What is “the next handgun you must own?” Well, Ruger recently made the claim that the introduction of the LC9 answers that question. The LC9, as the name suggests, is chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge and is a single-stack pistol designed for concealed and back-up carry. The diminutive little pistol looks very much like an LCP but there’s more to it than just increasing overall size to accommodate the bigger cartridge.
The LCP is Ruger’s micro .380 that was introduced a few years ago. The pistol has been a great seller but did lack a few design features. One of the most common complaints is the LCP’s lack of any real sights. The LCP uses a couple of bumps for a rear sight and another bump up near the muzzle for a front sight. Also, the gun has no internal slide lock and does not feature any external safety. Some find these features unnecessary but many customers like these traits on a handgun.
The LCP, despite the lack of the features mentioned above, has been a great success for Ruger and has continued to sell well even in our slow economy. It is a great concealment gun, especially for women or those who want that little sense of security. Not wishing to rest on the LCP, Ruger listened to their customers and announced the LC9 in February. Like the LCP, this pistol is polymer framed and hammer fired with a long double action trigger that’s reset by the reciprocation of the slide. The LC9, also like the LCP, uses a single column magazine. That’s where the similarities end.
A Variety of Features
The LC9’s magazine holds seven rounds for a total capacity of eight with one in the chamber. The pistol uses a loaded chamber indictor that can be seen or felt depending on the situation. This indicator is mounted into the slide right in front of the rear sight. It extends into the slide’s breech face and pops up when there’s a round in the chamber. This is a good design and actually works to show a potential user that the pistol is loaded. Still, I would never rely 100 percent on such a device and will always visually inspect the chamber as a safety precaution. But it’s nice to know that the pistol has a useful indicator to help confirm the status of the pistol. In addition to the loaded chamber indicator, the pistol has a manual thumb safety and a magazine disconnect.
The magazine disconnect completely blocks and deactivates the trigger when the magazine is removed from the pistol. The thumb safety is located on the left side of the gun and is usable by right-handed shooters only. While it’s easy to sweep off, it takes a change in grip or the use of the support hand to activate and is very hard to manipulate using only one hand. Ruger says this was done on purpose. The safety is built in such a way that accidental engagement is unlikely, but this also makes the safety hard to engage intentionally. Ruger’s idea was that those wishing to use the safety can, and those who want to ignore the safety can do so if they wish. A left-handed shooter really won’t have a choice in this matter one way or the other since the safety is not ambidextrous.
While I am impressed with the design and the number of safety features built into such a compact handgun, I do not agree with Ruger’s approach to the thumb safety. It should be an “all or nothing” and should be easily usable or excluded from the design entirely. With that said, I like the idea of a thumb safety for a pistol that might be carried in a front pants pocket or fanny pack and wish this one was more practical. The magazine disconnect is going to cause a lot of heartburn with many people but I am not bothered by its presence.
Disassembly of the pistol is straightforward and easy to accomplish after you’ve done it a few times. There’s a small plate that must be pushed down that allows the takedown pin to be pushed out with a small tool or punch. I’ve found this pin can actually be removed by holding the slide back a little and giving the pistol a good shake. After the pin is out, the slide can be removed by sliding it off the front of the pistol. From there the recoil spring and barrel can be removed in the now conventional manner. The design is simple and easy to clean oil and maintain.
The LC9 weighs in at just over a pound empty and is less than an inch thick. Even so, my first reaction to the gun was that it was bigger than I thought it was going to be. The LCP is tiny and I had been expecting the LC9 to be just as small but in a 9mm chambering. However, as mentioned above, the gun is a new design and doesn’t share much with the .380. In all honesty, I think my initial reaction was biased against the gun since I was hoping for something that really WAS an LCP in 9mm.
A Downside to Big Hands
How does it shoot? Pretty darned good. The double action only trigger is long and heavy and stacks just a little before the hammer falls. But it is certainly good for a pistol of this type. The trigger’s reset is also long and the trigger must be released fully to fire subsequent shots. Unlike the LCP, the LC9’s 3-dot sights are actually something you can use to aim the pistol. The magazine locks the slide open after the last shot is fired and the slide can be released by either retracting the slide slightly or using the frame mounted slide release.
I fired 150 rounds of varying types of ammunition through the little gun during my tests and experienced no failures of any kind. Accuracy at ten yards is such that I could — time and again — easily put eight rounds into a group the size of a Copenhagen can lid. One thing to note was the tendency to accidently release the magazine while firing. I have rather large fingers and the magazine release invariably wound up getting depressed by the tip of my right index finger during recoil. This was more prevalent with a two-handed firing grip and happened fairly regularly with full-powered defensive ammo. This is certainly something that will need to be considered if you’re like me and have gorilla mitts!
Anyway, based on this, I had originally thought the gun was rather large but I’ve since decided that the gun is really about the right size for the cartridge in which it is chambered. If the gun was any smaller, I don’t think it would be nearly as easy to shoot as it is. The gun’s thin slide and frame make for a very flat pistol and one that conceals easily without too much thought to clothing or cover garments.
So, is it the next handgun you must own? Only if you’re in the market for a small, affordable, accurate pocket pistol with more punch than a .380ACP. I assume the LC9 will be every bit as good a seller as the LCP and will find a home in many a law enforcer’s arsenal.
