Is Ruger dropping the LCP.380?

P

PolarFBear

New member
Just got a flyer from Cabella's. Noticed that they were offering a LCP marked down from $329 to $199. Big drop in price. Only two ways I could see this going: Ruger is trying to "corner" the market or is unloading inventory on a slow seller. Regrettably; I'm just a few miles over the VA/TN border. Add the FFL fees and shipping costs and the bargain is not so much. Cabella's is new to the area; maybe I am just not used to drastic price cuts on "quality" firearms.
 
Last edited:
One of the larger wholesalers is having a sale on Rugers this month so they may have gotten a good deal and passing it on to get you in the door
 
Has the LCP Custom reduced demand for the LCP? If I were going to buy a new LCP I would opt for the custom -- better trigger and sights -- unless someone waved a very attractively priced regular LCP under my nose.
 
I think Cheaperthandirt.com has them for that price as does palmetto state armory. Not having to pay the 10% TN sales tax will probably cover the cost of shipping.

I've speculated that Ruger may be dumping them and rolling out at striker fired version like they did on the LC9.
 
I'm not sure about the LCP being dropped, it seems to be a good seller. I did notice huge deals at PSA though.

Regarding themail LC9 vs LC9s, the trigger on the LC9 was atrocious. It is a hammer fired gun IIRC and the s of the LC9s denotes a striker. The striker version is supposed to be a lot better. My wife bought a LC9 before the s version came out, one range trip and she sold it. It was a horrible gun.

I wonder if the LCPs that are going for so cheap right now are old stock of the older crappie trigger version. The trigger on older LCPs is what caused me to skip it and get a TCP.
 
Alot of people complained about the trigger with the LC9 so the striker fired version was made. I have thought about icking up one of these for $200 but havent pulled the trigger yet. A new LCPs would make a nice addition to the line up and improve the trigger pull. I hope they have the custom sights and steel guide rod.
 
PolarFBear said:
Only two ways I could see this going: Ruger is trying to "corner" the market or is unloading inventory on a slow seller.
Click to expand...
I'm personally confident it's the first one. :)

I've been told by several LGS employees that the LCP is Ruger's top-selling model.
rickmelear said:
Something is changing, you don't just drop the price $100 for no reason.
Click to expand...
Another plausible explanation is that the .380 subcompact segment is getting more and more crowded and Ruger is slashing margins in order to start a price war. Good ole fashioned capitalism at work. :)

Another related possibility is that their market research has shown that happy LCP buyers are likely to buy more Rugers in the future, so the low LCP price may be part of a long-term strategy commonly employed by automakers with inexpensive subcompact models—sell 'em at near-cost and hope that the buyer comes back for a more profitable model the next time. (I recall having read somewhere that GM earns about 40 times the profit on the average Tahoe than on the average Cruze; IIRC $8,000 vs. $200.)
 
I have two friends that manage gun shops. Both have told me in passing that they sell more LCPs than any other pocket pistol on the market, so I wouldn't imagine they can't sell the things. Probably Ruger is coming out with something new within the model, like a striker-fired version or whatever.
 
Regarding [the] LC9 vs LC9s, the trigger on the LC9 was atrocious. It is a hammer fired gun IIRC and the s of the LC9s denotes a striker. The striker version is supposed to be a lot better.
Click to expand...

The LCP-Custom has an improved trigger, but it is still hammer-fired. I understand a striker mechanism takes up more fore-and-aft space tham a hammer mechanism, but the LC9 and LC9s look to be the same size. Is the LC9s SAO or DAO? I can see how a SAO striker-fired gun can be better than a DAO hammer-fired gun, but I'm having difficulty seeing how a change to DAO striker mechanism would do much good over just refining the original DAO hammer system.
 
The LCP-Custom has an improved trigger, but it is still hammer-fired. I understand a striker mechanism takes up more fore-and-aft space tham a hammer mechanism, but the LC9 and LC9s look to be the same size. Is the LC9s SAO or DAO? I can see how a SAO striker-fired gun can be better than a DAO hammer-fired gun, but I'm having difficulty seeing how a change to DAO striker mechanism would do much good over just refining the original DAO hammer system.
Click to expand...

I agree, the LCP custom's trigger really nice! I don't think it's the striker that makes the difference in the LC9 but I don't think they reworked the hammered version's trigger so if you want a better trigger you have to go with the LC9s by default.
 
Another related possibility is that their market research has shown that happy LCP buyers are likely to buy more Rugers in the future, so the low LCP price may be part of a long-term strategy commonly employed by automakers with inexpensive subcompact models—sell 'em at near-cost and hope that the buyer comes back for a more profitable model the next time. (I recall having read somewhere that GM earns about 40 times the profit on the average Tahoe than on the average Cruze; IIRC $8,000 vs. $200.)
Click to expand...

That could be. My first pistol was a Ruger .357mag and I've been a fan of their products ever since.
 
Ruger dropped the price in December on all of the LCPs by roughly $100. The store I work at hasn't been able to get any since then. All of the bigger sellers are sucking them up.
 
Something is changing, you don't just drop the price $100 for no reason.
Click to expand...

Maybe they were just a hundred bucks too high when we all bought one!:eek:

I don't really mind the trigger on my early LCP, and as for the sights. what sights? Never use 'em! It ain't no target gun, or plinker. It is what it is, a pocket "belly gun" meant for short range point and shoot. Mine is plenty accurate @ 10 yards just being an extension of my hamd. Like pointing a finger at what I want to hit.
 
My guess is that Ruger is viewing the LCP as a "price point" gun meaning that they feel they can take a lower profit margin in exchange for selling a high volume of guns. S&W does the same thing with their Airweight .38 Special J-Frames.

It makes sense really: the .380 pocket gun market it pretty saturated, but the LCP is an established product. If you can offer a well-established product from a reputable manufacturer at the same or lower price than the competition, it only makes sense that it will sell well.
 
I saw that ad. From the picture, it looks like they may be closing out the old stock 1st gen guns. The second generation guns have bigger sights.
 
I'd not be surprised if Ruger was simply looking to give their LCP a little shot in the arm. The .380 ACP market has been going pretty hard and strong for the last 3-4 years, and there's been some added competition.

A good time to clean out some inventory, too.

Also, tax time is upon us and some folks are looking for an excuse to spend a little refund money.

Ruger's catalog has a bunch of LCP models.

I liked my earlier "generation" blued LCP (post recall production) so much that I eventually bought one of the revised versions (better trigger and sights) with a stainless slide. This is after carefully considering the Glock G42 and the S&W M&P Bodyguard .380, too. The LCP is just enough smaller to matter, for me.

The only thing I could wish for was for Ruger to offer a short (4hrs?) armorer class for the little gun, somewhere close to me, so I could add it to my list of certifications. ;)

Now that Ruger has gotten the LCP's DAO hammer design seemingly down pat, I don't see why they try to reinvent the wheel and try to make an itty bitty striker version. I like the force of the DAO hammer, even though I don't use offshore .380 ammo in my guns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top