Your Mandarin went to the range today and fired a variety of plasma, x-ray, and conventional propellant-based weapons. However, there are two firearms your Mandarin decided on a whim to try out, and he thought a review was in short order.

Ruger LCR Double-Action Revolver

This one was the .38 Special +P model, which Ruger calls the 5430. This, as you see from the picture, is a concealed carry revolver.

The weapon is quite small, with a comfortable ergonomic grip. It certainly should fit well in your hand, claw, tentacle, or whatever pseudopod your dimension allows. This is a five-shot revolver, so if you’re looking for six-shooter, do the math.

With any concealed carry weapon, you expect a shorter barrel; as a result, you can expect more recoil. The recoil on the LCR however is punishing—even for your Mandarin’s experienced hands (you ladies know)—and indeed, the weapon transfers all its energy right into the radial nerve between your finger and thumb.

This will make the LCR a difficult weapon to master, and too fatiguing for prolonged practice sessions; it takes hours of continuous practice to really understand the feel of any gun, and after about ten minutes, you’ve had it with the LCR.

Oh, and for the guy who thinks he’s getting a small purse gun for his girlfriend, this is not doing her a favor. This will turn her off shooting even faster than your drunk cousin Eddie showing up with a rifle at the New Year’s Eve cotillion. Your Mandarin suspects you didn’t think he knew about that little incident, but there you go.

Boy, that Mandarin just gives and gives.

Kahr PM9

This is a 9mm, 7-shot pistol evidently designed for the Borrowers. It’s tiny. And given that it is designed for concealed carry—probably concealed-in-a-ladybug-carry—this means there have to be compromises.

With that said, your Mandarin didn’t like anything about this gun.

A magazine extension allows for more purchase on the weapon: this lets you close your hand around the grip, but alas it is all too easy to pinch the little finger in the gap between the magazine well and the grip.

Worse, its long, pendulous trigger pull is off-putting; the trigger has far too much travel compared to other weapons (even larger weapons: your Mandarin threw about 50 rounds from a borrowed 1911 today and found its trigger pull simple and direct compared to the one-third-size Kahr). Bottom line: the trigger doesn’t break when you think it should. And that throws off everything.

Accuracy on the Kahr was surprisingly good: even firing single-handed, your Mandarin hit what he was looking at. But a more serious trigger would have been a big help.

The Kahr, from a construction standpoint, is inferior to my everyday Springfield XD9. My XD9 has a much more comfortable feel and balance, easier to fire, has better mechanics, and to be blunt, would be much better than the Kahr for concealed carry because of it.

Really. And this is something your Mandarin says a lot: if you have a propensity for concealed carry, simply wear a larger, looser shirt and carry a full-sized weapon.

The Mandarin

The Mandarin, whose real name is 吏恆, joined the order in 1309, and introduced the Gormogons into England during the 18th Century.

The Mandarin enjoys spending time with his pet manticore, Βάρἰκος, or Barry (who can be found in the Bestiary). When not in the Castle…well, frankly, nobody is quite sure where he goes.

The Mandarin popularized the fine art of “gut booting,” by which he delivers a powerful kick to the stomach of anyone that annoys him. Although nearly universal today, the act of gut booting or threatening someone or something with a gut boot is solely due to him.