Ruger Announces the New .22 LR LCP II Lite Rack Pistol

1. Unlike that (almost) full size Glock with a 10rds capacity, and sh** trigger, this is a relevant and interesting product. I am not even a Ruger fan although I have a 10/22. They have a good reputation as an American company and 2A advocates (you’d think all gun manufacturers would), but most of their items feel “cheap” and the fact many owners praise their customer service might not be such a good thing, I’d rather not have any experience with customer service.

   • Boy glock missed out!

   • {Ruger}

     “…but most of their items feel “cheap”…”

     Really? Pick up a Ruger magnum revolver (*any* of them) and say that with a straight face…

     Sheesh…

   • NONE of my many Rugers feel cheap; all are very well built and function great. Ironically, a lot of people say that Rugers are over built. Keep in mind that Ruger CS very often repairs problems that were caused by the owner at NO charge. Also it does not matter if you are the original purchaser or the 6th, they will repair the issue, often at no charge–that is why their CS is rated so great. For contrast, try Taurus; original purchaser only and agonizingly long repair turnarounds. I bought a new Mark IV and it was recalled a week later for an issue that either Taurus or Remington would have dismissed and told you to read the owner’s manual. From the day that I mailed until the day I got it back was 10 days; that counted shipping times. And for my so called ‘inconvenience’ they sent and extra mag back. Ruger is also 100% American down to the raw materials. Henry is another one; ‘Made in America or Not Made At All’. At least when it comes to firearms, I can buy American.

   • Plastic guns in general feel weird and less-than when compared to a steel framed pistol.

     My SR9 and C feel pretty tight and robust compared to most other plastic fantastics.

     My Glock 43 and 48 feel pretty good compared to the 19 I once had.

     My LCRs dont have the heft of Smifh model 36 or 49 but are tight as drums after a couple thousand rounds.

     My newest with the black cylinder coating dont even show a turn ring after all those rounds.

     There feel different, but light does not equal cheap to me. I will say the plastic grip overlay on the Ruger American pistol feels cheap. Reminds me of old , cheap bakelite gripped tools.

   • “They have a good reputation as an American company and 2A advocates…”

     Bill was a FUDD. We are still paying for his shortsightedness.

     “The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines,” Ruger said in a letter to Congress in 1989.

     “By a simple, complete, and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining ‘assault rifles’ and ‘semi-automatic rifles’ is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could prohibit their possession or sale and would effectively implement these objectives.”

     • Ruger’s been pretty solid since Bill died, and its been what 15-20 years now?

       Yes, Bill betrayed us.😡
       More recently, Ruger has gone a long way towards making ammends.🙂

       Also, some of Ruger’s poly guns feel a bit chinsy, and their old school revolvers and Mark series pistols absolutely do not.

       My LCP, SR22, and Security 9 work great and I like them, but they might feel a bit chinsy.

       My Security Six is a beast, and my 22/45 is also great. My AR556 is just a run of the mill AR.

       Six Rugers, I guess that means I like them.

   • Ruger as pro2A, what magic mushroom 🍄 did you have on your pizza?
     William Batterman Ruger notoriously said, “…prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines…” True champions of the Second Amendment!
     What part of that statement is congruous with the Second Amendment, particularly the part that states, “shall not be infringed?”

     • He’s dead. The current company is pro2a

       • Ditto

2. No manual safety and I would get one. Maybe I misread but it didn’t sound optuonal.

   • Just wait 6 months and the “pro” model will be out.

     I have two daughters that are turning 21 in the next couple years. I’ll be taking a close look at these. My wife insisted on getting a 9mm for herself, but she carries it maybe once every three months. Too big and heavy. Best gun is the one yagotonya…

     • Joel,

       You cannot get any smaller, thinner, or lighter than Ruger’s LCP pistol chambered in .380 ACP.

       While that caliber and short barrel are far from an ideal self-defense handgun, it is unequivocally superior to being unarmed. And it WILL do the job at contact distances 98% of the time.

       To be blunt: no mugger/rapist is going to shrug-off two or three bullet wounds from an LCP pistol (chambered in .380 ACP) and continue their robbery/rape.

       In the absolute worst case scenario, your wife enrages her attacker with those wounds, he kills her, and then he shows up at the hospital for treatment where he is arrested and can be tried for her murder. (Or he doesn’t show up at a hospital and bleeds-out or dies from infection.) At least he won’t get away scott-free.

3. Just remove the safety. And while you are at it the mag disconnect. Easy peasy??

   I love this idea!! Tilt barrel quasi browning operation? That mean I will need a super lite suppressor or a Nielsen?! For a 22! Madness! Thanks ruger!

   I have been wanting a small, decent , factory supported pocket 22 for awhile now

   • optional. Hate mag disconnects. Lol this has one?

     • Sorry on phone.

   • We are going to look this gunm over, as much as we hate plastic this pistol would certainly be sweet in a back packing adventure. Ten plus one, good. Magazine disconnect will have to go. Lightweight, good. Twenty two, just dandy.

     • Don’t you mean pouch carry? (giggles)

       • .🖖😎

4. Before you start trashing the round, read that story about a woman who killed a polar bear with a single shot of 22.

   • You’ll probably get just as much penetration out of this .22 as you would with the .380.

     • Maybe but the LCP II in 380 actually weighs Less and out of a short barrel slower heavier rounds keep more of the cartridges intended energy.

       • Well the .380 is going to make a much larger hole at the least. The downside is that it comes with some brutal recoil that might be difficult for arthritic hands to handle, and the even lighter weight doesn’t help. The .22 does have the advantage of holding an extra 4 rounds as well.

       • Sure, the .380 is generally preferable, but the .22 could be perfect for an elderly or weak person. Plus, .22 is just a ton of fun. I’ve occasionally pocket carried my SR22, and this is substantially smaller and lighter.

         If it is reliable, Ruger has a winner, though I don’t like the mag safety, or manual safety.

       • Yeah. And I remember once that a guy shot down a helicopter with a .380. I think it was in London.

   • I don’t think you meant polar bear… However, a small stature woman did kill a record grizzly bear back in 1953 with a single shot .22 rifle that was not even a .22 LR but was chambered in .22 Long (29 grain bullet at about 720 fps velocity). The account of this story is documented here: https://www.ammoland.com/2014/11/what-22-rifle-did-bella-twin-use-to-kill-a-world-record-grizzly-in-1953/

     I think she found herself without any other choice but to shoot it as the bear was near by and she was worried the bear would soon catch her scent. And so being confident in her ability, she took the opportunity to shoot the bear in the temple before the bear noticed her. And so here again is proof that even a small .22 bullet can be very lethal and bring down a big animal with the right shot as in this case. And this was probably a one shot kill, however, she shot it again several more times in the head before making her final approach to look the bear over.

     • سرحان بشارة سرحان with a .22 out of a wheel gun brought down a big animal of a senator at the Ambassador Hotel. Even Assassins employ this caliber

       • Good thing I know a little Arabic.

   • That was from a rifle.

     • You do know that polar bears weigh 1600 pounds, don’t you?

   • The polar bear was sick that day

5. I predict they’ll sell a million of them.

   Personally I’m probably still more likely to drop the extra $90 on an SR22 though. I just don’t have LCP hands.

   • Gov, I never thought you and I would see the day that Ruger would build a mouse gun.
     Times, they are a-changin’.
     🤠

     • “Gov, I never thought you and I would see the day that Ruger would build a mouse gun.

       You work in a damn Texas gun store, and you’ve never sold an LCP in .380?

       That’s pretty much the definition of a typical mouse gun.

       (Good to see you back, BTW… 😉 )

     • Why not, they gave shotguns and lever actions a try. Heck, whoodathunk they’d build a single shot rifle in the late 1960s? That worked out pretty well. About the only thing left, I think, is derringers.

   • Now you’re getting into the Ruger Mark territory. When I think of a .22 pistol….that’s what comes to mind.

     • I wouldn’t mind a Mark IV Hunter but then it’s 4 times the weight of this LCP and well over twice the cost, so that makes for a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. The SR22 on the other hand still small, light and relatively cheap. Maybe I’ll just buy both. Or all three…

   • Governor,

     I don’t have “LCP hands” either.

     What I did discover is that I shoot it quite well if I shoot it one handed. Thus, a better description is that the Ruger LCP is not a two-handed pistol.

     • I just experienced the same thing yesterday. New lcp 2, 3 different loads. One handed produced the best 10-yard groups. Quite surprising!

6. I’ve been seeing pictures of a ruger full size in 5.7×28. I need to know if this is real. 16+1.

   I will throw all the monies at Ruger for a 5.7.

   • Patience.

     • Thank you Dan. I love you.

       • You’re not getting Dan’s Bud Light…

     • Please, please, please . . . let it be under $500 and come with a threaded barrel!

       • The pictures I saw look like a full size SR series in 5.7, 16+1. Assuming they are doing exactly that, there’s no reason it can’t come in street price between 325-450. They could EASILY sell them at $600 all day long.

   • Oh. My. God. I’m here for this

7. finally, something that lives up to my namesake that isn’t a Tom Cat or, like, 80 years old.
   But no 32 ACP? Feels like a missed opportunity.

   • I was just thinking “boy, I wish they’d make one in .32”. 32 ACP is one of my favorite rounds to shoot.

     Heck, I’d settle for a .32 conversion barrel/kit for the existing LCP II.

     • I also think this gun in .32acp would be sweet. I’d still prefer the .22lr, so I could plink to my heart’s content.

   • Kel-Tec already makes one in .32, has for a while.

     • Keltec is not Ruger. They are innovative, but Ruger is good at stealing good ideas and making them work well.

8. but wait, isn’t this a keltec p32—-just kidding—-

9. With the claims of it being “easy to rack”, this appears to be be marketed to the elderly and-or the handicapped. (Having suffered a hand injury last year, I *applaud* this).

   One little problem – .22lr isn’t exactly easy to light off. It can take a stout hammer strike to get it going. TTAG covered this issue in their review of the Ruger SP-101 in .22lr, commenting on how brutally stout the trigger pull was.

   Since striker-fired guns are cocked with the action of the slide, and this is an easy-to-rack slide, where’s the extra energy coming from to ignite the ammo?

   • ‘…this new pistol features a tilt-barrel, blowback semi-automatic action…’

     Typically .22LR or .380acp pistols use a fixed barrel. The barrel is rigidly bolted to the frame. They can get away with this because the powder charge is light enough that the weight of the slide and the resistance of the recoil spring is sufficient to ensure the pressure levels will drop to a safe level before the case is unsupported. Using this method in higher power cartridges is not common because what you end up with a High Point. Since this is a tilt-barrel design (the barrel travels with the slide for short while and then unlocks and tilts down when the pressure has dropped enough), it can use a significantly lighter recoil spring and therefore takes much less force to rack than a fixed barrel.

     In a DA revolver like the SP-101, the hammer spring needs to be compressed by trigger movement. Since there is much less strength in your index finger than in your entire hand, the strength of the hammer/striker spring has an over sized effect on the function of the weapon.

     • ” .380acp pistols use a fixed barrel ”

       I’ve fired a number of .22lr and .380 pistols. Fixed barrel is pretty common with 22lr since the cartridge hasn’t got a lot of power and every bit is needed to throw the slide back. So, no argument there.

       I have yet to encounter a .380 with a fixed barrel, and the round is not as underpowered as a lot of posters here seem to think. To quote someone (I forget who) — the .380 is not quite adequate and not quite inadequate. It is not a weak round– weaker than 9mm, or course, but well enough capable of making itself useful.

       In any case, what .380 uses a fixed barrel? I’d like to take a look at it.

       • Walther ppk….?

       • Before the Kel Tec P3AT nearly all .380s were straight blowback with a fixed barrel.
         Walther PPK
         CZ82
         Makarov
         Beretta 84

         All of those & a lot more.

       • Blowback (which means fixed barrel) .380 pistols: Beretta model 84 and 85 and SIG 230/232’s in .380 ( all of which were authorized by various police departments over the years), Walter PP PPK/S and a whole encyclopedia of imitators, Bersa .380s…
         Outside of the Colt/Browning “pocket pistols”, fixed barrel and straight blowback was the rule and not the exception in.380 pistols for a lot of decades.

       • CZ83 (the 82 was usually 9×18)
         Grendel P10 and P12

       • DaveP:

         Even the older colt/browning 1903 and 1908 pistols were blowback. The barrel was removable for disassembly, but did not move during operation. We can also add numerous older German .32s and .380s: Ortgies, Walther HsC, Steyr M38H, etc.

         As was said, prior to the Kel-Tec and Colt Government Model .380 of the 1990’s/2000’s there were few, if any, locked breach guns under 9mm.

     • I thought you were old enough to know better Gov. 😉

       • Sorry…should’ve replied to Up in ARMs

         I figured Gov had been around the “classic” 380s and knew many/most had fixed barrels.

   • The .380 LCPII has an internal hammer, not striker fired. If this is the same design, it has an internal hammer as well.

   • These are hammer fired and basically single action guns. The slide cocks the hammer. The trigger only releases a few safety blocks and drops the hammer. This action should be very well suited to 22lr

10. A tilt-barrel blowback action? Does the barrel lock and unlock from the slide? If yes, then it’s not a blowback action.

    TTAG should eventually run a side by side test of this gun and a Taurus PT22 and the Beretta Tomcat.

    • The barrel does lock and unlock from the slide and it is a blow back action. Blow back refers to any semi-auto pistol that cycles by recoil and not a gas operated system such as in the Desert Eagle.

      • Usually that’s called “short-recoil” in my readings, but hey; scientific consistency was never a thing in the firearms biz.

      • I think you mean to say “recoil-operated”, as in a SIG-style locked breech.

      • Sorry Gov., but that definition would make a Browning pattern 1911 a blowback pistol with a tilting barrel. Not sure that John Moses Browning would have agreed with that definition.
        I understood the difference to be, “Recoil-operated weapons (generally) are a type of ‘locked breech’ designs. The barrel and the slide in pistols are locked together at the moment of firing, and begin to recoil together for a short distance… A… In a ‘blowback’ design, the only thing holding the breech closed (‘in battery’) is the recoil spring.”

        • Don’t gripe at me. Lodge your complaints here; https://www.ruger.com/dataProcess/customerService/

          See pg. 24; http://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/LCPII-Ls6Gb8D22lr.pdf

11. I bought a Walther p22 years ago for a trail gun. It sucked. I like the idea of a pocket carry .22 for a trail gun. I currently use a j frame .38 in that role. But I would prefer a .22 semi for the job.

    Likely this won’t make the CA handgun roster. Well Trump has changed the 9th circuit. Maybe CA will be forced to honor our human and civil rights.

    Next time I’m in Utah I’ll check the fun store and see if they have one to look over. I like Ruger.

    • I’ve got a P22 that I like very much, though it took considerable screwing around to get it to operate reliably. You got me thinking, what’s a P22 weigh? About 16 oz.

      This new Ruger LCP is only 11 oz. That’s also 2 or 3 oz. less than the new Glock 44. This LCP would be lovely as a trail gun.

    • I have a P22 as well and I use it often to try and erase bad habits. They do take a little tinkering and patience to get them to work well, and I attribute that to the not-so-robust metal used in the frame and slide. But… once you get them running right, it’s a great little pistol.

12. I didnt see this one coming

    Certainly of more interest to me than a Glock 44. 10 rounds indeed!

    Might have to get one for plinking.

    For top accuracy, I’ll go with one of my K-22s.

    For reliable ful-sized autos I will go with a MkII Ruger. – Love those guns.

    This would be a fun pocket kit gun and ride with me on the tractor instead of my model 34 Smith – sometimes.

13. Hop at TFB called it a “granny gun”, I think that’s an apt label. There are still people who want a tiny pocket gun that is easy to load and rack, and who don’t really give a shit about “firepower”. Same reason the Bobcat has stuck around, although this will come in cheaper than the Beretta.

14. It’s a Ruger… It’s an LCPII in 22lr, buy one or five and shut it.

15. Anything in Rugers’ Mark series and maybe their Wrangler for my tastes. This just doesn’t look right to me.

    I have my MkIII 22/45 set perfectly and love it. 22lr isn’t much for power but I do enjoy plinking with it. With the need for more power, it just doesn’t get out much.

16. I’ll take one inn.32 pls.

17. I sure would love a .22lr conversion kit for my .380!

18. i picked up one of these rimfire LCPs… liked it so much i bought a second just for an extra magazine (just got two ‘value’ packs of 2-mags each today, so i’m good for now)…

    have more than 800 rounds through these mouse guns – seven different brands and types… they eat Rem Goldens, Rem Subsonics, CCI SV, CCI minimags, and Aguila Super Extra (blue box)… the only rimfire they don’t like is Winchester M-22, which results in light strikes

    i like these little guns – they take down just like a Kel-Tec P32, even at the detail strip level, including the gotcha of making sure to push the sear forward when sliding the receiver back into the frame – LOL!

19. Here’s my experiences with my new Ruger LCPii in 22 both before and after going back to Ruger.

    First time out with the new gun using CCI-Blazer 40gr 1235fps, Federal 36gr 1260fps bulk pack, CCI Minimag 36gr 1260fps, CCI Velocitor 40gr, 1435fps, and Remington Golden Bullets. The following problems were not ammo specific using 3 OEM magazines shooting about 200 rounds through it. The gun was cleaned and lubed before shooting.

    1. Failure to go into battery (once every 3-4 mags usually when there are 3-5 rounds still left in the mag).
    2. Failure to feed a new round, like it’s not cycling far enough back to grab the next round, however, I am not using weak ammo (it even did this with a velocitor round). Other times it strips the new round but the bullet is too high and just slams into the barrel face above the chamber (once every 1-2 mags). This is not limp wristed.
    3. Failure to lock back on an empty mag (every 3-4 mags, even with velocitor rounds).
    4. Slide locks back with rounds still in the magazine.
    5. Failure to eject (sometimes the empty case stays straight ahead stuck to the bolt face (like there is no ejector present to throw the round out) and other times it stovepipes, about twice per mag). See notes when hand cycling below as these are probably related.
    6. If you hand cycle the slide with ammo, typically the rounds do not eject with any mag. They do not appear to even come into contact with the ejector. Sometimes the rim of the extracting round hits the feed lips on the mag making it impossible to completely pull the slide back so you have to drop the mag to get the round out. Sometimes the round stays stuck on the bolt face and will not eject (again like it’s not hitting the ejector). Sometimes the upwards pressure of the incoming round still in the magazine pinches the extracting round into the barrel and the extractor loses it’s grip on the rim. This makes it seem like there are 3 separate issues here: an extractor issue, an ejector issue, and a magazine issue.
    7. There appears to be a burr on the entire barrel crown like the tooling was getting dull and needed sharpened.

    The gun made it’s way back to Ruger and they replaced the slide, barrel, and slide stop (the slide is a different one and the barrel is too so I have no reason to doubt them). They shot 30 rounds (Aguila brass & Minmags) thru it without malfunction (“without malfunction” I find that hard to believe).

    Using CCI Minimag 36gr, CCI Velocitor 40gr, and Federal Champion 36gr I got the following when I tested the newly back gun:
    1. The 1st mag contained the Minimags as that was one of the rounds Ruger tested in this gun without malfunction. The first round just went “click” and failed to fire. When pulling the slide back, the unspent round would not eject so it got a double-feed when the unspent round hit the top of the barrel (same issue I had with the original slide/barrel).
    2. 3 rounds later it failed to load and was stuck out of battery (same problem with the first barrel).
    3.The 2nd mag had Velocitors in it and round #6 failed to fire. When trying to clear, the rim of the unspent round caught on the mag feed lips so I could’t pull the slide back all the way until I dropped the mag (same problem I had before).
    4. The 3rd mag had Federal Champions in it and round #5 failed to fire with a light strike and it too double-fed when I tried to clear it because it wouldn’t eject.

    Hand cycling gives me the same problems as before, rounds often won’t eject so anytime I get a failure to fire it double feeds when I try to clear it. Just as in incident #3 where you can’t pull the slide all the way back because the rim of the CCI round hits the feed lips, that can be easily duplicated by hand cycling.

    I can’t get thru a magazine without issues so I’ll call Ruger on Monday to have it go back again.

    This is my 5th Ruger over a 34 year span. The first 2 (bought in 1986 and 1990) worked great with no issues. The 3rd was a new SP101 that was so bad Ruger replaced it with a new gun. The 4th was a new Mkii I bought in 2005 and it was at the end of the 23 year run of the Mkii but it has been a troublesome gun. The 5th is this LCPii in 22LR which is a jammomatic. I went 13 years buying lots of guns but none Ruger after the SP101. I went 15 more gun buying years with none being Ruger until this LCPii. Frankly, their quality hasn’t changed since the early 90’s so I’m done with Ruger. 3 out of 5 duds is unacceptable. Even running good CCI ammo this LCPii jams more than my Jennings J-22 and that’s saying a lot!

    I would like to make this gun an “award winning” gun by awarding it the McKee “Mouse Gun” award as mine has been very Mickey Mouse.

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