Ruger LC9 1000 Round Review Update

Ruger LC9 with flat magazine plate
Ruger LC9 with flat magazine plate

I recently shot another 300 rounds of American Eagle 115 grain and 200 rounds of steel cased Tulammo to complete my Ruger LC9 1000 Round Review Update. The Ruger LC9 continues to impress me as a very reliable concealed carry 9mm pistol. After installing the Galloway modified trigger bar and hammer the trigger pull is noticeably shorter and eliminates my tendency to flinch before the break.

 

Keep finger off trigger
Keep finger off trigger

The modified trigger pull is quite short and amplifies the safety rule “Keep your finger off the trigger” until you have the front sight on the target. This small Ruger with shortened pull trigger won’t be at all forgiving of bad habits like resting your finger on the trigger. It does have a firing pin block so, like a Glock, it is pretty much impossible for it to fire if the trigger is not pulled, so keep finger off trigger!There is also an external

Brass cased American Eagle and steel cased Tulammo
Brass cased American Eagle and steel cased Tulammo

lever safety which can be used or not depending on your preference.

My accuracy is much improved with the shortened pull trigger. Shooting at 15 yards yielded an 8 to 10 inch group which would be a 4“ – 5” group at 7 yards. I found accuracy was better using the cheaper Tulammo steel cased ammo than with the better quality American Eagle. I didn’t shoot any self defense ammo during this range session.

 

The pistol is comfortable to shoot. I had previously commented about the snappy recoil and comfort of shooting the gun. I went through 500 rounds during this shooting session and did not notice the snap and discomfort I was expecting. After 500 rounds I had a couple blisters, one on my trigger finger and another on the right ring finger where it rubbed against the aggressive front strap checkering. Other than that, it was OK to shoot. Not as comfortable as the Beretta Nano but not near as uncomfortable as shooting the Kel-Tec PF9.

I’ve received comments from a couple experienced gun owners informing me that these small CCW guns aren’t meant to be range guns for shooting lots of rounds. I agree, most people will never continuously shoot hundreds of rounds through a small CCW pistol. All this shooting is part of my confidence building and reliability testing. After several practice sessions shooting hundreds of rounds, it has proven to be reliable. I have confidence in this little 9mm and have no worries about carrying it for self defense.

Reliability has been excellent. There were no FTE or jams while continuously shooting 500 rounds. The slide did fail to lock open after the last round twice during this session. On the previous range session I had the pinky extension installed on the magazine and several times the magazine was pulled out during recoil. Changing to the flat magazine base eliminated the problem and resulted in no further inadvertent magazine releases, however I will contact Ruger about this. The magazine coming out while using the pinky extension is not acceptable. I only have the one original magazine purchased with the gun so I couldn’t isolate the issue to the magazine or to the pistol.

Although the Galloway modification provides a marked improvement in trigger feel it is important to note that when using the Galloway modified parts, the hammer does not travel as far as the original equipment hammer. This is not an issue with most LC9’s using quality ammunition with Boxer primers. But using cheap ammo with Berdan primers may result in FTF because of soft strikes. I experienced 5 such soft strike failures to fire while shooting Berdan primed Tulammo. Berdan primers are harder than Boxer primers and require more force to ignite. Each of the rounds that failed to fire on the first strike did fire on the second trigger pull and second strike. Of course the trigger had to be reset manually, not acceptable if using quality self defense ammunition but considering the circumstances when using cheap ammo with hard primers this is not a major issue.

The reports of soft strikes makes me curious to find out if the trigger break can be moved forward and still maintain full hammer travel. I’m, thinking I’ll try the short pull trigger bar with the factory hammer. Galloway mentions that the shortened trigger bar only works with the modified hammer. If I try this it will require fitting of the trigger bar and also won’t provide any quick reset.

The shortened trigger bar was first done by an innovative owner who cut the bar with a hacksaw and welded it back together. He ended up shortening the bar by about .040, the width of the hacksaw blade cut. To get it to work, he fitted the trigger bar to the hammer by trial and error. Here is my post describing the LC9 shortened trigger bar procedure with a link to the original post.

To summarize my 1000 Round Review and update I have to say that I think this Ruger has proven to be an excellent concealed carry 9mm pistol. It has been very reliable for me so far and shoots a wide range of ammunition. It is great for concealed carry just the way it is right out of the box.

My only complaint has been the long trigger pull and especially the break so far back against the frame that it affected my accuracy.

Installing the Galloway trigger modification certainly improves the trigger, I like it, but it also shortens hammer travel which may cause light strikes and FTF. I have only experienced FTF using cheap ammo with hard primer. All the American made Boxer primed ammunition I shot worked fine. All high quality American made self defense ammo uses Boxer primers so there shouldn’t be a problem.

My other issue at this time is with the magazine dropping when using the pinky extension. I’ll call Ruger about this, I’m sure it will be easily corrected.

6 thoughts on “Ruger LC9 1000 Round Review Update”

  1. The Galloway trigger modification has left me with a LC9 that has FTFs due to light strikes with Tulammo ammo. Eric Galloway advises me not to use this type of ammo with his modification. Currently, with the ammo shortage of 9mm many stores are only stocking this type of ammo. So for those who still decide to go with the Galloway trigger modification, just beware of this very possible and likely situation. Personally, it makes me feel very uncomfortable carrying the LC9 with the Galloway modifications for a CCW defense pistol that has such a light strike on the firing pin. For those who decide that the modification is worth the shorter and lighter trigger, just remember to avoid use any ammo that uses Berdan primers.

  2. Would you happen to have the stock hammer an trigger bar for the lc9 iif you do i would like to buy them from you

  3. Thanks Mike,
    That’s some good information. I only have one mag for my LC9. I also have read about the lock back issue with certain manufacture magazines.

  4. I own an LC9. I have two magazines, one made in Italy and one made in USA. This concerns the slide not lacking back when empty. I had read reviews and so was concerned. My pistol did not lock open consistently with both magazines. So using my thumb nail I pushed down on the small shoulder of the magazine follower of each and found a lot of resistance. That small shoulder is what pushes the lever up when magazine is empty. I pushed the follower down a quarter of inch about 25 times. Took mag apart and using a scotchbrite pad softly rubbed any “witness marks” away. Then I put the magazine back together and repeated the process. After doing this three times to each mag the initial resistance was decreased and slide stayed back when empty.
    Hope this helps.

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