Ruger LC9 Review: Part 6

Ruger LC9 Review With LaserMax
Part 6 - Range Test
March 25, 2012

In this part of my review of the Ruger LC9 with LaserMax Pistol I wanted to check the functionality of the pistol along as well as get some idea on the basic accuracy of the pistol. To do this I selected a combination of value practice, value defense and premium defense 9mm Luger ammunition. The selection also covered steel, brass and nickel-plated brass cases with a variety of standard 9mm bullet weights. I also had to toss in some +P ammunition since the owner's manual said it was +P capable. The ammunition I selected for the review is as follows.

Figure 1

To start out, I shot a box of the Herter's 115 gr FMJ to get a feel for trigger pull and point of aim for the sights. I found the sights to be dead on at 7 yards and made no adjustments. As mentioned in other parts of the review, the trigger travel seems long, but after I started shooting a couple of magazines I never thought of the travel as being a negative aspect of the pistol.

Next I decided to shoot groups of the various ammunition to get a feel for the bench accuracy of the pistol. Keep in mind that my bench accuracy was measured at an indoor range with 10 lanes where most were full (extremely noisy and hot brass flying over the wall) and I was resting on a bag while my targets bounced slightly down range. Each of my groups were shot at about 8 yards. I ended up with a total group average of 1.49". These results are similar but not quite as good as that from a review by Guns & Ammo magazine where they got a total group average of 2.72" at 50 feet. Overall I was very pleased with the accuracy considering that the LC9 is clearly not a target pistol.

Ammunition	Maximum	Minimum	Average
Federal Premium 9mm Luger 147 gr Hydra-Shok JHP	1.50*	1.08	1.26
Hornady Critical Defense 9mm Luger 115 gr FTX	2.08	1.24	1.76
Hornady Critical Duty 9mm Luger +P 135 gr FlexLock	1.93	1.14	1.40
Wolf Gold 9mm Luger 147 gr Copper JHP	1.44	1.21	1.37
WPA Military Classic 9mm Luger 115 gr FMJ	2.18	1.39	1.69
* Two of these groups clearly had bad shots so I added half the stray distance to the group measurement.		Total Average	1.49

These next photos give you an idea of some of the groups shot while at the range. Keep in mind that each of the large black circles is a 4" circle and at 8 yards the Ruger LC9 pistol is easily capable of putting all rounds into the circle provided you do your part.

Figure 2 Figure 3

Figure 4 Figure 5

Next I sighted in the LaserMax for this 8 yard distance and was pleased with it's use. I found it a little humorous at how aware I was of the other people at the range watching my dot on the target. The slight dim lighting and hint of smoke in the room made the laser really stand out and several people made comments when I turned it on.

Last I ran the remaining WPA, Blazer and Herter's through the pistol and it functioned flawlessly with everything I put through it. At this point I have somewhere around 300 rounds through the pistol without a single issue.

Thoughts

I'm pleased with the range performance of the Ruger LC9 pistol. It has the accuracy capable of being a real carry pistol and has been 100% reliable with every type of ammunition I have put through the pistol. It being +P capable makes the Ruger LC9 a compact 9mm pistol that can carry a real punch. The LaserMax CenterFire laser is a great addition that is very appealing to less trained shooter when it comes to aiming, but the bottom line is that you still need to have good form and trigger control to be able to put your rounds on target.

For more detailed photos and commentary, make sure you check out the other parts of this review and feel free to leave comments on my Reader's Comments page. The following links are provided to help you see other parts of this review.

Ruger LC9 Review: Part 1 - Introduction, Specifications and Summary
Ruger LC9 Review: Part 2 - What's in the Box
Ruger LC9 Review: Part 3 - External & Operational Features
Ruger LC9 Review: Part 4 - Disassembly
Ruger LC9 Review: Part 5 - Internal Features
Ruger LC9 Review: Part 6 - Range Test (this page)

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