RUGER LCP Safety Recall

Thought I'd post this recall notice for any Ruger LCP owners - BTW: SWEET little pistol!!

I filled out the online form, they'll mail a shipping label/package to you. Send the gun back via UPS (I believe) at no charge to yourself. I asked the rep how long it would take and he said they would try & have it back to me 7 days after receipt.

Anyway, they're giving you a free magazine with the recently introduced finger guard/extension for our trouble.

I can't complain about safety improvements & a free magazine!

boy oh boy, Ruger has had their share of recalls over the years. At least they address them. It looks like a great little gun. I've been looking for something to replace my .32 Kel-tec for when I'm mountain bike riding. A gun store not for from me has them in and maybe I'll get to handle one this weekend.

I have been heavily interested in getting one of these handguns. So many good reviews. The problem though would be it would by my first handgun. Is that advisable, or should I start elsewhere?

No sure I would start out with a 380 pocket pistol. something larger will teach you better mechanics. Ruger is a good choice though.

Thanks for the heads up Sigman...just filled out the form. I was hoping my pistol would not be one of the ones that could be affected, but it is...Back to Ruger it goes!

LCP = Little Crappy Pistol, lol.

I talk smack to all my friends who own LCP's just because I can, especially you AHPA, haha...

JasonC8301 said:

LCP = Little Crappy Pistol, lol.

I talk smack to all my friends who own LCP's just because I can, especially you AHPA, haha...

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Well suprise suprise...you are an anti-LCPite!...haha

AnimalHousePA said:

...I was hoping my pistol would not be one of the ones...

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Me too, but at least they're coughing up a free mag! I've not decided on what type of holster yet. Indeed it's received some excellent reviews...

Patriot36 said:

boy oh boy, Ruger has had their share of recalls over the years. At least they address them. It looks like a great little gun. I've been looking for something to replace my .32 Kel-tec for when I'm mountain bike riding. A gun store not for from me has them in and maybe I'll get to handle one this weekend.

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I was told by my local gunstore that this gun is made for Ruger by Kel-tec and it looks very similar to this: http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/p3at.htm YMMV

Here's a link to exploded part views: http://bp3.blogger.com/_XCkTSf0swcQ/R6YBwNf3DrI/AAAAAAAABV8/jkNvlgGinHM/s1600-h/specscomparison.jpg

Also this is not my opinion, the gunshop salesman and could very well be wrong!!

Sigman said:

Me too, but at least they're coughing up a free mag! I've not decided on what type of holster yet. Indeed it's received some excellent reviews...

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Yeah the mag is a nice addition. :twothumbs I have 2 inside-the-pocket holsters for my LCP. I have a cheap Uncle Mike's and a slightly more expensive DeSantis...both of them are top notch.

Sigman thanks for the heads up, looks like I will be sending mine back......

Later
Kelly

bobisculous said:

I have been heavily interested in getting one of these handguns. So many good reviews. The problem though would be it would by my first handgun. Is that advisable, or should I start elsewhere?

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This would not be a good first handgun. It's very small and somewhat uncomfortable due to the short grip. The trigger has a rather long pull and poor feel and the sights are minimal at best. All of these characteristics are typical for a "pocket pistol" and they're designed to serve in the back up role or during times that size and weight must be kept to a minimum. In my case, to carry while mountain biking. The Ruger MKII or MKIII .22 auto would be a much better choice and provide years of reliable and cheap target shooting or plinking.

FRANKVZ
I was told by my local gunstore that this gun is made for Ruger by Kel-tec and it looks very similar to this: http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/p3at.htm YMMV

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For sure. They are almost identical in most ways. I'm not sure if there was a deal with Kel-tec because I haven't looked into it any deeper but I don't doubt that it's made for ruger.

My little .32 Kel-tec as been flawless and seems to provide enough accuracy for what the gun was designed to do. My main interest in the LCP was to up caliber to .380. The Kel-tec P38T .380 has been around for a while and there are probably more floating around pre-owned at the gun-shows. I wouldn't be opposed to getting either one though. There is a big show in December that I'll probably wait for.

Strongly agree with what Pat36 said about first guns.

Haven't handled the Ruger but am very familiar with the KT's and don't doubt that it's a KT at heart, whether manufactured by them or not.

Don't hesitate to go the KT route. Their warranty work and customer service are as good as any I've known. Generally, you can call and talk directly with one of their smiths if you have an issue.

Good forums for KT's -- http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl and http://www.ktrange.com/phpbb2/index.php

Was not to long after the PS9 and LCP were released before both were recalled. Maybe it's old age but I don't seem to remember to many recalls on Rugers in the past.

My guess is, that like autos, because of the legal issues, lots of things are getting recalls that would not have in the past.

Have any of you received your gun back from Ruger? I've heard stories of the guns coming back with absolutely horrible triggers, was just wondering if there was any truth to it.

My guess is that the fix is a stronger firing pin return spring which should have no effect on the trigger pull. The only way the pistol could fire when dropped is inertia taking the hammer assembly onto the firing pin or the firing pin itself. The pistol would have to be dropped onto it's muzzle. Remember, this is a double action only pistol - the hammer can only be cocked by trigger pull, otherwise it is at rest.

The downside of the stronger spring is that it will reduce the striking force of the firing pin, possibly resulting in failure to fire, particularly on hard primers such as those in Sellier and Beloit ammo (my preferred hardball).

There's several ways to help the trigger pull - both for weight and smoothness. Go to the the P3AT sections of either of the above forums and search "fluff and buff". Personally, I've smoothed the triggers on our P3ATs but left the pull weight alone. The long, rather heavy trigger pull is the "safety" on these pistols and, at the range these weapons are most likely to be used, accuracy is not an issue.

If I had the Ruger and it was functioning reliably, I wouldn't return it.

BIGIRON said:

If I had the Ruger and it was functioning reliably, I wouldn't return it.

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LOL!!! You must have read my mind BIGIRON... I just didn't want to be the first one to say it.



It's been clear to me for over a decade that Ruger has placed a very high priority on "lawyer proofing" its products. They were among the first to stamp big ugly warnings on their firearms, install magazine safeties, add now they have loaded chamber indicators on most of their autos. Personally I find these features to be stupid because every firearm "is already loaded" to begin with and people who arn't familiar with firearms aren't going to know what a loaded chamber indicator is or what it means anyhow. Regarding the safety recall on the LCP. I can't imagine how much force it would take to get that lightweight hammer to strike in the situation of a muzzle down drop. Looking at my KT, Ruger must be worried about an inertia strike as BigIron mentioned. It might even be a case were it's never actually happend but Ruger, being the way that they are, decided it would be best to modify the design...just in case?



I handled the LCP this past weekend and it seems to be very nice. I'm not sure of the internal differences between the KT P3AT and LCP but the LCP looks functionally identical on the outside. At this point I"m leaning toward the KT partially because the .32 that I owned worked so flawlessly. The trigger was smooth from the factory, although it was heavy and has a very long, stacking pull. That's normal for this type, as BigIron stated, which also acts as a safety.

Ruger did a good thing when they offered the sliding transfer bar mod for the first runs of single action revolvers. Still available today. Just send in revolver and they mod it and return gun and old parts back to you. One of my friends dropped his three screw Ruger Single Six. It hit the ground on the hammer and a round hit the car next to where he was standing. Now I know that there are lots of single revolvers out there with no real safeties (Colts, for example), and I would never want to mod one of then and distroy their value. Somehow I never got around to having the mod done to my Ruger 3 screw Super Blackhawk.

Bill

Just do it the cowboy way - keep an empty chamber under the hammer.