The Ruger LCP (Light Compact Pistol) and the LC380 (Light Carry 380) are pocket or deep-concealment carry pistols chambered for .380 ACP that are good for almost all occasions. The LC380, the larger and newer of the two, is Ruger’s 9mm LC9 chambered in .380 ACP. The LC380 and LC9 pistols, introduced in 2013 and 2011 respectively, are quite similar in design and use the same materials. But it was the LCP that came first, being introduced in 2008. All three pistols are semi-auto and use a link-less barrel locking/unlocking system. They are double-action-only guns with blued, through-hardened (fully heat-treated, not just surfaces) slides. Their outer frames are made of black glass-filled nylon and have an inner metal frame, which is the “gun” part of the package and is serial numbered.

LCP (Light Compact Pistol)
The LCP has an unloaded weight of 9.4 ounces, a 6+1 capacity, a height of 3.6 inches, a width of 0.82 inches, a barrel length of 2.75 inches and an overall length of 5.16 inches. A smooth-faced ramp front sight and square-notch rear sight are integral with the flattop, square-ish slide, which has rounded edges and an inward taper on its front portion. The slide has a spring-loaded external extractor at the right rear of its large ejection port, which has a visual loaded-chamber indicator. (The slide is machined to allow partial view of a chambered cartridge.) Its recoil spring is on a non-captive, polymer guide rod. Six diagonal grasping grooves are at the rear of the slide, and a spurless external hammer lies within an opening at the slide’s rear, at the top of the backstrap. Its polymer, smooth-faced, curved, hinged double-action trigger has a measured 7-pound pull weight…

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