WillMitch

Greetings friends, I am David Miller's Great Nephew. I wanted to start out by saying this forum played a large part in his life and I really enjoyed reading some of your thoughts and wishes for him. It has been a little over a year since we laid him to rest next to his love. I am now looking to get a handgun to carry/conceal after a unsettling event. I thought about where i might find some information and this was at the top of the list. I would use it for plinking around but also carry/conceal. I am a young male adult but not super skinny. I would like to stick with 9mm to start out. Budget would be between 500-700$. I look forward to hearing back.

Will

Hartski

Check out Springfield Armory XDS. Very slim and concealable. I have a full sized XDM, and am looking to get an XDS for summer carry.

Nomercy448

In 9mm, I carry (or own to be able to carry) a Glock 19, a Ruger LC9, a Kahr CM9, a Ruger SR9c, and a Springfield EMP.

My Ruger LC9 gets carried the most, and was the cheapest of the lot (other than the Glock 19, which I received for free). A hogue slip on grip helps the LC9 a lot.

My most carried CC weapon is a Ruger LCP in 380 auto. I carry big bore stuff very frequently, but my LCP is almost always in my pocket.

Hartski

My fiance carries an LCP. She loves it.

jls456

I carry a Glock 22. In your price range. Look and feel a lot of different types before you decide..

WillMitch

Thank you all for your replies! I am going to the range on Friday and my friend and i will hopefully try all of these models out and see what fits the best. Keep the input coming, if i had a nickle for everyone around town who suggested glock 19, I would have a gun or two paid off. Definitely gotta check it out.

CalHunter

Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your uncle with us. He was a good guy and is still missed.

As far as a CCW pistol, a lot of it comes down to what you feel comfortable with and if you have any size limitations or not. You've been given a lot of good suggestions above. At a minimum, pick up one of each at a gun store and see how they feel in your hand. If you have friends who own any of these guns, see if they'll let you shoot a few rounds downrange. That should give you a good idea of what you shoot best and what feels good in your hand. You may find the double action first shot on some pistols isn't inaccurate for you and that could also influence your decision.

As far as Glock pistols go, they are a simple, accurate and reliable pistol. A majority of police departments issue Glock pistols for these reasons and the generally lower costs for purchase & maintenance. I've carried Glock 17, 22, 23 & 30SF on duty in open carry holsters. I've carried each of those and a Glock 19 in a CCW carry (mainly in a gun bag). The Glock pistols are a little wider than some of the other guns but they are solid performers.

Something else to consider is how you plan on carrying your pistol CCW. If you wear it in a belt holster covered by a shirt or jacket or in a gun bag, any size pistol will work. If you're carrying it in some hidden kind of pager style holster or in your pants pocket, you'll want a smaller pistol. You can carry any size pistol in a shoulder holster (Miami Vice style) but that is the slowest method of CCW when it comes to drawing the pistol (aside from an ankle holster).

Hopefully this gives you a little more to think about in choosing which pistol to buy. Good luck and let us know what you decide to buy.

Hartski

Also, if you find yourself leaning towards a Glock, find the store in town that does the most business with the local police Department. They will often have used ones that the cops trade in for newer models for a pretty hefty discount.

bronko22000

IMO you're asking for a handgun to cover both plinking and concealment. That's a tough role to fill. A pocket pistol like the LCP or my Taurus TCP are easily concealable but make for lousy plinkers because they are used in extremely short range situations. What I like to call "get out of trouble" weapons. Because you want to stay with the 9mm, if I were in your shoes I would look into the Smith & Wesson M&P compact or similarly sized pistols to find the one that fits you best. These are fairly easy to carry concealed and are decent plinkers at moderate ranges. And the reason I mentioned the M&P line is that they also make a .22 LR version with the same feel as the larger calibers. So you can use the .22 for plinking and the 9mm for carry.

RobertSubnet

Bronko is right. A CCW gun is not fun to plink with. Because of the small size a CCW pistol is pretty rough on the hands. I shoot my Beretta just enough to maintain familiarity for plinking Ruger MkIIIs. It is outside of your budget for now but you should give serious consideration to two separate pistols: one specifically for CCW and a second larger pistol for plinking which you can purchase later on.

Good luck with your decision.