This will be a fairly in-depth review of the Ruger LC9s (note the 's', as this is the newer striker-fired version). I'm sure I'll update this review a few times over the next month or two as it gets more range time, but 500 rounds and a few days of carry is at least enough to write up some first impressions, and things to know. Note that I'll bump this thread but update will be added to and denoted in the original post...
A Little Background & Philosophy of Use:
I started carrying a few years ago with a Glock 19. As long as I'm wearing the right clothes, I love it and have no intention of changing my go-to carry gun. I like a standard-sized* gun with 15 rounds and a spare 15-rounder on the other hip. That said, anyone who carries a standard-sized or compact (*see below) handgun daily knows that there are situations and times of year that really necessitate a smaller gun. Summer, business attire, and funky Halloween costumes, to name a few...
A year ago I bought a Diamondback DB9. I liked it but it was a bit too small, too snappy, and doesn't have a slide catch or enough slide real-estate for a good over-the-top combat rack (or whatever you call the thing you do when you reload). In general it seemed to be better suited to the roll of deep concealment backup gun, or maybe CCW if for some reason you're forced to go out in basketball shorts and an undershirt (not me). The DB9 is less of an effective fighting gun in my opinion though.
Anyway I was watching some videos on Hickok45's YouTube channel and he did one on the LC9s. Seemed like a good shooter and seemed small enough. Striker-fired was a requirement and I won't touch a .380, so I bought the LC9s. (Note: The day Glock releases a single stack 9mm the size of the G42 it will almost certainly replace the LC9s, but since Glock is run by morons who haven't released that yet, the LC9s seemed like the way).
Quick Note on Size(s):
For those looking at a small gun and trying to figure out from pictures and videos how big different models are...
I consider a G17 (or similar sized gun) to be a Full, or Duty sized gun. A G19 is a Standard sized gun. A G26 is a Compact. I know that's not what people usually refer to them as but it's about time the size definitions changed, now that a 9mm can get as small as the DB9 or the Sig P938. The DB9 or the Sig would be a Pocket gun. Sub-Compact is what the LC9s is. For the record I put the Shield in the Compact category, NOT the Sub-Compact category. The dimensions on the Shield are basically the same as the LC9s, but no. They're different sized guns when it comes to feel and CC.
Bottom line... The LC9s is bigger than a Sig P938 but smaller than a Shield in practice.
Looks and Feel:
I understand this will be pretty familiar for those with the original LC9.
If you don't like polymer guns, skip right along. I have no issue with them and think even Glocks have a certain beauty in their functionality. The Ruger looks less cheap in person than I expected and it definitely doesn't feel cheap despite only paying $359 for it. The slide seems to be a black anodizing job, which looks clean. It's listed everywhere as a blued finish but I don't think the slide is. The barrel on the other hand is blued. This leads to a weird mis-matched look between the slide and barrel hood finishes. Not too much a fan of that but not really a big deal.
The grip is very small and the slide isn't that much wider (though wide enough to grip properly). I really like how they rounded everything off on the model. Definitely much better optimized for deeper concealment than the Shield (which I see often compared to to the LC9s).
The only complaint is a more personal one. I have big hands and the grip definitely feels small but that's what happens when you want a really small gun. I added some rubberized Talon grips and they moved the grip feel from the good column, to very good.
The included mag (as well as the spare I bought) come with both a rounded base plate and a pinky extension baseplate. The pinky extension is the only one I've ever used that seemed to improve the feel of the gun, so kudos to Ruger there. With the rounded-bottom mag the grip is definitely more compact and it rounds out the print profile for ankle carry (which I've been doing). Bottom line is that I'd rather shoot it with the pinky extension, but given the purpose of such a small gun, the rounded mag makes sense for carry.
Modifications:
So the most common complaints with the LC9s are the magazine disconnect and the manual thumb safety. I hate both these features on a defense gun. I can think of a dozen scenarios (some likely and some near impossible) where I’d need to fire the gun without a mag in a fight. I also don’t subscribe to the “just leave the safety off” argument. No. If it has a safety you need to train to take it off when you draw. I don’t like adding steps between me and saving my life, so I took the mag disconnect and safety out before shooting the gun for the first time.
Both parts come out without permanent modification to the gun, and neither part engages with anything mechanical when they’re in their disengaged positions, so I was confident that taking them out wouldn’t affect firing.
Shooting & Range Report:
I took the LC9s to the range and put 450 rounds of FMJ and 30 hollow points through it. My very first shooting impression was one of frustration, but not for the reason you’d think. I was frustrated that I was immediately shooting better with the LC9s than my Glock, through which I’ve fired 5,000 rounds. A steel dueling tree at 7-8 yards was cake. Taking my time, I couldn’t miss, and even speeding up after a couple mags, it was easy to walk rounds up and down the tree.
The trigger on the LC9s is superb. I can’t really imagine how you could make it better. I consider a Glock factory trigger to be perfectly shootable once broken in, but the LC9s is in a different league. I was ready for a nice trigger, given all the reviews that highlight it, but it still surprised me. The lesson there might be that I need a lot more trigger time on my Glock.
Recoil feel is less than expected, but definitely more than with a bigger, heavier gun. I’d say not more than a Shield.
In my research on the LC9s I didn’t come across any reports of malfunctions, even during break-in. This didn’t hold true for me. At about 100 rounds I had an FTE, where the shell caught between the breach face and barrel hood, parallel to the barrel.
At about 220 and 250 rounds I also experienced two FTX’s, leading to a double feed malfunction. After that, the remaining 250ish rounds went off without issue. I think it’s a break-in issue related to extraction with all three malfunctions, but it’s hard to pinpoint a cause at this point. I’m 85% sure all these malfunctions happened with one mag, but some more range time should make it clear if I need to worry about it. All these issues did take place while shooting crappy aluminum cased Federal 115gr FMJ.
Another small issue I experienced was feeding with my hollow points. While shooting, it was a non-issue, but upon initially loading and reloading after lock-open, I would let the slide go and the hollow point nose would hang up on the feed ramp. If this happened, not even slapping the slide would fix it. At the beginning of the day I started with one mag of hollow points and this was an issue upon loading, but not while firing. At the end of the day I finished with HP and it wasn’t an issue during loading or firing. I’m inclined to say break in was a big factor here. I recommend shooting the gun at the range a bunch before trusting it in a holster. My HP rounds were a worst case scenario by the way. I use ASYM SDX which use the same solid copper Barnes TAC-XP bullet loaded in the Corbon DPX. It’s a long bullet with a pretty vast hollow point cavity. I’m condiment many other HP rounds would have less trouble.
Last issue is more of a ‘me thing’. This happens to me with SIGs too… I ride my thumbs high and they seem to touch the slide catch while firing. As a result I had a lot of mags go empty without the slide locking open. This happened less and less during the range trip, so again I think it was aided by break in, but I think it will persist to an extent. I used pliers after the fact to weaken the slide catch spring, as it is heavily sprung for the downward position, meaning even a little pressure on it will stop it from coming up. Not the end of the world and for most people it will be a non issue.
Reliability Update: I went to the range a second time. I fired 100 rounds of WWB and 100 rounds of Tula steel-case. No malfunctions, shooting strong hand, weak hand, two handed, sideways on the ground, etc.. Worked great. Looking at the malfunction pictures, I'm 90% sure I identified why I was having trouble with the aluminum cased ammo. During extraction it looks like the bottom of the shell sometimes snags on the front of the case of the next round in the mag. With the aluminum shells, the extractor just breaks the rim of the shell being extracted and the slide keeps going back. With brass or steel cased ammo the shell is strong enough for this not to happen. I'd say the aluminum cased ammo was the main problem, but I would say the LC9s has around a 300 round break in period.
Ballistics Update: I also did some ballistic testing with Clear Ballistics gel. This will be pretty specific to my preferences but might help someone. The ASYM SDX cartridge (which performs well out of my G19) only drives the TAC-XP bullet at ~1080fps, which, from tests I've seen online, seems to be the low end to get that bullet to function right. I shot SDX into the gel (one into bare gel and one through denim), and then did the same for Corbon DPX, which drives the same bullet at ~1150 from the LC9s's barrel. Both penetrated to ~14.5" in every case, but the DPX expanded larger, so I'm going to stick to that in the LC9s, since 1150fps seems like a sweet spot for the Barnes TAC-XP 115gr load. The ASYM SDX does 1150 from a 4" barrel and the DPX does the same speed from the 3.1" barrel. I also tested Hornady Critical Defense 115gr. As usual it penetrates fine but expansion diameter is pathetic compared with the TAC-XP bullet, so I wouldn't consider the Hornady. The DPX achieved a maximum expanded diameter of .7".
Carry:
The gun carries really well as you’d imagine. At 4-o’clock it’s more comfortable than a Shield and way smaller than a G19. Something cool is that it fits the DeSantis ankle holster I had for the DB9 and I’ve started ankle carrying for the first time. With the flush mag it’s definitely easy to conceal as an ankle gun. Right now it’s a backup only on my ankle, because the issues during the first range trip have me not feeling 100% confident in it until I can get it to the range again.
Accuracy:
This shouldn’t be a topic in pistol reviews but it’s often discussed so here goes. All pistols are reasonably accurate. It’s the trigger and shooter that make it consistent or not, but the raw accuracy is great like most modern pistols. I made one jagged hole at 10 yards, shooting off hand. There are better shooters than me out there, so there you go. Accuracy is perfect for pistol engagement distances and the trigger makes it relatively easy for a competent shooter to extract that potential.
All in all the gun is clearly a superb package with a good price tag, amazing trigger, and basically the smallest size you can have while still being able to manipulate it while you’re in a hurry. My one concern is the couple of issues I’ve had with it, but I think some more break in will iron all that out. More to come on that.
Magazine Issue Update:
I have three mags for the gun. The one that came with the gun (stamped Made in USA, with anodized finish) which I keep the extended base-plate on, one 9-rounder that I bought online (also stamped made in USA with matte anodized finish), and a second standard mag which I bought online (this one is stamped Made in Italy and has a glossy blued finish). I keep the flush base-plate on the blued mag. To recap:
Included Mag: 7-rnd, Made in USA, anodized, extended base plate
Spare Mag: 7-rnd, Made in Italy, blued, flush base plate
Spare Mag: 9-rnd, Made in USA, anodized
Since I got the gun I've been ankle carrying it with blued mag, for no other reason than it's the one I put the flush base plate on. No issues, works out great. The other day I was working on my girlfriend's Shield so I loaned her the LC9s and my IWB holster to run to the store. I have the extended base plate on the included 7-rounder for the purpose of IWB carry so I gave her that.
When she came home she said the mag came unseated from the gun 3 times while she was out (the mag release is definitely not getting pressed by the holster or anything). I had noticed at the range that it and the 9-rounder don't click in quite like the blued mag, but hadn't had any issues at the range. I played with it for a minute and once in a while if I slapped it in and slightly retracted the slide, it would disconnect from the gun. I tried carrying it IWB the other day and had the same issue she did. The Made in USA 7-rounder disconnected. Tried it with the blued mag and it stayed in place. Tried swapping out the base plates and same thing. It's the blued mag that clicks in nicely and stays put during carry. The anodized mags don't (the 9-rounder is also having issues). At the range they feed fine, but they clearly aren't engaging the mag catch 100% and can't be trusted for carry.
I can't imagine how this could be related to my magazine disconnect delete, since the blued mag doesn't have this issue. I used calipers and all the measurements are within a couple thousandths between the mags, so I can't explain it. Very frustrating, but the anodized mags clearly don't make the same audible click when inserted. Not sure what to do about this, but make sure your mag clicks in and it seems the blued mag is the way to go.
I find it extra concerning that the one and only included mag wouldn't have been reliable on its own. I won't be sending the gun to Ruger, because I have no interest is paying shipping and waiting a week or more to possibly accomplish nothing (plus I'd have to re-install the parts I pulled out). The one mag is totally reliable so I'll see if I can dremel the others, and if not I'll just buy more of the blued mags.
Not sure how to categorize this issue, but at this point it's the one thing that stops the LC9s from being awesome in my book.
Mag Issue Update:
Called Ruger and told the very nice woman in customer service about my mag issue. She sounded surprised, but didn't question it at all. She said she'd send me two Made in Italy mags, with a prepaid return envelope for me to send back the Made in USA mags that aren't working. Sure enough 3 days later the mags showed up. The two new mags (both are Made in Italy and have a blued finish like the other mag that is working) work great. Couldn't tell you for the life of me why the Made in USA mags with the anodized finish won't work and these will, but they sent me new mags that work. Very happy with their customer service. I'm a big fan of the 'trust the customer and send them what they need' approach.
A Little Background & Philosophy of Use:
I started carrying a few years ago with a Glock 19. As long as I'm wearing the right clothes, I love it and have no intention of changing my go-to carry gun. I like a standard-sized* gun with 15 rounds and a spare 15-rounder on the other hip. That said, anyone who carries a standard-sized or compact (*see below) handgun daily knows that there are situations and times of year that really necessitate a smaller gun. Summer, business attire, and funky Halloween costumes, to name a few...
A year ago I bought a Diamondback DB9. I liked it but it was a bit too small, too snappy, and doesn't have a slide catch or enough slide real-estate for a good over-the-top combat rack (or whatever you call the thing you do when you reload). In general it seemed to be better suited to the roll of deep concealment backup gun, or maybe CCW if for some reason you're forced to go out in basketball shorts and an undershirt (not me). The DB9 is less of an effective fighting gun in my opinion though.
Anyway I was watching some videos on Hickok45's YouTube channel and he did one on the LC9s. Seemed like a good shooter and seemed small enough. Striker-fired was a requirement and I won't touch a .380, so I bought the LC9s. (Note: The day Glock releases a single stack 9mm the size of the G42 it will almost certainly replace the LC9s, but since Glock is run by morons who haven't released that yet, the LC9s seemed like the way).
Quick Note on Size(s):
For those looking at a small gun and trying to figure out from pictures and videos how big different models are...
I consider a G17 (or similar sized gun) to be a Full, or Duty sized gun. A G19 is a Standard sized gun. A G26 is a Compact. I know that's not what people usually refer to them as but it's about time the size definitions changed, now that a 9mm can get as small as the DB9 or the Sig P938. The DB9 or the Sig would be a Pocket gun. Sub-Compact is what the LC9s is. For the record I put the Shield in the Compact category, NOT the Sub-Compact category. The dimensions on the Shield are basically the same as the LC9s, but no. They're different sized guns when it comes to feel and CC.
Bottom line... The LC9s is bigger than a Sig P938 but smaller than a Shield in practice.
Looks and Feel:
I understand this will be pretty familiar for those with the original LC9.
If you don't like polymer guns, skip right along. I have no issue with them and think even Glocks have a certain beauty in their functionality. The Ruger looks less cheap in person than I expected and it definitely doesn't feel cheap despite only paying $359 for it. The slide seems to be a black anodizing job, which looks clean. It's listed everywhere as a blued finish but I don't think the slide is. The barrel on the other hand is blued. This leads to a weird mis-matched look between the slide and barrel hood finishes. Not too much a fan of that but not really a big deal.
The grip is very small and the slide isn't that much wider (though wide enough to grip properly). I really like how they rounded everything off on the model. Definitely much better optimized for deeper concealment than the Shield (which I see often compared to to the LC9s).
The only complaint is a more personal one. I have big hands and the grip definitely feels small but that's what happens when you want a really small gun. I added some rubberized Talon grips and they moved the grip feel from the good column, to very good.
The included mag (as well as the spare I bought) come with both a rounded base plate and a pinky extension baseplate. The pinky extension is the only one I've ever used that seemed to improve the feel of the gun, so kudos to Ruger there. With the rounded-bottom mag the grip is definitely more compact and it rounds out the print profile for ankle carry (which I've been doing). Bottom line is that I'd rather shoot it with the pinky extension, but given the purpose of such a small gun, the rounded mag makes sense for carry.
Modifications:
So the most common complaints with the LC9s are the magazine disconnect and the manual thumb safety. I hate both these features on a defense gun. I can think of a dozen scenarios (some likely and some near impossible) where I’d need to fire the gun without a mag in a fight. I also don’t subscribe to the “just leave the safety off” argument. No. If it has a safety you need to train to take it off when you draw. I don’t like adding steps between me and saving my life, so I took the mag disconnect and safety out before shooting the gun for the first time.
Both parts come out without permanent modification to the gun, and neither part engages with anything mechanical when they’re in their disengaged positions, so I was confident that taking them out wouldn’t affect firing.
Shooting & Range Report:
I took the LC9s to the range and put 450 rounds of FMJ and 30 hollow points through it. My very first shooting impression was one of frustration, but not for the reason you’d think. I was frustrated that I was immediately shooting better with the LC9s than my Glock, through which I’ve fired 5,000 rounds. A steel dueling tree at 7-8 yards was cake. Taking my time, I couldn’t miss, and even speeding up after a couple mags, it was easy to walk rounds up and down the tree.
The trigger on the LC9s is superb. I can’t really imagine how you could make it better. I consider a Glock factory trigger to be perfectly shootable once broken in, but the LC9s is in a different league. I was ready for a nice trigger, given all the reviews that highlight it, but it still surprised me. The lesson there might be that I need a lot more trigger time on my Glock.
Recoil feel is less than expected, but definitely more than with a bigger, heavier gun. I’d say not more than a Shield.
In my research on the LC9s I didn’t come across any reports of malfunctions, even during break-in. This didn’t hold true for me. At about 100 rounds I had an FTE, where the shell caught between the breach face and barrel hood, parallel to the barrel.
At about 220 and 250 rounds I also experienced two FTX’s, leading to a double feed malfunction. After that, the remaining 250ish rounds went off without issue. I think it’s a break-in issue related to extraction with all three malfunctions, but it’s hard to pinpoint a cause at this point. I’m 85% sure all these malfunctions happened with one mag, but some more range time should make it clear if I need to worry about it. All these issues did take place while shooting crappy aluminum cased Federal 115gr FMJ.
Another small issue I experienced was feeding with my hollow points. While shooting, it was a non-issue, but upon initially loading and reloading after lock-open, I would let the slide go and the hollow point nose would hang up on the feed ramp. If this happened, not even slapping the slide would fix it. At the beginning of the day I started with one mag of hollow points and this was an issue upon loading, but not while firing. At the end of the day I finished with HP and it wasn’t an issue during loading or firing. I’m inclined to say break in was a big factor here. I recommend shooting the gun at the range a bunch before trusting it in a holster. My HP rounds were a worst case scenario by the way. I use ASYM SDX which use the same solid copper Barnes TAC-XP bullet loaded in the Corbon DPX. It’s a long bullet with a pretty vast hollow point cavity. I’m condiment many other HP rounds would have less trouble.
Last issue is more of a ‘me thing’. This happens to me with SIGs too… I ride my thumbs high and they seem to touch the slide catch while firing. As a result I had a lot of mags go empty without the slide locking open. This happened less and less during the range trip, so again I think it was aided by break in, but I think it will persist to an extent. I used pliers after the fact to weaken the slide catch spring, as it is heavily sprung for the downward position, meaning even a little pressure on it will stop it from coming up. Not the end of the world and for most people it will be a non issue.
Reliability Update: I went to the range a second time. I fired 100 rounds of WWB and 100 rounds of Tula steel-case. No malfunctions, shooting strong hand, weak hand, two handed, sideways on the ground, etc.. Worked great. Looking at the malfunction pictures, I'm 90% sure I identified why I was having trouble with the aluminum cased ammo. During extraction it looks like the bottom of the shell sometimes snags on the front of the case of the next round in the mag. With the aluminum shells, the extractor just breaks the rim of the shell being extracted and the slide keeps going back. With brass or steel cased ammo the shell is strong enough for this not to happen. I'd say the aluminum cased ammo was the main problem, but I would say the LC9s has around a 300 round break in period.
Ballistics Update: I also did some ballistic testing with Clear Ballistics gel. This will be pretty specific to my preferences but might help someone. The ASYM SDX cartridge (which performs well out of my G19) only drives the TAC-XP bullet at ~1080fps, which, from tests I've seen online, seems to be the low end to get that bullet to function right. I shot SDX into the gel (one into bare gel and one through denim), and then did the same for Corbon DPX, which drives the same bullet at ~1150 from the LC9s's barrel. Both penetrated to ~14.5" in every case, but the DPX expanded larger, so I'm going to stick to that in the LC9s, since 1150fps seems like a sweet spot for the Barnes TAC-XP 115gr load. The ASYM SDX does 1150 from a 4" barrel and the DPX does the same speed from the 3.1" barrel. I also tested Hornady Critical Defense 115gr. As usual it penetrates fine but expansion diameter is pathetic compared with the TAC-XP bullet, so I wouldn't consider the Hornady. The DPX achieved a maximum expanded diameter of .7".
Carry:
The gun carries really well as you’d imagine. At 4-o’clock it’s more comfortable than a Shield and way smaller than a G19. Something cool is that it fits the DeSantis ankle holster I had for the DB9 and I’ve started ankle carrying for the first time. With the flush mag it’s definitely easy to conceal as an ankle gun. Right now it’s a backup only on my ankle, because the issues during the first range trip have me not feeling 100% confident in it until I can get it to the range again.
Accuracy:
This shouldn’t be a topic in pistol reviews but it’s often discussed so here goes. All pistols are reasonably accurate. It’s the trigger and shooter that make it consistent or not, but the raw accuracy is great like most modern pistols. I made one jagged hole at 10 yards, shooting off hand. There are better shooters than me out there, so there you go. Accuracy is perfect for pistol engagement distances and the trigger makes it relatively easy for a competent shooter to extract that potential.
All in all the gun is clearly a superb package with a good price tag, amazing trigger, and basically the smallest size you can have while still being able to manipulate it while you’re in a hurry. My one concern is the couple of issues I’ve had with it, but I think some more break in will iron all that out. More to come on that.
Magazine Issue Update:
I have three mags for the gun. The one that came with the gun (stamped Made in USA, with anodized finish) which I keep the extended base-plate on, one 9-rounder that I bought online (also stamped made in USA with matte anodized finish), and a second standard mag which I bought online (this one is stamped Made in Italy and has a glossy blued finish). I keep the flush base-plate on the blued mag. To recap:
Included Mag: 7-rnd, Made in USA, anodized, extended base plate
Spare Mag: 7-rnd, Made in Italy, blued, flush base plate
Spare Mag: 9-rnd, Made in USA, anodized
Since I got the gun I've been ankle carrying it with blued mag, for no other reason than it's the one I put the flush base plate on. No issues, works out great. The other day I was working on my girlfriend's Shield so I loaned her the LC9s and my IWB holster to run to the store. I have the extended base plate on the included 7-rounder for the purpose of IWB carry so I gave her that.
When she came home she said the mag came unseated from the gun 3 times while she was out (the mag release is definitely not getting pressed by the holster or anything). I had noticed at the range that it and the 9-rounder don't click in quite like the blued mag, but hadn't had any issues at the range. I played with it for a minute and once in a while if I slapped it in and slightly retracted the slide, it would disconnect from the gun. I tried carrying it IWB the other day and had the same issue she did. The Made in USA 7-rounder disconnected. Tried it with the blued mag and it stayed in place. Tried swapping out the base plates and same thing. It's the blued mag that clicks in nicely and stays put during carry. The anodized mags don't (the 9-rounder is also having issues). At the range they feed fine, but they clearly aren't engaging the mag catch 100% and can't be trusted for carry.
I can't imagine how this could be related to my magazine disconnect delete, since the blued mag doesn't have this issue. I used calipers and all the measurements are within a couple thousandths between the mags, so I can't explain it. Very frustrating, but the anodized mags clearly don't make the same audible click when inserted. Not sure what to do about this, but make sure your mag clicks in and it seems the blued mag is the way to go.
I find it extra concerning that the one and only included mag wouldn't have been reliable on its own. I won't be sending the gun to Ruger, because I have no interest is paying shipping and waiting a week or more to possibly accomplish nothing (plus I'd have to re-install the parts I pulled out). The one mag is totally reliable so I'll see if I can dremel the others, and if not I'll just buy more of the blued mags.
Not sure how to categorize this issue, but at this point it's the one thing that stops the LC9s from being awesome in my book.
Mag Issue Update:
Called Ruger and told the very nice woman in customer service about my mag issue. She sounded surprised, but didn't question it at all. She said she'd send me two Made in Italy mags, with a prepaid return envelope for me to send back the Made in USA mags that aren't working. Sure enough 3 days later the mags showed up. The two new mags (both are Made in Italy and have a blued finish like the other mag that is working) work great. Couldn't tell you for the life of me why the Made in USA mags with the anodized finish won't work and these will, but they sent me new mags that work. Very happy with their customer service. I'm a big fan of the 'trust the customer and send them what they need' approach.
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