I had an LCI when I owned a Kahr P380. The damn thing was almost as tall as the front sight, it was like having 2 sets of front sights, one behind the other. I would never buy another handgun with one of those on, or a mag drop disconnect.

I don't consider the Glock "LCI" a true LCI, and don't mind those kinds.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I, on the other hand, do find giant "shark fin" LCIs to be ugly and obtrusive, independent of the verbiage.

Even without the words on it, this would still be butt-ugly.


Holes and extractor bumps are acceptable, though.

That thing should be called a Loaded Lawyer Indicator.

Never would I even consider owning a pistol with that shit on it.

Do we dislike LCIs? Depends on the LCI. I dislike the shark fin LCI of my CA P238 – ugly, and it slightly interferes with cleaning the pistol. Very glad that my SIG X5 Comp doesn’t have one.

But I like the LCI of my Interarms Walther PPK/S. It’s a small pin that slightly protrudes out the back of the slide, just above the firing pin, when there’s a round in the chamber. The BG can’t see it, and I can easily feel it with my thumb, without shifting my grip. Reassuring on a dark night to be certain that a round is chambered.

I don't object to a great degree, except to the really obtrusive and ugly ones.

I dont mind the Glock, Sig and HK ones that just give you a small bump on the side. I press check before stuffing anything in the holster so its not a feature I need but I dont hate it.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I don't object to a great degree, except to the really obtrusive and ugly ones.

I reject guns outright that have stupid shit like that on them, espcially if they're not made of steel. I also generally dislike platic for mechanical parts that actually run the gun.

The mass-hole works.

No hate there.

I saw a video a few years ago of a pistol with a giant red flag LCI. High speed photography showed the flag bouncing up and down vigorously every time the gun cycled. It didn't inspire confidence. For this kind of LCI to work, it would have to protrude down into the chamber a little bit, to be bumped upward upon entry of the cartridge. I can just see this thing sticking and causing a failure to chamber.

Like oddball has previously said, I also had feeding problems with my Ruger Mk III. They disappeared when I replaced the LCI with Volquartson parts.

I dislike the kind on the Ruger and Springfield pistols. They totally ruin the look of the gun for me. Any time I pick up a pistol the first thing I do is check to see if it’s loaded, even if it’s in a holster.

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

HK does it right with the LCI - they just have the design made that the extractor is tactile when a round is in the chamber and a flash of red to see it. Very small, pretty much unnoticeable.

I think HK's approach with this is great. I imagine an engineer of their's coming up with this solution: "They want an LCI? I'll give them an LCI! Where's the red oil-resistant enamel? Put some on top of the extractor! See that little sliver of red? That's the LCI!"

I view the LCI as just another bell or whistle that the antis/ more restrictive states mandate. It's just another hurdle for a manufacturer to clear. Actual safety imparted to the gun is questionable.

The worst are the flags and holes. Why would a sane person drill a hole in the chamber, the part of the barrel designed to contain the exploding gasses in the cartridge? I've never purchased a pistol with this design and never will.

Same goes for the flags. Most of those are in the slide, but the cut is unnecessary and as others have said, another part that could break or make cleaning more complicated.

Any LCI is no substitute for proper handling, a visual AND tactile check of the chamber to make sure it's unloaded before storage or handing a gun to another for inspection. I also wouldn't rely on an LCI to make sure a pistol was loaded before placing it in a holster for carry or duty. Maybe a spring breaks or some piece of crud wedged between the flag and slide shows the flag loaded, but the chamber is actually empty. No thanks!

Ian from Forgotten Weapons/Inrange TV had a Loaded Chamber indicator make his P-38 go down during a match a while back, once it was removed the pistol worked fine.

3:40 mark

The only LCI I need is the audio kind.

The LCI on the Polish P-64 9X18 Makarov was a small rod that extended slightly at rear of slide when a bullet was chambered. Just enough rod to be noticed.

The real safety feature on that nice well made handgun was the 24 lb Double Action trigger pull.

 
I don't rely on a LCI, but other methods. But, the P230's is nicely done, with the top of the extractor red. I didn't even notice it until after I fired a couple of hundred rounds.
 
At a match, I barney-up with one round in a spare mag. When the mag comes out empty and the gun is in battery, I have no further need to check that it is loaded. I can also hear and feel that round chambering. Any carry gun is also loaded the same way, and either stays fully loaded or completely empty. Empty stays in the safe, loaded in a ready spot where it never leaves my possession. Naturally, I assume guns in the safe are loaded and check them first thing before handling them any further.
 

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
HK does it right with the LCI - they just have the design made that the extractor is tactile when a round is in the chamber and a flash of red to see it. Very small, pretty much unnoticeable.

Every pistol I've owned that has an external extractor has a LCI.

They are fairly pointless as all guns are loaded until they have been cleared and locked open.

Safety rules aside, no intelligent person should need a little painted piece of metal to let them know what condition their pistol is currently in.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Unnecessary. Not all of my pistols have them, so I check them (and treat them) all as if none of them have them. At the same time, I've never found myself glad to have one.

Agreed. Plus they are just one more area for crud to build up.

It's an unnecessary complication, those are always bad, always unwelcome, no matter what. Now, these are pretty mild as those things go and I've never heard of one malfunctioning such that it cause the pistol to malfunction, but I'll bet it's still possible and that's enough to make me prefer pistols without them.

Those that are just the extractor extended a bit with some orange paint on it? Meh, but again that's a piece of metal protruding from the pistol that doesn't need to be, maybe it some causes problems with holsters that worked on prior models that were identical to the new one except for the loaded chamber indicator, maybe it catches on something sometime, etc. etc.

It's just utterly useless and, however unlikely, could possibly cause some sort of problem. No upside and some (however small) downside = nope.

The reason I dislike them, in addition to magazine disconnects, is simple - I dislike being treated like an idiot.

Add to that, a mechanical complexity to fail.

Some are just plain ugly, others obtrusive, but all are insulting.

Rule #1 - All guns are always loaded. Understand this.