Jerry11826
New member
My grandfather had a habit of saying, “I’m not sure what I expected, but what I got wasn’t it.”
That’s the way I feel about my new LCR 357.
There has been such good “press” and favorable comment on the firearms forums, I thought the LCR 357 was a “wonder gun”! After firing 50 rounds, I don’t think so.
Good
1. The finish. I “dry fired” mine approximately 500 times before shooting the above mentioned 50 rounds. (See Bad) Only very light evidence of cylinder “ringing”. That is remarkable! There should have been “ringing” at that point. Not much! This may be the revolver that will look almost “out of the box” after 25,000 rounds and 20 years.
2. The price. Good! I paid $446.00 via Davidson’s “Gun Genie”. My local dealer charged $34.95 to handle the transfer and “paperwork”. The Florida sales tax was $31.22. The out the door price was $512.17. I don’t think you can get anywhere close to that price on a S&W “J” frame.
3. Trigger pull. Very good for an “out of the box” revolver. Not great, but very good. My S&W model 36, 2" and my model 60, 3" have better DA trigger pulls. But let’s be fair. Both of these guns have “spring kits” and have been tuned by a competent gunsmith.
4. Weight. I guess, just about right. My LCR weighs 18 oz., on my inexpensive, “K-Mart” food scale. The 50 rounds I shot were my “crappy” reloads. 158 grn. cast SWC bullets on top of 3 grns. of BE. The recoil was “snappy”, but not objectionable. About the same as my “J” frame S&W’s. I think shooting 50 rounds of full power, 158 grn. 357 magnum “factory” loads would be unpleasant! I wouldn’t want to do it.
Bad
1. My revolver arrived with inadequate lubrication. The trigger pull was horrendous. The trigger return was worse. I nearly sent it back to Ruger. Adding a few drop of “Break free”, in the appropriate places and “dry firing” approximately 500 times, made a tremendous difference. I rate the current trigger “pull and return” as very good.
2. Accuracy. OK. Certainly not as good as my “J’ frame S&W’s. I was able to keep my shots in the scoring rings of a B-34, NRA combat target at 10 yards, but could not get a group. The shots were “all over the place”. In contrast, my current self defense gun, a 30+ year old S&W 669, will shoot 9 ring groups, on a B-34 target at the same distance.
Anyway, “actions speak louder then words”! I am going to dump this “turkey”. My club, has a swap meet quarterly. Think I will ask $412.00 and “eat” the $100.00 as putting too much confidence in “gun writers” and firearms forums.
Jerry
That’s the way I feel about my new LCR 357.
There has been such good “press” and favorable comment on the firearms forums, I thought the LCR 357 was a “wonder gun”! After firing 50 rounds, I don’t think so.
Good
1. The finish. I “dry fired” mine approximately 500 times before shooting the above mentioned 50 rounds. (See Bad) Only very light evidence of cylinder “ringing”. That is remarkable! There should have been “ringing” at that point. Not much! This may be the revolver that will look almost “out of the box” after 25,000 rounds and 20 years.
2. The price. Good! I paid $446.00 via Davidson’s “Gun Genie”. My local dealer charged $34.95 to handle the transfer and “paperwork”. The Florida sales tax was $31.22. The out the door price was $512.17. I don’t think you can get anywhere close to that price on a S&W “J” frame.
3. Trigger pull. Very good for an “out of the box” revolver. Not great, but very good. My S&W model 36, 2" and my model 60, 3" have better DA trigger pulls. But let’s be fair. Both of these guns have “spring kits” and have been tuned by a competent gunsmith.
4. Weight. I guess, just about right. My LCR weighs 18 oz., on my inexpensive, “K-Mart” food scale. The 50 rounds I shot were my “crappy” reloads. 158 grn. cast SWC bullets on top of 3 grns. of BE. The recoil was “snappy”, but not objectionable. About the same as my “J” frame S&W’s. I think shooting 50 rounds of full power, 158 grn. 357 magnum “factory” loads would be unpleasant! I wouldn’t want to do it.
Bad
1. My revolver arrived with inadequate lubrication. The trigger pull was horrendous. The trigger return was worse. I nearly sent it back to Ruger. Adding a few drop of “Break free”, in the appropriate places and “dry firing” approximately 500 times, made a tremendous difference. I rate the current trigger “pull and return” as very good.
2. Accuracy. OK. Certainly not as good as my “J’ frame S&W’s. I was able to keep my shots in the scoring rings of a B-34, NRA combat target at 10 yards, but could not get a group. The shots were “all over the place”. In contrast, my current self defense gun, a 30+ year old S&W 669, will shoot 9 ring groups, on a B-34 target at the same distance.
Anyway, “actions speak louder then words”! I am going to dump this “turkey”. My club, has a swap meet quarterly. Think I will ask $412.00 and “eat” the $100.00 as putting too much confidence in “gun writers” and firearms forums.
Jerry
