Ruger LCP-MAX, Range Report..

[MedWheeler]

Got my MAX to the range today. I had ordered a twelve-round magazine from a gunbroker seller (shopruger.com was out of stock) and it came in last week. So, both magazines, the gun, and three boxes of ammunition came with me.

It's said that the gun handles more easily and is less snappy than either of the other two pocket-380s from Ruger. I believe it. I don't have any experience with either previous LCP (or the Kel-Tec from which they evolved), but I do have a Taurus TCP that is thought to be easier in hand than the original LCP. I found the MAX to be easier in hand than the Taurus. It's no slouch, but it's very easy to manage, more so than the PF9 that I also had with me.

I shot from 7 yards, and a few from about ten yards, using Winchester Train and Defend ammunition. I had 100 rounds of the flat-tipped FMJ "Train" stuff, and fifty of the "Defend" JHP ammo. All bullets are 95-grains. I found it very easy to hit where I wanted to on a combat silhouette target at those ranges, and could keep groups in a fist-sized area in paced, but purposeful fire, though the center of the group placed just a tick to the right of POA for me, a left-handed shooter.

I wasn't exactly going for accuracy, as I am more of a point-shooter with guns this small, looking to shoot them the way they're most likely to be needed to be shot. I am also trying to acclimate to shooting with both eyes open, which is a new practice for me, and, with the current ammo situation, I have to sometimes implement two or more practices in one session with one shoot, instead of separating them like I could do in the past.

Purposeful double-taps hugged close and came quick. The gun was swift to eject off to my right (despite the pistol being in my left hand) and return to battery. The sights were easy to make out, and I don't think I found myself as distracted by the white outline and tritium insert as I first thought I may be when I got the gun.

I had two rounds fail to feed, both from the "Train" group, and both in the ten-round magazine. The slide would not close fully into battery with either of those rounds. Inspecting them didn't show me any case bulge or other explanation, so I tried feeding them from the 12-rounder. Both fed fine, and I tried them back and forth between the two magazines (without firing them) and the ten-rounder refused to feed them at all, while the bigger magazine always did. I discarded the two rounds after testing them in the magazines.

The ten-round magazine also failed to lock the slide back every time except one. I tested it repeatedly with one-round loadups, and the slide consistently closed after every one of those rounds. The twelve-rounder functioned flawlessly, even through the one-round loadups I subjected it to.

All in all, I'm very pleased, and wouldn't hesitate to pack this gun tomorrow. The two magazine options offer a great setup choice, ten-rounder in place for pocket carry, twelve-rounder in place for belt carry or for bedside duty. I will reach out to Ruger about my ten-rounder not locking the slide open when it's empty, but I have no other concerns about the gun and package altogether. It really is a remarkably-easy shooter. Probably half my shooting with it was one-handed, a skill practice I've been bad about working on but, when I tried it with the MAX, it felt so natural that I found myself forgetting to go back to two-handed fire.

I then had to pack up quickly and scurry out of there lest I ended up buying the LCP-II .22LR they had in there (the gun I was looking for when I found the MAX.)

 

[Buckeye63]

I like the 12 round magazines best .. with my LCP MAX
Im waiting for a 2 plus extension to come out .. the the 10 round will be no more .. The 12 rounders just feel better in my hand and still doesn’t inhibit carry
I hadn’t had any feeding or ejection problems with my LCP MAX as of yet ..150rds down hopefully more tomorrow if the rain holds off

 

[Armored farmer]

I have been a faithful follower and carrier of the original LCP with the extended magazine. My mrs even has one of her own.

The new LCP max addresses the weaknesses of the original LCP. The sights, the trigger, the grip, last shot hold-open....did I mention the sights?
My question is if it fits in my lcp holsters?

Thanks for the review.

I have a feeling that we may end up ordering two LCP maxes....his & hers

 

[WheelGunMan]

Great Review! Sounds like it performed pretty much flawlessly.

 

[FAS1]

All in all, I'm very pleased, and wouldn't hesitate to pack this gun tomorrow. The two magazine options offer a great setup choice, ten-rounder in place for pocket carry, twelve-rounder in place for belt carry or for bedside duty.

Thanks for the review! Is the gun too big to pocket carry with the 12 round magazine?

 

[bannockburn]

MedWheeler

Well done!

Thanks for a very thorough review; concise and to the point! Let us know what Ruger says about the ten round magazine when you get the chance.

 

[Rule3]

Where did you find one? No dealer around me has one??

 

[MedWheeler]

FAS1 writes:

Is the gun too big to pocket carry with the 12 round magazine?

For me in jeans, yeah, it's a bit more snug than I would like. In my work BDUs, no issue at all (I don't carry at work, just while traveling to and from.) I have not started to carry the MAX yet.

Armored farmer writes:

My question is if it fits in my lcp holsters?

The tall front sight blade makes it snug in the DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster in which I've previously carried a P32 and a TCP. In practice draws, the Nemesis frequently comes out of the pocket with the gun. Ditto for the holster Ruger included with the gun. Even the TCP is snug in that one; I wonder if it's one for the original LCP. The MAX does fit in, and draw easily from, the old Uncle Mike's I used to use before I got the DeSantis. It also fits nicely in a Tagua IWB holster I've used for the TCP before.

Rule3 writes:

Where did you find one?

Bass Pro had a few the day after the announcement from Ruger. The store at the range I shot at yesterday did not have any.

 

[WYO]

Nice report. Thanks for the write-up. I picked one up today, but I will have to find some time to load up some ammo before heading to the range.

The ten-round magazine also failed to lock the slide back every time except one. I tested it repeatedly with one-round loadups, and the slide consistently closed after every one of those rounds.

After I got mine home and started fooling around with it, I realized the same thing when attempting to lock the slide on an empty gun with the magazine correctly inserted. I saw that the follower was not making contact with the slide stop. The follower and slide stop appeared to be ships passing in the night. After seating and unseating the magazine a few times and pushing down on the follower a few times, the empty magazine would lock the slide back almost all of the time. But, the engagement surfaces appear to be on the edge of missing each other, and the slightest movement of the follower to the right could be problematic. I suspect that the slide stop and/or the follower will need to be tweaked by Ruger. Hopefully, it is just the follower.

I will reach out to Ruger about my ten-rounder not locking the slide open when it's empty, but I have no other concerns about the gun and package altogether.

Please let us know what Ruger says. By the time I discovered this, I already had ordered two more 10-round magazines and one 12-round magazine. (I tend to not buy guns with the expectation of making them bigger with pinky extenders or longer magazines.)

On a side note, the barrel hood looks like it has an oil slick on it every time I rack the gun, even after having wiped the excess oil off multiple times. What a mess.

 

[MedWheeler]

WYO writes:

On a side note, the barrel hood looks like it has an oil slick on it every time I rack the gun, even after having wiped the excess oil off multiple times.

Yeah, mine was like that, too. I went ahead and shot it, then cleaned it up afterward.

 

[CNobbe]

My Max has 100 rounds through it now, no malfunctions or oddities. I like it a lot, but now I want Ruger to update the .22 LCP with the same sights.

 

[MedWheeler]

Cnobbe writes:

..now I want Ruger to update the .22 LCP with the same sights.

And a 15-round capacity, right?

 

[scaatylobo]

Just got back from the range with the brand new Ruger Max.

I only had the one 10 round mag it came with so all my shooting was with that magazine.

Thankfully,it came with a cute mini mag loader that is not as good as the UpLula but it worked.

Fired 6 different loads sparingly [ they are all I have for now as to caliber .380 [ no,I did not shoot up all my ammo ].

The rounds I will carry so far are the Sig 90 grain JHP / Federal low recoil 90 grain JHP / MagTech Guardian 85 grain JHP / Remington ultimate defense 102 grain for compact handguns [ VERY rounded H.P. ].

The other rounds all rired and few just fine,but did not impress me as much as the above.

There are SO many others to T&E,but gotta get my hands on them first -------- thinking of going to Chicago ,Detroit,NYC,etc as those citys seem to have lots of ammo to waste shooting up children.

The gun ran just fine,and I will be EDCing it as a in house gun & BUG on the streets.

Shooting was all at 7 yards and all offhand.

the temperature was a balmy 82 and MUGGY,so I am off to the shower in a very short time.

All groups were GTG for S/D shooting at 7 yards , inside 3 inches for all but a few called fliers.

 

[WYO]

The good news is that I racked my gun with an empty magazine a few times last night and the gun started locking the slide back consistently. The bad news is that I hate the gun. I stopped shooting the LCP Max after 40 rounds because of the terrible, long, creepy trigger. (The slide locked back all 4 times.) I am just too spoiled by the accuracy and light recoil of my Glock 42. It runs rings around the LCP Max. (I view the Glock as an easy 25 yard gun.) I am sure that Ruger will sell a ton of these, but I doubt that many will see thousands of rounds through them like my 42. I will be offloading the Max. I feel like an idiot for falling for all of the hype and the lure of more magazine capacity.

 

[Buckeye63]

The good news is that I racked my gun with an empty magazine a few times last night and the gun started locking the slide back consistently. The bad news is that I hate the gun. I stopped shooting the LCP Max after 40 rounds because of the terrible, long, creepy trigger. (The slide locked back all 4 times.) I am just too spoiled by the accuracy and light recoil of my Glock 42. It runs rings around the LCP Max. (I view the Glock as an easy 25 yard gun.) I am sure that Ruger will sell a ton of these, but I doubt that many will see thousands of rounds through them like my 42. I will be offloading the Max. I feel like an idiot for falling for all of the hype and the lure of more magazine capacity.

The 42 is a fine semiautomatic pistol but it is a bit larger than the small LCP MAX
From what I understand SIG is coming out with a P365 sized 380acp .. which should be the size of the 42 roughly but will be a double stack , which would be a nice pick for someone who wants a 9mm sized 380acp

 

[WYO]

View attachment 1012792
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The 42 is a fine semiautomatic pistol but it is a bit larger than the small LCP MAX
From what I understand SIG is coming out with a P365 sized 380acp .. which should be the size of the 42 roughly but will be a double stack , which would be a nice pick for someone who wants a 9mm sized 380acp

There is no doubt that the Glock 42 is larger in overall length. But, I have no trouble carrying it in my front jeans pocket in an Alabama pocket holster. My main criteria is that the pocket gun be shootable, and the 42 is easy and fun to shoot a lot and is very accurate for such a diminutive pistol. I also can get 2-1/2 fingers on the grip with the flat base magazine, which I could not do with the LCP Max. I'll take that over higher capacity, diminished accuracy and slower recovery time. I also have and carry a P365 9mm and will not be purchasing the .380 version of that gun because Sig is keeping it the same size as the 9mm P365 rather than scaling it down. The 42 is lighter and, contrary to popular belief, is smaller than the P365 in some important dimensions, and I do not consider the P365 to be a pocket gun.

Many will disagree with my preference, but that is my perspective. I bought the LCP Max because it sounded like the next big thing at a reasonable price point, but I was wrong for my purposes. Take care.

 

[MedWheeler]

WYO writes:

I stopped shooting the LCP Max after 40 rounds because of the terrible, long, creepy trigger.

It's not my type of trigger by any stretch, but neither is that of any Glock. I've just always been a revolver or DA/SA auto shooter.

The other gun that I shot for the first time the day I shot my MAX is a Taurus G2C I bought almost two years ago and never got around to trying out. I thought it was broken the first time I pulled the trigger. I think a cellphone strapped to my finger would have switched towers during the trip. The Taurus actually has a trigger mechanism that allows it to be fired even if the striker is fully at rest, a DA pull, and I wish it only operated in that manner; it's much better to me. But, since the slide resets the striker, that pull can only be experienced in dry-fire. This gun is my first "dingus-trigger gun", with the LCP-MAX being the second, and that day last week was my first firing either of them. Still, I shot them well enough that they will get put to carry duty, but I bet I would have shot the MAX even better had it had the original LCP's trigger on it.

I held a 42 when they first came out. At that time, I believed that it was the one gun that could have put the "G-word" in my safe. I just found it too big for its capacity since I already owned a PF9 and a P32.