I kind of skimmed over this in my first part. In retrospect, I’m doing some things out of order here. Oh, well. I’m just kind of doing things as they come into my head.
Today I’m going to discuss the gun you want to carry. There are a lot of factors involved here and almost all of them are specific to you. I can talk about my experience and hope it helps you. In the end, it’s what works for you.
Fair warning; there will be a lot of links in this article. I’ll be sending you to my reviews of the firearms I mention in case you want to learn more.
As a rule, the smaller the gun, the easier to carry. Also, harder to shoot. It’s a trade-off, and only you can decide what’s most important to you.
I’ve carried every gun in this picture at one time or another. Some are still regulars.
Table of Contents
Starting small: my NAA mini-revolver.
When someone says, “any gun is better than no gun,” this is what I think of.
I normally carry .22 magnum in its five shot cylinder, but I also have a .22 LR cylinder. It’s tiny, it’s not powerful, and the recoil with magnums is far more impressive than you might think. Reloading is something that takes me about 30 seconds in a controlled environment with no stress, unless I just swap cylinders.
Still, it’s a gun. I’ve carried it, and only it, at times. I still drop it in a pocket sometimes around the house.
Next up the chain, the Beretta Pico.
Yes, I know the gun has a bad reputation. No idea why. Mine has been, literally, flawless. Never a single failure of any kind. Not the most ergonomic pistol I own, but it’s great in a pocket and if you use the very good sights, it’s accurate enough.
Still pretty small: Smith & Wesson 360 PD
Turns out I don’t really carry a full size revolver, so this is the largest of the revolvers I carry. And I carry this one a lot. Sometimes it has shotshells to deal with AZ rattlesnakes, although I’ve never had to actually use it for that. Other times, I just have .38 +p in it, even though it’s rated for .357 magnum.
Since it weighs less than 11 and a half ounces, recoil with magnums is interesting. But five rounds of +p hollow points is pretty stout.
My smallest 9mm: Sig Sauer P365
I do regularly carry this gun. I have a couple others in the same class, but this is a touch smaller than the others. It’s reliable, accurate, and has excellent night sights. Overall great ergonomics and a 10-round capacity makes this an excellent carry gun.
My oldest 9mm: Smith & Wesson M&P Shield
This was my first carry gun. I bought it when I lived in Florida. At the time, it was between it and the Springfield XDs. I was slightly better with the Shield, so it won.
This is the original. Not the 2.0 and certainly not the Plus, with the higher capacity. I should point out the holsters work for all three 9mm versions.
These guns had notoriously “bad triggers.” Why the irony quotes? Because I took this, my P365, and a Springfield Hellcat I recently got, to the range. I shot this the best of all three.
Maybe it’s the years I’ve had it. Who knows. I’ll still carry it at times, even though I now have “better” options. Interesting philosophical point: while it’s normally better to have ten rounds than eight, what if you’re better with the gun that holds eight?
My first 9mm compact: Sig Sauer SP2022
Compact isn’t the word I’d have chosen for a gun that carries 15 9mm rounds. And I have a second magazine that holds 17. But, if the world decides that a 4″ barrel is compact, then I’ll roll with it.
This is a pistol that’s really accurate and easy to shoot, once you figure out how to work a DA/SA trigger setup. Two different trigger pulls. Some will treat this like you’re trying to learn how to run a nuclear reactor while blindfolded and handcuffed, but it’s not hard. It takes practice and you have to stay in practice.
Another 9mm compact: Glock 19, Gen Five
This is a more recent acquisition. I’m hardly a Glock fanboy. Only Hi-Point is uglier, but I can’t really argue with the performance of the Glock. It’s easy to shoot and recoil is easy to deal with.
It is, in a word, competent. I carry it at times and feel completely confident in it. Not a single reliability issue.
It’s probably the most popular handgun in the States for a reason.
If there’s a gun on this list that needs the least practice, this is the one. I don’t want to discourage practice. I don’t know your life. If you really can’t do much, this may be a good choice for you.
Finally, a full size: Springfield XDM
Also, the largest caliber. This one is in .40 S&W. 16 rounds in each magazine. And, as you can see, I have my TLR-1 on it.
This gun does double-duty; it’s my nightstand gun, and I use it when walking at night. The light assists with both uses.
Like the Glock, it’s striker-fired with no manual safety, although it does have a grip safety. As consistent as the Glock, but a heavier caliber. Takes almost as little practice to remain proficient as the Glock.
Small bit of irony; it’s capacity and grip length move it into the “full size” category, but it has a 3.8″ barrel, so technically smaller than either the Glock or Sig SP2022.
Conclusion
This is a sample. I didn’t include everything I’ve ever carried on here. For example, I have a 5″ barrel 1911 that I’ve been known to carry. Just not often.
Like I said at the top, from the compacts up they get really easy to shoot. The smaller ones are less so. The Shield and the P365 are OK to shoot but easier to conceal than the SP2022 or the Glock. Tradeoffs.
The NAA is the easiest thing to conceal I’ve ever owned. I also consider it useless past about 5 yards, for me, anyway. I’ll never hit anything.
Maybe for Part III I’ll hit some of the holsters I use for these.
