate if I do my job.
 
Alan, you certainly could buy the Ruger but can you find ammo? Is there a particular need for a small 380? Have you considered the Bersa 380 or CZ 83? They are larger but that also comes with better accuracy and velocity. Honest outlaw had a good video and his Kahr 380 was a jamomatic much like My K9 was out of the box. His Sig 380 ran great and some of those models are California compliant but they are single action guns. If price isn't an obstacle, the Sig 232 would be a very sleek 380.
 
rc said:
Alan, you certainly could buy the Ruger but can you find ammo? Is there a particular need for a small 380? Have you considered the Bersa 380 or CZ 83? They are larger but that also comes with better accuracy and velocity. Honest outlaw had a good video and his Kahr 380 was a jamomatic much like My K9 was out of the box. His Sig 380 ran great and some of those models are California compliant but they are single action guns. If price isn't an obstacle, the Sig 232 would be a very sleek 380.
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Hi RC

Are both copies of Walther PPKS? They look very similar, so I got on youtube and look at the disassembly of both and they are very much like my Walther PPKS. CZ is even closer, pull down the trigger guard ring and push it aside and pull back the slide to lift it off the gun. All blow back type like PPKS.

I am not saying PPKS is not good, in fact after I do gun smithing on it, it's very reliable with the silver tip. I have the PPKS already, I won't be interested in having another one similar.

I don't have any particular need for a 380, matter of fact, I don't particularly need another gun period!!! Good question why a 380. I just got a Glock 26, I have a bigger S&W659, Ruger LC380 is 4oz lighter than PPKS AND more importantly it's easy to convert to LC9. That would be a very small 9mm.

As for ammo, I figure I just ride it out, it will come back to normal sooner or later. I still have a box and half of Winchester Silver Tips from the older days.

I am also just talking out loud as I still have two more weeks to wait before I can buy anything. In Kalif, selection is very limited. I want to get a few more polymer guns( don't tell my big boss about this) before they all got banned. Face it, these are toys for me, I have everything I need already and more.

I even contemplating a .40S&W also but sounds like it's very powerful, might not be something for me. Also, I've read, a lot of the .40 guns seems to convert from 9mm. I am not too comfortable about that because they are designed for 9mm and just change the barrel for .40. If I buy one, it has to be ground up designed for .40.

One gun I would never consider is 1911, I have a Gold Cup and that's one too many already.

Too bad I have not have a chance to test out the Glock 26, or else I would even consider Glock 19. Without firing a Glock, I am not going to buy two of them.
 
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I don't get it. Why carry a Ruger LC380 when you can carry a Kahr PM9 that is much smaller? Is the LC380 thinner like .75"? Then maybe that might make a difference.
But the Kahr I'm carrying holds 7+1 of +P 9mm.

You keep saying that you could convert the LC380 to 9mm, but why not start with a smaller 9mm to begin with?:confused:

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Because I've seen quite a bit of bad reviews online, youtube and even here. And I don't like the video of the guy from Kahr that blame jamming solely by user with limp risk.

Kahr is very expensive also, it's like crab shoot, you can get a good one or you can get a bomb. This seems to be the consensus from what I read so far. I have a thread on Kahr, you can see it's not all positive, nothing like Glock.

I don't read into every single youtube video, but I do look at it as statistics. If you have a lot of negative review, that tell me a lot. You look at LC380, you hardly find a bad review. That speaks very loud to me.

From my research, there's no free lunch, reliability, weight and size don't go together. That's just the nature of the game.

I am still going back and fore, I have to wait another 2 weeks before I can buy another gun, so I am still weighting all the option. I am not closing the door on Glock 23 .40S&W that I can easily convert to Glock 19 by changing the barrel.
 
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Well, I base my opinions of actual experience, not people reviews on forums and youtube. Half of them don't even know what they are talking about, sending the pistol back for the smallest detail that is usually their own fault.
Limp wristing is a problem that can affect any gun. If you have ejection problems across several platforms, then it's a possiblility that it is shooter related than a coincidence of three differen actions doing the same thing.
I did shoot one or two of the early Ruger 380's and the trigger was horrible compared to the butter smooth Kahrs.

You should check out this guys reviews. He's a fan of Kahr, a good shooter, and has had ton's of them, all without any problems that everyone whines about.
 
While some may not understand, I understand your concerns Alan. As a matter of fact, the LC380 is at the top of my "try to find one to shoot before buying" list.

Unfortunately, i haven't ran across one at any of the rental places in my area. I also noticed that Sig is soon to release the P365 in .380 acp in the next month or so, and it also is a strong contender for my money. If you can wait, it might also be an option for you to consider.
 
imp said:
While some may not understand, I understand your concerns Alan. As a matter of fact, the LC380 is at the top of my "try to find one to shoot before buying" list.

Unfortunately, i haven't ran across one at any of the rental places in my area. I also noticed that Sig is soon to release the P365 in .380 acp in the next month or so, and it also is a strong contender for my money. If you can wait, it might also be an option for you to consider.
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LC380 is a self defense gun, I really don't even consider trigger is anything to be concerned. Only one thing that is important is when I pull the trigger, it goes bang. When I pull it again and again, it keep going bang bang bang.

Too bad Glock 42 is not on the Kalif legal list. That would be even more desirable.

But LC380 seems to have very few complains. You go on youtube, it quickly goes to LCP issues as they run out of clips against LC380.

Like I repeat many times, I don't take the words from any one particular youtube or people's complain, it's the collective of complains from all different people that really bugs me on the Kahr. Just read my other thread on Kahr, people keep posting they have issues with Kahr.

The last straw is the stupid guy from Kahr went on youtube and literally accused people don't know how to hold the gun that caused the jam. In my book, if the jam caused by limb wrist, that only tells me the gun has NO MARGIN. If they care about their reputation, they could have made it reliable.

I took my time working on my S&W659 those days so even when I shot a very weak reload, the shell barely popped out, only about 2" away from the gun. But the gun never jammed for over 100 rounds. With my standard Federal hollow points, the shell popped much farther. You make the gun to operate in the worst condition, not the best case and blame on people for jamming.

I did some gun smithing before fixing unreliable guns. Guns are not rocket science, you put enough care, you can make it as reliable as you want.
 
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