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I picked up my Ruger LC9 this afternoon and after cleaning it I took it to the range for a little evaluation. I'd been wanting a smaller weapon for concealed carry--I'm from Wisconsin, and we're finally getting it--and after some fairly exhaustive research I chose the LC9.
In a word, I'd rate the LC9 as excellent. I recognize that my assessment may in part be biased as it may fit me differently than others, but I was not just pleasantly surprised--I was very pleased.
First, a few tidbits:
1. The trigger is pretty smooth, right out of the box. I'm sure it'll smooth out more, but it wasn't very hard to get a surprise break.
2. The trigger pull is quite long. I have my XDs set up with the Powder River package, which is short pretravel, light pull, and little overtravel. The trigger pull on the LC9 isn't too heavy; in fact, when I switched back to the XD-9 this afternoon, I had to be careful since the pre-travel is so short.
3. The loaded-chamber indicator, which is much larger than that on the XD, wasn't visible to me at all when I was shooting. It's a non-issue. I know some don't like it, but I wasn't aware of it in the least while shooting.
4. The magazine has the extended floorplate with the finger rest extension, which is great; I can get three fingers wrapped around the grip, whereas with the normal flat magazine floorplate, I can't do it.
5. I'd read where some of these smaller guns have a pretty significant recoil; this gun only weighs 17 ounces w/o ammo, and I expected a bit of a jumpy weapon. Only that didn't happen. I'm not recoil-averse anyway, I like recoil, it's part of the fun, but it was absolutely not a problem. I was able to control it easily and bring the gun back down on target and where it was supposed to be.
6. It's much smaller than the XD-9 service I have but I still was able to get a lot of skin on the grip.
Couple of pics showing the difference; in the first pic, there's an optical illusion, as the LC9 is significantly smaller than the XD Service:
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Thinner? Try emaciated!
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So how did I do? After 7 rounds, I felt like I could have been effective enough with the LC9 to carry it and perform nearly as well as my XD.
Slow fire at 7 yards (and I have to work on that leftward bias):
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Then I decided to just empty the magazine as quickly as I could; I'd seen a guy on a Youtube video doing just that, and I tried as well, shooting as fast as I could pull the trigger and bring the gun back onto target, 8 rounds at 7 yards:
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Downsides? There are a couple, but I don't consider them terribly serious.
1. Takedown requires something to poke out the takedown pin. I've read that when the weapon loosens up you can just smack the side of the gun into your hand and the pin will pop out. Not as convenient as the XD approach, but what else is?
2. The slide lock I cannot release with my thumb; I have to pull back on the slide to release it after inserting a newly-filled magazine. I've read this will loosen up too, but it's absolutely unmovable for now.
3. The gun only comes with one magazine. I bought mine for $359 plus tax, but in reality, I'll end up adding another $30 per magazine, and I want at least three of them. So add $60.
4. The gun does have an external safety which is easy to disengage, harder to engage. Some have indicated concerns about this, but it worked fine for me, and I don't see it inadvertantly activating.
So what's the verdict? I like it. I'm already self-defense-accurate enough with it, with no practice. I was able to put rounds on a 12x12 paper target at 50 feet, which is about as far as I would expect to be effective with a 3" barrel.
Now comes the search for a holster.
In a word, I'd rate the LC9 as excellent. I recognize that my assessment may in part be biased as it may fit me differently than others, but I was not just pleasantly surprised--I was very pleased.
First, a few tidbits:
1. The trigger is pretty smooth, right out of the box. I'm sure it'll smooth out more, but it wasn't very hard to get a surprise break.
2. The trigger pull is quite long. I have my XDs set up with the Powder River package, which is short pretravel, light pull, and little overtravel. The trigger pull on the LC9 isn't too heavy; in fact, when I switched back to the XD-9 this afternoon, I had to be careful since the pre-travel is so short.
3. The loaded-chamber indicator, which is much larger than that on the XD, wasn't visible to me at all when I was shooting. It's a non-issue. I know some don't like it, but I wasn't aware of it in the least while shooting.
4. The magazine has the extended floorplate with the finger rest extension, which is great; I can get three fingers wrapped around the grip, whereas with the normal flat magazine floorplate, I can't do it.
5. I'd read where some of these smaller guns have a pretty significant recoil; this gun only weighs 17 ounces w/o ammo, and I expected a bit of a jumpy weapon. Only that didn't happen. I'm not recoil-averse anyway, I like recoil, it's part of the fun, but it was absolutely not a problem. I was able to control it easily and bring the gun back down on target and where it was supposed to be.
6. It's much smaller than the XD-9 service I have but I still was able to get a lot of skin on the grip.
Couple of pics showing the difference; in the first pic, there's an optical illusion, as the LC9 is significantly smaller than the XD Service:
Thinner? Try emaciated!
So how did I do? After 7 rounds, I felt like I could have been effective enough with the LC9 to carry it and perform nearly as well as my XD.
Slow fire at 7 yards (and I have to work on that leftward bias):
Then I decided to just empty the magazine as quickly as I could; I'd seen a guy on a Youtube video doing just that, and I tried as well, shooting as fast as I could pull the trigger and bring the gun back onto target, 8 rounds at 7 yards:
Downsides? There are a couple, but I don't consider them terribly serious.
1. Takedown requires something to poke out the takedown pin. I've read that when the weapon loosens up you can just smack the side of the gun into your hand and the pin will pop out. Not as convenient as the XD approach, but what else is?
2. The slide lock I cannot release with my thumb; I have to pull back on the slide to release it after inserting a newly-filled magazine. I've read this will loosen up too, but it's absolutely unmovable for now.
3. The gun only comes with one magazine. I bought mine for $359 plus tax, but in reality, I'll end up adding another $30 per magazine, and I want at least three of them. So add $60.
4. The gun does have an external safety which is easy to disengage, harder to engage. Some have indicated concerns about this, but it worked fine for me, and I don't see it inadvertantly activating.
So what's the verdict? I like it. I'm already self-defense-accurate enough with it, with no practice. I was able to put rounds on a 12x12 paper target at 50 feet, which is about as far as I would expect to be effective with a 3" barrel.
Now comes the search for a holster.
