LCR vs. J-frame durability?

[peterb]

Now that the Ruger LCR has been on the market and in use for a few years, is there any consensus on durability and performance over time vs. the alloy J-frames?

[shooter220]

That is a very good question. I suspect that the vast majority of those guns don't get shot anywhere near enough to really begin to stress things. However, for durability in the compacts I like the Smith Model 36 and the Ruger SP101.

[TGS]

According to this guy, his LCR is still serviceable after 5100 +p and a few hundred more standard pressure.

[ScotchMan]

I'd be interested in some data on this as well. I know I was all for getting an LCR, and then I found one at a range that was available for rent. It had so much slop in the cylinder lockup that I'm not sure I would have wanted to shoot it. After that I started focusing my search on Smiths.

[LSP972]

It had so much slop in the cylinder lockup that I'm not sure I would have wanted to shoot it. After that I started focusing my search on Smiths.

When my father passed, my mother realized that her protection was now dependent upon… her. After a lengthy search, with me taking her to multiple venues so she could "try" a bunch of different stuff, she settled on an LCR. She liked the feel of its rubber stocks the best, despite my attempts to steer her toward an all-steel J frame.

I put 100 wadcutters and ten +P "duty" loads through the revolver to make sure it had no fleas. At the end of that firing, it had developed a ton of radial endshake, both cylinder and yoke, not to mention quite a bit of lateral slop… IOW the "cylinder lockup".

It still shoots, of course, but its loose as a goose and some more extended firing would undoubtedly result in timing issues. Personally, I think it is an issue with the polymer frame having too much "give" in it, etc. Whatever the cause, I was seriously underwhelmed with this piece. Some wax orgasmic over the supposedly super trigger… sorry, I don't see (or feel) it. Its a little bit bigger (and therefore more difficult to conceal, especially in a pocket) than a J frame.

Color me unimpressed… mightily so. I think that the accursed S&W lock is the devil's spawn… but I'd take a J frame so equipped before I would an LCR, for my personal use.

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[Chuck Haggard]

My LCR has about a thousand rounds through it now, but being a .22lr it really doesn't get stressed much.

[LSP972]

I neglected to clarify that the one I dealt with is a .38.

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[Tamara]

It still shoots, of course, but its loose as a goose and some more extended firing would undoubtedly result in timing issues. Personally, I think it is an issue with the polymer frame having too much "give" in it, etc.

The LCR's frame is aluminum.

EDIT: Except the .357s, which are steel.

[breakingtime91]

My 357 Lcr has held up well. Only have about a thousand 38s through it though. What sold me on it over the jframe was being able to switch out the front sight myself.

[LSP972]

The LCR's frame is aluminum.

EDIT: Except the .357s, which are steel.

Oh?

Okay; so where's the polymer?

(I don't have it to hand, and it has been well over a year since handled/shot it).

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