Tag Archives: new ruger

Another volley in the 380 space…

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Featuring a removable chassis system for easy grip frame upgrades and a 14-shot capacity, Ruger has a new LCP Max on the block, powered by Magpul.

The two companies in 2024 brought the innovative RXM 9mm pistol to the market, which uses a serialized Fire Control Insert that is independent of its Enhanced Handgun Grip, or EHG, allowing the flexibility to be easily swapped into different grips. And by different we both size (full, compact, subcompact) and color, all inside the Glock Gen 3 9mm double stack ecosystem.

You can see much of the same potential modularity on the newest Ruger LCP Max. Debuted this week, it uses Magpul’s new EHG .380 grip frame with a Fire Control Insert chassis. It carries a new style slide that mimics the RXM’s aesthetic, and includes a S&W Bodyguard pattern Tritium front sight with a drift-adjustable rear.

And it weighs 11.2 ounces, unloaded, which is about half as much as the Walther PPK, which offers a 7-shot capacity.

the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip
The new Ruger LCP Max. Note the Magpul EHG RG380 grip frame with 3/4-scale TSP texture. (Photos: Ruger/Magpul)
the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip
Overall length is 5.35 inches with a 2.8-inch barrel. With the extended 13+1 round magazine – new to the platform – height is 4.78 inches. The pistol has a slim, 0.75-inch-wide slide assembly. 
the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip
Compared to the standard 10+1 shot LCP Max, seen right, the new Max stands just 0.66 inches higher and is 0.18 inches longer. The weight is less than half an ounce different. 
the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip
The newest LCP Max is the first that uses a serialized Fire Control Insert chassis, which can be removed by the user with basic tools. 
the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip
At launch, Magpul plans at least three extra colors (black, FDE, olive drab) for the EHG380 grip in addition to Ruger’s standard Stealth Gray. Replacements, sold via Magpul, will be $39. You can bet that other aftermarket grips will also soon be in the works. 

Other standard features include a tabbed trigger safety and a manual safety. It ships with both a flush 10 rounder as well as the extended 13-shot magazine as shown above.

“This launch is just the beginning of what Ruger and Magpul have planned for the LCP Max, underscoring Ruger’s commitment to innovation and consumer choice,” says the company.

The MSRP on the new Ruger LCP Max with the Magpul EHG RG380 grip is $449, which is a $50 bump from the standard LCP Max. I would imagine the price at your local shop to be closer to $375.

We have one inbound for a review, so stay tuned for more on that subject.

Ruger Just Dropped the first 10mm Lever Gun

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Ruger has done something a bit unusual by introducing a compact Trapper variant of the Marlin Model 1894, chambered in 10mm.

Marlin long marketed a modern Trapper model, a stainless carbine-length big-bore .45-70 Model 1895 that was short, quick-handling, and optimized for hunting or protection from dangerous animals, in 2018, but it went out of production when the company closed shop in 2020.

Ruger, once they rebooted the line in 2022 after acquiring the Marlin brand and putting in a massive effort to breathe new life into its iconic guns, debuted a new take on the Trapper with improvements, including a receiver-mounted Skinner Sight system and suppressor-ready barrel.

Since then, Ruger/Marlin doubled down on a short-action Model 1894 Trapper in either .357 Magnum/.38 Special or .44 Magnum/Special last year, and has come back with a 10mm variant headed into 2026.

The new Ruger Marlin 1894 Trapper in 10mm
Like other models in the Trapper Series line, it features a cold hammer-forged, 16.17-inch threaded barrel and receiver-mounted Skinner Sight system that provides rapid target acquisition. The muzzle is threaded 5/8-24TPI. (Photos: Ruger)
The new Ruger Marlin 1894 Trapper in 10mm
The Skinner Trapper series sight is crafted from solid stainless steel and is fully windage and elevation adjustable, shipping with a .125-inch Aperture installed. Four other aperture sizes are available. 
The new Ruger Marlin 1894 Trapper in 10mm
Weight is a handy 6.3 pounds, while the overall length is 33.25 inches. The 1:16″RH twist barrel should help wring out a bit more velocity from the 10mm Auto round. 

In addition to the standard Trapper series features, Marlin advises that this new model also has an upgraded fire control system. The sear is now e-nickel Teflon-plated, and the sear notch geometry in the hammer has been improved to create a smoother and more consistent trigger feel. Plus, in response to consumer feedback, the sear and trigger system has been redesigned to eliminate the trigger “flop.”

While revolver caliber lever guns, for instance, in .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 44. Magnum, and .45 Colt, have almost always been a thing; those chambered in rimless pistol cartridges are more rare. Further, although a couple of 9mm lever guns exist, such as the POF Tombstone and Taylor’s TC73, we can’t find any in 10mm, well, until now.

The 10mm Auto, already no slouch in a pistol, should boast an increased velocity of up to 250-300 fps in the Trapper compared to its use in a handgun, as vouched for in past experiments from the Ballistics By the Inch guys.

The MSRP on the new Ruger Marlin 1894 Trapper in 10mm is $1,599, a price generally lower at retail.

We have one of these inbound for testing, as well as some spicy 10mm, so stay tuned for a review.

Ruger in the 10mm Carbine Game?

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Further fleshing out its line of pistol caliber blowback-action LC Carbines that accept common handgun magazines, Ruger has gone 10mm.

The company introduced its current fourth-generation centerfire PCC platform in 2022 as a rifle variant of the Ruger 57 pistol in 5.7×28, then added a .45 ACP companion earlier this year at SHOT Show. Now, the news has come that the LC Carbine will be offered in the resurgent 10mm Auto chambering. Best yet, it accepts standard Glock-pattern double-stack 10mm magazines – even legacy 3rd Gen models.

Shown with a flush 15+1 and with a 30-round extended

The bad news is that the Ruger LC Carbine in 10mm has an MSRP of $1,049, which, while just $40 more than its .45 and 5.7mm brothers in the same family, is still kind of spendy for a PCC.

Still, there aren’t a lot of 10mm carbines out there, with the Ruger falling squarely between the $400-ish Hi-Point 1095 and the super Gucci $1,400 KRISS CRB – which probably gives the new offering a wide open market for those who wish to run the “centimeter” in a full-length barrel.

Ruger does what it should have done in the first place

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When the Ruger Wrangler popped out in 2019, it was a basic no-frills .22 LR single-action revolver styled on their well-liked Single-Six but cheaper. 

Made with a zinc alloy frame and finished in Cerakote, it had basic fixed sights but it worked.

I handled the above early model at NRAAM four years ago and thought it was okay, but wished it had better sights, a longer barrel, and was sold with an option to swap out the .22 LR cylinder for a .22 Mag, which would make it a lot more capable. After all, Heritage makes their little single-actioned rimfires in Georgia with much the same convertible option, and for a bargain basement price.

Well, Ruger has heard me and legions of others and today, I can share that I have been evaluating the new Super Wrangler. As you may have figured out, it has better sights, a longer barrel, and is sold complete with a .22 LR cylinder and one for a .22 Mag.

Behold, the Super Wrangler! Notably, it comes in at half the price of Ruger’s Single-Six convertible.

More on the new Super Wrangler in my column at Guns.com.

18 Months with a Mini Bull along for the ride

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I’ve been living with the Taurus GX4 micro compact 9mm for a year and a half on a daily basis and put well over a thousand rounds through it. It has surprised me, for sure.

Taurus introduced the GX4 to the world in May 2021, and I was able to get an early test model from the company slightly before. A good sequel to the company’s budget line of increasingly well-made and dependable G2 and G3 series pistols, the GX4 was more of the same, only smaller and with a better trigger.

When compared to more recently introduced double-stack micro 9s with similar magazine capacity, the GX4 was smaller than a lot of the big names, seen stacked side-by-side with the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro, SIG Sauer P365 XMacro, and Kimber R7 Mako.

Designed for personal carry, the GX4 proved such an easy carry – just 24.8 ounces when fully loaded with 14 rounds of 124-grain Gold Dot– that it has become my go-to of late. Of note, that is the same magazine capacity as on the vaunted Browning Hi-Power, my first carry gun back in the late 1980s.

I’ve been carrying the GX4 in a DeSantis Gunhide Inside Heat, a bare-bones minimum IWB holster built from black saddle leather, and it just disappears. The pistol is, realistically, just slightly taller than a pocket gun but comes ready with 13+1 rounds.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Guide Gun is Back…

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The Guide Gun, a hard-hitting carbine with an 18.5-inch barrel chambered in .45-70 Government, was one of the “old” Marlin’s staples, produced from 1998 until 2020 when the brand shuttered with the bankruptcy of Remington Outdoors.

The Marlin 1895G/SG from the maker’s 2018 catalog.

Now, with Marlin since acquired by Ruger and moved under the house of the Red Phoenix, the Guide is back in the field. Still based on the M1895 lever gun with a .45-70 chambering, the new “big loop” model goes a little longer than past carbines, stretching the alloy steel barrel to 19.1 inches for an overall length of 37.25 inches.

What is new is that the cold hammer-forged barrel is threaded– 11/16″-24TPI– and a companion 6+1 mag tube (versus 4+1 in the old 1895G) which explains the bump in length. The gun, Ruger’s first introduction of an alloy steel Marlin rifle with a blued finish, weighs 7.4 pounds.

Plus, it is about $200-250 less than Muger’s other M1895s…

More in my column at Guns.com.

Ruger Enters 5.7mm Carbine Race

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Ruger this week expanded its 5.7mm offerings by introducing a lightweight carbine to complement the already popular 57 series pistols.

The new Ruger LC Carbine in 5.7x28mm is compact, with a threaded 16.25-inch nitride-treated steel barrel and a side-folding adjustable stock keeping it short. Weight, at 5.9 pounds out of the box, is kept low via an aluminum alloy hard-coat Anodized receiver and synthetic furniture. Logically, it uses the same 20+1 capacity steel magazines and ergonomic controls as the Ruger 57 pistol.

The company says that using typical 40-grain 5.7 loads, “this high-performing carbine’s felt recoil is comparable to a .22 LR.”

The reversible folding stock, with adjustable length of pull, is compatible with both AR-pattern and Picatinny rail-mounted aftermarket accessory stocks. Speaking of Picatinny, note the full-length top rail and adjustable flip-up sights.

More in my column at Guns.com

Taurus goes TORO with the GX4

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Taurus’ micro-compact 9mm just got a little better as the company on Friday announced a new optics-ready TORO model addition to the line.

The increasingly American-based company debuted its new micro pistol in May with an 11+1/13+1 capacity and a sub-$400 asking price. This made the gun– which I found dependable in testing— a budget competitor against similarly-sized contemporaries such as the Sig P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat, with about the only rock that could be thrown against it is the fact that it did not come with a slide cut to support popular micro-red dot carry optics.

Well, that has now changed as the new Taurus GX4 TORO series has a factory cut and mounting pattern that supports Hex Wasp GE5077, Holosun HS507K/HS407K, Riton 3 Tactix MPRD2, Trijicon RMR, Shield RMSc, Sig RomeoZero, and Sightmark Mini Shot A-Spec M3 sights.

At an asking price of $468.

Thus…

More in my column at Guns.com.

Of My Time with the GX4

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Taurus announced the new micro-compact semi-auto pistol, the GX4, in May, billed as an 11+1 shot 9mm that was roughly the size of a traditional .380 pocket gun that had half the capacity. The specs of the polymer-framed striker-fired handgun– 5.8-inches long with the small backstrap installed, about an inch wide, and 4.4-inches high with the flush-fit magazine inserted– put it in the same boat as the Ruger MAX-9, Sig Sauer P365, Smith & Wesson Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat line.
I’ve been kicking around the new Taurus GX4 over the past couple of months, having run some 500 rounds through it, and have some things to say about it.

The 11+1 shot Taurus GX4 is definitely compact. Micro compact, you could say.

Ruger May Have Just Changed Pocket Carry Forever

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For better or worse, I have practiced pocket carry off and on for almost 30 years. Sure, while in uniform I had a duty holster and a BUG on my ankle because my pockets were tough to get into due to my duty belt, and today I most often carry IWB concealed at about the 3 o’clock position, but I have always thought that pocket carry has its place at times and have defended the practice.

Speaking of this, one of my all-time faves for pocket carry was the S&W Centennial series (Model 642, specifically) but the Ruger LCP got my attention when it came out in 2008. I mean come on, a 9.4-ounce 6+1 .380 that disappeared in your pocket, who wouldn’t like it?

I liked the original LCP so much for pocket carry that I bought one of the early ones in 2009, had it Cerekoted FDE before it was a factory option, and installed Mag-guts spring kits to gain a 7+1 capacity in a flush-fitting mag.

Then came the LCP II a few years ago that changed the profile to make it easier to handle, and added an ounce to the frame and slide, but didn’t change the footprint.

However, the introduction of the current crop of “Micro 9” pistols, double-stack subcompacts– like the Sig P365 or Springfield Hellcat– that carried over 10 rounds in a flush-fitting mag, has swept the carry market.

To that, Ruger has replied with a Micro 380, the new LCP MAX, which is the same rough size as the LCP II, but carries 10+1 rounds in a flush fit or 12+1 rounds in an extended mag, and still fits in a pocket holster.

Nice.

More in my column at Guns.com.

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