PMCI - September 2021

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FIREARMS - RUGER LCP MAX
so there was a lot of range time with the little .380 Auto.
This was my first time really getting feedback from the
female perspective on what was good or bad. I came from a
long line of the traditional firearms inbreeding of adapt and
overcome rather than the focus on proper fit and function.
Whereas I was expecting a comment on the snappy recoil of
the small, lightweight pistol, it was the lack of decent sights
and the long, heavy trigger pull that was described as dragging
before each shot.
While I had not really thought about the trigger pull due
to having short, sausage fingers that tend to naturally pull
most triggers to their take up point, I did whole heartedly
agree with the sights or lack thereof. Even though “point and
shoot” distances make up a high percentage of shootings, the
rudimentary sights of the original LCP would not work well
from a car length or more spacing. This leaves little confidence
in addressing issues beyond the Tueller Drill arc of 7 yards. For
Candace, that was the end of considering pocket pistols for
daily carry for a long time as she transitioned to the comfort of
carrying a larger Glock model 26 from then on.
LCP MAX FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Flash forwarding to the present, Candace now leads over 800
members of TWAW Florida, I am retired from law enforcement,
and we both regularly teach NRA, USCCA and our own list of
proprietary curricula via our Swanson Training Group. With more
experience and wisdom upon us since our time with the original
Ruger LCP, we were both excited when Candace returned home
with the new LCP Max after it was shipped to our partner FFL,
Bullseye Guns of Jacksonville. As she removed it from the box,
Candace noticed it seemed to fill her hand better than what she
remembered of the original version.
Upon inspection, it did seem to be a bit beefer and appeared to
have a new style trigger than original. Immediately, I pulled up
a photo of my old LCP and sure enough, it had a long,
narrow forward setting trigger reminiscent of the KelTec .32
Auto design. The newer style Ruger LCP trigger now feature
inset safety trigger like Ruger’s larger LC-9 and Security 9 series.
The sub-trigger functions and looks similar to that found in
Glock or S&W M&P triggers in which the smaller lever in the
center of the trigger must be fully depressed to allow rearward
motion of the entire trigger to initiate the firing sequence.
Unlike Glocks and S&W M&P pistols, the Ruger LCP Max
remains true to its roots as a small hammer fired personal
protection pistol. Unlike the original’s 6 +1 limited capacity, the
new LCP Max now offers 10 +1 and 12 +1 magazine capacity.
The new style trigger felt much shorter in pull and very crisp
during dry practice. The reset was impressively short while the
backstrap of the grip seemed to fill out the hollow space of my
palm just as Candace had mentioned.
Much to our delight, sitting on top of the slide there
were a set of real sights, not the simple notch rear and bump
front sight of old! The front sight offered a Tritium night sight
surrounded by a while outline to make it fast to acquire in
all lighting conditions. Mating with the front sight was the
generous blacked out “U” style notch that checked to boxes for
me. One, it was quick and easy to line up with the front sight
and two, it featured a squared face to assist in hooking the
sight onto the edge of a table, belt or boot sole to facilitate one
handed emergency reloads. Candace and I not only teach these
methods, but we also regularly train personally to be better
prepared.
After the initial test shots with the Ruger LCP Max, its
performance met or exceeded a lot of our expectations as
trained shooters. To fully evaluate the pistol further, Candace
wanted to put the gun in the hands of other TWAW members.
These ladies’ firearm experience ranged from novice shooters
to avid competition shooters. This would prove to be a great
opportunity to get more feedback for the marketing executives
at Ruger. More on this in the following Range Time section.
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