Geesh...
NO handgun can be relied upon in a gunfight, unless there is a central nervous system hit- and the .32 acp will do that as well as any caliber.
The .32 acp has been protecting people for 120 years.
Bigger IS better- but not very much better in the real world.
Totally correct that no gun can be relied upon, to say so is internet garbage. And I stand corrected that the serial number of the LCP is Like the Pico on the chassis. The point I was trying to make is that they cannot be changed by the end user. Unless I am missing something, and Ruger will send you a Polymer grip. As I said, they just replaced a number of guns for me with I had grip cracks, frame cracks and rails that split.
The Pico was and is a gun ahead of it's time. Beretta walks to a different drummer. They made a serious pocket gun, used top of the line materials of stainless steel, Placed nice sights on the gun, with the ability for the end user to easily add night sights. They designed the gun to be modular, which made changing grips easy, and the ability to work on the gun if necessary much easier and to clean.
And You are right. Ruger is a marketing genius. They copied the design of the Keltec, but a different Polymer grip on it and advertised the hell out of it. I mean millions of dollars. Timing was perfect. Small pocket guns were selling like crazy with the CCW craze, the gun were "Cute" and easy to carry, and Rugers customer service was exceptional.
The sold a million guns in one year. And there was really nothing special about them. Nothing that the Keltec did not already offer. And while I do not own a Keltec, something tells me that the materials they use have better quality.
The first Ruger LCP had the very long trigger pull. Many newbies just cold not shoot them. Then the LCP Gen 2 which is a very nice trigger, double action, (and Still manufactured) came out. Still the Newbie that wanted these guns could not shoot them in fast action and were doing nothing but target shooting LCP's. Now Ruger designed the LCPll trigger which is IMO horrible for a small pocket gun. They feel like a light Striker fired trigger and many did feel the gun was unsafe. Gut they are easy to shoot as target guns. Ruger, however did design the gun to have last round lock back.
These aluminum guns are what the Old retired Marine LGS said to me many years ago when I bought my first LCP. "They are, Throw away guns, shoot em till they crack and get a new one."
The Keltec for 32 is a good design. The Ruger LCPll is a extremely over rated pocket gun.
The Market is flooded with them. Taurus had the insight to do the same thing as Ruger, steal the Beretta design. Easy Take, down, with modular grip. However, they are building on the Cheap, with aluminum chassis, no decent sights to speak of, but IMO a much better design than the Ruger LCPll. And they saw that the LCP ll trigger was indeed not safe and not necessary.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF ADVERTISING. And Ruger does it better than anyone else.
QUESTION? COULD RUGER BUILD A TOP QUALITY POCKET GUN IF THEY REALLY WANTED TO?
I will try and find some old pics I have of the cracks in the aluminum chassis.
I showed the Pics of the Pico and the all Stainless Steel chassis and parts and modular design and now here is the Kahr. Notice the Steel inserts on the Polymer grips at the stress point. And again, the Kahr like the Pico has nice sights that can be switched out to night sights.
I do think the Keltec 32. with the Leheigh Cavitator would be a interesting firearm. Especially with the very light Weight of about 6 ounces.
And given the choice of a LCP or Taurus Spectrum, I would choose the Spectrum. I have to say it interest me for my collection. Really want to shoot one first.