Ruger LCR 9mm; Or, If Glock Made a Revolver…

[BarryinIN]

Or, Forgive Me S&W, For I Have Sinned.
 

That same sad story:

A friend has one.  
I shot it.
I liked it.
I went to Gunbroker.  
 

It took a few weeks, but I made the right deal.  

The obvious question many people would have is “Why?”  You could ask that about a few points in this case.  
 

Why a 9mm revolver?  
That’s kind of a two part question. Why a revolver, and why a 9mm revolver?  For the first, I always have a revolver for pocket/ankle/etc carry.  They deal with the crud and lint better that these locations always force into guns.  
 

But why one in 9mm?
There are a few reasons, but MY best reason is because I always have 9mm ammo with me at the range.  At the very least, I keep some reloaded cast bullet 9mm all the time.  If I’m shooting anything at all, I can take a few practice shots with my carry gun.  With a 9mm revolver, I can do the same.  The only time I have .38 Spl or any other revolver ammo with me is when I am making a planned effort to shoot revolvers.  
Regular practice is a requirement with any gun, but it’s imperative with snubbies.
Now, I can practice with the LCR anytime. At least, that’s the plan. 
 

Why an LCR? 
I’ve always been an S&W-first guy for revolvers.  I don’t have any tattoos, but if I got one, the first would be the S&W logo.  I probably have more of the little J-frames than any other size S&W.  Over the years, I’ve had more J-Frames than I can think of right now.  Even though I’m primarily an auto shooter I always have a J-frame on me if I have a gun at all.  
But I’ve never liked two things about them- the trigger pull and the sights.  Just like everyone else.  
The LCR has a very nice trigger.  Yes, it’s heavier than most people would like, but it’s about 3/4 the weight of J-frames. Even better, the pull is a lot smoother.  
The sights still aren’t great, but they are better.  
 

The Downsides.

The biggest negative is that LCRs are expensive, and I can’t explain it.  MSRP is a whopping $859.  Real-world prices are still right at $700. Comparing prices while staying with Ruger, the all-steel, relatively premium, SP-101 is only $60 more than an LCR at $919.

  
MSRP on S&W J-Frames starts at $539.  No comparison there.

Granted, S&W currently doesn’t offer their 9mm model 940.  If you can find one, they tend to top $1000 pretty easy.

Commonly named as a 9mm revolver disadvantage is the need and expense of moon clips.  Big deal, I’d be buying magazines for autos and speedloaders for revolvers anyway.
 

A real negative is recoil.  One might expect a 9mm revolver, even a small one, to be on the mild side of recoil levels.  If so, one would then be surprised.   It’s not near the brutality of .357 Mag in a Scandium 340, but it does give you a smack.  More than .38 or .38 +P.
Rationally, this is to be expected since 9mm revolver performance falls somewhere between .38 Spl and .357 Magnum.  Even mild 9mm factory “practice” ammo was a bit stiff.  
To the plus side, it seems to me that 9mm LCR muzzle flash and blast is less than even .38 Spl.  I am guessing some of that is from 9mm ammo getting more attention from ammo companies in the way of low-flash powders than revolver rounds get these days.

I’ve read a lot about bullets in 9mm jumping the taper crimp in revolvers but didn’t see any of it when shooting my buddy’s LCR-9.  I was checking, too, shooting four then opening the cylinder to inspect the remaining round.  I also shot some of my 140 grain lead bullet reloads just to test this since I use a very light taper crimp (a key to accuracy with cast in the 9mm, I have found) and saw none of it.

 

So there I am. I will give it a fair shake and see what I have.  Perhaps my attention span will last long enough.

Also…

The local gun shop has not one, but two, used .22 LCRs in the case.  Just sayin’.

 

[BarryinIN]

I realized I put my own question out there.  

Why buy an LCR when an SP-101 is only a (relatively) little bit more money?

Good question, self. 
 

Weight and trigger.  
The SP-101 is a tank and built accordingly.  That would be a plus if this gun was only to be used at the range, but mine will not be.   
The triggers are no comparison.  
 

I admit it hurt to choose the ugly, nasty LCR over the beast of an SP-101, but practicality made it no contest.  

[BarryinIN]

The LCR 9 is now accompanied by an LCR 22.