My friends LCP 380

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GlenS

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
6
A friend at church today brought me his Ruger LCP 380 pistol to see if I could fix the jamming problem. He has been shooting Remington 90 grain FMJ ammo. The ammo feeds straight into the feed ramp and will not cam up and into the chamber. I polished the breech face and the feed ramp as well as the chamber in the top most 1/4 part of the chamber. The standard stuff I do with a Semi auto that has this problem. The feed ramp and the breech face are polished to the point it looks like chrome. I did not change the angle of the feed ramp, just polished the surfaces. And still when hand feeding the ammo it feeds straight into the feed famp and does not cam up. I did notice it has a very weak recoil spring. A stronger spring may cure the problem. I have tried numerous brands of FMJ ammo, Magtech JHP, WW Silvertips and HydroShocks. All the same, feeds straight into the feed ramp and stops. I will take it to the range tuedsday and see if it acts differently when actual firing.

Overall I am disappointed in Ruger with this pistol. I have owned and shot Rugers as long back as I can remember, I'm 70 years old. ANyway, the pistol to me is cheaply made and I am disappointed with Ruger. Does Ruger actually make these or do they get them from a third party? even if this pistol works at the range I will advise my friend to get rid of the pistol or at least send it back to Ruger and get them to deal with it. I would not under any circumstance stake my life on this pistol. No way, no how!

Anyway, is this a common problem with the LCP 380? Any of you have this problem?
 

timboy

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 9, 2011
Messages
74
Magazine follower or lip issue??
No LCP experience here,just throwing it out there.
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Messages
6,243
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
Nope, not a common problem at all. Could be magazine related. Have you tried a different magazine? I might've suggested ammo as an issue, but since you're using ball ammo, ammo is not likely the culprit. If you can't discover the problem, and since you're already writing this gun and Ruger off as a lost cause, contact Ruger for a repair. They will likely offer a free shipping label.
 

GlenS

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
6
Tried two different magazines. Same result with each. Also, the slide does not lock back after last round with both mags.
 

louchia

Single-Sixer
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
157
Slide is not suppose to lock back on the LCP. That feature only works on the LCP II with the II mags.
I would call Ruger and get a new recoil spring ( no charge) and also possibly the mag spring. I assume the mage are Ruger OME.
 

GlenS

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
6
Mags are one the original and another bought after with the botton exgtension. Tyhat one is from Pro Mag. I really do believe the problem is with the recoil spring. It is very very weak. When the jam happens LIGHT TAP on the back of the slide and the round goes in. I will call Ruger and see if they have a stonger spring. Thanks for the replies.
 

GunnyGene

Hawkeye
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
9,285
Location
Monroe County, MS
GlenS said:
Mags are one the original and another bought after with the botton exgtension. Tyhat one is from Pro Mag. I really do believe the problem is with the recoil spring. It is very very weak. When the jam happens LIGHT TAP on the back of the slide and the round goes in. I will call Ruger and see if they have a stonger spring. Thanks for the replies.

Galloway makes some excellent springs (13 lb) and rods for the LCP (factory spring is 9lb): https://gallowayprecision.com/ruger/lcp/
 

GlenS

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
6
Problem solved: Called Ruger and they said send it to them. While on their web site I looked at ordering parts page and saw that there is an inner and an outer recoil spring. Mine pistol only has one spring. Called Ruger back and they are sending the inner and outer springs. I a 99% sure this is going to solve the problem. Thanks everyone who responded. I'll post the shooting results after I get the springs and range test the pistol.
 

5of7

Hunter
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Messages
2,296
Location
SW. LOWER MICHIGAN
GlenS said:
Problem solved: Called Ruger and they said send it to them. While on their web site I looked at ordering parts page and saw that there is an inner and an outer recoil spring. Mine pistol only has one spring. Called Ruger back and they are sending the inner and outer springs. I a 99% sure this is going to solve the problem. Thanks everyone who responded. I'll post the shooting results after I get the springs and range test the pistol.

And I am 99% sure that you are right.

On a side note: Whenever I have feeding problems with a semi automatic pistol, I do the same thing that you did; polish the feed ramp and if that doesn't do it, polish the breech face. Success ratio has been about 10:1. 8)
 
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