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Well just got back from the range with the LC380. Ran 20 rounds of Federal Hydra shok and 100 of magtech 95 grain ball. Loaded first mag full of HS and 3 out of 7 stovepiped. Ok I thought maybe the ammo. Then the same happens with 14 more rounds of magtech in the same magazine. Not good I thought but then I went to the second mag that did not come with the gun from the factory. Ran 14 rounds of HS and the next 80+ of magtech without a single problem. So I have a bad mag. Like I said I bought it used and I know from looking on the Ruger forum that some of the earlier LC380 had mag problems. The second mag was bought after the gun was purchased more then likely and is the reason why it ran fine. I called Ruger service and waited 3 minutes to talk to a tech. They said no problem and are sending out a new mag priority. Great customer service!

As for the accuracy of the gun it was really good. It is the most accurate 380 I have ever shot. My groups were way closer my first time out then I could ever get with my old Bersa 380cc and it was leaps and bounds ahead in accuracy then the sig 238 I rented. Same went for my wife. While her grouping wasn't as tight as mine she did very well. At 7 yards she was getting 3-4 inch grouping her first time out with a slow but steady rate of fire. I was getting 1/2 inch-1inch groups at 7 yards with a decent rate of fire. At first I thought I was missing the whole sheet but then I realized that the grouping was so tight that they all touched. Very accurate and easy to fire gun imo. The trigger is a little long but nothing wrong with it for combat distances at all. All together my wife likes it a lot and it is easier for her to shoot then the shield. This will be her new carry gun.

I understand, my wife has gone through a ton of trial and error finding what works for her. Like I said so many times before, my wife is 4 10 and has hands that are smaller then most 11 year old girls. Here are some of the guns she can rack easily.

9mm 1911 5inch citadel (same as rock island just a little nicer)
S&W 908s
sig 238
Ruger LC380
Walther pk380
Glock 17 (barely)

I am sure there are more but those are the ones I have seen her do. The citadel is easy for her to do and in 9mm it is a tack driver. Pretty much the lightest recoil I have ever shoot in any semi auto expect a 22lr.

A 22 can kill you just like a 45, but it is far more likely that you will unload a mag and then reload if nothing critical is hit. Do people get hit with 8 rounds of 45 and keep fighting? Yes it happens but not nearly as likely. Your goal is to end a fight or stop an attack asap. Can a 22 do it? Yes, but 32acp,32h&r and 380 are low powered and are a far better choice if the shooter can handle it. My point is that there are several in those calibers that are easy to handle in recoil or racking the slide .a 5th grader could rack the slide on a lc380,sig238 or pk380 and shoot it.

well I picked up the LC380. This is what she wanted and if it doesn't work out she can just sell it and start again. It is easy for her to rack, small enough to carry iwb or in pocket but not so small that it has harsh recoil like an lcp. Also, it is defiantly smaller then my shield! In the grip, height, and length. Let me put it this way, the shield seems more like a smaller M&Pc while the LC380 seems like a big LCP. They are similar in size but one drop in the pocket and it is clear that this gun can be pocket carried while the shield is just a little to big and heavy for my taste.

While the trigger is not the best it is totally acceptable for a cc gun and noticeably lighter then the LC9. I hope we get range time this weekend so we can report back. So once again there is a 380 in my home. Am I happy? Yes, because there will be a use for it. Not for me but for my wife. It won't just sit in the safe and collect dust like my last one. I know it's not 9mm or better and if you have seen any of my older posts you know how I feel about the .380 and so does my wife but she WILL carry a gun like this and will be comfortable with it. That was our goal and as long as range time works out this has been a success.

You won't believe this but I found a local ffl who is selling a lightly used ruger LC380 with an extra mag, holster and the original box and paperwork 3 miles from my house for 325. Not a bad deal. Going to meet him tomorrow!

I will update.

239 is a great gun but she already has a S&W 908s which is pretty close in weight and size and it is to big and a little heavy at 25oz unloaded. The 239 is a sweet pistol though.

Update: Well my wife and I went and looked at the LC380 and Walther PK380.

Here are her thoughts: She liked the Walther! It was easy to rack the slide and she liked the feel of it but we both agreed it is to big even for iwb in the summer for her. So it is out.

Ruger LC380: Though it is the same size as the LC9 there are a few things different. First off the trigger pull is still long but it isn't as heavy as the LC9 and she didn't really have a problem with it. While it is still a little big it is definitely smaller then my shield in the grip and slightly in the slide. We put them back to back and while it isn't a huge difference it is 2-3 ounces lighter and just slightly shorter in height then the shield. Also, she prefers the safety. I am not for or against. I just don't use them on DA guns. Don't see the need.

Needless to say we might have a winner and the only problem is the prices locally. The only place we could find one was Gander who has them for 430.00. I didn't pay that much for my shield locally so I think that price is a little high. I would like to buy locally in Houston area but everybody wants to much if they have to order it. So I will be shopping around.

To give you an idea how truly small the Kahr MK9 is for an all steel 9mm check out this link.http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/def ... l-gun.html This is why she likes it. Look half way down the page under poster pogo 2. You wouldn't think by looking at it that it weighs 24 ounces but it is dense!

We have had an opportunity to shoot all the major ones we would like except the LC380 and glock 42. She likes the shield and xds but they are a little bigger then she wants. Remember a Cm9 kahr is a full grip for her. It isn't the grip being to small but the light weight of some of these mini 9s is just to much recoil. The only 9mm that is small and comfortable for her to shoot is the mk9. It is just unfortunate that kahr has such strong springs. The LC9 she loved in the hand and was easy to work the slide. It was a little lighter and smaller then the shield but she hated the trigger and of course it recoiled more then the shield or xds so it is a no go. I tried the Nano several months back and she wouldn't go for it. To much recoil for her, plus it has no slide stop for her.

Ruger just announced a new striker fired LC9, maybe in a few months it will trickle down to the LC380 and then I think she would want it. I think she would love the g42 but she and I must admit I am leery about a Glock for her carry gun if she ever pocket carries. I have no problems carrying a glock in a hip holster and we both love their triggers but I am a little worried about that light trigger and no safety while in her front pocket.

I know it might be unfounded but I have never felt comfortable putting my Glock 27 (even though its to heavy) in my front pocket with a round in the chamber even with the desantis holster. Also, she has been shooting the shield more and is more accurate with it then the sig 238. So that has caused her to second guess the sig 238.

Like I said, she is in no hurry and is in love with the shield but wishes it was a little smaller. She keeps talking about the mk9 and how it was great even with the DAO trigger. Might give kahr a call and see what they say about a lighter spring. It probably will effect the reliability of the gun is my guess but I will check into it.

Thanks, for the input. Spring guns and ammo is the place where most of the firearms were rented.

Also if any of you see the current unicorn for rent (Glock 42) in Houston let me know.

Pps is a great gun! I rented it twice at my LGS. I could have easily bought the Pps over the shield but $125-150 difference and the fact that even though the grip seems the same to me it is not to my wife. I still might some day!
The grip on the Pps is similar to the sig 290 in the fact that they are both thin from side to side but a little thicker back to front in the grip then guns like kahr shield xds etc. While I never noticed it my wife picked up the Pps at the range even with the small back strap and sure enough it was evident. I am talking maybe.1-. 2 tenths at most but it made my wife's already short fingers not get enough contact with the trigger.

I think we are at the point where carry around a firearm is going to be more important then size if she stays with a 9mm and since the xds is. 2 tenths shorter in height then even my shield. So I think I am going to try and find her an xds 4.0 to shoot. This might be an option if she can deal with the
.7 tenths longer barrel in her shorts or pants.

It is not hard to find these guns to buy but it can be a challenge to find a range to rent. If any of you know a range on the north side of Houston that has an xds 4.0 in 9mm for rent let me know.

Exactly Sew! I hung up a round in the kahr and after two tries she got the round out by pulling back the slide just enough after she dropped the mag. Problem solved right? Wrong! She couldn't get the slide all the way back to re-install the mag. She would be totally dependent on the slide locking back on the last round. If it did jam the gun would be useless if she couldn't clear the malfunction with the mag still in place. Once that slide goes foward it has a 20 pound factory spring. The first time I tried it I thought the gun was broke until my LGS said pull on it like you mean it and I got it back the second try but this was a loose gun with thousands of rounds threw it.

As for the xds she held but did not fire. I was thinking about the xds 9mm 4.0. Extra barrel length might tame it a little and still be easy to conceal. The xds is slightly smaller in height then the shield.Pps is to wide from front to back. She can barely grip and reach the trigger. Same for sig 290. Emp she likes but that is a winter carry option. To big same for xdm.

Mainly for clearing a misfeed if need be. She wants to be able to clear all ftf and fte by herself. She wants the confidence to be able to completely control the firearm. All of her other 9mms she can clear quickly if there is a ftf or fte. She is just physically very tiny! 4 feet 10inchs and her hands are tiny as well. She can put all three fingers on the small sub compact kahrs like the mk9 or cm9 with no pinky hangoff. Thats how small her hands are.She always has her guns loaded with one in the chamber.

This is nothing new for her. She started off with revolvers back in 05 and as she got comfortable she moved into the 9mm semi autos and prefers them over her old sp101 but she never shoots it much anymore. She is in no hurry and next week we are going to look at some more semi autos to shoot.

Tried the LC9 and she liked the thin grip but she shot the shield so much better and they are close enough in size that she would go with the shield.

The other thing is that the sig 238 slide is easy for her to pull back and rack a round in the chamber. Same went with the 938. She could rack it but the recoil in the 938 is more then she wants to deal with.

I know there is no free lunch when it comes to recoil but how hard is it to make a all steel sub compact 9mm that the average women can rack. Kahr almost hit a home run here.

Well if she goes .380 there is no confusion with the way she will go. 238 HD 100%. It weighs 20oz unloaded and the recoil is a joke. It meets every thing we want except caliber.

9mm we are still searching. If sig made a 938 HD she might go with that but it only weighs 17oz as is and it just snaps to much for her. It is a noticeable increase in recoil over my shield. Also, she loves single action but it is not a deal killer. This is why she loves a 1911 crisp single action and its heavy.

Though neither of us is excited about the .380 for power how often do we wear 4 layers of denim during the year? When we do wear thicker clothing for our 6 weeks of winter season here in southeast Texas she could easily conceal a 9mm under her jacket.