Florida Shooters Network

Frustrated with all the quirks of my Ruger LCPII. I've been thinking about a Sig p238 but recently saw a 1 year old Lucky Gunner review that panned the reliability of it.

What in your experience is the most reliable 380 to operate that is smaller than the Glock or M&P models.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

KAHR CW380. Very small, reliable, smooth trigger(a little long).

wsitgm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:20 pm Frustrated with all the quirks of my Ruger LCPII. I've been thinking about a Sig p238 but recently saw a 1 year old Lucky Gunner review that panned the reliability of it.

What in your experience is the most reliable 380 to operate that is smaller than the Glock or M&P models.

What issues are you having with your LCPII? I have an LCP that is a post-2013 model and it's been 100% reliable.

http://sepboard.us/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=105

I currently have a Ruger LCP II that has been 100% reliable with about 500 rounds of various factory ball and JHP ammo...not one failure of any kind.
I also have a Bersa Thunder in 380 ACP that has been 100% reliable with about 700 rounds of various factory ball and JHP ammo.
In past I had a FEG PMK variant that was 100% reliable with about 300 rounds of factory ball ammo. I didn't shoot it a lot but it worked well. Most Beretta and Sig 380 ACP pistols I've need seemed to work reliably.
Only 380 ACP that was not 100% reliable was a Walther PPK/S that choked on JHP ammo frequently and occasional FMJ ammo and my friends Seacamp 380 that occasionally choked on JHP ammo.
In my experience most quality 380 ACP pistols work very reliably unless they were tiny.

We have a couple p238s in the family. Wife and daughter both have one for carry. As well as a full size. They and I love them. Both of theirs are older so they were before the current quality issues.

Try to find an older one if you decide to go that route.

I've had a few .380's and not a problem from any of them.
Sold my old LCP to a friend who was going overseas. He wanted
something to leave with his wife. Had a Walther PPK/S that I sold
because I would get the occasional slide bite. Currently have a Colt
Mustang pocketlite.
If your Ruger is giving you problems, I would contact Ruger.

Deputydave wrote:

wsitgm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:20 pm Frustrated with all the quirks of my Ruger LCPII. I've been thinking about a Sig p238 but recently saw a 1 year old Lucky Gunner review that panned the reliability of it.

What in your experience is the most reliable 380 to operate that is smaller than the Glock or M&P models.

What issues are you having with your LCPII? I have an LCP that is a post-2013 model and it's been 100% reliable.

http://sepboard.us/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=105

Extractor launching into space twice, failure to eject, slide locking back mid magazine, magazine popping out mid magazine (same with 3 different mags). Been back to Ruger twice. It is running a bit better 100 rounds into latest fix. No more extractor coming off. Sr-22? Reliable as hell. Same with full size 1911 and 10/22 takedown. LCP II in .22lr a little wonky too.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

wsitgm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 10:53 pm

Deputydave wrote:

wsitgm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:20 pm Frustrated with all the quirks of my Ruger LCPII. I've been thinking about a Sig p238 but recently saw a 1 year old Lucky Gunner review that panned the reliability of it.

What in your experience is the most reliable 380 to operate that is smaller than the Glock or M&P models.

What issues are you having with your LCPII? I have an LCP that is a post-2013 model and it's been 100% reliable.

http://sepboard.us/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=105

Extractor launching into space twice, failure to eject, slide locking back mid magazine, magazine popping out mid magazine (same with 3 different mags). Been back to Ruger twice. It is running a bit better 100 rounds into latest fix. No more extractor coming off. Sr-22? Reliable as hell. Same with full size 1911 and 10/22 takedown. LCP II in .22lr a little wonky too.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

That really sucks and I'm sorry you had to go through that. If you've gone 100 rounds so far since it was fixed hopefully the problems are gone.

Maybe a S&W 380 Body Guard is an option? I had one of those as well and it ran fine.

Mine is kIMBER MICRO 380. It is very similar to the Sig P238 (and Colt Mustang of course) even many parts are interchangeable.
It has been reliable and a soft shooter compared to the LCP I had. Comes with a 6 and 7 rd mags. With the 7 rd I can still pocket carry it with any of my cargo shorts or pants. 6 rder in jeans.
Its one I'll never sell as it gets carried the most by far.

I have a Kel Tec P380 I bought new in '08. It had lots of feed issues at first but after I figured out you need to have a death-grip on it to keep from limp wristing it's been very reliable. It's definitely not a range toy & the best I've managed to run through at one time was 75 rounds before my hands couldn't take it anymore. I have over 1,000 rounds thru it & will only add that it seemed to smooth out a bit after the 500 round mark.