Ruger LC9s: 1000 Round Range Report

My regular LC9 is picky on hollow points, specifically it doesn't like the Hornady XTP hollow points or others that are designed with a steep angle like them. It has no problem with Hornady FTX (critical defense), Federal Hydra Shok, or Speer Gold Dots.

I've been considering going the LC9s direction, I am less than thrilled with the trigger on my regular LC9.
 
@SVTCobra306 Thanks for the tip! I will definitely try some critical defense, hydra-shok or gold dots and see if my gun can do a better job of feeding them. The bargain bin Hollow Points I've been using are indeed the steep-nosed variety.

@creepyNinja Thanks for the welcome. I just feel uninformed relative to a lot of the people who post on here. I mean you have to understand, I've been using TFL as a gun reference for years, and so the idea of posting here has intimidated me.
 
I mean you have to understand, I've been using TFL as a gun reference for years, and so the idea of posting here has intimidated me.
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ok, i guess that makes sense. i've seen people in other forums trying to make themselves out to be some sort of geniuses by downplaying their abilities when they actually have some knowledge of the subject. when i see a post like that, it's like...ahh man, not another one

anyway, you mentioned point shooting. this is something i've been wanting to do for a while. i think it's more useful. in real life, you rarely have the opportunity for aimed shots.
 
Also, this gun must be wiped down extremely well, which is not easy due to the way it's designed. The spring is a pain to clean properly as is the slide and the frame. If there is any visible lubricant whatsoever on the gun, it will have reliability issues. That has been my experience.
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I'm not understanding wiping it down. Wiping what down?
You want to have some lubricant visible. Visible lubricant causing malfunctions? You need to call Ruger and have them check it out.
 
@greyeyezz

I guess visible lubricant isn't a very precise or good way of describing it. Because any amount of lubricant is visible. It's hard to express what I mean.

Like, when there is enough lubricant that it's forming visible streams on the surface. Not droplets but kind of like an infinitesimally thin that adheres to the metal that forms greater concentrations in certain areas. It's usually most visible around the takedown pin/slide release and the decocker/safety.

Do you know what I mean or was that incomprehensible?

@CreepyNinja Heh, I know the type you are talking about and see how I come off that way. Apologies.

I really just feel like a novice compared to a lot of the people on this forum. This website is a veritable encyclopedia of firearms knowledge and many of the post read like blog entries.

I know much more about firearms than the average person, but not far beyond what I would consider a normal, responsible, level for ownership. There are huge gaps in my knowledge that I deliberately avoided in this post.

I've probably shot fewer than 6000 rounds in my life.
 
@SVT Cobra

The gold dots seemed to feed just fine loading the first round into the chamber. I also picked up a box of Hornady Critical Defense and will try both at the range tomorrow. I wanted to get the Hydrashok too but they had a deal on 350 rounds of blazer brass in a very nice pail for $100 that seemed pretty good.
 
Nice post, OP. Very informative.

No surprise that a gun like that might have issues with hollowpoints. There are self-defense rounds out there that are shaped as ball ammo (for feeding) but which expand upon impact like HPs. At the end of the day semi-auto pistols prefer ball ammo for feeding although many or even most will shoot HPs just fine.

Looks like Ruger has a winner here. Wish it were available in Democrat-occupied California.
 
Try CorBon 100 gr Pow'rball

I had a Sig P6 (police verision of the 225) that clearly was not designed to feed hollow points because even the Remington Golden Sabre jammed occasionally, and Hydra Shoks had a FTF on every shot. My solution was to use the CobBon Pow'rBall load. Its the same profile as a FMJ, but expands fairly wide because of the polymer tip. The only drawback is in gel test, its either right at or slightly under 12" of penetration; considering I was living in a really thin walled apartment at the time, I considered that a feature instead of a bug.
 
I tried the Gold Dots and the Critical Defense today. The Critical Defense had an FTE on the first magazine which may have been due to user error. I'm going to try a few more magazines before I make up my mind.

The Gold Dots fed fine, but disconcertingly, these caused the magazine to pop out slightly after each shot. However, I do know that the Gold Dots fed well, because I went through a magazine with the gun gripped such that the magazine had literally nowhere to go and the Gold Dots fed fine.

I'm thinking this issue is probably due to the magazine disconnect. I was willing to tolerate it until now but no longer. I'm removing it. Hopefully, that will fix this problem.

As a control group of sorts, I went through 150 rounds of UMC and about 75 rounds of crappy reloaded ammo that I would never buy again, and didn't have a single failure except for one instance where I clearly limp-wristed it. This makes me think that the FTE from the Critical Defense was also a limp-wrist. This also makes me think that the magazine issue can only be cause by +P ammo like the Gold Dots.

I'm going to try some more Critical Defense but it looks like it might be a keeper. If removing the Magazine Disconnect can solve the mag release issue then those are also good to go.

Testing defense ammo is expensive :(
 
The Gold Dots fed fine, but disconcertingly, these caused the magazine to pop out slightly after each shot.
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The magazine latch is defective. They replaced mine and at least 3 other persons that I know of. Call Ruger. A mag popping out with a disconnect is very dangerous.
 
So I joined up today.. LGS had a 10 percent off for veterans today, and he had a couple of LC9S's in stock, so I snagged one, $321 out the door. He has had a bunch of the old DAO LC9's come in on trade for these, so he wasn't very interested in mine (not interested = not much $$ trade in) so I just kept the thing LOL. It was a Lasermax version, I already swapped the laser onto the LC9S.

Notable differences:

-The chambered round indicator is deleted from the LC9 to the LC9S. Kinda a bummer, but I didn't like the lettering and the red side on Ruger's chamber indicator anyway, it made the gun look cheaper.

-The recoil spring is significantly redesigned, the old one was just a plastic guide with a slip on spring, the new one looks like a 2 piece captured guide with multiple springs.

The rest of it is pretty much the same, except for the lack of a hammer and hammer spring in the back of the frame. The shape of the trigger guard is identical, swapping my old lasermax on was effortless.

We will see if I have the mag dropping problems. Mine is a Davidson's gun so if it has issues I can simply swap it for a new one.
 
Shot mine a few times today (finally). What a difference a redesign makes!! Much less jumpy than the old LC9, and the trigger is so much different it feels like a different pistol. It isn't much different than shooting my SR9c other than it doesn't fill my hand as much. I like it, Ruger really has a winner here.
 
I bought one today. It was built Oct 28. It ran 50 rounds of Fed and 10 hornady just fine. I ran 5 at a time to test for slide to hold back. So good, so far!
 
SVTCobra306 said:
Shot mine a few times today (finally). What a difference a redesign makes!! Much less jumpy than the old LC9, and the trigger is so much different it feels like a different pistol. It isn't much different than shooting my SR9c other than it doesn't fill my hand as much. I like it, Ruger really has a winner here.
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Nice! It's always gratifying to hear when more experienced gun owners like this pistol as much as I do.
 
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