LC9s, Made Right + Range Report + A Pachmayr Grip Sleeve!
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:53 pm
Just before thanksgiving, I managed to sell my 3 yr old hammer-fired LC9 and acquire a new LC9s while not paying much difference to upgrade. I was pretty excited to hit the range but then my enthusiasm was shot down when the slide locked back just a few rounds into a full mag. I shot 2 mags of Critical Defense through it and it happened with both mags in addition to once or twice with Federal FMJ. I had trouble digging up anything close to that kind of problem due to all the forum posts and comments about the slide NOT locking back after the last round. I decided to try one more range trip just to be eliminate the (very very slight) possibility that my thumb was somehow hitting the slide stop and causing the slide to lock prematurely. Second trip showed that was not the case, and to make matters worse it had a FTE, leaving the spent casing in the barrel.
I called Ruger and they emailed me a prepaid UPS Next Day Air shipping label. I enclosed a note detailing the issues I was having, including empty mags not dropping free. It arrived within 4 business days with a replaced Magazine latch/spring and slide stop spring. It also indicates they repaired the barrel but doesn't say exactly what they did. They didn't replace my 2 USA mags with Italian mags as I had hoped, and they made no mention of the extraction issue. They did enclose a Ruger sillycone cleaning cloth as a 'way of saying thank you for your support of Ruger firearms'. They also sent warm regards, presumably because they are in Arizona?
The mags still don't drop free reliably, but after running 100 rounds of WWB and ~20 rounds of Critical Defense I'm much closer to actually keeping it. The only trouble I had was that the slide didn't lock back after the final round once but that was using the 9 round extended mag that I don't plan of carrying in the gun. I'm much happier with it than I was before I sent it off. I plan on acquiring an Italian made mag and taking it to the range one more time to prove its worthiness to be carried. I like my M&P 9c much better anyway and don't have a problem continuing to carry it. I would have preferred to have a working, reliable gun right from the start, but fortunately Ruger looks to have made it right with minimal pain involved.
I called Ruger and they emailed me a prepaid UPS Next Day Air shipping label. I enclosed a note detailing the issues I was having, including empty mags not dropping free. It arrived within 4 business days with a replaced Magazine latch/spring and slide stop spring. It also indicates they repaired the barrel but doesn't say exactly what they did. They didn't replace my 2 USA mags with Italian mags as I had hoped, and they made no mention of the extraction issue. They did enclose a Ruger sillycone cleaning cloth as a 'way of saying thank you for your support of Ruger firearms'. They also sent warm regards, presumably because they are in Arizona?
The mags still don't drop free reliably, but after running 100 rounds of WWB and ~20 rounds of Critical Defense I'm much closer to actually keeping it. The only trouble I had was that the slide didn't lock back after the final round once but that was using the 9 round extended mag that I don't plan of carrying in the gun. I'm much happier with it than I was before I sent it off. I plan on acquiring an Italian made mag and taking it to the range one more time to prove its worthiness to be carried. I like my M&P 9c much better anyway and don't have a problem continuing to carry it. I would have preferred to have a working, reliable gun right from the start, but fortunately Ruger looks to have made it right with minimal pain involved.
. Having said that, since I've put probably a thousand flawless rounds through the M&P and I trust it 100% The LC9s is a little on the 'snappy' side and not nearly as pleasant to shoot as the M&P, so it might take me years to put a thousand rounds through it (and I won't trust it 100% until the thousand round count.)