But I think the primary contributor to accuracy is the smooth, consistent trigger pull. Close manufacturing tolerances and firm lockup with a titanium lug un undoubtedly help, and there's nothing in the world wrong with Ruger barrels. It's probably absurd to call any double-action-only revolver with a 1-inch barrel accurate, but I can shoot tighter groups with the LCR than I have ever shot with any other compact revolver. It isn't light, breaking at about 10 pounds, but the pull increases smoothly and gradually, and I'd actually call it crisp.

Designed with cammed surfaces, the LCR actually has one of the best trigger pulls I've seen on a compact revolver. Generally speaking, the smaller the revolver, the worse the double-action trigger pull, simply because of space limitations. There are essentially three major assemblies: The polymer fire control group, containing the trigger, hammer and grip-housed mainspring the aluminum frame, containing the crane, recoil shield and stainless steel barrel and the stainless steel cylinder. It was designed from the ground up for both ease of manufacturing (keeping the price down) and optimum performance on such a small frame. The LCR, Ruger's first compact personal defense revolver, was not a downsizing of an existing model. This is saying quite a lot about such a small handgun chambered to a full-size cartridge. Perhaps most impressive of all, the width of the five-shot cylinder is just 1.28 inches, making it the slimmest. Overall length is just 6½ inches, with total height (with Hogue grips) just 4½ inches. 38 Special revolver can be, weighing just 13½ ounces with the Hogue Tamer grips. In operation, the LCR is just plain impressive. Of course, I made much of it, but my tastes run toward blued steel and checkered walnut, and this polymer- frame pipsqueak didn't do much for me - that is, until I had a chance to shoot it a few weeks later. I was at a SHOT Show when Mike Fifer, Ruger's CEO, pulled out an LCR and showed it to me with obvious pride. Honestly, it was not love at first sight. The monolithic frame is created from an aerospace-grade 7000-series aluminum forging treated with a black synergistic hardcoat. The 131/2-ounce LCR is light enough for carry. A small double-action revolver fits nicely in the smallest key-lock pistol safe, easy to store in complete safety. We're long past having young children around, but we still have teenagers in and out. And while its small size makes it more difficult to master, it's also easy to store and safeguard. It's simply ready, a point-and-shoot court of last resort. In any case, for the specific purpose we're talking about, double-action only is probably the simplest and most goof- proof approach.Ī small double-action-only revolver is definitely not the easiest handgun to learn to shoot, but it is probably the most operator-error-free of any handgun I know. Realistically, however, the former is too big for small hands and the latter, though devastatingly effective, is a real handful to learn to shoot. Personal favorites have included a 1917 Colt in. Over the years, I've come to believe that the double-action revolver made the most sensible 'reach for in the middle of the night' handgun. Switching back and forth from one firearm to another is thus challenging, and if dire circumstances should ever come, she doesn't need a split-second wasted on the mechanics of operation. She's a good hand with a rifle, and I don't want her shooting at me with a pistol, but she doesn't have a lifelong history with firearms, and she doesn't shoot all the time. Perhaps more important, it might be reached for by my wife rather than me. It's the pistol you hope you'll never need, but it might be reached for in the middle of the night, when you're groggy with sleep. Most often, I suppose, it's a full-size revolver, a Smith and Wesson Model 29 or a Colt.45. 32 H&R sometimes it's a 1911 for fun and nostalgia. Sometimes that pistol is a small-game gun like a. So the only way I carry a handgun is exposed, and the only time is in the field. But for me - and my wife - it's a moot point, because we live in a jurisdiction where a concealed carry permit is simply impossible to obtain. In some cases the best choice might be the smallest, lightest, most compact pistol there is in other situations a full-size 1911 might fill the bill. In that mode, the best choice depends a lot on who you are, what you're wearing and where you're going. Please understand that I'm not talking about a carry handgun. But in the specific mode of a 'house gun' I tend to think that a double-action revolver makes the most sensible choice. Another personal favorite is the good old Colt 1911, always hard to beat. My first was a Walther PP, still one of my favorite handguns. The LCR has only been out for three years, so of course it isn't the first handgun I've called the 'house gun.' In fact, over the years there have been quite a few.

38 special vs 9mm for home defense