Best Conceal carry gun?
 

With WI about to pass conceal carry law. I am wondering what is a good conceal carry gun. I like glocks and I would like to get a Glock Model 30. but the price is out of my price ranges right now. I am still talking the wife into letting get a new tree stand this year.

thanks,
Schooter

I carry a Glock 23, don't know if it's the best, but I like it...

Some people love ____________ (fill in the blank) while others hate them. There is no one gun that is best as each person has different sized hands, palms and fingers.

You stated that Glock is out of your price range at this time. How much extra funds do you have to practice? I would NOT recommend a .22LR for personal defense, but they are great for working on proper form and practice. A .22LR will eventually pay for itself in ammo savings.

I suggest taking certified courses and looking for certified instructors so you can make well informed decisions. For the certified courses, start with a course that covers the fundamentals (NRA Basic Pistol). Also take certified courses where the main focus is concealed carry, personal defense and how to help defuse a situation instead of escalating it.

Know the laws! Be aware that if you draw a firearm, you are likely to end up in court (civil if not criminal).

like country said, youre gonna have a ton of opinions on carry weapons. Youre gonna have to decide how youre gonna carry to decide what kind of gun. Ive been carrying for prob close to 20 years and over time it really comes down to weapon youre confident in thats comfortable to carry. If a gun is such a pain to tote that you leave it at home, its not doing you much good.

if youre going to pocket carry, then youre taking one of the smaller autos like a keltec, micro eagle, or possible a snub revolver like an airweight smith.

if its ankle, again something small....usually a snub or a small auto, possibly one of your baby glocks.

inside the waist band you can pull off a bigger gun, but you need a good belt and to me, something more than about 26oz is just too noticeable to me to be comfortable. The small glocks are in the weight range but they are a little wide for some people.

I rotate my personal carry guns. Most days at work, and just in general, i almost always have a keltec 32 in my pocket. When i feel like having a little more firepower, ill carry a keltec p11 clipped into my waistband. Some times if im dressed up for a night on the town, ill have a taurus pro 45 or a smith airlite 357 on my ankle. Time to time ill carry a fullsized 45 or glock model 22 in my waistband, but its rare.

Less is more for everyday carry, in my opinion. I carry a Sig p238 everyday, and LOVE it! Some say a .380 ACP ain't enough, but I haven't run into anyone that wanted to get shot by one. Extremely easy to conceal, accurate and a delight to shoot. Well balanced, mechanically sound and teamed up with the right ammo, a well placed bullet (always the most important thing anyway) will stop any threat from a two-legged beast. From all my experience with CCW, which is far less than most on here I am certain, this is by far the best option for me. Not necessarily for you, but leaps and bounds above the rest for me.

Occasionally I will carry another gun in addition to this one, but more than often not. I frequently team up a S&W airweight .38 special with it, even though it is another small frame/caliber pistol. Even when carrying both of them, I am so comfortable with them on me that I will forget that I am carrying. Even more rarely, I will carry a various full size auto in addition to the p238.

As has been stated, you must be very comfortable with what you end up getting. Practice with it, both shooting and going through scenarios unloaded as much as you can. Nothing is more important than this. You MUST be extremely proficient with your CCW if you plan on it doing you any good, should the rare occasion that you need it present itself to you. I can't tell you what is best for you. I told you what is best for me, even with my large hands, but you have to get your hands on them to find out what is best for you. Glocks are great guns, but they simply do not fit me. They may be the bee's knees for you. Find the gun that fits you well in a caliber that you can handle proficiently and conceal properly and comfortably and then practice, practice, practice. You will be good to go.

P.S. DO NOT skimp on holsters...they are as important as the piece you are carrying.

You've got some good advice so far. Another thing you may want to consider is how you plan on carrying the weapon concealed on your body. The location/types of holsters, etc. can sometimes limit which pistols are suitable due to size limitations.

I have a Walther PPK that I sometimes carry in my slacks pocket with very little printing. It's only a .380 but it is very concealable. I used to carry a Glock 17, 22 and 23 in fanny packs. They're a little heavier but have more stopping power and rounds. At work, I now carry a Glock 30SF and am very impressed with it. I could carry it concealed if need be with a shirt over it in a waist band holster etc. Hopefully this helps some.

Thanks everyone. I have gone through Wisconsin Basic Police Recruit Academy (I went into hospital security instead of Law Enforcement.). So I know and understand WI law when it comes to Use of Deadly Force. I plan on using a hip holster during the summer months and an ankle holster when wearing pants. I like glocks because the are simple to take care of and I have a had model 22 before. I it traded it for my 270 savage. I want something small but delivers stopping power. I do know that it is about shot placement. Before I would carry I will make sure that if the threat arise be able to put good shot on target.

"Some people love ____________ (fill in the blank) while others hate them. There is no one gun that is best as each person has different sized hands, palms and fingers."
Country 1


This statement rings true for all firearms, but when it comes to handguns it is.................well, it's in the name "hand-gun".


First thing - it has to fit "your" hand !

Many of the military and law enforcement are not taught the best techniques or fundamentals. It is alarming the percentage who do not have sound fundamentals and what they do not know. Look for a NRA Certified Instructor in Pistol in your area. It sounds like you may have a limited budget, but not all certified instructors charge to give instruction. Here are a couple of links of Todd Jarrett. If you look at 'From The Theater' on the Firearm Review Forum, there are four more links to Todd Jarrett on proper shooting form and techniques. Notice how little muzzle flip his firearm has and how his hands do not move. He is very efficient in how he does move.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q02Zy-PrBOk

Country1,

All EXCELLENT instructional videos !!!

Thanks for sharing !

1...you need a new wife if you have to negotiate new tree stands...LOL (JUST KIDDING!)

I have several handguns...I'll be the first to bash Glock...have a 21 and hate it...will sell it as soon as I find a sucker! Trigger pull sucks, accuracy blows and feels like it was made by matel! My personal favorite now days is my Kahr CW40...conceals nicely, inexpensive (bought new a couple months ago at Cabelas on sale for under $400), sweet DAO trigger pull, accurate and comfortable to shoot. I also have in the safe a Browning Hi-Power on .40 (my all around favorite...but full frame is harder to conceal), Smith 5906 (not top of my list), Kimber 1911...sweet heavy gun...luv to shoot it, not comfortable to conceal-carry, Baretta 92FS (9 mm...enough said), Sig 226 in .40...a great conceal gun, grip is a little thick but hella accurate and never has failed me, Taurus 454 Cas...my Alaska Bear carry gun. Any of these have been carried at one time or another and all are good guns. What is most important is that the gun fit your hand and is comfortable to shoot. If it isn't comfortable to shoot you will never spend enough time with it on the range to become proficient resulting in an un-prepared under-skilled packer...

Glock is a good firearm, but it is not for everyone. For every manufacturer, there are some who love their products and some who hate their products.

Try to shoot an unmodified model (no trigger job or after market parts) with factory ammo (some will power down their reloads) to see if you like that model. Below are some areas to consider when looking at a handgun.

How a handgun fits your hand and how compatible your natural point of aim works with the angle of a particular handgun is very important. A gun may feel great in your hand, but if it does not work well with your natural point of aim you are likely to struggle with accuracy.

Some firearms have a rounded frontstrap and/or backstrap while others are shaped mostly flat. Some people love the flat and hate the rounded and vice versa.

Is your trigger finger long enough for you to center the middle of the pad of the trigger finger on the trigger of an UN****ED handgun and still have a gap between your trigger finger and the frame of the handgun? Don't turn the handgun in your hand to make the handgun fit. Hold the handgun so the thumb and trigger finger of the shooting hand are parallel. The fatty part of the palm ahead of the wrist on the side of the little finger should be against the bottom of the backstrap. You should not be able to see any portion of the backstrap while the trigger finger and thumb are parallel. If you do not have proper alignment, you will have more muzzle flip and more felt recoil. Most people have an incorrect grip which means their alignment is not correct. The result is recoil goes into the knuckle of the thumb on the shooting hand (not comfortable to shoot), and they also have a greater muzzle flip (affects accuracy and speed).

Is the distance from frontstrap to backstrap of the grip too short or too long for your hand size?

Is the width of the grip too wide or too narrow for your hand size? If you have average size hands or smaller, you are likely to be better off with a single stack mag and thinner grip than a double stack mag.

Is the grip tall enough for your hands?

Can you reach all the controls on the handgun without changing your grip?

Is there plenty of room inside of the trigger guard for your trigger finger? The trigger finger should never come close to touching the trigger guard at any time.

The above are just some of the areas to consider. Do not trust a gun shop to tell you which one fits best for you. Most do not know. Others will suggest the model that gives them the biggest profit or a model they have the most to sell (want to move inventory).

My keltec pf9 is extremly reliable and accurate. They dont cost a fortune i think like 325 new and are good carry guns. It holds 7+1 rounds of 9mm so not a sloucher. Im notta 9guy but i cant carry my 45s or 40 nowhere near as much as this baby

I carry a Keltec 32.. Some people scoff at it, but it is the lightest smallest pistol I can find and I have 7+1 rounds.. A CC gun is only good if you carry it, many of the others are just to big/heavy for me to feel comfortable with.. You can easily go with a 380 like the Keltec or Ruger LCP also.