Ruger LCP II .22lr 5000 Round Review 

Enjoyed your video 👍 I have seen more people killed with a .22 rimfire than any other cartridge . The autopsies can be a little difficult trying to locate the bullets, even with the help of the x'rays. Even the .22 shorts work . The high majority were non hollow points. Just my opinion after 32 years of full time LE .

One of the best gun reviews i have see. Your logic on 22 use is perfect. Good job!

Nice to hear someone who is sane, mature and pragmatic. Rare among gun enthusiasts!

I hated this gun at first. Misfired at least once every magazine. I kept running all different kinds of ammo through it and after about 500 rounds, it ran everything perfectly fine.

Just picked one of these up, so thanks for the ammo suggestions. I can’t wait to get some range time with it.

Hands down my favorite gun to tote when I can't get away with my full sized stuff, or to the gym, or as a backup. Also, surprisingly fun to shoot just for the heck of it. lol Good review man, glad to see other folks I know enjoying the LCP II 22.

This is my every day carry gun here in Florida during the summer. It took me a while to find suitable ammo for it and after spending many hours at the range, CCI Stingers are far and away the best choice for me. Thanks for the video.

For me this was a must have gun..I have around 4500 rounds through mine..had a broken firing pin at around 4000..It still was shooting good even with the pin broken.. Ruger sent me a new one for free ..shot all 4500 rounds through the mag that came with the gun.. definitely would buy again..so much fun for the money!

Great down to earth review and commentary. I have .38s, 9mm and .22s and call me crazy but I prefer to carry a .22. There are all kinds of videos that put down the .22 for self defense but I will carry one.

22 is a great option for self defense. It’s cheap to buy, cheap to buy ammo for, cheap to practice with and you will be very accurate with it. No one steps away from a head and heart shot.

Thanks for sharing so much info on this gun. I recently got one and love it.

I agree! I have sore hands from martial arts and sports over the years and even my .38 kills my hands. I carry a TX .22 and can hit a quarter from 10 yards and that is all I need. Yes legal folks say .38, .380 or .22 is less likely to look bad in court. I am a retired Teacher and Criminal Justice Specialist and have seen it first hand.

First time viewer. I dig your commentary, honesty and common sense approach man, thanks!

Just started watching your reviews. I like your style. Sort of laid back and you make sense with what you say. Style of music in the videos is my kind of music. SUBSCRIBED

I'm a big fan of Aguila in the two Taurus TX22'S that my wife and I own. Thanks for all the videos on the Ruger, I am probably going to add one to my collection.

Great review, and as far as everything else well said brother.

Liked your vibe from the first video I saw. Great stuff, man. I hope we can all come together and focus on the real problems. You are part of my research for my first self protection gun purchase. I am 65 and would like to protect myself, my wife, and the innocent if necessary and I don’t have the physical capacity to do what I used to. STILL…trying to decide between semi-auto and wheel. And now, as you might expect, I really think .22 makes sense. Now I need to decide if wheel or semi.

VERY GOOD VIDEO SIR! I AGREE 110 PERCENT! I LOVE MY LCP II 22 LR! 6400 ROUNDS THROUGH MINE AND ONLY A FEW MISFIRES THAT WERE BULK CHEAP (WINCHESTER) AMMO RELATED AND ZERO OF ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE GUN! 👍

Despite all the ammo specific malfunctioning, this is still my favorite new purchase.

My brother is 300 lb 6 ft tall he was shot three times in the leg with a 22 and it dropped him immediately! I think people are unrealistic about the damage you 22 can do. I also have many different calibers to choose from if I'm in Brown Bear country I'm not grabbing my 22 but in most circumstances I think 22 will deal with the two-legged problem just fine!

Love your tech mat on your work bench!! Glock Perfection..👍💪

I have found that Armscor 36 Grain High Velocity Hollow points run great in mine. The Aguila Copper Plated 38 Grain Hollow points run great in it too. The gun I will want to have with me if I have to use it to save my life would be my .357 Magnum. What I will probably have one me at the time will be a 22LR. Shot placement and rapid follow ups are key, and it is really cheap to practice with it and get good at it. You right, I am not law enforcement or Military. I am just a fat dude trying to go about his life, and if things go bad I just want to break contact and get away, and then let the police go find the person.

I bought one of these in January 24 and had job related delays getting to the range. Finally, I got a chance to test it in late April. I cleaned and lubed it before going to the range. I shot 150 rounds of CCI mini mag 36gr solid point @ 1235 fps and had 18 light primer strikes, and 2 failure to extract. I then shot 100 rounds of Aguila 40gr solid point 1255 fps. I had 3 fail to extract and 2 light primer strikes. I had already ordered some parts from Galloway and Mcarbo that are supposed to cure whatever problems this pistol has but, I decided to try it stock, right out of the box before installing anything. I contacted Ruger and told them about my issues with the pistol. They said to send it back to them for "evaluation and repair." Turn around was about 7 days. When I got it back, there was no paperwork stating what was done to the pistol, which was disappointing to say the least. I haven't fired it yet. In my opinion, one shouldn't have to install aftermarket parts to make a gun function properly. Hopefully, mine will function with 100% reliability without the parts... if not, I guess I'll install them. This is my choice for EDC and I'm determined to make it function 100%.

2, being my favorite number, i wish you a 02/22/2022 😇 Wholesome and informative 😁

Interested in more updates on this.22. Subbed 👍😃✌️🇺🇸

Thanks for your voice of sanity with your commentary on self defense. I feel exactly the same way. I actually walked out of a gun store a couple weeks ago while over hearing one of the employees drone on over all the reasons why the 20 something in front of him "needed" to arm himself with a 10mm. The human body is not the armored fortress some seem to imagine. It is actually quite fragile. Most of us civilians will never actually need to even draw our carry gun... those of us who actually, consistently carry. Most of us will never need to shoot our way out of a "hollywood" scenario, or through a few terrorists wearing Level III body armor. Most at your local gun ranges don't even practice with the same gun or ammo they claim to carry..... let alone at realistic potential self defense distances. From the legal angle, most don't seem to consider the fact that should the need arrise, the idea of the cops showing up, giving you a pat on the back after a few questions and allowing you to go about your life..... is unlikely. Youre going to be grilled up one side and down the other, most likely have your carry gun at least temporarily confiscated for forensics processing and ballistic analysis, and you may need legal counsel and worst case.... may need to defend every single choice you made to include your type of ammo you decided to load into your carry gun in front of a likely to be ignorant jury. Your average non gun friendly person is more likely to see a pistol like this and it's small, less intimidating ammo as a more relatable choice... especially in a legal defense scenario, than they would a larger "tactical" branded and looking gun.... and some of the defense branded ammo on the market.

I appreciate your comments,

very well said, great video

Well said, brother. I have a comment on the lethality of 22 LR. When I was in the 6th grade a friend of mine was killed instantly during the Christmas Holidays. He was changing seats in the family car when a 22 discharged. One discharge and he was dead.

I bought an AR7 for my survival backpack. Im wanting this since they share ammo. Been spending too much but this is next up

Good talk, man!

Dude... I thought that I was the only reasonable, normal human being that reviewed firearms and EDC gear... I am humbled by you bro 👊 this is what I aspire my channel to be

Even though my lcp is quite ammo sensitive, I still enjoy shooting it. It's become one of my favorites. (I think the light spring has something to do wtih the ftf.) As far as politics is concerned, the center is the only place to be.

You are absolutely on point with your opinion on carrying a .22, the law in Michigan will protect you only if you are trying to stop the threat, not blow a hole in someone the size of a baseball. To many gun owners seem to have the attitude that real men only carry .45 caliber hand guns.

I had a problem with Aguila super extra 40 grain, as well as CCI velocitors. They would make my slide lock back with rounds still in the magazine. I even took it apart and bent the slide stop spring so that it wouldn’t lock back on an empty mag, and it still locked back when firing those. So, I completely removed the slide stop lever, but kept the spring in because it holds the take down pin in place. Now it works flawlessly. It doesn’t lock back when empty of course. The ejector is part of the slide stop lever (and might be the reason for premature lock-back), but the empties still eject fine without it. Also, I have the Galloway spring kit in it. Before I put in the stronger hammer spring, I got a lot of light strikes. Now there are none. The little gun has a bunch of design flaws, but I think of it as a project gun.

Great video

I went through about every kind of bulk and readily available ammo I could get my hands on, and what I found is if you get a good quality round nose 22, with at least 1200 fps, you should have good success. CCI, federal round nose, Aguila all worked well in mine. Flat nose like Winchester did not work, standard velocity did not work…

Great video. I would never say a 22 lr is perfect or optimal but I damn sure don’t want to be shot with one and I’m pretty sure no one else does either. The late great Jeff Quinn said that most folks say that a 22 won’t get the job done and isn’t enough to hurt anybody but there’s a lot of dead folks that’ll tell ya different !! That’s not exact but pretty close. I miss ole Jeff’s wisdom and his videos and I’m sure he would have liked this one.

I agree with down gunning I used to carry larger pistols when I was younger now I stick to smaller pistols and be more aware of my surroundings either a J frame or a glock 43 but I have been looking into a LCP max in 380 or a lcp 22

From my experience, the wax from the Aguila builds a film along the follower on the magazine and could potentially be the reason for the FTF. Wipe it down and see if that could be the case.

Yeah, in my experience, heavily waxed .22 ammo is good for long term conservation but it can cause some problems with semi-auto firearms. Definitely causes the gun to be dirty more quickly. And most .22 semi-autos need to be well cleaned and lubed yo work well. And yes, I totally agree on the fact that a reliable good .22 pistol that you can shoot well and quickly can be a good choice for a self defense gun. Better than a 9mm that you absolutely can't shoot well...

You should explore installing a spring replacement kit from Galloway Precision.

Norma, Tac 40 Cheap and great. Thanks for the video.

Thanks man.

Really like my LCP2. Also got a Kahr P380 which is also good but hard to rack.

They just put through the ban on magazine capacity of over 10 as of July here in WA State. I needed a new gun to pocket carry as my work has changed out attire and I would print pretty heavily with my Shield and M&P 2.0c. I ended up having to choose between the LCP II 22lr or the S&W Bodyguard .380... due to the trigger of the boudyguard and the idea of a snappy small gun I chose the LCP. I hope it was a good choice. Also I impulse purchased a Glock 19 Gen 5. I picked up CCI Standard rounds, Mini Mags, Stingers and Velocitors. Hopefully one of those rounds will be reliable enough to carry.

I have several thousand rounds through mine. Mine really likes Aguila ammo. I have discovered that it does produce a thick build up on the interior of the foreword part of the slide rails. I am always careful to clean it thoroughly. I also recently had some FTF issues, and it looked like the follower of one of my mags was out of alignment. Replaced the mag and problem solved.

I polished the little sight windows on my magazine, the edges on the sight windows were sharp. I used 600 gritt emery cloth and smoothed the edges. My thought was that the sharp edges were causing drag on the rim of the 22 cases.

Thanks!

i like the lcp 22lr and the taurus tx 22 but like you i carry the lcp max because for me its as large a gun as i feel comfortable to carry,also i use underwood 380 68 +p ammo[also have a faulty lcp2 mag] good vid

Am on my second one. Sold first one to my brother, as he shot it and basically wouldn’t give it back. Current one I own, I have shot 450 rounds of Federal AutoMatch only. I had two duds that wouldn’t fire even after turning them and a retry. They wouldn’t shoot in my Glock 44 either. Each dud had 4 good primar strikes. Note, I keep it very clean, pristine, as it gets dirty after round 50-75 rounds. I pay special attention to the extractor and feed ramp. Also, extractor seems too weak, so before I shot it replaced the extractor with Galloway extractor spring, not the full kit. I’ve had very good luck with these guns, amazingly so. I have never had a failure in the first 50 rounds on either gun. My duds on my current gun popped up at around 100 rounds. They seem to like HV round nosed ammo, preferably copper.

I love my lcp2 in 22 lr. So much in fact I bought a second one lol. I own some Kahr arms pistols, other Ruger pistols, Glock pistols and H&K pistols. I absolutely love this little gun. Btw I shot 300 rounds of the Winchester super X anniversary edition and has maybe one or two rounds not go bang it off my lcp2

I've been having alot of problems with the Ruger LCP 22LR replacement mags. The replacement mags do not push the top round all the way up flush against the feed lips.. the tip of the bullet comes up correctly, but the back of the casing tends to stick and sink down a hair. This allows the bolt to ride over the top of the round and dent the casing. If and when it actually strips the sunken round, the round tends to point left or right of the chamber causing it to miss the hole. This can be attributed to the loose and sloppy feed lips that don't assist in guiding the round straight forward

I have one magazine - the original mag had issues with failure to feed. 4 other mags - no issues.

I have one of these little gems too. 3000 rounds to date, with a total of 10 documented fails, according to my range report that I roll up into an Excel spreadsheet. I’m very happy with that. Question, have you noticed the guide rod and spring walking over the slot where they fit on the frame insert? Mine has some wear, not much. I dab it with Slide Glide. Plus, I keep this gun very clean and oiled. One person has reported the wear issue here on RU-vid - but he had over 6000 rounds on his. Just curious.

Great review! What cleaner and oil do you use to keep it going? Thanks

This LCP 2 is a good dog gone shooter.It loves bucket of rem bulk ammo.Im gonna try the Aguila because I I like the Aguila in my rifle but haven’t tried any in this lcp yet.out of a whole bucket of bullets I only had one bad round and it was out of the rifle where it didn’t shoot.Thats not bad outta 1400 rounds.Anyhow great video and I love the lcp 2, I got a cool looking leather made holster on eBay for it.

Mine is opposite everything I hear about the pistol. Mine loves Thunderbolt and cheap bulk box. It loves Aguila and CCI blazer. It doesn't like stingers, punch or other high velocity round. I'm am just shy of 4000 rounds

I agree on the effectiveness of a 22. If you put a couple of 22s into the chest of a human or a large dog the danger level should improve.

Good common sense review. I carry one for the very reasons you described.

I owen LCP 22 as well I found that Remington was the Best for me

Amen on the 22 for self defense. I have been saying that for years. The needs of a civilian and the needs of military and police are much different. Your self defense and pursuit of bad people is much different. My theory has always been that a 22 in a crowded room is much better than say a 357. Not that having a 357 is bad, it is just that you are responsible for all of the rounds you send down range. 22's are more dependent on shot placement if you know what I mean. And 22's stay in the intended target. My intension is to stop the threat, death is not always necessary to meet that goal.

I like my DeStanis SuperFly pocket holster.

well said my friend i say the same things to people

Re: your comments at about 8:45 min. mark. I believe in situational awareness, deterence and disengagement. The wild west quick draw shootout Bonanza thing is pushed too much. People need more training than target ranges where they are not on the receiving end. Paper target, bottles and gongs are not shooting back. So, people need some type of shoothouse training with shoot / don't shoot choices. Perhaps you could do a shoothouse video, or a simulation of the Quantico range, so people have a more realistic idea of why you conceal carry and what to do when it is needed. Thnx for your vids, will check out your music. I am just an old guy who has a slightly different way of looking at things.

Can you take off the base plate on the mag which you think is troublesome? Is so do that and clean the interior of the mag, stretch the spring a little and clean the follower. Additionally take a look at the ears on the mag and make sure they aren't bent. FTF most of the time its the mags. Good video

Federal automatic works the best in my .22 lever action Henry. It's very low power, therefore it is terrible for semi automatic. Golden Remington works fairly well since it's a little hotter but can be somewhat inconsistent. CCI's are usually the best all around for reliability and price for semi autos. Bolt action, lever action, or revolvers you can get away with anything.

I have to agree... the worst 22 ammo I've used is Winchester. That wide hollow point is awful, they are also inconsistent with the powder charge and priming. I only use them now in a chiappa single shot, as it will not cycle or eject in anything reliably.

Ugh, just bought some super x. Figured the velocity would help it run better.

I have had my LCP II 22lr for about a little over a year, fired about 250-300 CCI mini mags through it and it broke. I couldn't pull the trigger., it was like it never reset. Sent it back to Ruger, got it back in less than ten days. They said the trigger bar was replaced. I fired it yesterday (total rounds since I got it back was about 250 -300) and, IT BROKE AGAIN. Same issue, trigger felt like it never reset. Anyone else have these issues? I think Ruger is more intent on getting guns out the door rather than making quality guns. It wasn't like this when Bill Ruger was alive.

Enjoyed

Try polishing the sharp edges on the magazine including the windows to reduce drag from sharp edges.??

Lol..just bought one I have 20 rounds through it.. ha ha .. just wanted to see if it cycled.. but I am happy.. no issues and hitting a steel 9 inch plate at about 100ft straight out of the box.. way beyond self defense range in court

Please run an extended test using the Federal .22LR Punch. I just bought a Ruger LCP II .22LR and it was suggested to use this ammo. I’ve heard that it is exceptionally reliable. And my little experience with it seams to bare that out. But, I’d like to hear from some one who has the ability to run 1000+ rounds through it. Thanks!

I agree...the .22 will serve well...but if you are worried about the aftermath of legitimately protecting yourself...you don't need to be carrying. The reason to carry is to PROTECT yourself...regardless of what happens afterward.

Yes Aguila ammo work good in the Ruger lcp2 22lr.

I have this same pistol, out of the box it was a little ammo picky. Installed a spring kit from galloway precision and have not found an ammo it wont gladly eat since short of the ones that like you have run into that had no priner and would not have fired in any gun.

Mine didn't like Norma after about 80 rounds. It has a gummy lubricant material on it and it gummed up the pistol and mags. And it absolutely hated Aguila super extra. With 30-40% malfunction rate locking back mag before empty and stove pipes. It ran Remington thunderbolts 100% and cci standard velocity 100%.

Has anyone come out with a method to remove that safety lever? If not, do you think it could be filed down?

New Subscriber!

LCP 2 22lr and LCP Max 380 is all you need.

Do you still have the factory extractor in the gun? My 10/22’s, pc carbine and 22/45 lite ALL run MUCH more reliably with improved after market extractors installed on a variety of ammo types. Ruger is notorious for poor quality control on the stamped extractors.

You put 11 .22 rounds into the biggest tuff guy out there and they will either break contact with you or you will be able to beat the snot out of them with that empty pistol if they don’t. With that, I always have my .22lr Beretta in a pocket when at home or as a backup when I have a larger caliber gun on me.

There is a spring kit being sold that I got last year that improved reliability in mine a ton. So far I have shot 240 Remington Thunderbolt bulk ammo (500) without a single failure. 240 for 240!

Johnny, when you doing the 7500 round update? How’s the Galloway kit working out?

Also great for protection against dangerest animals.

Also. Same thing another RU-vid channel said. Has 3 mags started having problems marked the mag and even his wife told him the same thing just that one mag with any ammo.

You mentioned that you don't think using the LCP2 22lr as a training firearm, and then carrying a larger caliber. I understand your viewpoint, but you could still work on the basics like drawing, holstering, or or other techniques to get the muscle memory down. Then you can work on recoil management later.

I sure liked this one. The most right thing is the Winchester Super X being the box of failures, not to mention its just about the most expensive box of bulk ammo you can buy and I'm hardly interested in buying it at all at this point. At over 40 bucks a box of 300 it'll stay until the bs gets itself straight. Thanks for the video, looking forward to more 22lr stuff you got.

From a practical day and night perspective, to hit targets, does the black lower and silver upper offer any advantage over all black? I am also open to paint some dots on the sights.

In my opinion Aguila is trash. Too many FTF and FTE in my .22 pistols. Try CCI mini mags, Federal Punch or CCI “Stangers.” Those work well in my .22 pistols.

Sub'd while back I'm a DAV w/bad hands so CCW this gun. Only had somev ole 22 ammo but neighbot gifted me a box of Rem/viper 36grain. He uses it for rabbit hunting w/good results! Will it run OK N a LCP2. Only git 2 range when I go fish NC coast N spring & fall now. TY 4 any info. Like the design of the viper ammo so hope it worksTY lot's

I've yet to have the chance to shoot mine yet. But the one thing that really bugs me is that it will not fully extract a cartridge from the chamber. No matter how vigorously you rack the slide. I've seen a couple of others mention this about the light rack or 22lr LCP II. Being that yours is obviously a reliable example is it the same way? That alone makes me hesitate to carry it since it would hard to clear a light strike or otherwise.

One of the funniest guns I have ever shot at the range

Nice to see someone with a non-polarized common sense political view especially regarding guns. I bail on a lot of gun reviews immediately when I get a strong political slant in it. I'm so tired of it.

5,000 rounds Johnny definitely shoots a lot. Dumb question but why are all the 0.22 LR pistols single stack?

I have one and I’ve installed a belt clip on the side of it so I can clip it on to everything including basketball shorts and and swim trunks 😆

I shot my wife's lp2 this weekend and almost every other round was a misfire or failure to feed, while using the Winchester 22lr

I jus got a box of aguilas too an they had a shitload of waxy coating on em too , had failure to feed , failure to fires , gonna wipe em down sometime an see wut happens .

👍 LCP 22.