Concealed Carry - capacity vs size?

When I was younger, I went through a variety of guns. A series of K and N-frames, a steel 1911, and a few others, including a G23 and G19...

My EDC most days is at the least a pistol with 16 rounds and 2 spare magazines. The pistol has an Inforce APL mounted. I have a Surefire handheld. And a knife as well. Sometimes a second knife being a Ka-Bar TDI. All so very comfortable and doesn't bother me one bit.

I don't understand how someone can carry a Glock 42 with no spare mag.
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Give it 30-35 years or so, throw in three back surgeries. Hell, I was actually still carrying that 1911 up until about five years ago.

We were all 22 years old once, but for many of us, that was a long time ago. Enjoy it while you can.
 
Practice with what you carry is the key to not need a whole lot of ammo to stop a threat 1 round and maybe a follow up shot if needed.
My carry is a ruger LCP which I do shoot a combat course with it 7 rounds more then enough
 
That stat comes from the report that PD's must submit to the FBI when an Officer is murdered on duty. It is the stat for the fight the cop lost. Go ahead, train for a losing fight, me I plan to dominate the fight, that is hard to do with a pocket gun.
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This confuses me for 2 reasons. 1, I already said I do carry a larger gun. 2, assuming your information about the source of that statistic is correct, you don't know that the officer lost for a lack of ammunition or barrel length. If anything it indicated the officer lost due to a suspect drawing faster or already having the pistol at the ready. I'm not sure where the "train for a losing fight" comes from. Like I said, the takeaway should be the importance of speed and the potential closeness of engagements. What is up with people this week? :confused:

As for dominating, Jerry Miculek carries a 5 shot J frame revolver. I'm pretty sure Jerry Miculek could dominate me with that regardless of what pistol I have thanks to his skill level. I find it hard to make conclusions without knowing all the facts, and you never know all the facts in a fight like that. By all means, carry with the capacity to go longer, I do too. But that's no guarantee of success, nor is a smaller gun a guarantee of failure.

As for the nit picking comment about each and every bullet after everything else the reader decided to ignore and not comment on. I won't address anything else.
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Constantine buddy you know me. It's called sarcasm. Don't take everything so seriously. It's the internet after all. My point was you don't need to justify to anyone why you carry what you carry. Frankly I don't care what you carry. If affects me in no way and it's your right.
 
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I usually carry a S&W 469 7 3/4" length, 5 1/4 height, 13 rounds (12 + 1).

So basically both capacity and size.
 
orionengnr said:
When I was younger, I went through a variety of guns. A series of K and N-frames, a steel 1911, and a few others, including a G23 and G19...



Give it 30-35 years or so, throw in three back surgeries. Hell, I was actually still carrying that 1911 up until about five years ago.

We were all 22 years old once, but for many of us, that was a long time ago. Enjoy it while you can.
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Well I'm close to 30 now. Don't know where you got 22 from lol. Don't go jinxing me now.
 
I favor small size, to a point. I am not willing to give up firing a service caliber or have less than a full grip. Shoot ability in a duty caliber is my prime consideration after finding a pistol I would actually carry frequently.
Commander sized 1911s are the large end of ccw guns for me, and an XDs is at the small end. Both are 8+1, with the mid-mag in the XDs 9. I prefer having a spare mag as well.

Whatever gun you choose is fine by me, so long as you can defend yourself without hitting an innocent with a flyer.
 
Personally I don't know if I'm comfortable with only 8 rounds in the first magazine
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That is a telling comment. Do what you feel is right for you.

On the subject of the 3 round average: it might bear repeating, for some of the newer members who haven't been through this debate before, that an average is by definition the center of a bell curve. Anyone who chooses his or her defensive arm on the presumption of only 3 rounds being fired is preparing for the half of gunfights that is shortest and has the fewest rounds fired, and hoping not to encounter the other half. You will still be better armed that the large majority of people who go about completely unprepared, but you need to realize that there can still be situations in which your capacity limits your response, and therefore, survival. In saying that, I know full well that no particular capacity guarantees survival, but at the same time a greater capacity gives one more options and improves your odds at least somewhat. How many is, as validly pointed out several times, a personal choice.

I changed my EDC from a J-frame to a Glock 26 a few years back, and I find that the Glock 26 conceals IWB just as effectively. I am not sure that 10 rounds will be enough, but it gives me more options than 5 rounds.
 
Sometimes Hollywood makes a good point. I recall the scene in Pulp Fiction where some kid quickly empties his gun firing at Travolta's and Jackson's characters from just a few feet away, not so much as nicking either of them. The scene is meant to be absurd, but it nonetheless calls into question the presumption that the number of rounds you can put down range in the shortest amount of time is more important than careful aim and breath control as you gently squeeze off one round at a time. Back here in the real world, supposedly trained LEOs will sometimes empty mag after mag at a single perp because in the heat of the gunfight they have lost all sense of their training and all confidence in their own ability. So I wonder what the answer really is. If you knew you had less capacity, would you instinctively make every round count?
 
"Sometimes Hollywood makes a good point. I recall the scene in Pulp Fiction where some kid quickly empties his gun firing at Travolta's and Jackson's characters from just a few feet away, not so much as nicking either of them."

And there was another scene in that same movie where only one shot was fired, "Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face."
 
All my carry guns are single stack. In fact I don't own and hi cap pistols . Don't like the thicker grips for one, and see no need for another .
I don't even carry a 8 round mag in my 1911'.Don't trust them 7+1 and a reload. Heck lots people out their carry a 5 shot revolver and feel fine.
 
Originally posted by fLintforever:
Practice with what you carry is the key to not need a whole lot of ammo to stop a threat 1 round and maybe a follow up shot if needed.
My carry is a ruger LCP which I do shoot a combat course with it 7 rounds more then enough
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Anyone who has felt that way and realized they were wrong will not be able to let us know about it.
 
When I was younger, I went through a variety of guns. A series of K and N-frames, a steel 1911, and a few others, including a G23 and G19...
...
Give it 30-35 years or so, throw in three back surgeries. Hell, I was actually still carrying that 1911 up until about five years ago.

We were all 22 years old once, but for many of us, that was a long time ago. Enjoy it while you can.
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Salud. ;)
 
I consider the max ideal size for summer carry to be in the range of a CZ P01 or Walther PPQ.

If a gun that holds 17-19 rds is too large for you to carry every day, then you may potentially find yourself without it when you need it most. And 9mm performs quite well with shorter barrels.
 
For me, size.....or rather, to be exact, weight. That is the most important consideration. To be clear though, I would never carry (and depend on for SD) any gun with which I was not completely comfortable and able to use well - that is an absolute prerequisite. I do not now and never have, worry about ammo capacity, though. 5 rounds, in a small revolver.....or 6 rounds in a small semi....are enough. Occasionally I carry a reload (or spare mag). But 15 or 20 in a full-sized semi......no.

As far as I am concerned....and I don't care who disagrees with this....if you can't get the job done in an SD situation with 5 or 6 rounds, then you won't get it done with 15 or even 20. If attacked by a gang of thugs, with more than a couple of them armed and all determined to do you in, you've probably already lost.... so you aren't going to "Rambo" your way out of it.

Proactive SD is the thing. Stay the heck away from low-lifes, low-life neighborhoods, bars, businesses, etc..... stay cautious and always aware of your surroundings.... and the odds are that you will never need to use that SD weapon you carry. Then, a 15 or 20 round gun just becomes useless (extra) weight to lug around.
 
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