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stagpanther

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I knew before I even pulled into my LGS parking lot that my wallet was in danger of losing some serious weight. ; )

Truth is, even after I sell some of my firearms I'm left with piles of left-over ammo and reloading components. It's as if they all say to me "look, you're not going to get hardly any money for us, so you might as well get another gun."

I abandoned my 9mm many years ago--mostly cause I couldn't shoot it worth a dang, and because I ended up with an lcp as my "go anywhere, anytime" BUG. The lcp is the best truly super-concealable weapon I ever had, but I always had that doubt--"what if they're wearing think leather, or it deflects, etc etc."

Well, after reading the great reviews that others have written about their recent 9mm purchases I decided it was time. I really liked the guy's review of the sig P320sc, and likewise the glock. I already have a glock and decided the shoebox look was not what I wanted for a new conceal--and the sig is just too hard to find and too pricey for my tastes--so I got me an LC9s pro. It cost $380 so the price was very reasonable, and it really has the look and feel of "lcp's big brother" so it feels right at home in hands. I've never had a Ruger that has disappointed me yet, another reason I pulled the trigger on it (so to speak).

I'll post range pics as soon as I can--but we're still under a lot of snow and ice here. : (

 
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Thnx guys. The trigger feel is actually one of the principal reasons I bought it--it's one of the best ones I've ever felt on a stock semi-auto purpose-built for CCW without a safety or magazine safety features (being the pro version). The take-up and break are very smooth and light, though I haven't had a chance yet to actually shoot it. "Bold" for a consumer conceal weapon is a term that comes to mind. The only thing that really bugs me about the gun's design is using a take-down pin for field stripping like it's lcp sibling--but it's a minor issue.
 
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Mere speculation on my part--but like the lcp I think a reason that Ruger stuck with the single stack slim grip design with the LC9 is to allow for very quick single-hand point and shoot capability if needs be.
 
I guess it's time to eat crow--upon my very first disassemble to clean before firing I made the mistake of racking the slide too far past the take down pin hole upon reassemble and BOOM--gun jams halfway locked taking it completely out of action. I did read the manual before the procedure and it does say to realign the hole and pin upon reassemble--but it says nothing about if you go past it the gun will jam locked. :eek:
 
hah hah--it's a bit tricky. after scanning the internet I came up with a suggested solution of removing the rear slide plate and striker--I got the plate off but the striker does not slide out.

Got through to ruger and they said a light tap with a rubber mallet on the barrel end releases the slide--and sure enough that did the trick--so all is well and happy in the jungle--at least for now. I will try to test fire today even though we're still in the teens and under snow and ice.
 
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range test

Got out to the range--which is actually just a bunch of muddy slush holes and ice blocks at the moment and set up at 13 yds to target.

I shot about 200 rds of a half dozen types of factory ammo--one of my primary missions was to gather brass for new reloads. I did not include target pictures because, frankly, I just wasn't able to shoot well so it didn't make much sense to post anything--most of my shooting was just simply trying to get a feel for the gun.

The biggest issue I have so far is figuring out how to get a good grip on the thing. I just assumed since the lcp was smaller and I shot it reasonably well this would be even easier--but so far that's not the case. Even though I have relatively small hands I had a heck of a time trying to figure out an effective 2 hand grip--especially with stacking the thumbs on the side. This issue led indirectly to the one and only FTF which really wasn't a malfunction--when I stacked one thumb under the other I inadvertently released the magazine while shooting so that the next round was not stripped. Other than that the gun functions flawlessy
 
Congrats!!

A new gun is a great source of joy...

I hope the shooting gets smoother with more practice. I have found that with my giant mitts, those little single stacks just don't have enough grip to hold on to. They're great for those that can handle them, though.
 
Thanks--I hope I get better too ; ) It's funny how what felt great at the LGS didn't seem so good once the shooting started. LOL. I'm sure the accuracy wasn't helped by the fact when looking at the sights all I see is a blurry triple-dot for the front sight due to my near sightedness.
 
I have average-sized hands and the LC9s fits them like a glove, so I'm not surprised to hear that it's uncomfortably small for some people.

FWIW, I was having an issue with my LC9s at one point where it would drop magazines when firing Gold Dots (haven't tried any other +P 9mm in it) with the extended baseplate attached. At first I thought I was accidentally depressing the magazine release, but after experimentation I determined that the LC9s was actually just dropping the magazine. I tried again with the normal baseplate and it didn't drop the magazine.

Apparently, some people have discovered that the fit of their magazine assembly is such that, when the extended baseplate is equipped, it's possible to exert enough lateral pressure on the magazine that it can pop off the release. Some have remedied this by simply using the flat baseplate, some have found that the Italian LC9 magazines, almost impossible to find currently, fit more snugly and don't have this issue, and some have sent their gun to Ruger to have a new magazine release installed. I opted for the first option but will buy some Italian magazines if I can ever find them.

Not saying that your gun is having this issue but it might be worth looking into if you continue to experience this type of failure with this type of ammunition and the extended baseplate equipped.
 
thanks ninja--I did fire about 20 speer gold dots but since it happened only once I just assumed it was my bad. Is it possible to get the mag to drop out as you describe without the gun being fired? I didn't get a full mag eject--just the bottom plate seperating a small distance from the grip.
 
@stagpanther

In my case, I did experience ejections while the gun was holstered only with the extended baseplate. Also, when the magazine was dropped from firing, it only separated a small distance, like you described.

However, I experienced a dropped magazine more than 50% of the time when firing Gold Dots so, the irregularity with which you're experiencing the issue makes me think that you might be right about having depressed the magazine release. I'm sure this is a bigger problem for people like yourself with large hands.
 
Actually my hands are rather on the small side--but OK, maybe fat and wide. : ) I'm having a bit of trouble reasoning out the floorplate thing--but that's not to say it's impossible. I guess it's conceivable it somehow torques the magazine inside the well.
 
Interesting that thread dates all the way back to 2013. My gun is a recent production I'm fairly sure cause I've been watching for it at my lgs and it only showed up a couple of weeks ago.

I jiggled my mag around and torqued it at odd angles and could not get it to release. However, what I did notice was that mag catch button goes all the way through the grip to the right side--you can feel it move on the right side of the grip when pressing the button on the left side. When moving the mag you can feel the mag release button shifting from side to side in the grip. I'll take a wild guess that maybe it's theoretically possible to get that botton moving under recoil in a direction opposite of the mag movement--enough so that the mag can release without the "full pop-out ejection." I'll fire a couple hundred more rounds including some of the hotter speers and keep an eye out for the mag issues. I started looking around for spare mags on-line--both stock rugers and after-market ones don't seem to be available anywhere. : (
 
Forgot to mention one thing about the test firing--the trigger is FABULOUS and the reset is IMO perfect for quick follow ups; just enough to minimize ADs (which is what I'd probably be prone to doing).
 
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