Ruger LCR---No Thanks!

My Rhino fires .357 one handed no problem and doesn't hurt at all. Obviously I prefer two handed, but I always fire some one handed and from either hand to be familiar with that situation.
 
I don't think Driftwood is really asking how to shoot a lightweight snubby . He is just saying it ain't his thing. He has small revolvers already but they actually have a little weight to them.
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I agree. Now I've owned the 340PD, .357 Magnum 'TI' S&W and I shot full magnums out of it (past tense, I sold it cause it was way to light for this power.) So I understand Driftwood's feelings. I also owned a .454 Toklat and after some brisk .454s I sold it (but I have my S&W 629-1 and I can control it!)

There is just a limit as to how much power you can put in small packages. And some have a lower limit as to what they can handle. No shame in it. I don't like the .454 nor the .460 nor the .500!

Deaf
 
Eazyeach said:
I don't think Driftwood is really asking how to shoot a lightweight snubby . He is just saying it ain't his thing. He has small revolvers already but they actually have a little weight to them.
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^^^This.

Some folks seem to thrive on harsh recoil and some folks don't. Some folks tend to treat tolerance to recoil as a badge of masculinity and some don't. It is what it is, no different than preference to caliber or model type. I tend to hunt with magnum revolvers. Instead of loading to max or running boutique type high velocity ammo, I just step up a caliber instead. I prefer long piped heavy revolvers for hunting because they tame recoil, make practicing pleasant and are more accurate for me. Still I carry a snub nosed J-Frame with +p ammo for my EDC. It's not pleasant to shoot, but I don't shoot it often. It won't make for a long range deer hunting revolver, but it does just fine @ 7 yasds for SD/HD.
 
Driftwood Johnson said:
Howdy

Let me say right off that I have no desire to own a light weight, small frame 357 Mag or 38 Special. I have three S&W J frame 38 Specials, two Model 36s and a Model 60, the Stainless version of the Model 36. Firing these small, steel framed 38s is all the recoil I want to handle. I can't imagine shooting a 357 Mag version.

I was at the range yesterday and a pal had a Ruger LCR. Five shot 38 Special. He asked if I wanted to try it. I remember I shot one a few years ago and did not care for the trigger. He handed me five rounds of ammunition. I was shooting one handed. First shot, ouch! Plus the gun jumped way up. Second shot, ouch again. I emptied the gun and gave him back the three unfired rounds. We both had a good laugh over it. Maybe if I had tried it two hands I would have liked it a bit better.

Call me a sissy if you want, but the Ruger LCR is not on my Christmas list.
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Different people perceive recoil differently.

I had a chance to shoot a .357 LCR a few years ago. 5 rounds of full house factory social purposes .357. It wasn't as bad as I thought, about on par with shooting that through my heavier (all steel) Taurus 605. Not something I would do every day, for fun. But, I could see shooting .38 through that.
 
I don't think Driftwood is really asking how to shoot a lightweight snubby . He is just saying it ain't his thing. He has small revolvers already but they actually have a little weight to them.
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Yup. It just ain't my thing. I started the post to confirm what I already know. Lightweight revolvers and 38 Special (or 357 Mag) are not for me. I was just surprised how really unpleasant the Ruger LCR was.

The smallest revolver I am comfortable shooting 38 Special out of is a S&W Model 36 that weighs one pound seven ounces when loaded with five 158 grain 38 Specials. For 357 Mag, although the grip of my Model 19 is nice and handfilling, I prefer the weight of an N frame Model 27 or Model 28. The lightest gun I want to shoot my 45 Colt Black Powder loads out of is a Single Action Army that weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces when loaded with five 250 grain rounds.
 
If you liked that you should try the 357 LCR sometime.:eek:
Great pistol, great triggers, great accuracy (for a snubnose), but yeah they will bite back.
 
I personally love mine. But I can definitely see how it could be a turn off when firing anything other than the lightest 38 loads. I'm a recoil fiend though. Some day my hands aren't going to work as well as they once did crom all the abuse I'm sure.
 
I am a S&W revolver guy, after starting with Rugers years ago. My 642 had the OEM springs but was well broken in - and it's trigger was dependable and smooth. I've shot two LCR's in .38 - one was in it's first box of ammo, whilethe other one had over a year of weekly range time. Neither instilled confidence, the trigger feeling almost plastic toy-like. I knew how to de-burr my SA Rugers and DA, too - but they were steel. I elected to not get one after gifting a friend my 642, instead, I bought a new Cobra!

A friend with a 642 and an LCR still carries the 642... there must be a message there!
 
I have the LCRx 38spl +P 3" barrel. I like it very much. The recoil is stout but it is more of a push up recoil rather than a push back recoil. The sight adjustment is excellent. If at 80 yrs old I can take the recoil, you youngsters certainly should be able to handle it.
 
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Scout, guess us old guy have just gotten used to recoil over the many years of shooting. It was just part of shooting, and we got used to it. Today the young'uns is more concerned 'bout comfort than just shootin':D
 
I totally agree with DJ. Mrs. Doc decidied that the LCR 357 mag revolver was
what she wanted. She qualified in Tn. & in Fl. for her LTC. But everytime she went to the range, her hands looked like they went tru a meat grinder. She never missed her target but 5 shots and Adios. She is now going between the Bersa 380 and the Ruger SR22. It's her choice totally but I really understand your experience. I don't want to shoot it either.
 
Some folks seem to thrive on harsh recoil and some folks don't. Some folks tend to treat tolerance to recoil as a badge of masculinity and some don't.
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Few of them are able to shoot anywhere nearly as rapidly with any real control with harsh recoil was they are with lighter recoil.

Virtually all of the people who choose to wear that so-called "badge of masculinity", if they do it long enough, run a very real risk of suffering permanent joint, tendon, and nerve damage.
 
if they do it long enough, run a very real risk of suffering permanent joint, tendon, and nerve damage
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80 years, 90, maybe 100. At 70 years old, and shooting for at least 60 of them with the past 50 with a lot of handguns it hasn't happened yet. "Badge of masculinity" not. Just a fact of shooting life learned many years ago. A law written by that dude that had an apple hit him on the head. Equal and opposite, and all that. It's not about earning some fictional badge. It's about learning how to handle recoil properly instead of complaining about it. Physical impairment of course being the exception.
 
When I bought my LCR I was going for minimum weight with reasonable power. So I went with the 38 Spcl. +P version for it 2 ounce lower weight. Now I'm thinking I might ad a 357 just 'cause. Probably not on my short list, but on my if one pops up at the right price, and I'm in the mood to buy something list.
 
80 years, 90, maybe 100. At 70 years old, and shooting for at least 60 of them with the past 50 with a lot of handguns it hasn't happened yet.
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And many smokers lived for years without getting cancer, emphysema, congestive heart failure, athsma, or COPD.

Does that mean that smoking is not extremely unhealthy?

There a number of things that cause cumulative damage to wrists, knees, the brain and other nervous system elements, retinas, other tendons, and the heart.

It is best to learn about them and avoid them before one learns about them and regrets them.

It's about learning how to handle recoil properly instead of complaining about it.
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I'm sure there are ways to reduce the incidence of injury in the short term, but they will not enable a shooter to fire as rapid a controlled string with a heavily recoiling handgun as hero she would otherwise, and that's really what is necessary in defensive handgun shooting.
 
Scout, guess us old guy have just gotten used to recoil over the many years of shooting. It was just part of shooting, and we got used to it. Today the young'uns is more concerned 'bout comfort than just shootin'
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Not sure who you are calling a 'young'un'. I am just three years younger than you, and have been shooting revolvers for over 40 years.

I just don't like really light handguns. Which was the whole point of this tread in the first place.
 
Driftwood, love your posts and am humbled by you knowledge. And being a lightweight myself, don't like much recoil.

Sooo, I load powder puff rounds you can shoot all day.

Was working these down, first test fire I shot the clothesline. Duh.
 
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