LCP 2 extraction problems

[SteadyD]

Just picked up a new LCP 2. Went to shoot and was having some extraction issues. The extractor was slipping of the case rim and leaving the case partially in the chamber. It required dropping the mag to clear. This was happening once per magazine with Fiocchi HTP hollow points and happened once in 100 rounds of American Eagle and S&B. Additionally, the ejection patterns were somewhat erratic, often tossing them straight up instead of to the right. Occasionally one would plunk me.

The failure to extract problem was obviously much worse with the Fiocchi, but did happen once in 100 rounds of two other types of FMJ. I can't recall if it was on the S&B or the AE. Any thoughts on what's up or why it was so extreme on the Fiocchi? Thanks in advance to the fine folks here at The High Road!

 

[SteadyD]

Here's what it looked like.

 

[Tony k]

New recoil spring that's still really stiff? It sounded as though the problem got better when you shot it a bit more.
Still figuring out how to get a firm grip on a new, unfamiliar pistol? The brass to face is sometimes associated with limpwristing or poor grip technique. These small ones are particularly tough, even for experienced shooters.

Ask a friend to put a few rounds through it. That will help determine if it's your technique or something going on with the pistol or ammo.

BTW, I have no experience with this particular pistol, but I've seen it with a g19 and a shield.

 

[SteadyD]

The problem didn't improve during the session. Anytime I went with fiocchi it happened every mag. And the same malfunction happened near the end of 100 rounds of fmj. I was sprinkling in fiocchi throughout the session. A limp wrist would have caused stovepipes but wouldn't cause the extractor to slip off the rim and cause a double feed. I don't have any trouble shooting the little pocket pistols. I am pretty sure it's the gun.

I'm guessing the extractor has insufficient tension or perhaps a tight chamber but thought I'd check with the folks here that know a lot more than I about such things.

 

[Sarge7402]

LCP is a locked breach pistol like the keltec. Mine's been doing the same thing. What I expressed to KelTec was that I believe QC on american 380 AMMO is out the window. Some rounds measure as much as 50 thousands of an inch less than others.When the barrel drops out of battery it pulls the rear of the cartridge down and (I believe) on the narrower rounds they slip from under the extractor and then don't have enough momentum to keep moving rearward

 

[Tony k]

The problem didn't improve during the session. Anytime I went with fiocchi it happened every mag. And the same malfunction happened near the end of 100 rounds of fmj. I was sprinkling in fiocchi throughout the session. A limp wrist would have caused stovepipes but wouldn't cause the extractor to slip off the rim and cause a double feed. I don't have any trouble shooting the little pocket pistols. I am pretty sure it's the gun.

I'm guessing the extractor has insufficient tension or perhaps a tight chamber but thought I'd check with the folks here that know a lot more than I about such things.

I had to modify the extractor on my CW380 to make it feed fiocchi ammo. It's a common modification. For some reason Fiocchi rims are thicker than others. For my pistol, the rim was too thick and it wouldn't fit between the extractor and the breech face, causing jams. A quick mod to the extractor to allow more space between the extractor "claw" and the breech face and all is well.

I'm not familiar with the design of the LCP 2 extractor, but maybe the thick Fiocchi rims don't even fit under your extractor "claw".

LCP is a locked breach pistol like the keltec. Mine's been doing the same thing. What I expressed to KelTec was that I believe QC on american 380 AMMO is out the window. Some rounds measure as much as 50 thousands of an inch less than others.When the barrel drops out of battery it pulls the rear of the cartridge down and (I believe) on the narrower rounds they slip from under the extractor and then don't have enough momentum to keep moving rearward

I'd say .380 fmj/ plinking ammo in general has questionable QC, and diverse interpretations of specs too.

I had trouble with Fiocchi as I described above, but I can't even get GECO FMJ to reliably go all the way in to battery. Running it through a Lee factory crimp die fixed it.

Winchester white box had bullet seating depths vary by around .030".

My experience with blazer brass 380 fmj has been good.

 

[PabloJ]

Just picked up a new LCP 2. Went to shoot and was having some extraction issues. The extractor was slipping of the case rim and leaving the case partially in the chamber. It required dropping the mag to clear. This was happening once per magazine with Fiocchi HTP hollow points and happened once in 100 rounds of American Eagle and S&B. Additionally, the ejection patterns were somewhat erratic, often tossing them straight up instead of to the right. Occasionally one would plunk me.

The failure to extract problem was obviously much worse with the Fiocchi, but did happen once in 100 rounds of two other types of FMJ. I can't recall if it was on the S&B or the AE. Any thoughts on what's up or why it was so extreme on the Fiocchi? Thanks in advance to the fine folks here at The High Road!

I once stood in lane over from a guy shooting LCP 1 shooting piles of black-boxed Tula from Walmart. I asked him how he was doing. He told me he was getting used to recoil of the gun there were no stoppages and the floor was covered with layer of empties. Eventually I had to move over several lanes because the smoke became unbearable but other than that everything was as we say harasho. If you send it to Ruger they will address your problem with a big smile. You may even get free hat, t-shirt or baggie Fabrique au Chine. You will be happy and can even pay them back by doing some free advertising wearing their apparel. I call that win-win situation.

 

[Riomouse911]

It could be a bad batch of ammo as suggested, or a manufacturer's spec making the rims too think to reliably fit the extractor. This is more common than one would think. (I have issues with R/P .38/.357 rims fitting in a Lee hand primer because they're too thick.) It may also be a bit of the "break-in hiccups", but those should subside rather than continue as you described.

Blazer, R/P, Magtech, and Win FMJ's have run in my LCP flawlessly since I bought it years ago, in fact I can't recall ever having a stoppage. (I don't think I have shot Fiocci .380 in it, however.) I do keep my LCP well lubed, some may say too well, but it hasn't failed yet so I won't change that practice.

As with every auto trying out different brands and finding what runs and what doesn't can be a headache, but it does prevent a weekend shooting trip from being ruined when the ammo you have on hand doesn't reliably work in your gun.

Keep us posted on what you find out.

 

[SteadyD]

So, I got impatient while the LCP was off to Ruger and picked up another one... and it had feeding problems with hollow points. FMJ ran fine. So I sent it to Ruger as well. They've both returned. The one with extraction issues continues to fail once per magazine, but only with hollow points, so it's heading back again on Monday. The one with feeding issues is now running fine (they polished the feed ramp and chamber). It successfully fed 84 rounds of Federal Hydra Shoks and 50 rounds of Speer Lawman FMJ today. Previously it would fail to feed once every mag or two with hollow points.

The only thing I can fathom with the hollow point extraction issue on the original LCP II is that when it tries to pull the case from the chamber the rim is hitting the flat face of the hollow point and jarring it lose from the extractor. It's weird to say the least.

Brief recap. One wouldn't feed hollow points, one wouldn't extract hollow points. One now runs fine, and one still won't extract. Ruger is giving me a free magazine for my troubles, but this is four straight Rugers (2 LCRs and 2 LCPs) that had to go back, and one of the LCRs couldn't be fixed so they replaced it. Talk about bad luck... Needless to say, I'm a bit frustrated. Still, as always, Ruger customer service is great.