RE: Best conceal carry pistol for self defence.
VAhuntr is giving you very good advice and I will put it this way " begin carrying a gun will make you understand why your wife has 100 pairs of shoes"
The gun you carry is less important in terms of concealment than what you use to carry it, I have carried a Sig 229 for 13 years among other guns all being larger. I did pick up a Glock 26 this past summer for a special circumstance. I have had many holsters over the years and found that no one holsterworks 100% of the time and the same holds true for belts. My advice would to get a great midsizegun Sig 229/228, Glock 19/23 or maybe a compact with a mag extention Glock 26/27 orSpringfield XD but somethingwhich to have pride and confidance in, then learn to dress around your gun, cause it's going to happen anyway or you will stop carrying the gun. Istarted carrying a glock 17 in a galco holster with a decentleather belt 14 years ago and here is what I learned:
The best Walmart leather belt lacks the support to carry a holster and gun, it begins to lean the guns grip outward and sags. Furthermore belts not made for carring guns while wearing pants with 5 or less belt loops will not work unless you trighen the belt so far you can't breath, and it still doesn't work well. Just bite the bullet, buy one Wilderness Instructer belt for casual, and oneKramer, Beltman Horsehide, etc for dresser times.
Cheeply made leatherholsters will ruin your guns finish due to minerals used totan the leather, additionally they are usually too soft of leather and will loose their shape over a short period of time and the gun becomes loose in the holster and may fall out at bad times, which is any time a gun falls out of a holster.Plastic, composite, kydex holsterswhatever you want to call them are loud when youhitthem, scrape them or anything them (they make noise) directing people to ask what made that noise. Keeping that in mind I have5 holsters, 4 are Kramer Horsehide leather (3 Verticals, 1 IWB #3)and the other is BladeTech inside the waistband for that Glock 26 I spoke of. The kydex holster and glock are used for deep summer concealment when I sweat, saltwater fish, exercise, and other activities that cause leather to get ruined.
Use my advice how you see fit, just know carrying a gun is a learning experence.