Ruger LCP 380ACP

[bubbatime]

I have a very old LCP. I carried it for years as a backup pistol in law enforcement. Thousands and thousands of rounds and not one single jam ever. I learned years ago that when you find a reliable .380, you NEVER sell it. Because a lot of .380 pistols are garbage.

My wife is strong, athletic, and "sturdy" (please dont tell the wife I said that). She put ONE round through my LCP and put it back down and has refused to ever shoot it again. It does have a lot of recoil that might turn off most women. This is the same woman that has no problem shooting 3" magnum 12 gauge shells.

The Glock 42 fires from a locked breech (most .380's are blowback operated, which increases recoil) and is just the sweetest shooting gun. In fact, these days I'm carrying my G42 in my front pocket. I trust the gun, its reliable, it has lowish recoil, and I can get quick accurate shots on target. It might be a good choice for the wife, if she wants an auto loader.

I think your wife will hate the LCP, in which case you can claim it and use it for your pocket pistol. I also think she will hate the air-weight revolver, with its 14 pound trigger and it has a lot of recoil.

Honestly, look at the new Ruger 5452 LCR in .327 Federal Magnum. The triggers on the LCR are MUCH better than any J-Frame from Smith&Wesson. You can shoot 5 calibers through the gun (32 Auto, 32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 HR Magnum, and .327 Magnum.) You can train with the lower power stuff, and keep .32 HR Magnum or .327 Federal Magnum in the gun for defensive use. The gun also has 6 shots instead of the standard 5 shots of others snub nose revolvers.

 

[Astro14]

If she struggles to rack it now, that won't get much better with break in.

I would encourage you to look at the Walther CCP.

The recoil system uses a gas chamber under the barrel and a very light recoil spring. That recoil system (which is a pain to clean, but so what) mitigates the 9mm CCP recoil to less than most .380s. It's a light, single stack 9 that is pleasant to shoot. About 2/3 the recoil of the Shield or G43. The gas system spreads out the impulse over time, so there is a huge difference in recoil.

I had my wife try all three of those: G43, Shield, and CCP. One round through the Walther after the others and she said, "Oh! This one, hands down!" Dramatically lower recoil than the others.

The recoil system makes it incredibly easy to rack the slide. The spring is very, very light. I can hook my left pinky finger on the rear sight and rack it easily. I'm not making this up.

Super easy to rack. Very low felt recoil. 9mm performance. 8 round magazine.

It's a very well thought out pistol. Utterly reliable on Federal HST 124 gr 9mm standard pressure ammo.

The drawbacks: extra cleaning area, fiddly field strip procedures (a small tool is required), and a "plastic-y feeling" trigger. It also doesn't like +P 9mm. That pressure over-gasses the recoil system.

In rapid, defensive fire, I don't notice the trigger, but in slow, precise target shooting, I do. It's about 5.5 lbs, but there's some "stiction". I've disassembled and polished the components, and it's become better with shooting.

For a shooter with limited strength, this is a great pistol. It's a great pistol anyway, but the unique characteristics make it far better for a shooter with limited strength. You do the field-strip and clean for your wife, and she's all set.