This is the third contribution from my esteemed guest blogger Henry “The Old Man from Tennessee”. Henry is 88 years old and lives up on a mountain in rural Tennessee. He has been shooting all his life and I truly enjoy his contributions….
The Old Man’s Gun- Ruger LCR
Messing around with the Ruger LCR (Light Compact Revolver). A good trigger. DA only. No snaggy, draggy hammer spur. Small and light enough for easy concealment and all-day carry. Better than anything you may have at home or out in the truck.
Available in .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .22 Magnum, and .22LR. Too light for the round in .38 Special unless you use very light loads. Insanely so in .357 Magnum. Personally think the .22 Magnum offers no advantage. The LCR in .22LR is my choice.
With LCR in .22LR, eight-round capacity. Plink or practice with relatively inexpensive general-purpose Federal bulk .36 grain HP loads at 1260 fps or something equivalent.
For carry, I use Aguila 60 grain subsonic RN lead loads at 950 fps. 480 grains of lead in the palm of your hand. Excellent penetration. Can dump them in the threat very fast and accurately because of lack of recoil. Relatively easy on the ears if shot with no protection. Bullet not stabilized well in very short barrels, but a little yawing not necessarily bad for personal defense at 5 or 10 feet. Makes for a nasty wound track.
Work on “Gunfighter Drill.” “The Firestorm.” Two quick point-shooting double taps to confuse the threat. Immediately follow-up with four very fast sight-aimed deliberates to convince him. Speed-surprise-multiple rapid impacts is the winning combination for the small .22LR revolvers.
If you have doubts, carry a .38 Special snubby as backup to ease your mind. But you probably won’t need it.
I echo Henry’s opinion. I really like the LCR, especially in .22 long rifle. I would go for it in .22 magnum, but it only holds six rounds instead of the regular eight. I think the .22 mag is a worthwhile improvement over the long rifle, but not at the cost of losing two rounds.
I haven’t found that the .38s that I’ve shot have recoiled excessively. The gun weighs around 13 oz, which is the same as the Smith and Wesson airweight series. For me, the recoil seems less noticeable than in the airweights. Perhaps it’s the grip design. But, I’m not 88 years old either. Perceived recoil is subjective and depends a lot on each shooter. If you are exceptionally recoil shy, this probably isn’t the gun for you. Like Henry, I don’t see any reason to have this one in .357 magnum.
If you are looking for a good snub .38 or .22 carry revolver, give the LCR a try.
