TRADEOFF: Smaller caliber with quicker access OR Larger caliber with slower access?

F

FUD

Moderator
Comments made by me and a few others in another thread got me thinking about this ...

In the office where I work, I carry a Kahr MK9 in an inside the waist belly band. This is the largest gun that I can carry concealed based on my mode of dress. However, because of how the gun is carried, extra seconds are needed to bring the gun into play.

I also own a NAA guardian which is smaller and which I can carry in a manner which would allow me to bring the gun into action faster than the MK9. Depending on the situation, those few seconds could mean the difference between life & death. However, if I hear shots fired inside the building, I feel better armed with seven rounds of 9mm (the MK9) than with seven rounds of .32ACP (the Guardian).

As with everything, there are trade-offs in life which have to be made. If you were me, which trade-off would you make in this particular situation?

FUD
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Share what you know & learn what you don't
 
My initial answer is get your Kahr into a quicker-access rig. But life is imperfect.

The gun you have on you is better than the gun left in your drawer. In the absence of good cover, the mouse-gun that comes to the hand quickly beats the howitzer that takes a court-order to remove from the belly-band. Beating the drop is hard. If that's your situation, you want the fastest possible draw.

But if you're in the back of the convenience store when the door bursts open and the joint's getting robbed, the Kahr would be more natural. Neither gun, however, necessitates action. Sometimes, as much as it sucks to do so, the safest thing for you to do is fill your hand and watch and wait and be ready to defend yourself. This is a little off-topic, but still is an important distinction to make: Just because you have a gun on you when it would be legal or even ethical to use it does not mean that putting yourself into action is necessarily the best course of action. This almost seems doubly important to think about when we've "gone to all the trouble" of lugging around more than one personal defense weapon all these years.

IMHO,
L.P.
 
My opinion is 'both'. See that's been posted by others. Nice to know i'm not always a black sheep in life. :)

I agree with Long Path too...to an extent. If they come in and rob a place-the money is insured. To start a gunfight when no one was truly in danger isn't kosher. But, it's a judgement call because when the bullets start flying or they line people up and start putting caps into the backs of heads-then it's too late.

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Satanta, the Whitebear
Sat's Realm: http://SatantasRealm.tripod.com/Entrypage/entrypage.html

My Disability petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/DisbHelp/petition.html
 
Screw the belly band.

Get Thunderwear. Unless you're wearing crotch hugging dress pants, you'll be able to hide it no problem.

And if you do wear crotch hugging dress pants, you'll get a LOT more attention from your female coworkers. :D

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Here's a serious thunderwear question...

If you're uncertain about a threat, and you want to want to prepare to draw your weapon without actually brandishing it and violating the law, um, don't you look a bit silly with your hand down your pants?

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NRA/GOA/SAF/USMC

Oregon residents please support the Oregon Firearms Federation, our only "No compromise" gun lobby. http://www.oregonfirearms.org
 
Longshot,

You could always say that you were protecting the ones you love... :D

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
FUD, I have a Colt Defender .45 cal, 3 inch barrel,weight 23 oz that fits nicely in a pager pal. With it you merely grab the "pager" (so you don't have your hands in your pants. Find a way to carry the biggest thing you have for fire power. But I got to agree training with a sling-shot will beat an untrained "ijit" every time. Always obey the rules of engagment. Personally I prefer firepower!
 
Mike,

For pot-bellied, low-waisted folks, neither Thunderwear nor pager pals work. I've tried 'em both. I wouldn't be able to hide anything but (maybe) a derringer.

I prefer to have my .45 with 22 rounds available.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. ;)
 
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