Ruger LCR questions

In general, I am not a fan of polymer handguns. It has taken me a lifetime to come around to the idea of "plastic pistols". I now carry a S&W Shield 9mm and am very happy with it. I did not realize that the Ruger LCR had a steel frame, with only the grip and hammer mechanisms being housed in polymer. I thought the entire revolver was polymer with a steel cylinder and barrel sleeve. never really looked that closely at them.

Now, I see that the frame is aluminum (?). Is the barrel just a steel sleeve in an aluminum housing? I might actually come around to liking these revolvers. Just need to get my hands on one and take a close second look at one.

Larry, the LCR 22lr, 22M and .38 Spl are built with aluminum frames. The .327FM, 9mm and .357M are built with steel frames. The barrels in all are stainless steel. They are ugly, but the triggers are quite nice.

https://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

Love my LCRx

So what's the question?

Are the barrels just inserts? How thick are they? How thick is the aluminum housing for the barrel, if it is a barrel insert?

My .38 LCR lives in my pocket every day, it has 800-900 rounds through it, and I have a Bantam grip on it so it fits nicely in my pocket. I carried a spurless hammer SP101 for years and the LCR was a gift from heaven. It does everything my SP101 did with a third of the weight, I believe I sold the SP101 after a week or two of carrying the LCR. Here's a pic of the barrel insert on mine...

s4s4u said:

Love my LCRx

Click to expand...

Same here...I like my hammer!

I have 5 of these, so yep I like them. My original LCR 38 spl has been shot quite extensively and carried a lot. I have an LCRx in 38 hidden around my house that hasn't seen a lot of use. My wife keeps my LCR 22 handy and before she stole it from me I shot it a lot. I have two 3" LCRx models, one in 22 and one in 38. I take quite a few new shooters to the range and they love the 22. It has had 1000's of rounds through it. I carry the 3" 38 when I'm in the woods. It is very accurate.

The centerfires have the best trigger I have found on small frame DA revolvers. The 22's are good, but a little heavier to ensure primer strikes.

Bearcat may call them ugly but it's all in the eye of the beholder. I own 3...a LCR .357 a LCR .22WMR and a 3" LCRx .22WMR.
The .357 is my EDC and has by far the smoothest action. After a lot of use the WMR's are smoothing out and the pull lightening up.

Edit: Wanted to mention that I also own a spurless SP101 .357 that is in my EDC rotation in the cooler weather as I wear it OWB and can keep it covered.

I have an LCR in 357 mag and one in 22LR. They both have been shot a lot.
I'd like to have one in 327 FM.
Mine are hammerless.

I think the LCR are really nice guns. I have a 357 mag, 38 special, 22LR, LCRX 3" 38 special. Still wanting a 22WMR 3".

I'm another 5-time loser.

Two inch barrels: LCR38, LCRx38

Three inch barrels: LCRx22LR, LCRx22WMR, LCRx38

Great little revolvers, IMO.

I've had several LCRs. The favorite so far is a 3" LCRx 38 special.

I kind of wish Ruger had come out with an aluminum alloy framed "airweight" SP101 instead of the more bulky, homely LCR.

I will swim upstream and say that I like the extra weight of the SP101. The alloy frame snubbies are just too much of a handful at the range for most folks. I can handle them, but much prefer a little extra weight for carry, and an easier time at the range.

To each his own.

I purchased my lcr 9mm in December 2015, it is still my daily carry and has performed perfectly. I only own that one handgun but if I owned others, I can't see me changing from the lcr, its just the perfect carry gun.