Info needed on Ruger LC9...

[RagweedZulu]

Ok, I might have done this ass-backwards, but tonight I bought a Ruger LC9 for my mom as a CCW gun. I need some info from those of you with shooting experience on this weapon. Trigger?, weight?, ease of carry?

My mom lives by herself in a small Oregon town and up til now has only had a Ruger Security Six in .357 that I bought her for a nightstand gun. She once shot a coyote with it. (She loves the deer that come into her front yard). I think it'll do her for a house gun but she recently took a CCW class and wanted one of my small pistols to carry. Being stingy and not wanting to give up my much used equipment, I bought her this LC9 for $319. I personally am not a HUGE fan of the 9mm, but my wife keeps a G19 and I'm sure mom will be ok with a compact 9 in her purse.

So I've already bought the pistol, so no looking back, but do you guys like yours? Please include pics of your CCW rigs if you have 'em. Thanks!

[rathos]

If she already uses a revolver I would say she is pretty good to go, other then getting used to turning the safety off.

A buddy of mine bought one. We shot the heck out of it, didn't have any issues. The only thing I don't like about it is the safety and the long trigger with the fake reset point. It was a bit of a bear with +P ammo, but amazingly accurate for such a small gun. My friend bought it as a backup gun so it carries it in a galco ankle lite.

[Warg]

I bought one for the hell of it. Not my best idea and I don't recommend doing that, but I was curious and it was inexpensive.

At any rate, the trigger is a loooong pull and the reset issue is as Rathos mentions. The trigger has improved substantially after 300 rounds or so. Obviously, the LOP is the same, but it is much lighter and smoother. I haven't measured the pull though. I also removed the silly mag safety which probably adds a tiny bit of resistance to the trigger.

For me, it carries easily, but admittedly I don't regularly carry this firearm. I can get by with it as a pocket gun with cargo pants or shorts using a High Noon pocket holster. Weight is 15.2 oz without the mag, 17.2 oz with and 20.6 loaded (124gr).

I was not very accurate with this gun at first, but am getting better. It's difficult to shoot well. I have better success without the pinky extensions on the mag.

I've close to 750 rounds through it now. Not a whole lot, but initally I had some issues. During my first session with the LC9 the hammer began to stick and it would not fire reliably. I subsequently took the pistol apart and thoroughly cleaned a lot of sticky factory gunk out of it and relubed/reassembled. I assume this was cosmoline or something similar, but it was exceptionally thick. After that cleaning the pistol has been 100% reliable and I've never had any issues with it using several kinds ammo from 115gr FMJ to 147 gr HP.

Would I recommend this firearm? No. I'm concerned with the long term reliability of the trigger mechanism, specifically the Kel-Tec "inspired" trigger bar and how it engages the hammer. That and the sticky hammer experience has sort of soured my curiosity.

I like the Kahr PM9/CM9 better for a pocket gun as it's more compact and a much more simplistic design with a better trigger. Would also take a hard look at a PPS or G26.

[RagweedZulu]

Thanks for the input guys. The deal is done and while I'd like to have bought her a G26 or a Kahr, it's just not in the budget for a gun that might rarely get carried and won't be mine.

The experiences mentioned above make it clear that I'd better break it in for her and detail strip/clean it before shipping it up there.

Thanks again.