Ruger LCR, The Light Compact Revolver

I received a Ruger LCR as a birthday gift in May. After a couple of months shooting and carrying this pistol I have formed some opinions about this gun and I'm going to share them.

Let's start with the name "LCR", that stands for Light Compact Revolver.

• Light-13.50 ounces with the Houge grip, 13 ounces with the Crimson Trace grip and only 15 ounces when fully loaded.
• Compact- With a barrel length of 1.78 inches, it's no bigger than your stander J-frame Style revolver.
  
• Revolver- Umm... it's a revolver, duh. 5 shot, .38 special +P, snub nose revolver.

We'll get to my opinions and range reports in just a bit, I want to mention what makes this revolver so special. It's the very first revolver in the world to be made with a polymer frame(fire control housing). That's right, the same kind of stuff your Glock, Springfield XD, or Smith and Wesson M&P are made out of. Some might call it combat tupperware or just generically call it "plastic". To be specific (and to sound like a douche), the actual description is Glass-filled Polymer Fiber.

I mentioned the polymer fire control housing, the reason it's important to make that distinct is because the entire frame isn't made from polymer. The grip, and the part of the frame that covers all of the fire control components is made from polymer. The rest of the frame is made from aluminum.

The cylinder is probably the most recognizable part of this gun, in that it's radically fluted for weight reduction, but it makes quite an impression visually. It's really cool looking. Of course this piece is made from aerospace grade steel as is the barrel sleeve.

So as you can see, it's the hot new thing that all the kids are talking about. By kids I mean grown men in photographer's vests. I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon of new stuff, but I've always had a special spot in my heart for Ruger and I've never owned a pocket gun. So this little bad boy has been on my wish list since it's announcement this January.

Every gun has a use, a spot that it fills best. This particular gun is best suited for deep concealment carry. It's small. lightweight, and packs a punch. It fits in a pocket well is comfortable to carry, in fact you forget it's even there. However, it does have drawbacks. It's only a 5 shot, it has a very small sight radius and it can be difficult to shoot well.

The standard Hogue Grips are really nice. They are a bit tacky, which may cause some problems with concealed carry, but they feel awesome. The grips make the gun feel like it fits in my hand much better than other J-framed size guns. I'm sure the relatively manageable recoil can be attributed to the grips, even with +P loads. The gun can also be outfitted with Crimson Trace laser grips, which I have also. The laser makes target acquisition fast and easy. It's also a great tool to practice trigger control. Dry fire the gun, and use the laser to gauge trigger movement and diagnose any flaws in your trigger pull. One other note on these grips, the back strap and front strap are made from a soft rubber that provides a good grip. The sides of the grip are pretty thin and made from a harder plastic/rubber and therefore do not catch on fabric very easily.

Accuracy is another facet of short barreled revolvers that is addressed often. It's not that these guns are inaccurate, but that they are difficult to shoot accurately due to the short sight radius. This gun has a great trigger, and a pretty good sight picture so it was pretty easy to shoot well. The grouping was pretty impressive for such a small gun. I'm very used to shooting striker-fired guns(Glock, XD, etc), and the longer pull of a double action isn't my territory. The trigger pull on this gun was WAY better than any double action S&W or Taurus I've ever fired. This trigger is really nice with no hint of stacking, but that IS one of the selling points of this gun.

I'm currently carrying this gun in a Desantis Nemesis pocket holster. It's lightweight, protects the gun and grips the inside of my pocket, making presentation of the firearm swift and smooth.

This gun is a good backup gun or primary gun. I find it useful in situations where a full size or even compact gun is not practical. It's small enough for a pocket carry in dress pants and light enough to carry in gym shorts or track pants(anything without a belt). I normally carry this gun at work or when I'm wearing something without a belt. It's also good as a second gun either in the pocket or on the ankle.


Bottom line, it's a great gun. It's comfortable, accurate, and powerful enough to meet my self defense needs. Try one out if you can.