Have you got any suggestions on the best pistol to carry concealed? Thanks

I have carried concealed professionally for 23 years. Here are a few tips and a suggestion or two.

Get something lightweight or you will end up leaving it at home.

Get something easy to conceal, quick to draw and reliable.

Get something simple unless you are a professional gunfighter. I'm paid to carry concealed and win gunfights and still prefer simplicity.

Avoid the all-knowing advice of "wanna be's." Ignore anyone who insists that the .38 Special doesn't work. I believed that nonsense until I had to deal with the bodies of people shot with it.

Consider Smith & Wesson's Bodyguard or Centennial revolvers. They hide well, draw quickly and can be fired through a pocket without malfunctioning. Airweight is lighter. The stainless airweight guns require very little attention. Smith built one for me in '83 or '84, well before the design became popular. I have carried it for 20 years and it was there when I needed it. Don't believe that alloy frame guns don't hold up, although they do kick more. Centennial and Bodyguard revolvers are available in .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .44 Special. I just upgraded to the .44 from .38 and will carry it into the foreseeable future.

Practice shooting targets from arms length to the length of a typical room in your house. When you get good, practice at closer and longer range targets. Get good, qualified, credible instruction from a professional in order to develop safe and effective skills. Generally speaking, threats to your well being happen close and quickly, and the guy across the street is not a major problem.

If you keep your eyes open, are attentive to your surroundings, and stay away from places you thing could be trouble, you'll likely never need your gun. Then again, you just never know.

If you end up shooting, a good thing to tell the police is that "I was in fear of my life." And you should have been or you should not have fired your weapon. Get a lawyer because you may end up in court.

In a previous assignment I was required to travel the world and teach this topic to perhaps a thousand people. There was no publicity to the effort, just an operational goal taught to an established standard. The reported results have been very good and I'm comfortable in passing this professional insight on to you.

Edited by - Chessbum on 12/30/2002 23:05:06

.38 S&W Bodyguard is my revolver choice with the Federal Hydroshock. I have taken the CCW class and there where two of us with the snub nose there. While one guy with a .45 shot a great group there where a couple of others with the .40 auto's that could not group as well as we where with our puny .38's under rapid fire. I hope I never ever have to use it but that is the gun I always have close by when I travel. I also have several other handguns for hunting or plinking.

Well, although I am not a "wannabe", I am also not a professional. I have been paid to carry concealed in the past, but it has been a few years ago. However I still have my CCL and do cary most of the time. To date I am a larger fan of autos than revolvers (just personal pref) and my all time favorite handgun (whether at the range or for carry) is the Walther P99. The more recent the better, imo. Not that they are old...they hit the market in '96. But there are MANY functions and features of this gun that make it tops in my books. First if you are not familiar with it, it is comparable in size to the Glock 19. Hewever,it FEELS lighter, about 23 oz unloaded,(not sure of the weight of the Glock). Adjustable front and rear sights. Ambi mag release. Four independently working safeties: the trigger safety, the internal striker safety, the decocking safety and the drop safety. Not to mention it works in both single and double action. Come with interchangable backstraps that allow you to fit the grip to your hand. That I know of, it comes in 9mm and .40 s&w. All in all, just a great gun to have/shoot.

One Shot, One Kill
Hunting is the one sport where, if you are playing right, the other team doesn't even know you're in the game.

Ranger Mac did a find job and it would be very hard to improve on his comments. I had a CCW since 1987 and have carried several different guns.My primary carry gun is a Glock M-27.On occasions I'll carry a S&W Model 649 which is the "Bodyguard" in Stainless Steel.It has the shrouded hammer and easy to conceal.Main draw back is it's a little heavy for such a small package.If I'm just running down to the local corner store I'll throw a Beretta M-21 in my pocket.Fortunately I've never had to use any of them but it's nice having them to oblige a bad guy if it become necessary.Main thing is practice and get efficient with whatever you decide to carry.
Ruger Redhawk

..... A Proud NRA Life Member since 1977 .....Ruger Redhawk