Armed Lifestyle - Issue 2 - June 2022

twelve rounds instead of six. The sights are blackened steel. The
rear sight is a serrated U-notch that is squared off and slanted at
the rear for a snag-free draw. The front sight is a Hi-Viz tritium
post that glows readily in the darkened recesses of my shop
room. These are improvements you simply will not see on micro
pistols and, at least on paper, transform the micro 380 into a true
fighting pistol.
ON THE RANGE
Coming out of the range bag, it is hard to display confidence
in the Max. Whether you are on the firing line next to other
shooters or after a lone range session with a bigger handgun,
it can be quite a hindrance to produce a pocket pistol. It can be
further embarrassing when your performance drops off when
you struggle to connect on targets as reliably. But after a few
minutes and a few magazines behind the gun, I could tell the
Max was something more.
Shooting the Max felt like shooting a larger, fuller figured
handgun, at least when you are taking aim and putting shots on
target. The same can be said for loading. The Max comes with
only one ten-shot magazine, so I picked up a few factory twelve
round magazines to get through the chore. The magazines are
stamped blued steel with a polymer baseplate. The ten rounder
comes with a flush and lipped baseplate, while the twelve round
magazine’s baseplate is blocky and extends just beyond the grip.
In the gun both command a good all-finger firing grip--and they
are relatively easy to load by hand. The springs on my twelverounders
are a little too tight to fully load twelve rounds, but the
Max comes with a handle little loading tool to help get those last
few stubborn rounds in. After a thousand rounds down the pipe
and through my magazine, they loaded and fed effortlessly.
With a loaded magazine pushed firmly into the grip all that
is required to load is a brisk rack of the slide. The rear cocking
serrations provide ample texture to retract the slide. But if you
are working with greasy or wet hands, it is easy for the fingers to
slip. Fortunately, the Max has a raised shelf milled into the slide
that fully catches your grip. The serrated rear sight is also squared
to allow for an even easier purchase. That rear sight is also handy
if you are unable to rack the slide in the traditional manner. My
Max loads effortlessly by simply pushing rear sight against the
edge of a table. Is that ideal? No. But the Max is more gun than
others that I see handed to shooters with limited hand strength.
Certainly, getting a grip on the Max feels more substantial than
some of those guns.
FIREARMS: THE RUGER LCP MAX
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