concerned with lcp 2nd gen safety

So, I just bought an LCP 3 weeks ago. It happens to be the newest "2nd Gen" with the shorter trigger pull and taller sights. My girlfriend's dad has an LCP but the older, first model, and he carries it on him WITHOUT a round in the chamber. He is a safety first guy and says he can rack the slide faster than he could throw a safety off (if the gun had a manual safety.) I'm concerned with having a round in the chamber while I pocket carry it with a DeSantos holster for the fact that, I don't want it to go off accidentally. I owned an sr9c and liked it a lot because of the manual safety, but is there any history of this new 2nd Gen LCP having accidental discharges? What worries me is the fact that the hammer is already cocked back halfway and seems like it could go off without a pull of the trigger if I dropped it somehow. I don't know much about the mechanical mechanisms in the gun but is it possible that the gun could discharge without a pull of the trigger?

I don't own a new LCP, but I plan to. I have owned one previously, a couple of years ago, but sold it.

The LCP is hammer fired, not striker fired (unless that has changed in these new models.) According to what I have read, there was a "concern" (I'm not sure if there were any actual incidents) about a possibly drop/fire in the very early guns, and Ruger recalled and corrected those pistols. (Serial number 370-xxxx made in 2008.) The combination of a very light firing pin and a very strong spring make it very, very unlikely to happen...it would require dropping the gun from a great distance and it to hit squarely on the muzzle. So, odds of it happening are miniscule. Edited to add: while the LCP (I assume still) is carried in a half-cocked state, there is a hammer catch that prevents it from firing until the trigger is pulled. The hammer doesn't have enough inertial force to ignite the primer if it does fall from the half-cocked state, in any normal circumstance.

As for pulling the trigger...the long, heavy trigger pull IS a safety feature. Since I haven't felt the new triggers, I can't say how different they are, but in the model I owned, I couldn't see how it could possibly have gone off accidentally. Pulling the trigger was a deliberate act! I suppose it could be possible that if you rammed the pistol without a holster into a pocket, and the trigger caught on something, and you continued to push with sufficient force, that you could pull the trigger back until the gun fired. I've never tried it to see how much that would take, but I'd guess it would be highly noticeable force and a deep pocket. This is why I always used a good pocket holster with mine, when I carried it.

There is an ongoing debate about carrying a gun without a round chambered. I once had a Bersa BP9CC that had the lightest trigger on it I've ever felt...lighter than my 1911s...and no external safeties at all. I wouldn't carry that gun with a round in the chamber, and in fact sold the gun because I didn't think it was safe to carry. (I love a 1911 trigger because it is so light and crisp, but a 1911 also has a thumb and grip safety.) The question is, if you are ever in a situation where you need your gun to defend yourself, are you going to have the time to chamber a round? And, are you going to be able to do it under pressure? If that is your carry mode, and some people do choose to do so, then you should practice, practice, and practice some more drawing your gun and chambering a round until it becomes second nature...a muscle memory, rather than a conscious act.

The LCP has a transfer bar...so, it is safe if dropped.

No modern gun in a holster in your pocket will go BANG without the trigger being pulled.
gramps

bakedtater017,The newer guns have a lighter titanium firing pin with a stronger firing pin inertia spring to help prevent the gun form going off if dropped.. FYI I carry with one in the chamber also a new model LCP

Jim,
You said "The LCP has a transfer bar...so, it is safe if dropped" Could you please take a few pictures of this transfer bar and post them. I was not aware of it having a transfer bar in it.. I had a Ruger Single six that had a transfer bar and that was a darn good safety feature.. Thanks! George

George said:

Jim,
You said "The LCP has a transfer bar...so, it is safe if dropped" Could you please take a few pictures of this transfer bar and post them. I was not aware of it having a transfer bar in it.. I had a Ruger Single six that had a transfer bar and that was a darn good safety feature.. Thanks! George

Click to expand...

George,

Poor choice of words on my part as to the "transfer bar" thing,

The LCP has a hammer catch or block that prevents the hammer from dropping when the trigger is not pulled. The block moves out of the way when the trigger is pulled and allows the hammer function normally.

The majority of accidental discharges in pistols with no safety I have heard of were caused by something "pulling" the trigger such as putting the gun away, even in a holster. I would never have a round chambered without have a safety on - and not those funky trigger "safeties". Better yet, buy a different gun like the LC380.

On that hammer catch saftey. I looked at the LCP and with the slide off the the gun the hammer catch does not sit directly under the hammer bar as I think it should. I looked at both of our LC9's and looking at them the same way with the slide off the gun the Hammer catch does sit right under the hammer bar.. Would a few of you with the new model LCP's please check and let me know what your Hammer bar catch looks like in relation to the hammer bar? I don't have another LCP to look at on hand.. Thank you! Also i have no issues with carrying this gun with a good IWB holster. George

I'm looking for a smaller pistol. Thought taurus but I'm leaning to the lcp. Thanks for the info. Didn't think it would be unsafe if dropped.