LC9s magazine question...

Buddy brought his new S model by so we decided to go try it out. I noticed when removing from pistol magazine to top it off, the top round in the magazine had been stripped forward about 5/16" or more. How can any pistol feed properly with cartridges this far out of the magazine feed lips? We didn't shoot much so long term reliability is not determined at this time.

Shoot it more and see if it is a problem... that's the best I can suggest.

Don't over analyze things like this or for sure try to fix a problem that does not exist.

What type of ammo were you guys using? I just purchased the LC9s and had the same problem with Hornady Critical Defense, the second round would fall completely out when taking the magazine out to top off. I filled the magazine with some Federal FMJ and some Federal Hydrashock, went through the same procedure without a round falling out. It has only been to the range once using the Federal FMJ but had zero issues. Having not fired the Hornady in the LC9s I am not sure if it would be a problem but decided to use the Hornady in my SR9c only.

It WAS Critical Defense! Why would this ammo be worse than any other? The nickle plated cases slicker maybe?

I have no idea, the Hydra Shoks are nickel plated as well, so not sure if that is the issue. In my searches I have found some people having the Hornady CD jam when trying to chamber a round but nothing about our issue. Hopefully someone will chime in and shed some light, I am very new to all this. I am just glad I wasn't the only one, thanks for posting!

Yes the bullets tend to slide forward and not stay at the rear of the Ruger Magazines. This happens to both the USA and the Italan made Ruger 7 round magazines. I think it the shape of the Hornady Critical Duty bullets that causes this problem.

I own the Ruger LC9S Pro also and found the same problem with the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm +P Luger 135 gr FlexLock ammo. The top round of the magazine doesn't always sit properly in the magazine and can cause a feed problem. I have three different magazines for my little Ruger LC9S Pro. I only shoot using one of my magazines. I carry this gun concealed under a shirt and depend on it to save my life so I want to make sure it's going to shoot when I need it and not misfire and jam.


When I go to the range to practice I unload the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock ammo and load up with cheaper Blazer Brass 9 mm 115 gr solid FMJ ammo to shoot.

A few times I forgot to unload the Hornady Critical Duty ammo and shot several rounds without any failure to fire. I don't use the Hornady at the range as it's much more expensive ammo. So I practice with the cheaper Blazer Brass 9 mm ammo instead.

But playing around with the gun in the house I noticed that some times the top round in the magazine doesn't stick up at the front like it should so that it will feed properly into the feed ramp of the LC9S Pro. I tried to get the round to feed by pulling the slide back and letting it go. If the top bullet is not in proper position then it won't feed at times. But If I check the top round in the Magazine and make sure it's seated back fully in the magazine and position properly before I put it into the gun then it will feed right. So make sure you check the top bullet in the magazine to make sure it's fully seated back in the magazine before you use that mag. That solved the problem for me. Now all three of my Magazines are pretty new and have not been in use very long or very much.

I normally shoot my Walthers PPQ M2 at the shooting range when I practice shooting. Now that I have a new Stealthgear Flex Holster I started carrying my PPQ M2 again. But then I switched back to the Ruger LC9S Pro the other day. I'm trying to use them both off and on. It depends on which pair of shorts I'm going to wear that day and which holster I'm going to use as to which gun I carry. I have some new shorts that I've never worn and wore them the other day with a old belt and the LC9S Pro. But these shorts are not the 5.11 tactical shorts and they don't have a extra pocket for my extra magazine like the 5.11 shorts do. And the belt is not a good belt. So I'm going back to wearing the 5.11 tactical shorts and the good 5.11 thick leather belt with my Stealthgear Flex OWB holster and my PPQ. I was going to order a Stealthgear OWB Flex holster for my Ruger LC9S Pro but they don't make a holster for the Ruger LC9S. BTW the Stealthgear holsters are way overpriced. They are a good holster but I also like the Alien Gear Cloak Slide OWB hybrid Leather/kydex holster. That's the holster I wear with my Ruger LC9S Pro semiauto hand gun.

The Stealthgear OWB Flex Holster is very comfortable even with the larger PPQ in it.

I'll have to go check my Ruger magazines and see where they were made. Some are made in the USA and others were made in Italy IIRc.

OK I just checked all four of my Ruger LC9S Pro's Magazines. Two of them (7 round types) were made in Italy and the other two are made in the USA. Of the two USA made magazines is a extended 9 round magazine that holds more bullets. It's called the Pro Mag on the side of the magazine and has a larger plastic base for holding onto the magazine better when it's inserted into the pistol. The plastic base slides up off the magazine itself and won't go past the bottom plate. It just gives the hand more gripping surface to hang onto the bottom of the magazine.

I don't use the MagPro 9 round version much as it prints badly. The MagPro extends the handle of the gun considerable making it harder to conceal under my shirts.

I might use the MagPro at the shooting range to get more ammo in the magazine and shoot longer. But other than that I won't carry it. The one & round Ruger USA magazine and the two 7 round Italian made Ruger magazines will be used as my carry magazines. I'm checking the feed ramp on my little Ruger LC9S Pro right now. I took the gun apart and got my Dremel tool out and use some polishing compound and a polishing wheel to polish up the feed ramp on the barrel of my Ruger LC9S Pro Gun. Hopefully that will help the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock Bullets feed better with all of my different magazines for this little Ruger LC9S Pro. Note: I used the FELT type polishing wheels with the polishing compound. It basically justs buffs the surface of the feed ramp and makes it shine. I'm not sure it really tool any metal off the feed ramp as the stainless steel is much harder than the felt wheel thing.


I'm using Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock ammo for self defense rounds when I carry my gun. This ammo is the problem. It caused my Failure To Load problems with my Ruger LC9S Pro gun.

I just took the three 7 round Ruger magazines apart and looked at them critically under a magnifier/light system. I noticed that the back end of the USA magazine had the top back edges of the magazine cut in a more Square Fashion while the ones from Italy are more rounded on the two back edges where the ammo (Primer end of the bullet) sits against at the rear of the magazine. I think that the manufacturing process is different at the USA factory than the Italian Factory and that makes them a little bit different in the area at the rear of the Top part of the Magazine. The difference is visible to the naked eye if you have good eye sight up close. I can't see up close without eye glasses with a 2.5 diopter rating. This is why I used the magnifier/light to view the magazines.

I loaded both the USA and the Italian Magazines with the very same Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock Ammo and the USA magazine won't keep the top bullet head pointed up. It lays more flat in the magazine. I looked at the plastic thing inside the magazines (Follower) and they look identical. I looked at the spring and their orientation and they were a match. I looked at the plastic thing at the very bottom of the spring inside the magazine and they looked identical and were attached to the spring in the same fashion and orientation. I also took all three of the Ruger 7 round magazines apart and cleaned them before reinstalling them back together. I'm cleaning the Ruger LC9S Pro now as well. Just to make sure that everything is clean and lubricated properly before I test these magazines again.

The very top and back part of the 7 round Ruger magazines have a "U" cut in the back top section of the metal. The "U" is centered on the back side of the Magazine at the very top of the Magazine. There is some metal left on either side of the "U" cutout on the back side of the Magazine at the top part of the magazine.

When loaded you can see the bullet's rear end and the primers in the bullets when you look at the U cut out on the top back edge of the Magazine. The two sides of the metal next to the "U" cutout are the parts of the magazine that look different. The little metal edges are more squared at the top on the USA 7 Round Ruger Magazines and they are more rounded at the top of the Ruger 7 round Italian Made Magazines. Other than that I can't really see any huge difference in the two magazines that were made in two different countries.

Now I remember reading something about the different in the two magazines before in this forum some where. But I can't remember where or when I read that information in these forums. I do remember that one of the magazine was said to have a feed issue. But I can't remember which one it was. Nor did I remember what type of ammo they had the failure to feed problems with. That really does make a huge difference in how the ammo feeds in this gun.


If you use this type of ammo for self defense and you have either of these two 9 mm Ruger 7 round magazines for your Ruger LC9S Pro Pistol check to see if the top bullet seats properly in the magazine. Now this was done with the magazine full with 7 bullets and an empty gun chamber. I had the slide back and inserted the magazine with 7 rounds of the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm +P Luger 135 gr FlexLock Ammo in the magazine and then let the slide release to see if the top bullet would feed without issues. I get a lot of failure to feeds with these magazines with this particular ammo. Other ammo feeds much better in the Lc9SPro.

Note: these Two Italian and one USA magazines were the 7 round type. I have not played with the 9 round USA Mag Pro Magazine yet except to try to rack the slide with the magazine full of the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger 135 gr FlexLock Ammo. I get failure to feeds with this MagPro 9 round magazine in my little Ruger Pistol. LC9S Pro.


I have another USA magazine that is a 9 round type and I'll check that one out too at a later time . This one is the Pro Mag 9 round made in the USA version. I think I got this one at Gander Mountain in Evansville, IN. I bought one of the 7 round Ruger magazines at Academy Sporting Goods Store in Evansville, IN. One of the 7 round Ruger magazines came with my gun and I got another one at either Buck and Jakes in Boonville, IN or at Gander Mountain in Evansville, IN.
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New Updated Information after going to the rifle range to shoot this gun and ammo.
OK now I tested all four of the Ruger LC9S Pro magazines and each and every one of them has Failure to feed FTF with the Hornady Ammo described above. Hornady 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock ammo. I'm thinking that the FlexLock Type ammo is the problem with this particular hand gun. The shape of the head of the bullets is what maybe causing this problem.

I'll be testing this ammo's feeding ability with my Walthers PPQ M2 9 mm gun soon.

Hopefully the feed ramp on the PPQ M2 9 mm 4" barrel is better than the Ruger LC9S Pro's. I noticed that the feed ramp on the Ruger LC9S Pro is very steep. The nose of the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm +P Luger 135 gr FlexLock Bullets is jamming at the bottom of the feed ramp on the Ruger LC9S Pro Pistol a lot. That worries me as I've been carrying this little pistol with this type of ammo but have not really shot it with this type of ammo a lot. So I need to get out to the range and test to see if this ammo will function properly with the little Ruger Pistol. If not them I'll test it with the Walthers PPQ M3 9 mm and see how it feeds with the Walther.
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New information after going to the rifle range: 9/25/16:
Adding this on 9/25/16 after going to the rifle range today. I had failure to feed problems with the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock ammo today several times.

I tested this ammo with all three magazines types and had several FTF problems with them all while actually shooting the gun (Ruger LC9S Pro). The round in the chamber would fire and the second round (top round in the magazines) would nose dive and the nose got stuck at the bottom of the feed ramp on the Ruger LC9S Pro gun resulting in the gun jamming and failing to feed the round into the chamber.

I'm removing all the Hornady Critical Duty 9 mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock ammo from my Ruger LC9S Pro gun and loading it with Blazer Brass 9 mm 115 Gr FMJ bullets. I know that they will feed properly with this gun. (Ruger LC9S Pro)

I'm going to stop carrying the Ruger LC9S Pro and start carrying my Walther's PPQ M2 4" again.

I have a new Stealthgear Flex OWB holster that can handle the PPQ M2 9 MM 4" gun better than my older alien gear IWB and OWB holsters. I'll still carry the little Ruger LC9S Pro with the Blazer Brass 9 mm FMJ ammo until I can find a better ammo that will feed properly and works like the Hornady Ammo does when it actually feeds and fires. I will carry the LC9S pro in my Aliengear Cloak Slide Leather/Kydex Hybrid OWB holster. This little holster only costs $30 and it works great with my clothing system.

The top round in my LC9S is always a little bit forward too. As blume357 says "
"Don't over analyze things like this or for sure try to fix a problem that does not exist"

I always fire my loaded gun and extra magazines first when practicing and then may shoot a bit of everything after.
The little bit extra it costs to make sure the real thing happens right with your defense ammo when its needed is a small price to pay for your life.

Here is the problem that I have found. With the magazine full and one in the chamber I tried to drop the magazine out and found that the top bullet in the magazine was moved forward about 3/8's of the way. This prevents the magazine from falling out and the bullet at the top causes the magazine to hang up and not fall or drop out smoothly. The gun shoots fine with the proper ammo but this top bullet moving forward in the magazine could cause a problem if you need to clear a jam by dropping the magazine out of the gun in a hurry.

I can't remember if this was caused after racking the slide and ejecting one round or not. I'll have to test this again to make sure of when this happens.

OK after testing this again I only noticed this after I rack the slide and then try to drop the magazine out of the gun. The top bullet in the magazine is more than 1/2 the way forward in the Magazine. I'm not sure this happens when I actually shoot the gun. But it sure does this a lot when I hand rack the slide back. And I also noticed that the top bullet in the magazine is so far forward that it will fall out of the magazine completely when I removed the magazine from the gun. What could be causing this?

My Walther's PPQ M2 9mm 4" barrel gun doesn't do this.

dickydalton said:

The top round in my LC9S is always a little bit forward too. As blume357 says "
"Don't over analyze things like this or for sure try to fix a problem that does not exist"

I always fire my loaded gun and extra magazines first when practicing and then may shoot a bit of everything after.
The little bit extra it costs to make sure the real thing happens right with your defense ammo when its needed is a small price to pay for your life.

Click to expand...

For me it only does it with Hornady Critical Defense, haven't tried many different brands. The Federal Hydra Shok, HST, Champion brass FMJ, Champion aluminum FMJ and Perfecta brass FMJ worked as it should.

If I load the magazine with 7 Hornady CD and insert magazine rack the slide to load the chamber then drop magazine the top bullet in magazine then falls out. Reinsert magazine repeat again and the top bullet would drop but after that it would stop stripping a round out of magazine and function normally when manually racking slide to empty magazine.

So two things I have noticed for me, only happens with Hornady CD and only happens when magazine is full or near full capacity. I don't know if Hornady rounds are slightly thicker in circumference creating more pressure on mag spring when fully loaded or if the flex tip design has something to do with it.

I will just use a different self defense round and after a couple more range trips using FMJ ammo and it gets broken in more I will see if it somehow fixed itself

I had the very same experience with the Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr FlexLock ammo Luger 9 mm +P. I too will have to find another bullet that will work with my Ruger LC9s Pro pistol. The top bullet falls out after racking the gun with one already in the chamber and a full magazine. That's just something that I can accept for a defensive carry gun. I'm tending to think it has some thing to do with the FlexLock Bullet Tip design.

thrasher1472 said:

For me it only does it with Hornady Critical Defense, haven't tried many different brands. The Federal Hydra Shok, HST, Champion brass FMJ, Champion aluminum FMJ and Perfecta brass FMJ worked as it should.

If I load the magazine with 7 Hornady CD and insert magazine rack the slide to load the chamber then drop magazine the top bullet in magazine then falls out. Reinsert magazine repeat again and the top bullet would drop but after that it would stop stripping a round out of magazine and function normally when manually racking slide to empty magazine.

So two things I have noticed for me, only happens with Hornady CD and only happens when magazine is full or near full capacity. I don't know if Hornady rounds are slightly thicker in circumference creating more pressure on mag spring when fully loaded or if the flex tip design has something to do with it.

I will just use a different self defense round and after a couple more range trips using FMJ ammo and it gets broken in more I will see if it somehow fixed itself

Click to expand...