Concealed handgun that does everything.

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Recoil spring

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I have been doing the research for a slightly larger concealed handgun in 9 mm outside of my mouse guns in .380. I used to own a Glock 26 but sold it as it is almost the same size as my Glock 19, but the 19 is too heavy and large for pocket carry. Sold my S/W .38 cal. snub nose J frame too.

My Kahr CW 380 and the Ruger LCP work fine for concealed pocket carry but was looking at the SCCY or the others like it for more punch when expecting to be in dangerous places.

What bothers me with the online data/You Tube videos is there will be an evaluation of different guns, and then it gets down to where the author wants a concealed gun, but it must be able to do heavy combat, hold high capacity mags, be big in the hand, great trigger, sites, grips, etc. An easily concealed handgun is not going to be a military combat gun like a Glock 17 or Colt 1911. The bigger guns would be best in a street fight but you cannot hide it in a pants pocket in 100 degree weather.

This seems to be the trend with these videos, how many people here carry a Model 1911 type gun everyday and feel it is not seen and is very comfortable? You can't do that is most places in the USA in July. These videos need to emphasis that comfortable concealed handguns are just that, for easy carry in the pocket and better than a knife if confronted.
 
Your right.
I believe many of those videos are sponsored or posted by those with vested interests.
As you noted CHL'ing is different across the country different times and places.
A 1911 is likely a miserable carry in Houston in the summer but fine in Idaho.
In the Dallas area, I know some that carry different weapons depending on the weather / temperature.
 
Pocket carry is not the only form of carry, even in hot climates. While I agree that a full sized pistol can be hard for some folks to carry concealed, there's a line between the pistol being comfortable and comforting in terms of its capabilities that has to be considered. If pocket carry is what works for you then so be it, but understand that other reviewers will see it differently.


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I have carried a 1911 over 40 years concealed. I am 5'8" and weigh 165. good belt, good holster, right shirt and your good to go.
 
There are basically 3 gun sizes: Glock 17, S&W Shield and Kahr CW380. I find Shield or slightly larger to be my balance point between combat readiness and comfort.

I generally carry a CCO 1911, Shield or Glock 23.....with my cw380 as my can't say no gun.
 
I've definitely bought into the idea that the perfect carry gun is the one that you have with you, rather than leaving it at home because it's too big, too heavy, etc.

I was carrying a 30oz, 6+1, .45 for many years, but recently changed to a 16oz, 7+1, 9mm.
The .45 required a holster, was too big and heavy for any pocket I have, and it was easy to leave it home.

As a weapon, I think the 9 is very nearly as effective, and due to its small size and light weight, it's harder to leave it at home.
That said, I do shoot competition, all the shooting I do is competition, so I wanted a gun that was easy to shoot fast and accurately, as well as be small and light.

I got a SIG P938, which has a nice trigger (mine, at a crisp 4.5# is much better than the 7.5#-8.5# spec), and full-sized night sights. A lot of pocket guns appear to have sights chosen for pockets rather than for shooting, but the SIG is a "real gun" that is just small.
 
The best gun to have in a gun fight is the gun you have with you, if you are more like to carry something becuase it's small, light, and concealable then you are way ahead of someone who leaves their full sized .45 at home becuase they are in shorts and a tank top and it's 100 in the shade........and one thing a lot of people overlook in the arguments over caliber is the essential fact is......getting shot.......and any day someone gets shot, no matter what they get shot with, is a bad day.
 
"A 1911 is likely a miserable carry in Houston in the summer....."

Not really. I'm about 30-35 miles SW of Houston. I every day carry my compact 1911 everyday and on occasion my full size. It's no more uncomfortable to carry than any other handgun I own, except for, perhaps, my SAA. If I don't have a 1911 on me, I may drop my Model 60 in .357 in a pocket holster, but that's infrequent.
 
For me I find my Walther PPS 9MM fits the bill and for me personally the only downside is capacity though I am very comfortable with 7+1 and if I feel I need more then I carry a spare magazine.

I do CCW a double stack like the Glock 19 or Walther PPQ too but usually for shorter periods of time. My PPS is all day comfort for me in a minimalist Ozark kydex single clip holster IWB.
 
I think the Walther PPS comes as close as anything if pocket carry is needed with the Glock 26 as a runner up.

Both let you run a very short flush mag (6 and 10 rounds respectively) yet both give you options to configure grip and capacity for other roles.

6,7,8 rounds for the PPS and 8+1 would make a fine nightstand gun.

10, 12, 15, 17, 21, 33 rounds for the Glock which basically gives you super concealable, super concealable with a better grip, a Glock 19, a Glock 17 or a sub machine gun:)
 
Agree 100% with posts #11 & #12 about the Walther PPS, I can certainly vouch for my own PPS-M2, I carry it with the 6 round mag, and I usually carry at least one extra 8 round accessory mag. I think I shoot this a bit better than the G26 I used to own, although I definitely practice more with the PPS-M2 than I did with the G26. The fact that everybody makes Glock holsters would argue in favor of the G26.
 
For me I find my Walther PPS 9MM fits the bill and for me personally the only downside is capacity though I am very comfortable with 7+1 and if I feel I need more then I carry a spare magazine.
Click to expand...

I second the PPS. It's a great gun and the different sized magazines make it easier to conceal under different sorts of clothing. I find the standard 6-rd (4.5" gun height) disappears under a t-shirt.

I just bought a kit that will increase the magazine capacity by 1. Maybe a frivolous use of $20 bucks, but 7+1 in that tiny magazine makes for a decent overall capacity. The little single stack mags make it easy to carry a spare.

I carried a doublstack XD Subcompact for a while and still do on occasion, but somehow that extra bulk and weight just seems to discourage me from carrying it frequently. That probably sounds pretty lame to the full-size 1911 people :)
 
muzzleblast: said:
There seems to be a lot of love for the Walther PPS. Note that Walther has a nice rebate program ATM.
Click to expand...

The rebate deal is just the icing on the cake. I got mine almost a year & a half ago so there was no rebate, its just a great gun for a primary intended purpose as a CCW that you can shoot really well!
 
I had a PPS briefly, put about 100 rounds through it, and liked it a lot.
For a striker-fired gun, the trigger is very good.
Dimensionally, it's all but identical to the Springfield XDS.

Here's the PPS resting on an outline of the (admittedly arbitrarily sized) IDPA Back-Up Gun box.
 

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Concealed carry is such a personal thing. When I lived in Florida, it was a Subcompact, Inside the waist carry. Then I moved to Virginia where the weather is less hot. I started doing more compact concealed carry, such as the Glock 19 with my J frame in the pocket.

Pocket carry is great with the right gun, but capacities are markedly less. Since it's not necessarily a 1:1 ratio of Good guy/gal to bad guy/gal, I opted for more options. Gang violence is more random, and there is more likely a disparity in number and force.

I want a system that is easily accessible to me. I prefer concealed over open carry. Open carry is only when I'm in the woods.


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Believe it or not I've met a few people who CC full size 1911's IWB.
Honestly it actually conceals pretty decent, The 1911 is actually a fairly slim gun for what it is.

Usually the Butt is the hardest to conceal on a gun. not necessarily the barrel.

I agree there is always a compromise though.. I carry a full size gun a Taurus 99 (same size as a Beretta 92)

I carry it OWB.. this is comfortable and easy to deploy.. but OWB is not ideal for concealment and it can print a bit at times.
I could probably swallow it up if I carried IWB, but I don't like IWB so it's a trade off.

I think that often too much emphasis is put on size, weight, and concealment.

No one notices.. or if they do, they don't react.
For the most part im convinced the world is populated by zombies.. but then again it's not the zombies you have to worry about.
 
I also agree with the OP; the 'professionals' on YT and TV seem to rarely use compact/subcompact firearms in their respective instructional videos. And at least for myself, it would be nice to see how the professionals deal with the many issues of how to defend one's self with something akin to a Ruger LCP or a snub-nosed J-frame.

Recently I tried using my Shield 9mm for a two-day training course. Was it difficult? Yep, it sure was. I won't bore everyone with the nitty gritty details, but I experienced nearly every issue anyone has ever written about trying to shoot fast, accurately, and reload quickly using a subcompact type pistol. After just an hour on the first day I found myself silently asking myself if I could go back to the truck and get my SIG P229. Somehow I persevered, and in the process learned a lot. Mostly about how I needed to work on being more precise. About everything.

Oh, and in the winter my primary carry is a commander-length 1911. Of course, as I'm in the Phoenix area, we use the term, "winter," VERY loosely.
 
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