Beginner Gun Review: Ruger LCR
You certainly can’t say that Sturm, Ruger & Company has been resting on their laurels over the past few years. Their LCx line of guns has been amazingly popular and has really made the pocket pistol a major industry. While certainly not the first tiny .380 pistol, the LCP is the one that really kickstarted the recent trend. Before that, the main choice was James Bond’s Walther PPK.
When Ruger released the LCP, they also released a 5 shot, .38 Special revolver called the LCR (Light Compact Revolver). Weighing in at a mere 13 ouces, this little gun packs a big punch. The majority of the gun is made of polymer with a stainless steel chamber and barrel. The chamber itself is aggressively fluted to save weight. There’s no external hammer on this gun so it’s hard for pocket lint to get in and mess it up. This is the epitome of a snub-nose carry revolver.
When it first came out, you had the option of standard grip or a Crimson Trace laser grip (referred to as the LCR-LG). In the last year or so, Ruger has released a .357 Magnum and a .22LR version of the LCR.
Ease to breakdown
It’s a revolver. You slide a little knob, swing out the chamber and that’s it. Revolvers have long had the reputation for being fool proof and this one is no different. From loading to unloading to just popping it apart to clean, you can’t go wrong with this for easiness.
Five out of five dunce hats.
Maintenance
As I said before, you can’t get any simpler than a revolver. This especially applies to cleaning. It’s been said that, given an infinite amount of time, a thousand monkeys with typewriters could eventually write the works of Shakespeare. Hand a monkey this gun (unloaded, of course) and a cleaning kit and he’d have it sparkling in about 3 minutes.
This is another spot where revolvers excel. Five hats!
Reliability
Get used to this line: It’s a revolver. You pull the trigger, the gun goes bang. If something is going to fail, chances are it’s going to be the ammo and not the gun. People love revolvers because of that guaranteed bang.
Yet another 5 out of 5!
Safety
Here’s where this (and most) revolvers start to fall short. The only safety on most revolvers is a long and heavy trigger pull. It’s probably not going to go off if you drop it but you’d better make absolutely sure that trigger is covered and your finger is far away from it.
At that same time…did you fire 5 shots or 4? Was that the last shot or just a bad bullet? How many rounds do I have left? If you’re not good at keeping a running count in your head, you’re in trouble because there’s no slide lock to let you know you’re done.
For safety…or a relative lack thereof, the LCR gets a 2 out of 5. Be careful with this thing!
Poor technique
With revolvers in general, you’re never going to have to worry about limp wristing or poor grip affecting the operation of the gun. As I said before, you pull the trigger and the gun will go bang. This revolver, however, does have a glaring issue: the short barrel. The barrel length on this gun is just shy of 2 inches. You put a barrel that small on a gun and the accuracy is going to suffer greatly. Combine that with that long and heavy double action pull, and you’d better be really good at trigger control if you want to hit something more than a few feet away.
Also, with the .38 Special rounds, if you’re not holding this thing right you’re definitely going to feel it in your wrist after a couple of shots. I’m not joking, this thing is bit painful to shoot.
For forgivability, the LCR gets a 4 out of 5.
Starter kit
You get a gun, a lock, a nylon bag and, depending on whether you forked out the extra couple hundred bucks for the LCR-LG version, an allen wrench to adjust the laser sights and all of it comes in a nice, recyclable cardboard box. Yeah, the kit is about as simple as the revolver itself. I don’t know what else they could have added to it, but it feels a bit bare to me.
For the sparse kit, the LCR gets a 2 out of 5. Heck, a cheap pocket holster would have been nice. Speaking of which…
Accessories/Upgrades
There’s not much you can get for the gun itself. The sites are fixed and there isn’t much room to tack on any toys. There are a number of laser sights for it if you don’t like the Crimson Trace grips. There are also a few grips I’ve been able to find. The main thing is the holsters. There are lots of great holsters for this gun. Pro Tip: if you want to carry this in your pocket, you need to get a pocket holster. See that front sight? That will wear a nice big hole in your pocket in just a couple of hours. I have a couple pairs of pants that this thing punched holes in before I got a pocket holster for it. If there’s only one accessory you ever get, make sure it’s a holster.
For the overall lack of toys, the LCR gets a 2 out of 5.
Final Word
For your very first gun, I can’t in good conscience recommend this gun. The .38 Special round is a pretty beefy round and if you’re not used to recoil, this thing will scare the heck out of you…and it hurts your hand. For a first carry gun, it’s not a bad choice. I’ve since put my LCR down for a different pocket pistol so I can’t say it’s the best/last carry gun you’re ever going to have.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5
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