Sorry to bring this back after a couple weeks, but I bought one a couple weeks ago and have been really happy with it. The LCP Max was $329 again at Sportsman's Warehouse, and I impulse-bought over the 'net and then drove in to pick it up as soon as I got the email that it had arrived.
Did the 4473, drove right from the store to the range and shot it right out of the box. Put 150 rounds of ball (S&B, Winchester, Remington, Fiocchi & the Bosnian Maxxtech stuff (which is surprisingly good)). through it, mostly in 10+1 strings. Had two malfs, both with S&B - round #9 of the second string (slide locked open on loaded mag; pretty sure I didn't touch slide lock; slingshotted and back to it) and round #8 of the third (failure to eject extracted empty; tap, rack/flick and back to it). The 10-round magazine was initially most difficult to load fully, and I suspect that wearing in the mag was the issue. No more malfs as the mag became normal to load. This is the first gun with "slide cocking wings" I've shot that actually seemed to benefit from them (the others were two .22 LRs and a .380 EZ) - no healthy adult "needs" them, but they felt like a nice bit of engineering on this steatopygous Elsie.
Didn't chrono, but based on two other LCPs, I'm planning on carrying S&B ball (had no problems with it over the rest of the box).
The thicker gripframe worked well in my grip and is superior in a man's grasp to the original skinny one. The fully SA trigger was much nicer than the long DA-sans-restrike original, but want anything to brag about. The sights are held to be better and they
are just lovely, but I'm not sure they wind up practically better. Unlike the fat ramps on the second iteration of the LCP, these make you want to actually slow down and precisely aim ... not that you get better results than I do with the put-the-fat-thing-on-the-target-and-stroke of the LCP's first revamp that I still have around. Anyway, actual accuracy was no better than the original Elsie (to wit: the same as most J-frames in my hands at 10 yards - meh, but exactly as expected), though these sights might not have been regulated to where this ammo was going (low, for the most part - although I got some first rounds exactly at my POA, so maybe it's me. That's probably the way to be, I guess). Tritium front sight works great in the dark and it just fits perfectly into the notch of the black, ramped, serrated rear - whether light or dark. The sights are really beautifully done - I'm just not sure it makes any practical difference. At night, the LCP Max's front tritium is one of the better big, fat glowing dots I've ever seen, though - and I've been running tritiums on guns since '89, I think.
After shooting, the LCP Max was dirtier than I'd expected (especially compared to the much-cleaner-than-you'd-think LCP-II .22 LR that I recently picked up) and I flipped the mag release for lefty pocket carry while cleaning.
The Bosnian MaxxTech ammo was the most accurate of the types I tried, and actually made decently small groups. The others were more random, whether off the bags or offhand (I did mostly two-hand-supported offhand shooting, but some one-hand, both strong and weak); it certainly could be that I just need to get more used to the gun. Often I'd find the first shot going precisely to where my sights were pointed, but subsequent shots spreading out.
Also, the trigger is interesting. Loooong SA. It has some creep with big grits, but when it finally "walls up," it walls-up good and solid, and CHUNK! - you're off to the races. Then there's an almost aggressive reset (which I dug), but it's LOOOONG. At least there's not false reset as on some of Ruger's fine DA revolvers. P-)
This is the fourth LCP I've bought. Gave the first one away after buying the second (raspberry color, with the model upgrades), bought the .22 recently and now this one. I certainly appreciate a J-frame (and have had them since the mid-Eighties), but these are lower profile (thinner, smaller size and less weight make for easy hiding). And the Max holds significantly more rounds.
"Rocket" Rob Leahy got this Simply Rugged Pocket Protector to me faster than you can say, "Prescott, Arizona."
And, as a 20%-off premade, it wound up being cheaper than an eBay no-name.
With a 12-rounder in place, the gun has a feel reminiscent of the PX4 Compact's: long in the grip but short in the slide. Which is not in any way bad; I comment only because it's unusual for my concealed guns to feel longer in the gripframe than in the barrel/slide assembly.
With the 12+1 in place, the LCP Max still pocket-carries (at least in the primary pockets of my LAPG casual "cargo" pants) very well in the Simply Rugged Pocket Protector - maybe a little better (at least in these pants) than it does with the 10-rounder, as the holstered gun seems to fill the pocket better front-to-back and doesn't want to rotate as much. I suspect the situation might be different with different pants (tighter jeans, for instance).
Anyhow, I like it! I hope this might be of interest to someone considering one.
