RUGER LCR 9mm 1.875" 5rd Revolver - Black

I happened onto a fantastic deal on this LCR from Ky GunCo a few weeks back. Ive had three range sessions now, and feel like I can write an informed review.

The short story is, after about 650 rounds through it, its now my favorite concealed carry revolver. The holy grail I look for in a CCW is for it to be reliable, accurate, powerful, concealable and lightweight. The 9mm LCR is all those things, and it has now replaced my beloved, accurate S&W 637 as a daily carry.

I was already familiar with the LCR line, having owned the .38 Spl version until my girlfriend claimed it. The 9mm LCR is 4.5 oz heavier. The frame is stainless steel rather than aluminum, and the cylinder not as deeply fluted as the .38 version. It feels substantial and well-balanced. The weight absorbs recoil very well. I find the felt recoil to be less than that of the .38 LCR firing +P ammunition in both. Of course, as many others have written, the LCR trigger is better out of the box than any other snub on the market now.

In aimed fire, I could easily put Winchester 124g +P NATO rounds in the X and 10-ring of a 12x18 silhouette target at 7 yards, all day long. 124g +P is what Ill wind up carrying. Two brands of 124g shot to POA out to 10 yards. 115g shot a bit low - 1 to 1.5 at 7 yards - but the recoil was negligible. They grouped well for me. Standard velocity 115g rounds were like plinking ammunition. It was easy to dump the cylinder at full speed and bring it back on target quickly.

I had 2 brands of 147g and did not like either - they consistently shot high and right for me and didnt group well. I couldnt see any compelling reason to use these.

I also chronographed a few rounds from it. 10 rounds of 124g +P chronod 1075 from the LCR. 10 rounds of the same ammunition measured 1110 from a 3.42 Glock 26. In other words, the LCR gave up almost no velocity versus subcompact pistols. 124g hollowpoint at 1075 is not messing around.

I also tested for crimp jump, as the manual recommends, by marking my bullets with a carpenters pencil, ejecting the moon clip after 4 rounds, and examining the 5th round. I fired 7 different brands and 3 different weights of 9mm ammunition, including plenty of +P, and saw absolutely no evidence of crimp jump. I dont think this will be a concern with any commercial ammunition.

To ALL,

I own a Ruger LCR chambered in 9mm as my small conceal carry gun. I bought it to replace the 38+P revolver I had. I wanted to consolidate my home to have 1 less different caliber of pistol ammunition. 9mm is the ammo of choice for my home since i use it in all my other auto loading pistols.

The moon clips are great but fragile. They are generally inexpensive enough to replace. I keep spares in my range bag just in case. They allow for quick loading of the cylinder. They are designed to allow the loading and unloading of ammunition to and from the moon clip with out the need of any special tools. That is a huge benefit in my opinion as compared to steel moon clips for ammo like 357.

The gun its self is a light weight snag free design. I like the trigger on it while i know others consider it average to poor quality. For my LCR, it has a consistent trigger pull for travel, pressure and reset distance. The front and rear sites are rounded in such a way to be nearly snag free. The Front site blade can be replaced with after market items including glowing night sights.

The problems I have with this gun are due to the situation dealing with the ammunition industry. There are very few ammunitions that I have been able to SAFELY use with this gun. Let me explain. Due to the light weight of the frame, the recoil is horrible on the ammo. Every brand of FMJ ammo I have tried had problems at the range. The 5th and sometimes the 4th un-fired round in chamber will have released the seated bullet from the brass after firing 3 rounds. When this happens, it is a very dangerous situation. The bullet is now loose in the cylinder wheel and can slide forward locking the cylinder during rotation rendering the revolver in operable. Also the powder is spilling out on to your hands when this happens. If you fire when this happens, it is very dangerous.

I have found that a small number of premium defensive hollow point rounds are crimped strong enough that the bullet is not being released from the brace on recoil. With that being said, using ammunition of sufficient quality to with stand the recoil results in a small package excellent for conceal carry. I like the gun and truly do not fault Ruger for the lacking quality of the ammunition manufacturers. This is my weapon of choice when size matters when paired with safe defensive ammo.

As for others looking at this gun, be warned about the ammunition issues related to 9mm and the recoil. If you want to avoid the reliability and safety issues with the 9mm round, get a version chambered in a traditional revolver caliber. This is why I rated a 5 star Ruger handgun at 1 star overall due to ammunition related safety issues. If you were to need the gun, you dont want it to fail in your hand at the time of need. I rate the gun at 4 stars when paired with appropriate ammunition.

My discussion with Ruger Support is that they do not certify any specific ammo with the gun. They recommend a class of ammo, Premium Defensive Ammunition. They recommend that you should never use any reloaded or non-crimped ammo based on the safety concerns. All of those ammunitions will fail due to the recoil during use. The industry does not offer a hard roll crimped round for the 9mm round like they due for .357 and 38+p. The 9mm ammunition was designed for auto loading pistols with less relative recoil forces being applied to the un-fired rounds. The non crimped ammunition must be avoided at all times for safety reasons.

Charles,

P.S. I have owned my LCR chambered in 9mm for 1 year. I loved it enough to upgrade the front site now that I have functional ammo. Carefully examine your 9mm ammo of choice. If the brass is not crimped in to the seated bullet, it will fail apart in this gun.