LCP Max vs Kimber Micro380 - A Comparison

[@sonnygunz9207]

I ran a little over 300rds through the two LCP Max .380’s I have without issue. 130~ were old gun show reloads I’ve had almost two decades… 50rd Remington green and white box, 50rd old (15+yrs) Remington yellow box UMC, 50rd Blazer brass and 35rds of Federal HST. I have 500rds of Freedom Munitions 100gr flat point I’m going to start working on this Saturday. I have a couple quick vids up shooting them. I love um. Thanks for the video.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I checked a few out. The duel wield one looked fun. You have quite a few fun pocket pistol videos. Keep up the good work.

[@OFLHLGZ28]

I don’t know what ammo you are using, but my Kimber hasn’t jammed on me yet. And the sights are night sights. I’m happy with my Kimber

[@theplinkerslodge6361]

Good review - I recommend recording at a higher volume level, better mic?

[@Th3BaconNation]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I accidently turned down the narration track volume on this one while trying to decrease the volume of the audio in the range shots. I'm still trying to find the right balance between my narration track volume versus the audio in the range bits.

[@blackpaw254]

Good comparison vid 👍. Was just thinking about picking up the LCP max for the extra capacity and improved night sights. I had the original LCP with the horribly long trigger, hard to pick up sights, and it just never felt right in my hands. I’ve also got a newer 2020 Kimber Micro 380 with night sights, and knock on wood, mine doesn’t seem to be finicky with various fmj or jhp ammo after 500+ rds, and is fun to shoot.

[@Th3BaconNation]

Hopefully you have better luck with your Micro380 than I've had with the ones I have shot. I really like mine... when it works. I shoot it pretty well for a little gun. But because mine is regularly unreliable it is stuck being a range/comparison gun for me.

[@jrnumex9286]

also the max offers a factory 12 rd mag i believe. 12 +1 nice PLUS way less $$

[@nastymkfan]

Sir, I think my eye is on the Micro 380. How is the recoil of this for new shooters? Will it be an excellent back up gun that can fit as a boot carry? Also what's better, the Micro 380 or the Taurus 380 Mini Revolver (which I read is good with recoil and reliable but is rare since it has been discontinued, slow to reload, and only has a 5 round capacity)? I'm thinking that the Micro 380 is a good candidate for being my back up gun in a SHTF situation in case my Glock 19 (or my 9mm pistol of choice) and my AR-15 in 5.56 NATO run out of ammo. Please advise anyone. Thanks. 😊

[@Th3BaconNation]

I cant comment on that Taurus. I used to see them years ago, but I havent seen one in a while. That's one I'd like to test for our ongoing 380 series. The Micro 380 has mild recoil, IMO. The full size sights and SAO trigger help make it a accurate micro size 380. The one complaint I have on them is the one I have and the ones that I've shot have all been very ammo picky. If you have ammo they like they work well, but if you don't not so much. When ammo was more scarce there were months were nobody had any of the home defense ammo my Micro 380 likes, so for me its not my first choice as a carry or backup gun.

[@nastymkfan]

@@Th3BaconNation Noted thank you. One major reason why I've had doubts about getting the .22LR mouse guns such as the Beretta mouse guns, the Ruger LCP Lite Rack 2, and Walther PPK/S is because they are finnicky with ammo. My eye is also on the Sig Sauer P238 but they are pricy and I've read that if not gentle, the gun a part of the gun can break easily when disassembling. I'll see. All are beautiful guns for sure.

[@Th3BaconNation]

If you're considering the Taurus 380 revolver, no reason to not consider a snubby in 38/357/9mm, IMO. I think the air weight or polymer frame ones have uncomfortable recoil, but the steel frame ones I think are very shootable and don't add much more weight compared to the polymer/airweight models, in my experience.

[@nastymkfan]

@@Th3BaconNation I'll see about the 9mm and the .38 special. I don't trust the .357 for me though. At least not yet. The 9mm would be better for me as a back up/hideout gun so I won't need to worry about getting another ammo other than 9mm.

[@cra2cra226]

lol. I wanna know what situations and in what countries you put yourself in that you think you'll plow through ur AR, and your G19 and STILL have to fall back on a pocket gun. LMFAO. Buying guns is fun. I have some. But if you read the FBI stats, you'll never see a "shootout" beyond like 7 ft., and it'll be over in 3 shots. In the U.S., that is. Maybe in some drug cartel's turf in Mexico you have to defend yourself with an AR-15 / G19 / 380,... and a knife. Don't forget the knife, too.

[@colt10mmsecurity68]

Cool video. Out of the .380’s I own (Colt Mustang Pocketlite, Walther PPK/s, Ruger LCP-2, Ruger Max, Glock 42), I have come back to carrying my Glock 42. I did try the Max as my EDC, but the grip, function and reliability makes me come back to the Glock. Ammo count in the gun (7 vs 11) was a solution to a problem that never really existed for me. A reload after 7 rounds if needed doesn’t bother me.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I wish my micro380 accepted a wider array of ammo. It has a lot of nice features in its favor, but for me, a very important one is reliability across a wide variety of ammo. In my experience my micro380 has not been very accommodating in that regard. If mine were as reliable as my G42 I think it would give it a serious challenge for which I'd prefer more.

[@colt10mmsecurity68]

@@Th3BaconNation I hear ya. I also look at it this way..l, many people still carry trust J-frame 5-shot revolvers. At least with the Glock 42 it’s 7 (6+1). Personally I don’t use +1 base plate by aftermarket companies either. So with 7 rounds and two spare 6-rounders in the pants pocket, I’m totally good. The .380 for me is not going to be my “ON-DUTY” chase after someone gun. It’s a last ditch self defense “get-off-me” gun. The 42 for me is a gun used when exiting the bad area, or when talking my way out of something didn’t work. Therefore, I’ll gladly trade higher round capacity with the Max that “might” perform reliably with defense ammo, for my “SHALL” perform reliable Glock 42. After 7 rounds, who cares if I have to reload. Chances are strong I’ll never need to pull the trigger off-duty anyway Lord help me, but if I do, I’m good with the 42. To be honest, no .380 is my primary EDC off-duty gun anyway. It’s usually a Glock 43X or Glock 19. The .380 is only used for special occasions under special needs and when ultra concealability is needed.

[@joshwagner8954]

In my experience Kimber is a 800 dollar paperweight. Even after sending my Kimber back to the factory it still would not operate, I've sold it and moved on.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I wish my micro380 was more reliable than it is. It has good accuracy and mild recoil, but the tendency to hiccup prevents me from having much carry faith in it.

[@williamwalker1277]

I feel bad for you. If you can get your hands on an older Kimber you will be very pleased. I have 3 of the older Kimbers and I wouldn't trade them for anything. They have never given me any problems and I have shot way more than 100,000 rounds in them. The more rounds you put through them the better they are. And you have to find the right ammo that they like when starting off. After putting a lot of rounds down range they will shot anything else.

[@charleslanphier8094]

Don't waste $ on Kimber, pretty but unreliable even after Kimber "fixed " it twice. Springfeild 911 in 380 has been flawless.

[@jagpilotohio]

Capacity. I bought the LCP Max the day it was released 2 months ago. Carried it everyday since. I will say the accuracy is definitely mediocre, mine shoots 5 inches low at 7 yards, but with 13 rounds on tap It doesn’t bother me quite as much as it would with 7 or 8. I’m trying hard to train myself to aim high until I alter or replace the rear sight. Needs to be taller or I may fill in the bottom of it with black epoxy.

[@Th3BaconNation]

For me so far the accuracy deficiency is due to not having any other guns with a similar trigger. This one is just enough different for me vs everything else that I've struggled to get it dialed in, but I'm definitely getting better each week. I hoped I'd shoot it much better much quicker, and I got a little discouraged after the first couple trips, but I'm since back on the upswing.

[@jagpilotohio]

@@Th3BaconNation i added thin strips of black guerrilla tape to the bottom of the rear sight channel to artificially “raise” it up. Definitely worked. I’m either going to try the epoxy trick or look for a different rear sight.

[@Th3BaconNation]

Good to know. That is not something I would have thought of doing. My off hand still has a tendency to get wild when I shot these tiny guns, which has been pointed out by some in the comments. I'm definitely working on that, and I think it's helping getting my groups tightened up, but that doesn't mean I might not still need a little sight tweak when all is said and done.

[@timrobertson299]

my lcp max runs fine, no ammo issues, however the trigger on the kimber is a much nicer trigger, as a defense weapon I will hold on to the lcp max. in my opinion the lcp max has more pros than cons.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I've shot my max every weekend since getting it. The only time I've had an issue was that one magazine of ammo that was shown in that video. I'm 99% certain it was something with that specific ammo. I too think it has more pros than cons. I've since noticed what I'm going to consider a few more negatives, but overall I think it still has a lot going in its favor. I was going to post a comparison against the EZ380 next, but the one we did today is jumping that in the line. We brought in a classic, and while I expected the accuracy difference, there were some other things I did not expect that made this one more interesting, IMO. I don't want to spoiler the fun and mention the model on the next comparison.

[@zipper396]

I have both and am torn between the two for carry.The max has 110 rds of 3 diff ammos including hollow point +p and not a single failure,nice gun but miss the smoothness of the p238 that has over 500 rounds and a grayguns trigger. just ordered a sigurd trigger from galloway for the max like the one that made my lcpII LR nicer to shoot.I always polish the feed ramps and clean and oil a new gun when i get it and almost never experience some of the new gun hiccups that some reviewers get.Love the lightness and capacity for carry for 2 big pros on the max.

[@oldcop18]

I’ve had the unofficial second generation LCP for years & never experienced a single malfunction w/FMJ or HP ammo but still prefer my J Frame revolver for EDC. Guess I’m pretty old school b/c my issued .38 saved my butt on the street more than once.

[@Th3BaconNation]

Both my original LCP and my LCP Max I'd say are reliable guns. By chance all of the failures I've had while shooting the Max are shown in videos on this channel. This video might be the last time I had a problem thus far. If not this one its one around this time. If I wasn't a fan of how the G42 works for me I'd probably go with something like a model 36 over the LCPs. Not a knock on the guns, just a personal preference and comfort thing.

[@kendurham2493]

I have experienced the same feed problem with my LCP Max using remington, Federal was fine. What were you using? It would have been nice to see where the shots landed on target.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I had the problems with some round nose flat point bullets. I believe they were Winchester White Box. This is the micro380 target- i.imgur.com/NHe3sqg.jpg I thought I had a pic of the LCPMax target from that shot, but apparently not. It wasn't much better than what the target shown in the LCP Max vs LCP video was. I'm hoping next time we get video I can get the white balance figured out so the target is more visible from the over shoulder view. That was the first time we tried out a new to me handcam.

[@ThePNWRiderWA]

I have the 238 and LCP max. The LCP I like as it’s lighter. The 238 fits my hand a lot better. The LCP even with the much better sights is still a up close and personal weapon.

[@Th3BaconNation]

I don't have a 238, and nobody I shoot with has one either. That is one I'd like to shoot to see how it stacks up against the other 380s I've shot.

[@ThePNWRiderWA]

@@Th3BaconNation the 238 now is probably going to be given to my daughter. It’s just a lot heavier than the LCP Max and less capacity.

[@fpav4049]

Wouldn't it be better to compare the Kimber to a Sig 238 ?

[@Th3BaconNation]

That's one I'd like to shoot, but I don't know anybody with that model and its not one I'm going to run out and buy just to do a 5 minute review on. The Browning 380 1911 is another in that boat.

[@johnhill7585]

The ruger needs a 12 pound recoil spring and the FTE's are cleared up, also the recoil is a little bit easier. The Kimber does jam every once in a while, ammo sensitive. The Kimber is easier to shoot recoil wise with the Ruger just plain nasty, and i like the Kimber trigger better. IF the Kimber had a 10 round capacity, I'd choose that over the Ruger.

[@Pauley_in_GP]

I know I'm late to this party, but just to add some data, the LCP Max is my carry. Nothing can beat its size/firepower ratio. I'll be the first to admit that the Max is not a wonderful gun to shoot at the range. But IMHO, smaller size and almost twice the capacity are two very important factors in a carry gun that needs to be TOTALLY concealed.

[@937-b3o]

also 14oz vs 10 oz

[@ryanjohnson6558]

LCP Max is double action only

[@TexasNightRider]

LCP Max = 1 Kimber = 0

[@bobshelton9049]

Micro HAS NIGHT SIGHTS. I HAVE ONE.

[@Th3BaconNation]

The base model might now have night sights, but that's a recent change. They originally came with 3 white dot sights.

[@traderman6681]

Nice review. Btw, bacon will accelerate atherosclerosis and really screw you over, painfully, just sayin’.