WHY DO YOU PREFER A COMACT PISTOL ?

[williamlayton]

I just want to see the answers to the question.
I will make no comments.
Blessings

[the jigger]

I prefer a compact for carry.
I prefer a full-size for the range.
I prefer not to hunt with a handgun.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

[drdougrx]

It has to do with comfort.  If it is compact, I am more prone to have it with me and this includes hunting.  For example,  I was bear hunting from a tree stand and was carrying a SW29...first day on my hip, 2nd day in my pack.  Kept getting in the way.
 
But, compact is as compact does....I have a Ruger SR9 full sized and find it no more difficult to carry concealed than the SR9c...so....commander sized is compact to me.  I have a SW m3914, a compact 9mm, not as small as an LC9 or a PPK/s  but still smaller than the SR9...but not that much at that!
 
BTW..I should also mention the ability to get ahold of the grip.  I have a colt mustang pocket lite....two fingers is all I can get of the grip.  I also prefer the PPK/s over the PPK for the same reason.  Compact to me doesn't mean pocket pistol or deep cover.

[Brett]

Easier to conceal especially in light summer attire.
More comfortable to carry - doesn't poke and dig into me as much.
Less weight to carry.  Those few ounces make a big difference by the end of a 10 - 16 hr day. 

[jhm]

     I am also in the comfort group, hoiwever we doinbt have a printing issue here so I guess I carry whatever I feel like most of the yr. but during the summer months it is usually the lighter in wt. one I grab, but if goiingto L Rock I carry the sig. 229 with 2 extra mags.   Jim

[Mike in Virginia]

I like 'em compact because they ain't a rifle.  The basic reason for a handgun is so that we can tote something less bulky that a rifle.   We would all surely like the power of a rifle in a handgun, but it ain't gonna happen.  You can hide a 7 1/2 inch Ruger Super Blackhawk in your britches, but it still ain't a rifle and it can't take out an enemy at 500 yards. 
To my way of thinking, a pistol or revolver is a thing you use because you can't reasonably or legally use a rifle.  So, I look for the most compact pistol I can find that still has enough oomph to get me out of the trouble in our current society. 
As I've said a thousand times, pistol size/weight/power is all a trade off.  The smaller the package, the less energy and capacity.  But still, even the biggest concealable package is still just a handgun.  We all love handguns or we wouldn't be on this site.  But I think we love them so much because of the vacancy they fill formed by the rifle we can't carry.  If the laws were different, my choice of a carry weapon would be a Springfield M1A, or even better, an M14.  But that ain't even reasonable.  It will never happen until society collapses and we will have to go to the rifle to survive. 
Our challenge today is to stay alive by protecting ourselves from our own kind.  Not yet have the sand dwellers invaded us in force.  On that day, state and federal laws will go away, and we will defend our homes with rifles.  Perhaps we won't even have a home to defend, depending on the deterioration of our gov't while Democrats and yuppies foolishly bring us to that point. 
But to answer the question, I like a compact pistol because it allows me ease of carry in a world where nothing is easy and is on the verge of collapse.  When the collapse occurs, I'll carry a rifle. 
 

[Graybeard]

Among handguns most carried for self defense (semiautos) I see them falling into the categories of full size, compact, subcompact and midget. To an extent the same applies to revolvers but the larger ones aren't carried for CCW that much.

With the Kel-Tec guns the lines blur a bit between subcompact and midget in my mind at least. The PF9 is usually placed in the compact or subcompact size but if you lay the little P3-AT or P32 on top you see darn little difference in actual size but the PF9 does feel better and is a 9mm.

Physical size isn't as important to me as is weight. My Glock 27 isn't that much larger than my PF9 but weighs more than double what the PF9 does. So the G27 tends to stay home and the Kel-Tecs go with me.

A gun at home is about as useless as not owning a gun so if it is too heavy it tends not to be a carry gun for me at least not a CCW carry gun. Both sizes of Kel-Tecs fit in my pants pocket but the PF9 pretty well fills it up and if it was larger just couldn't be hidden in there. My G27 doesn't fit and the weight of it would pull me sideways even if it did.

[buck460XVR]

I like 'em compact because they ain't a rifle. 
To my way of thinking, a pistol or revolver is a thing you use because you can't reasonably or legally use a rifle. 

I use a handgun for hunting deer because I prefer the challenge of the hunt over that of a rifle. In that case and in the case of shooting my handguns for fun at the range(which again is somewhere when one can legally and reasonably use a rifle) I prefer guns with a barrel length and weight to make the weapon accurate and pleasant to shoot. I see handguns as a alternative option to rifles in those cases, not because I have to. For CWC, I like 'em small and light for all the aforementioned reasons.

[Swampman]

Here in the deep south it's too hot to wear enough clothes to hide anything but a compact.  A compact 9mm is more than enough to allow your escape.

[mechanic]

What Swampi said....
 
Ben

[Mike in Virginia]

Graybeard, you are so correct.  Except, for me, I'm scared to death of a Glock.  I'd shoot myself in the foot the first day I bought one.  Seems like all the PD's are going to Glocks.  Reliable and tough.  But they have no safety.  Training should eliminate the need for a safety, but not for me. 
It's all wrong, I know, but when my handgun comes out for action my finger is on the trigger.  That's way, way out of line and deviates from any training offered anywhere.  It's just me.  If I pull a gun from my holster, I'm ready to shoot, and shooting means pulling the trigger, and the trigger can't be pulled unless the trigger finger is on the trigger.  Unsafe?  For sure.  Can't argue with that.  My stance on the matter is wrong, wrong, wrong.  I know  that.  But I ain't about to change it.  I refuse to waste the tiny fraction of a second to move my finger into the trigger guard.  If I draw, that finger is already there.  If my gun ain't dangerous, I don't want it. 
The "finger off the trigger" is actually a new concept to law enforcement, not to mention concealed carry training.  When I first started as a cop  in 1970, I was taught to draw the gun and fire.  Don't draw it until you need to shoot.  If you need to shoot, then that means pulling the trigger.  Now retired, I see clearly that training has changed.  Don't put your finger on the trigger.  I think that fairly new reasoning is because of the Glock.  I'm too stupid to own a Glock.  I'd shoot myself or someone else.  Any auto needs a safety.  The de-activation of a safety is much faster than movng your trigger finger from a straigh out position to a position that will activate the trigger.   
I remember my quarterly training requirements, way back when cops used revolvers.  Draw from the holster and fire.  Get your finger on the trigger immediately as you draw.  The timed requirements of qualification did not allow for the split second it takes to adjust your hand position.  Draw and fire.  Draw and fire.  Draw and fire.
It was never draw with your trigger finger stretched out along side the gun's frame.  It was simply draw and fire.  The finger off the trigger thing came about long after I became a regular citizen and the Glocks became so popular.
Not that Glocks are unsafe for the trained user, and not that they are not a great pistol.  They just ain't for me.  I'd rather have a medium size rock than a Glock.  With the rock, I'm not going to hurt myself very much.  With a Glock, I'd shoot myself for sure.  I am too old to learn the "finger off the trigger" thing.
My best friend in my department was transferred to a task force within ATF.  He went to their firearms training course.  He was taught to keep his finger off the trigger, and that was before Glocks.  That was in the time of the revolver.  How stupid could a person be to shoot a revolver before he intended to do so?  In the heat of battle, lots of stupid mistakes are possible, but for me, the accidental firing of a weapon is the ultimate stupid.  If someone is prone to get that rattled, he ought not have a gun, not any gun. 
In my time, I've squeezed the trigger of my revolver many times without firing it.  It's called "self control."  Even in the most hostile environs, even under the most extreme stress, we should know and be confident that we are not going to fire a weapon until it's time.  Although all current firearms instructors will teach us to keep our finger out of the trigger guard, I will continue to refuse.  If I point my gun at anything, you can bet I've got the safety off and pressure on the trigger.
For certain, that is not the best advice for officers or soldiers.  It works for me and  probably no one else. 
     
 
 
 

[Brett]

Mike, remind me not to spend any time at the range with you.   Even the Action Pistol competition shooters keep their booger hooks off the trigger until they are clear of the holster and their muzzle is pointed down range.   And tenths of seconds can make the difference between placing and going home empty handed in Action Pistol matches. 

[Ladobe]

Pros:
Easier, more comfortable to carry, never felt the need for more firepower for my uses for them.
 
Cons:
Not as capable down range.
 
 
I preferred to hunt and compete with handguns most of my life, so they are what took me out of the "compact class" with most of the handguns I've owned.

[RIF]

Will, I have downsized my gun collection I kept an old Military & Police snub in 38 special and a little Beretta 84 in 380 that my wife likes.  I have seen some accurate shooting done with a small pistol, but I never was that interested in them in general and felt they served their purpose in certain rare instances like riding in a front pocket when I did not want to bother with a holster. 

I was wooed into a scandium framed S&W 357 ten or so years ago and I could not sell that thing fast enough.  My friend has a Colt Defender as his main carry gun that I have shot and I do not like it at all.  I think they look neat as all get out as a died in the wool gun guy, but for anything other than carry in warm weather I just think there are better options...for me. 

[Casull]

The de-activation of a safety is much faster than movng your trigger finger from a straigh out position to a position that will activate the trigger.

 
 
I can't speak for anyone else, but I can move my index finger to a fire position MUCH quicker than I can deactivate a safety with my thumb.

[NickSS]

Personally most of my pistols and revolvers have 3.5 to5 inch barrels and I like that size due to my ability to hit what I aim at with them. I do have a couple of sub compact mini pistols and they are used for CCW when concealing anything else would be difficult to do.  My favorit CCW gun is a colt Officers model 1911 in 45 ACP.  It rides in a belt holster under my jacket.  When I can not carry it one of my mini pistols in in my pocket for defence.  I never felt the need for light weight when using a belt holster until you get up to my Ruger Red Hawk it is heavy but a standard 1911 in a good belt holster is not a problem weight wise.  I like the Officers model mostly due to length than weight.

[Redhawk1]

Easy to conceal and carry.  My Glock 30 although not much of a compact, is easily tucked in my IWB holster. My Sig P238 is a great pocket pistol.

[Brett]

I guess I should qualify my previous answer.  I prefer a compact pistol for CC.  For other pursuits such as target shooting, hunting or home defense I prefer full sized pistols.

[Dave in WV]

I carry a Ruger LCP in  a pocket holster. Anything larger or heavier and I'd need a belt holster and if I need a belt holster I'll carry my SIG P220.

[45-70.gov]

i prefer a compact revolver


don't like pistols  much of any sort......to complicated and ugly
.....................dangerous too

[Brett]

i prefer a compact revolver


don't like pistols  much of any sort......to complicated and ugly
.....................dangerous too

I think folks said the same things about automobiles when they first arrived on the seen preferring to stick with their horses and buggies. 

[Curtis]

At one time I too was intimidated by the myriad configurations offered in modern pistols with all of their various "controls" and modes of operation.  That is one reason I got my M&P as my first defense-use autoloader.  Lets see ......trigger, slide release and mag release; one in the pipe and always ready to rock.  Yep, can't get much simpler than that!
 
I have since gotten familiar with a few of the more traditional pistols to the point that I'm starting to form opinions on what I like and don't like about each of them.  What fun would guns be if we were not always learning?
 
Curtis

[WD45]

I think most people would prefer a full size gun. I do, problem is they just aren't always practical.

[longwinters]

I just bought a compact.  Same reasons as most of you.  Warm weather carry.  A Kimber UltraCarry Crimson II.  I want a pistol big enough so I can have more than 2 fingers on the grip, but a shorter (3") barrel.  I can wear it on a belt with a thin t-shirt and it doesn't print.
 
Long

[keith44]

too vague of a question for a short answer, but here's my short answer:


I don't, except in CCW situations.  I do prefer small handguns when hiding them, but prefer much more to have the heft and sight radius when shooting powerful loads.

[Spirithawk]

Among other reasons, such as reliability, I carry a PF-9 because it's slim, light and compact. I can hide it most anywhere on my body, can carry it all day without it getting heavy, and thus it's always with me. Unlike many folks larger, heavier, handguns that get left at home or in their vehicles. My small gun on me beats their big guns left at home every time!

[ronbow]

I carry a concealed semi-auto (Taurus Slim 9mm) because it is easier to conceal than my 870 or Mini30.   

[SHOOTALL]

Since you said pistol I will refrain from talking 5 shot j-frame  . I have tried since the late 70's to find a compact PISTOL that was both suitable in power and easy to carry. So far a Ruger LC-9 is about as good as I have found. I tried several 380's ( HSc , sig , walther,colt, AMT etc ) and worried about it getting the job done with the ammo it would shoot reliable think ball. The compact 45's were still big and heavy . The Glock 27 is still big and heavy. In winter or cool weather all worked as far as hiding it but in hot humid summer they did not . I work where it is hot and dirty and several of the big name guns would collect lint, dirt and trash and not work 100% . Others would not hide well.So when the plastic 9's starting getting to gun shops I looked at them and came across a used Ruger LC-9 . So far its working . It fits in my front pocket not as good as I would like but so far workable. So in ansewer I want a gun that will ride in my front pocket and not show. And work 100% , And shoot good defense ammo. And be reasonable in cost . And can't wait for a LC-40  . I post this with a 340PD in my pocket 

[JeffG]

My compact Glock (23) is more comfortable to carry IWB, than my subcompact (27). The longer barrel settles in in the belt line better.

[quasne.inc]

Cause i figure I'll get hassled for having my shotty slung over my shoulder everywhere I go.  Plus I have never had a job where they would allow carry.  So if I'm going to break the rules, I better not get caught.