Mouse gun upgrade

[gb6491]

I've had a post safety notice/recall (https://ruger.com/LCPRecall/) Ruger LCP for sometime. I liked it well enough to send it out for better sights and, after a second trip to the folks that installed them, I was happy with the sights and my LCP. This was before Ruger came out with their "custom" LCP (https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2015/10/gun-review-rugers-new-lcp-custom/) which would probably have saved me some money.
https://i.postimg.cc/jSnw32vq/Untitled-1-copy.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Then Ruger quietly upgraded the LCP with better fixed sights and an improved trigger (I don't know if the custom LCP had this trigger). I thought the trigger upgrade was pretty significant; enough so, that when a deal came along on one of the improved models I bought it. My plan was to swap slides and have one gun with the improved trigger plus excellent sights and one with improved sights. That didn't work out. The new gun shot perfectly to it's sights and I liked the two tone look so I left both guns as is. The new gun gradually replaced the older one for carry purposes. Still, I have an affinity for the older gun (did send a rattler on with it) and thought about putting a Sweet Pea trigger in it, but that never came to fruition.

Fast forward....I've see an auction for LCP parts and was pretty sure the parts were from an improved gun. I wasn't positive about this, but went ahead with the auction. To my relief the parts were indeed from a gun with the improved trigger (now to see if they work).
https://i.postimg.cc/nhw8rctm/lcpparts-copy.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
I swapped out parts 15, 16, 18, 23, 25, and 27 (probably only needed 18, 23, and 27), then reassembled my pistol.
https://i.postimg.cc/xjg6npQJ/ruger-lcp-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/14nGKHfs)
Testing it immediately, I'm happy to report that my older LCP now has the much improved trigger :)
https://i.postimg.cc/SRK7nq4X/mouseguns-copy1000.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Regards,
Greg

I'd also like to say "thank you" to the forum member that linked to a small hard case sometime back. I tried to find the thread, but can't locate it. So, if you see, this please take a bow....it's an excellent case:)
https://i.postimg.cc/YCX4Sg9x/case1000.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[yqtszhj]

It’s nice to know what parts improve on the original 2010 (I think that was when I bought mine) trigger. I have to admit my LCP has been seeing a bit of carry lately. It disappears in the pocket so easy. I bought my dad a LCP with the improved trigger a few years ago for Christmas. I have really been resisting hard buying another one but I’m tempted. I prefer the “Improved” original trigger over the new LCP II trigger. The Hogue grip makes it a very nice gun to shoot too. It has well over 1000 rounds through it and the only trouble I ever had was 1 squib round with some Indonesian ammo during the .380 ammo shortage and it didn’t like a batch of independence ammo I bought one time.

Here’s a story for you. In 2010 my LCP was the first gun I had bought since probably 1988. Prior to the LCP I had only a Colt Government Model .380 (still have it) and a Colt King Cobra .357 (sold it a couple of years ago for A LOT more than I paid for it.) I bought the LCP because the Colt .380 was just too big to carry when working where carry was not allowed. Used to have to go to some bad places at night and got tired of having no real defense. Anyway, the LCP fit the bill so after much searching I found one. Well, then there was the .380 ammo shortage that pushed me to a 9mm. The First 9mm I ever bought was the CW9 at a gun show. Found this site shortly after. I’ll never confess how many firearms I have bought since then.

There is a moral to the story. This leasure activity is addictive.

[340pd]

Greg, I had both, an LPC with an added Sweet Pea trigger and an LCP II. The original LCP was like shooting a credit card so I added the Hogue grip which made it more difficult to pocket carry. Enter the LCP II which I found much easier to shoot accurately at 10 yds. All I have done is paint the front sight fluorescent red and it was good to go.
This tiny gun winds up in my back pocket far more than I ever thought it would.

[Barth]

Love my Stainless LCP.
Only upgrades are a Galloway Stainless guide rod and Hogue Grip.
https://i.imgur.com/HtoJ6p1.jpg
I've got a LCP II at Robar getting their Norton Special Electroless Nickel treatment :cool:

[Armybrat]

Recently bought this new one to supplement my 10 year old original model. Would rather have had one with a stainless slide, but couldn’t find a new one...... and $170 with free shipping was hard to pass up.

15989

[Planedude]

I picked up an RM380 a while back. It has ended up being a on going project.
Hated the trigger out the box and the wife found it unshootable. She could never tell when the extra long pull trigger would fire and thought the gun was malfunctioning. It went bang every time for me, but accuracy wound up like, "meh".
I do love everything else about the design. I wanted an all metal mouse gun, with little to no plastic, so it can stay in the truck during Texas summers. When it hits 105 outside, it can get to 180 inside a parked vehicle in short order and stay there until sundown.

So now I've added VZ G10 grips and Galloway Precision's trigger springs, recoil spring and the new Tyre trigger. Once I'd ordered all that, adding the Guide rod and stainless trigger spring stop was like... yeah, why not. I picked up an early version of the +1 mag extension. It feeds the gun just fine, but it changed my magazine's last round hold open feature from "always" to "usually" and the +1's failure to stay firmly locked in place has made it a "range only" novelty. I am working on a ideal to fix that on mine, but Galloway's currently offered mag extension has a small set screw to lock it to the mags base.

The trigger pull on the RM380 is now very nice. Time and getting up the round count will determine when it can move into the carry rotation.

So what is it about these mouse guns that gets us gun guys to tinkering?

[Planedude]

I picked up an RM380 a while back. It has ended up being a on going project.
Hated the trigger out the box and the wife found it unshootable. She could never tell when the extra long pull trigger would fire and thought the gun was malfunctioning. It went bang every time for me, but accuracy wound up like, "meh".
I do love everything else about the design. I wanted an all metal mouse gun, with little to no plastic, so it can stay in the truck during Texas summers. When it hits 105 outside, it can get to 180 inside a parked vehicle in short order and stay there until sundown.

So now I've added VZ G10 grips and Galloway Precision's trigger springs, recoil spring and the new Tyre trigger. Once I'd ordered all that, adding the Guide rod and stainless trigger spring stop was like... yeah, why not. I picked up an early version of the +1 mag extension. It feeds the gun just fine, but it changed my magazine's last round hold open feature from "always" to "usually" and the +1's failure to stay firmly locked in place has made it a "range only" novelty. I am working on a ideal to fix that on mine, but Galloway's currently offered mag extension has a small set screw to lock it to the mags base.

The trigger pull on the RM380 is now very nice. Time and getting up the round count will determine when it can move into the carry rotation.

So what is it about these mouse guns that gets us gun guys to tinkering?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/283a048d34e5e76823bb99c8b4025f48.jpg

Thought I should add a pic of the finished product. The other night (about 11pm) I could not find my pics of the gun once I was done.
It’s nice, but has yet to replace or supplant the P380 in the carry rotation.
...And yes, I do understand the humor of building an “all metal” truck gun, only to add a big plastic green laser to it.
I like the Viridian, but the magnetic “on button” and the (even more) special holstering now seems like an error. Buyers remorse, if I was to do it again I would go with a finger trigger Crimson Trace. Good thing I got the little laser for a bargain basement price.
Fun project though. Peace.


Now let’s see if this will send from my iPhone...
First time for everything.

[yqtszhj]

I just love mouse guns. They might not be ideal defense weapons but they definitely give a person no excuse not to carry one, and they do go bang and make holes. 👍

[Armybrat]

I like that gussied up RM380.
Gave my NIB RM to one of my sons for Christmas. Had it for over a year and never fired it. Seemed like a solid well made little pistol.

[Planedude]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190412/cf108397a4e3b2b13c17ac2cec1326bc.jpg

Both my and my brothers (stock) RM380’s at the range.
My brother bought his little gun. Loaded up both magazines, stepped out his back door and fired one round into the ground “to prove it would shoot” and carried it in his pocket like that for the last year.
He has waaaay more faith in Remington than I do.
I’m happy to report that his little RM ate 150 rounds of various types of 380 ammo with out a hiccup and two mags of Hornady Critical Defense SD ammo just as easy. The rest of that box is now my brothers carry ammo and he feels way better about his choice.
My gun had four instances of the trigger failing to reset after shooting a round. Weird issue, twice I was able to flick the trigger forward with my finger and the trigger then reset, but twice I had to cycle the slide before it would reset. I have yet to sit down and work on that issue. I emailed Galloway but they were not much help. They were asking about what ammo I was shooting, but the rounds all fed and ejected fine. The trigger action on the RM380 is not dependent on the slide for any part of the cocking of the action, so it didn’t seem ammo related to me. I also had one light primer strike (with their light spring kit installed) in the first five rounds. I was a touch worried about that, but it never did happen again in the next 140 rounds I ran after that.
So for the record, my modified gun is not yet ready for carry, but I really like the new trigger pull. We were able to load both and shoot both guns within 30seconds of each other for comparison. We both liked the Galloway trigger better, but my brother says he doesn’t like it well enough to spend the money for his gun.
I have a feeling that my trigger reset failures may be influencing his choice too.

Peace

[Barth]

Gun runs 1,200 fps +P Underwood XTP Custom JHPs like butter right out of the box :cool:
Robar took it to the next level...
https://i.imgur.com/7DHok5A.jpg?1

[King Rat]

After reading and seeing the ballistics of the 32.cal Underwood Defender, and the weight of only 6.6 oz, I purchased the Kel-tec P32. This gun is crazy light. I have been shooting Pocket guns on a regular basis now for 10 yrs. so Had to get this gun to add to my collection. And with summer coming on, thought this might be a interesting gun to carry. Normally I would not purchase a small gun with a aluminum frame, but figured in the 32.cal it would not matter. Took it to the range and it fired great, all rounds of mixed ammo were flawless. (about 150 rds.) Next week brought the Underwood Defend and again flawless. I believe in a set of good sights for a pocket gun, and of course this gun did not have any. But have been shooting small guns for so long, I was able to do nice groups at 7yds with rapid fire shooting. The gun was so very mild to shoot. It is a crude looking gun in comparison to my Pico and Kahr, but a good tool. The build quality is basically the same as the LCP's I have owned over the years.
One thing I do like about this gun and something I did not know before is the fact that you can buy extra grips complete with all parts. Great if you crack a grip or frame like I did with the lep's. I did add a Gallaway 13lb recoil spring and steel guide rod which handled the Underwood Plus P just fine.

https://i.imgur.com/Zf6QDKI.jpg?1

Will be changing out the Black grip to grey and take it down and the slide Cherokoted today.

[yqtszhj]

Gun runs 1,200 fts +P Underwood XTP Custom JHPs like butter right out of the box :cool:
Robar took it to the next level...
https://i.imgur.com/7DHok5A.jpg?1

thats the first time I had seen the hogue grip for the LCP II. I like it.

[340pd]

The Hogue grip is a big change for the LCP but it does add width and I found it made drawing from a pocket more difficult. I gave mine to a friend who gave it to a friend.

[Barth]

The Hogue grip is a big change for the LCP but it does add width and I found it made drawing from a pocket more difficult. I gave mine to a friend who gave it to a friend.

LOL - I don't wear skinny designer jeans with sequins.
It's a micro gun that works fine in my cargo pants.
LPC II is slightly larger than my LCP.
But they are both far and away the smallest, lightest mouse guns I own :)

I sometimes carry this in my pocket - it's larger/heavier and no problemo :cool:
https://i.imgur.com/qPIeWf1.jpg

[Barth]

thats the first time I had seen the hogue grip for the LCP II. I like it.

LCP II comes with a pocket holster from Ruger that's outstanding as well.
It's trigger is a vast improvement over my old LCP.
The second generation mouse gun is a real advancement :D

Plus our good friends at Underwood gave us mouse gun ammo on steroids :cool:

BRAND:UNDERWOOD AMMO (https://www.underwoodammo.com/collections/vendors?q=Underwood%20Ammo)
SKU:141
TECHNICAL INFORMATION


Caliber: 380 ACP
Bullet Weight: 90 Grains
Bullet Style: Hornady XTP Jacketed Hollow Point
Case Type: Ducta-Bright 7a Nickel Plated Brass

BALLISTICS INFORMATION


Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps
Muzzle Energy: 288 ft lbs
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0013/3994/9113/products/380-acp-p-90-grain-xtp-jacketed-hollow-point.jpg?v=1550703019