Ruger LCR-22

I posted the announcement of the new Ruger LCR-22 last Friday. I had a chance to handle one in the flesh, so to speak, today at The Gun Rack in Kernersville, North Carolina.

While the MSRP of the LCR-22 is $524, The Gun Rack was selling it for $399. Having bought guns from them in the past, they tend to price their Rugers at the low range.

My first impression of the LCR-22 was that it was almost an exact clone of the LCR in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. The weight felt close to my .38 Special version and it felt very similar in my hand. The sights appeared to be the same as with the original LCR. I have changed mine long ago to the XS Sights Standard Dot tritium sights so I’m going on memory.

I did find the trigger pull felt heavier than that of its bigger brothers. This was a subjective evaluation and was not measured with a trigger pull scale. I didn’t feel any stacking of the trigger unlike in my Colt Detective Special.

If you are thinking of getting one as a training gun, I’d suggest renting one first to see how you like it. The heavier trigger pull was a bit of a negative for me but your experience might be different.

Ruger just posted this on their website which makes the LCR-22 official:

Ruger Introduces the LCR in .22 LR

December 16, 2011

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is proud to announce the new Ruger® LCR-22, an eight-shot revolver that offers all the features of the award-winning LCR®, chambered in the popular and economical .22 Long Rifle cartridge.

“The LCR has proven its worth since its introduction in 2009, and has become an extremely popular compact revolver for concealed carry,” said Chris Killoy, Ruger Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our customers asked for a rimfire LCR for low cost practice at the range, and the LCR-22 fills that need. Furthermore, this gun disputes the notion that small-frame, rimfire revolvers come with heavy trigger pulls; the LCR-22’s non-stacking trigger pull is highly manageable. In fact, we believe the LCR has the best trigger pull of any factory double-action revolver on the market, and we urge our customers to visit their retailer and try it out for themselves,” he concluded.

The newest LCR maintains all the features of the critically acclaimed original LCR. The 1-7/8″ barrel and eight-shot cylinder are constructed of stainless steel, and the cylinder is highly fluted to reduce weight. The frame is machined from an aerospace-grade aluminum forging, and the fire control housing is molded from rugged and durable glass-filled nylon. The fire control system utilizes Ruger’s patented friction reducing cam that provides a uniquely smooth, non-stacking trigger pull.

For more information on the new LCR-22 revolver, or to learn more about the extensive line of award-winning Ruger firearms, visit Ruger.com or Facebook.com/Ruger. To find accessories for the LCR-22 and other Ruger firearms, visit ShopRuger.com.

The spec sheet is below:

UPDATE: Weer’d Beard pointed out this review video by Jeff Quinn over at Gunblast.com.

UPDATE II: Mark Keefe, editor of the American Rifleman, has a review up on his blog The Keefe Report. He has some good pictures of this new revolver especially of the cylinder. He says regarding the trigger:

Ruger put a lot of time and engineering effort into making the LCR suitable for mass production, as well as improving the double-action-only trigger pull by making several of the action’s engagement surfaces round-on-round contact points to allow for a smooth trigger pull. The other thing about the LCR is you can stack, or stage, the trigger repeatably. With practice, you can get a precise shot off almost as if it were a single-action. That is quite a trick with a rimfire version of the LCR in .22, which requires more firing pin energy. This means you must have either a heavier hammer or stiffer springs than a center-fire, but my preliminary shooting and handling of the new LCR indicate that Ruger pulled it off admirably.

UPDATE III: Michael Bane’s take on the new Ruger LCR-22. He thinks it would be a great addition to a bug-out bag.

Michael Bane on the Downrange Radio podcast hinted that Ruger would be announcing a new firearm today. While nothing is showing up on their website -yet – it looks like someone at GunsAmerica may have jumped the gun so to speak.

They have a full review of the Ruger LCR-22. Go the the link above to see pictures of it.

A description from their review:

My review gun came in at 14.8 ounces empty on my stamps.com electronic scale, but the reported weight is 14.9 ounces. The balance point is at the back of the cylinder which I consider ideal for a snub nose revolver. It comes on target out of the holster quickly, thanks in part to the great balance as well as the natural grip angle and excellent rubber grip from Hogue.

The hammer is completely enclosed making, this a double-action-only (DAO) revolver and eliminating a potential snag for anyone interested in concealed carry. The DAO trigger, like its bigger brothers, is very smooth with no stacking and little overtravel. It measured right around 12 pounds but didn’t seem that much thanks to the way they cam the trigger.

The LCR-22 is compact, little more than 6.25” long and 1.25” wide. It sits so lightly in a holster or in your pocket that you’ll forget it’s there

The big news, of course is that you can now get it in .22 caliber which opens the opportunity to do a lot more shooting since .22 ammo is inexpensive and widely available. The LCR-22 will handle .22 short, .22 long, and .22 long rifle ammo, including shot shells, which means that you can personalize it for your needs.

 MSRP is $525 which means the street price will be much less. Looks like a good gun with which to train on as well as a nice little trail gun.

From Jim Shepherd at The Outdoor Wire who notes that the announcement is scheduled for 11am today:

Early this week, I received another “secret” gun from Ruger for testing and evaluation. Like the .357 Magnum SP101 announced last week, I liked it.

Ditto everyone else I know who’s gotten one for testing. My FFL liked it, too. So well he wanted to place an order for “as many as I can get”. Seems this caliber is “very, very hot”. A decidedly un-scientific survey of several retailer shelves would seem to confirm that demand.

Ruger may once again have responded to (or anticipated) market demand for a concealed carry handgun.One of the major attractions of the original in this category was a (surprisingly) good trigger. The newest offering is no different. Its accuracy and an enhanced capacity should also add appeal.

Yes, I’m being vague – intentionally. Ruger’s rollout schedule keeps us from being able to announce the new gun in time for this morning’s edition.

We’ve never broken an embargo and we’re not going to start in our final edition of 2011. So, you’ll have to take my word (at least for a few more hours) on this one. If you’re really, really curious, I’ll tweet a brief summary (like 140 characters worth) at 11a.m. Eastern (@jimshepherd)