Editor's Note: This feature is from our companion service, the Tactical Wire.
There are a few times in life when you fire a weapon and it’s a life-changing experience. You know at this moment that weapon is going to be one of “your” firearms. I still remember my first time shooting an AR, back in the mid-seventies. I knew this was a weapon that was going to be part of my life forever. The first time I shot a Steyr Scout rifle – during a class with Jeff Cooper – I fell in love with it and ordered one then and there. This week I tested Ruger’s LCRx with the three-inch barrel. This was another one of those life-changing experiences; the LCRx three-inch is going to be one of my regular handguns.
The three-inch Ruger is based on their snub nose LCRx, which has an exposed hammer. It’s a lightweight five shot revolver, weighing in less than 16 oz, and rated for +P rounds. The “monolithic” frame is made from 7000 series aluminum, the cylinder is stainless and fluted to save weight, and it has an adjustable rear sight with a pinned front sight that can be swapped out for a tritium or fiber optic sight.
I shoot revolvers a lot, and was very surprised at the light recoil of the three-inch LCRx. Part of this is the barrel length, but the main contributor is the grip. The three-inch has a longer Hogue grip than the snub nose version. It fills your hand and absorbs recoil. The LCRx three-inch actually fit my hand better and was more comfortable to shoot than my three-inch K frames.
The trigger uses Ruger’s “Friction Reducing Cam” design. This is a very interesting concept, and all I can say is that it works great. After test firing the revolver I clamped it down to put the scale on it – Lyman’s electronic gauge from Brownells. It immediately maxed it out, past the scale’s twelve-pound limit. “How is this possible I thought?” On the range it felt more like an eight to nine pound pull. Then I got to thinking about the cam design of the trigger assembly. I pulled the trigger back about three-quarters of the way and then let the scale take over. Once the trigger was back that far the weight lightened up, and it dropped the hammer at about nine pounds. So while it technically is a heavy trigger, it feels lighter, and is definitely smooth, which I suspect will even become smoother with use. This is the best “factory” revolver trigger I’ve ever felt.
Accuracy was great. After my first five shot group at seven yards, I turned to face a steel torso plate at seventy yards. Matt Weathers, a Shootrite instructor, was there for the test firing, so since we hadn’t done any adjusting on the sight I had him spot and call my shot. At seven yards it was hitting low, so I held the front sight center of the plate and dropped the rear sight down so the top of it was indexing on the bottom of the white portion of the front sight. I pressed off the first shot, double action. “Good elevation,” Matt called, “but about six inches left off target.” I held just off the right side of the plate, smoothly stroked the trigger again and was rewarded with a solid “ding” and center hit. Matt, who confesses he’s not really a revolver guy, did the same thing. I told him where I held and he fired one round. I gave him a correction for windage, he adjusted, and got a good hit on the second round.
As Matt said, and this expresses my thoughts as well, “This is a near perfect defensive revolver out of the box.” If you’re looking for a lightweight revolver that’s reliable, easy to carry, and shoots well, I don’t think you can go wrong with the new three-inch LCRx. I like it so much I will be picking up another one, and that’s about the best endorsement I can give any product.
Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. He is the author of “The Book of Two Guns” - http://shootrite.org/book/book.html writes for several firearms/tactical publications, and is featured on GunTalk’s DVD, “Fighting With The 1911 - http://shootrite.org/dvd/dvd.html McKee’s new book, AR-15 Skills and Drills, is available off Shootrite’s website
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