Ruger LCR .22LR

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Bought one today at the shop. Another of these good deals that are keeping me broke.

Was wondering if anyone here has one they have changed out the mainspring on, and
if so, what results you saw as far as lightened trigger pull and reliable ignition.
There are all sorts of horror stories on the net about the atrocious trigger pull, and reduced reliability
when trying to improve things. Of course, I haven't even had the chance to try it out yet. It might
be totally acceptable as is. I want my wife to be able to shoot it.

Any advice will be appreciated, but not necessarily followed. ;)
 
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My wife has arthritis, and she has difficulty with my J-frames in DA. I picked up a used LCR in 38, she has no trouble with the DA trigger pull! My S-I-L also has arthritis and she uses he LCR 22 all the time. These are both stock/right out of the box!

I hate to say this but, if you think the trigger is good, but your wife just can't use it; it ain't the gun! Your wife probably doesn't like the idea. There are very few women who enjoy the gun culture, my wife grew up around it, while her sister love it, but my wife only tolerates it (but very well).

Ivan
 
Try it out. I know someone who has one and I don't think it is any worse than the trigger on the C****** A*** or T***** .22s. It's not as light as the .357 version, but its no bear either. My friend, she uses the .22 to practice. (She EDCs the .357.) You can think of it akin to weights on a baseball bat as you take practice swings.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet, that is how World War One started.
-Abraham Lincoln
 
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My wife has the LCR 22 Mag. The trigger pull on it is manageable for her (she has arthritis in wrists) but it is definitely not as easy of a pull as my LCR 38.


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Bought one for my mother years ago. As I was sitting and dry firing it, it would lock up!!! Sent it back and they replaced the hand, pawl and something else. Lost all confidence in it and other plastic revolvers. I feel much more comfortable with the tried and true J frames (which are lighter than the Ruger). I'm sure that they are good revolvers, I just can't get past that lock up with the first one I bought.
 
Had a Ruger LCR in 22 LR and thought the trigger was bad but it was an early one maybe they are improved
 
Ivan the Butcher said:
I hate to say this but, if you think the trigger is good, but your wife just can't use it; it ain't the gun!

Ivan
Click to expand...

Oh, but the gun can make a tremendous difference.
I don't know whether the trigger is good. I have only dry-fired a few times.
My wife and daughter both have 442s as their carry guns. Both have spring kits in them, one
Wolff and one Apex. Reducing the pull from 12-14 pounds to 6-8 lbs made all the difference. They
both shot well enough for the first one or two shots, but struggling with the heavy trigger twisted
the gun in their hand by the third and subsequent shots. The springs cured that.

I guess what I'm asking is if it is possible to get the same or at least similar results with the Ruger. The
only experience I have with changing springs on a rimfire was a S&W j-frame .22 magnum. A reduced
power mainspring resulted in 30%-40% failure to fire. I quickly put the factory spring back in the gun.

As I said, I haven't had the chance to shoot it yet. Possibly, hopefully, it will be acceptable as is. I was
Just hoping to benefit from someone's prior experiences, if possible.
 
What I understand is that by using a reduced power hammer spring on the rimfire results in less than ideal ignition. How much of a reduction on hammer spring weight is tolerable and still getting reliable ignition.....I don’t know.


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Many years ago I came across a very nice .22 caliber M34 for sale (at a very reasonable price) at a LGS. So I bought it.

Soft six pound or so trigger, I am guessing. Removing the stocks I found Bubba had replaced the main spring. With Bubba's spring and immaculately clean it would fire 6 or 18 shots flawlessly, depending on how dirty the ammo was. After that it would start misfiring. If I held it barrel high and shook it gently before each shot I could induce about 1 misfire per 2 shots. If I held it muzzle down and gently shook it before each shot it was good for a few more cylinders without issue.

Obviously the small amount of soot was holding those light little .22 lr cartridges out from the cylinder face, and enough of the energy supplied by the Bubba-bilt spring was being absorbed moving the cartridge forward that it often did not ignite.

One new factory spring later, and no misfires I can recall. But it never gets truly filthy.
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
Bought one for my mother years ago. As I was sitting and dry firing it, it would lock up!!! Sent it back and they replaced the hand, pawl and something else. Lost all confidence in it and other plastic revolvers. I feel much more comfortable with the tried and true J frames (which are lighter than the Ruger). I'm sure that they are good revolvers, I just can't get past that lock up with the first one I bought.
Click to expand...

Don's see the point in being soured on a whole line of guns or anything else based on one negative experience.

If your experience had been positive, would you assume that every single specimen of that gun ever made was perfect?
If your car broke down, would you never drive that car again, or never buy another one like it?
 
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smoothshooter said:
Don's see the point in being soured on a whole line of guns or anything else based on one negative experience.

If your experience had been positive, would you assume that every single specimen of that gun ever made was perfect?
If your car broke down, would you never drive that car again, or never buy another one like it?
Click to expand...

No, but I got food poisoning from mint ice cream once as a kid.

And after all night trowing up on the bedroom floor, smelling and tasting it, I've never eaten mint ice cream again (and I'm 68 now).
 




I did not change the mainspring on mine - there's a reason it's there and there's a reason Ruger engineers (who know a thing or two about rimfire primers and who have every interest in making the gun as pleasant to fire as possible) made it that heavy.






It's a heavy DAO pull, for sure. I use mine (with the "boot grips") as an understudy for my regular DA snubs (if I can shoot the LCR-22 well, I can shoot them well), and also as a known exemplar for my chronograph. It's one of those guns I'm glad to have (it pretty much always goes to the range any time I do), but for which I have no affection at all.
 
As it turns out, the trigger pull is very manageable. Both my wife and daughter do well with it. My daughter tried to claim it, but I vetoed that idea. For now, it is my golf cart handgun, and my wife takes it with her when she walks on the farm. A very handy little piece. Eventually, my daughter will wind up taking it home with her.
 
Didn't even know what an LCR 22 was, so I looked it up online. Seriously, $400 plus for that! I hope you guys are getting a "lot" better prices on these things than what I saw. If not, there's a bridge in Macon I would like to sell you.
 
DocB said:
Didn't even know what an LCR 22 was, so I looked it up online. Seriously, $400 plus for that! I hope you guys are getting a "lot" better prices on these things than what I saw. If not, there's a bridge in Macon I would like to sell you.
Click to expand...


Did you wave your cane before you typed that? ;) Mine was $350, delivered, IIRC. $50 more than the .38 Special version was. :)
 
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DocB said:
Didn't even know what an LCR 22 was, so I looked it up online. Seriously, $400 plus for that! I hope you guys are getting a "lot" better prices on these things than what I saw. If not, there's a bridge in Macon I would like to sell you.
Click to expand...

Actually, I got a great deal on mine. We bought it at the pawn shop, incidentally very near a couple of those bridges in Macon, and after the mandatory 10 day hold, I bought it from the shop for $50 over what we paid. Substantially less than the $400 plus suggested retail for a new one.
 
DocB said:
Didn't even know what an LCR 22 was, so I looked it up online. Seriously, $400 plus for that! I hope you guys are getting a "lot" better prices on these things than what I saw. If not, there's a bridge in Macon I would like to sell you.
Click to expand...

They go for less than that.

Stainless cylinder vs S&W 317 is aluminum = + 1 for Ruger.

Aluminum frame on Ruger as is S&W 317. Tougher finish on the Ruger though. My 317 finish wore through quickly and was very soft. My 637 has very little of whatever the silver paint / whatever finish left. The LCR 22 and LCR 38 the finish is holding up perfectly.

Easy to change front sight (Fiber optic option) the S&W is fixed = + 1 for Ruger

Trigger - My LCR 22 and LCR 38 both have better DA triggers than the 317 and 637 they replaced.
 
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