THE RUGER LC-9

     About a year ago my local Arms Dealer was touting how great of a gun that he had in the Sturm Ruger LCP with Veridian Laser.  Took me a few months but I finally decided to buy one.  He had no LCPs in stock that day so I settled on the LC-9 which is the same as the LCP except that it is a little larger and is chambered in 9mm vs the .380 (Hence the LC-9 I am figuring).  It came with a Green Veridian laser.  I have had this pistol for about 5 months and it is not my gun of choice.

First I will address the laser.  The laser is either in the "ON" or Off" position steady beam or blinking beam to give someone an epileptic seizure.  There is no grip switch or anything to turn the laser on or off while sneaking up on someone that shouldn't be in your house, or turning it on to engage a target.  The ingenious thing about it is the holster provided with the LC-9 has a metal strip in it and with a magnetic switch that turns the laser off once it enters the provided holster.  Also if purchasing a belt holster for this weapon you have to get a holster made for the LC-9.

(Notice strip on left side of holster)

As I already stated the laser is a green Veridian laser.  It is a very strong and bright beam vs an average red laser.  However the intensity of the beam comes with a cost.  The batteries run out real quick and they are expensive VS CR2032 and other batteries.  Another cost to this laser is night vision.  If you use this laser at night, you might as well use a white lens flash light too.  It will rob your night vision instantly.  Then there is a fact that I like to bring up in a laser conversation.  I personally do not like a visible laser.  I have used the ILS (Invisible laser system on the M-4 and the PAQ-4 on the M-4 and Car-15)  Its a great system when going against an enemy with no night vision capabilities.  However once a Laser can be seen like the Veridian here it works both ways they have a target designated by a laser.

After the laser I have to get to magazine capacity.  The mag cap is 7 Rounds and one in the chamber for 8.  Again I have a problem with this.  If I want to carry a pistol with 8 rounds that is easily concealable, why don't I just carry an M-1911 based pistol. 

The trigger cannot be squeezed to drop the hammer unless the magazine is in it.  Also this pistol is single action only.

I have to go back to an earlier post about grip as far as the 8 fundamentals of pistol Marksmanship.  Grip is at a disadvantage here.  Admittedly I got a big meathook for a hand.  I just cannot get a good grip on this pistol and when I fire I can feel the pistol rotating in my hand.  To actually see and compare the effect that this has I took the LC-9, an M-9, and a SIG 229R and fired 7 rounds out of each at 10 yards at a 3 inch dot.  Below are the results.  With the LC-9 I was all over the place and this comes from the twisting in my hand while firing. (Only one in the black)

Next I fired the M-9.  A double stack magazine weapon which in my case  results in a better grip.  Though I did have 2 rounds high here they are basically in line with the other shots and no twisting of the weapon.

Here is the SIG 229 again a much better shot group vs the LC-9.

Personally I am not very happy with this pistol however in a pinch I guess it would be able to be utilized in self / family protection.  Also it might be an excellent choice for people with small hands or more flexibility in there fingers.  Also while surfing the internet and items in Shotgun News everything seems pretty critical of the pistol.

I do believe there is one saving grace to the pistol it fits in any pocket nicely and doesn't pattern as a pistol but looks like a wallet or a note pad.