Concealed Carry: What Do You Carry?

[Graybeard]

https://gundigest.com/handguns/concealed-carry/featured-concealed-carry-guns

By Doug Larson -November 6, 2017

Deciding to concealed carry takes plenty of consideration, particularly determining which is the right gun for you.

How should you go about choosing a concealed carry gun?

Concealed carry gives armed citizens the advantage.

Potential attackers do not know who’s armed and who’s not.

The author will not disclose whether he carries, and suggests others don’t either.

There are some basic considerations for carry: climate, training level, concealablity.

A sub-compact, single-stack 9mm, for many circumstances, is adequate protection.

Where I live, a lot of people carry discreetly. As such, the bad guy doesn’t know who is armed and might shoot him. That makes every type of attack less likely, which makes everyone much safer. And that’s exactly how it should be.


Concealed Carry Pistol Being Drawn

So, I’m not going to tell you — or anybody — if I carry a gun or not and what that gun might be. And you shouldn’t — unless required by law — let other people know whether or not you are carrying. But I can give you the reasoning I would use if I had to choose a gun for concealed carry in public.

Why should you care what I think? I’m just like many of you, except I’ve had hundreds of hours of training in the use of handguns, rifles and shotguns from some of the best trainers and gun fighting schools in the world. And I’ve done a lot of research on the subject and learned directly from real gun fighters.

All of them have an opinion about what gun or caliber is best, and it’s reflected in what they carry when they have a choice. And the choice each person makes is right for them. So learn, get training and weigh the options. Then make your choice, but obey the law.

It’s hot where I live, so if I had to select a gun for concealed carry, it would have to be easy to carry discreetly in hot weather where a coat looks out of place. So small is better. But with more terrorist activity, the rise in attacks by multiple assailants is increasing, so it would be a good idea to have as much ammo on board as possible. While a double-stack 9mm pistol sounds good, it might not be as easy to hide as a single stack. And the same pistol in .45 ACP won’t hold as many rounds as a 9mm.


Walther PPS M2 Pistol

I’m getting older, and my bones and joints don’t work as well as they used to. After years of aggressive shooting, especially after shooting a lot of very high-powered handgun cartridges, I find that a gun in 9mm is much easier to control and more comfortable to shoot during long periods of training.

So, if I had to choose, I would not feel under protected by a sub-compact single-stack 9mm semi-automatic. But this is just my opinion, and it’s all hypothetical anyway. You should do what makes sense for you.

[Argent 88]

The older I get I'm leaning more towards a single stack. Arthritis.

[Graybeard]

I don't do much going anywhere these days. I'll go into the drug store but maybe once ever couple months, rest of time I use the drive thru. We go to a real grocery store less than once a month. I do go to a small store that sells most of the stuff we really need weekly. I rarely go into any other stores anymore.

My carry when I do go into stores has become a S&W Shield more often than any other these days. I use an 8 round mag in it and have two spares on the belt just on the wild outside chance something actually happens while I'm in there and need it.

With all this crap that's taking place now in the aftermath of the Floyd killing tho I am sure thinking of going back to a full size gun for carry especially when going into a larger store like Lowe's or the grocery store.

The full size gun always with me even if not on me is a S&W M&P .40 S&W with both night sights and a CTC laser grip. It is loaded with Speer 165 grain Gold Dot JHPs.

[Dee]

Well, because I'm 6'3" and about 240, I don't have any trouble hiding a full size pistol. And because I wear suspenders, I don't  care what it weighs, so my 4" 686 Smith is an easy all day carry.
The load isn't an exotic, or expensive load, it a Remington 125 grain JHP. Remington says its about 1500fps and that oughta do it.
I make my own holsters and on a hot day I carry in a pancake, and when it's cooler an iwb.
In the 70s, and 80s I worked narcotics in this 3 county area where I live, on the Oklahoma border, so I carry wherever I go.

[The Old Man]

Like most of you guys I try not to go overboard on carry gun size, a single stack nine is a fair choice, as is my NAA .22 Mag on a normal day. Like Graybeard said, the thought of a full size gun is pretty appealing under the circumstances we find ourselves under.


The only good thing coming out of these riot filled protests is my wife not relying on just me having the carry gun just in case.

[geezerbiker]

I used to carry a full sized 1911a1 but as I get older a smaller and light option always seemed like a good idea.  A couple years ago I bought a S&W Shield 9mm.  Later on I found out they make the same gun in .45acp and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get one of those...

Anyway the Shield still feels a little heavy in my belt pack but it's not as chunky as the Colt Detective Special I used to have.  I sold the Colt when I was hurting for money awhile back.  I miss the Colt a little but I hated carrying it and I didn't like shooting it either so I'm not sure why I miss it...

Tony

[The Old Man]

I have a 9mm Shield, and it's a great choice in a carry gun, but I have also a Walther PPS M2 that serves me just as well.


When my club still held falling plate matches, the PPS was my gun of choice......went under 6 seconds on all six steel plates. That sort of builds confidence. Fastest time was a 2.9, but that boy was fourty + years my junior.