Carry Recommedations for the Ruger LCR

After spending the necessary time at the range to ensure function, reliability and accuracy of my LCR, I began my quest to find a suitable carry holster. June has been rather harsh in Texas as the heat has been regularly surpassing 100 degrees each afternoon. This is not a nod to Al Gore's "Global Warming" -- it's hot EVERY summer down here in the Rio Grande Valley!

I dug through my holster box and came up with 2 j-frame pocket holsters to try. The Mika pocket holster was my first selection (http://www.frontiernet.net/~akim/pocket.htm) since it didn't have model-specific mouldings. These are beautifully simple holsters, and the creator, Robert Mika, offers the best customer support that I've ever experienced. The LCR slipped into the holster comfortably and the draw from the pocket was smooth. My only problem with the LCR and any of the pocket holsters is that the soft rubber grips tend to grab the the lining of my pockets. With a pair of loose fitting shorts, the Mika pocket holster works great for all-day carry. There was no "printing" to indicate that I was carrying a revolver in my front pocket, but it did look like a rather fat wallet. Not sure that I want to give the bad-guys this impression either!

My second selection was the Galco horsehide pocket holder. Although moulded to fit the S&W j-frames, it took to the LCR quite well. I tried my best to carry with this holster for a full day, but I was quickly reminded why I gave it up with my S&W 642 -- horsehide is as noisy as a squeaky door hinge. Before I get a bunch of emails regarding horsehide break-in, please note that I tried silicone spray, baby powder, and just about every other home remedy to fix these squeaks. I have other horeshide holsters that don't make this much noise, but it appears that the leather flaps that extend to the fore and aft on this particular model create way too much movement when I walk or sit down.

Knowing that pocket carry isn't always the most practical, I picked up a Galco Stow-and-Go inside the waistband holster from Dury's (yep, another stop in San Antonio on my way to DFW last week). While not form-fitted like the Summer Comfort, Royal Guard, or Ultimate Deep Cover holsters, this is about the only off-the-shelf option available right now for the LCR (and it's relatively cheap). I fully expect that the holster selection will improve proportionally to the number of LCR sales in months to come. This holster has an embedded metal band around the opening of the holster that allows for a very smooth draw and will even allow the revolver to be re-holstered with one hand. My only concern is that the Stow-and-Go may be a little too smooth and that retention could be weaker than a custom fit design. Continued carry will bear witness to its function.

I'm starting to get quite fond of my LCR. More reviews to come.

The Ruger LCR - out-of-the-box impressions

While driving through San Antonio a few weeks back, I decided to take a wild chance and see if any local dealers had the new Ruger LCR in stock. My first call was to Dury's just off of I-37 and much to my surprise, they had just put one on the shelf. Five minutes later (yes, I drove the speed limit!) I was picking it up.

Side Note: Dury's is now using the electronic 4473 forms, and it takes a little longer to fill out the paperwork if you haven't done it before. The ultimate benefit is the reduction in paperwork errors.


Since I needed to be in DFW later that day, I didn't get a chance to run out to the range, but I did grab some "snap caps" from Cabelas in Buda, Texas, so I could do some dry firing in my spare time. Are these really necessary items? Maybe not, but I didn't want to put any undue wear on the firing pin with my copious practice.

My initial impressions were:

• It reminds me a LOT of my S&W 642, but it is noticeably lighter
• The trigger pull was better than most out-of-the box j-frames or SP-101's that I've handled, but not as smooth as reported by several gun writers in the popular mags.
• The enlarged trigger guard kept it from fitting in my j-frame OWB holsters, but it did fit nicely in my Mika pocket holsters, particularly the one with the rounded bottom. The rubberized stocks do tend to create some drag while drawing from a pocket, so you will really need to dry run your carry options before making it your primary carry choice.
• The LCR is a really cool looking pistol and fits the hand quite nicely. Being that this is a virtually corrosion-resistant revolver, I can see a definite advantage for those (like myself) that work or play in high-humid environments.

In future postings I will discuss the range time as well as concealed carry in the extreme South Texas heat. Please drop me a line if you would like for me to cover a specific topic on the LCR.