Turbo2Point4
Active Member
- Feb 19, 2012
- 430
I have a mild contact allergy to manual safeties... ;-)
Since you don't like safeties, check out the s&w m&p 9c sku: 209304
I have a mild contact allergy to manual safeties... ;-)
Don't overlook kahr cm9. Nice firearm.
Glock26
Everything else is a compromise.
Ok so I am the odd man out.
My delta elite or commander sized 1911 are my
Constant traveling companions.
Ruger makes some great deep cover weapons. I have both the LCP and the LCR. Both are great. If you're not worried about the bulge and weight, I also have a Glock 26 & 19. Both are great too, just heavy.Ruger LC9 or LCP.
Normally I would agree with just about everything you have said here. But, the weight of my off duty Glocks have discouraged me from carrying in the past. They are heavy, and require a cover shirt and still show to some extent. My LCP is comfortable to always carry in my pocket. Hell, you can even carry it in your PJ's if that's something you care to do. My point is, any gun no matter it's size or power, is always better than no go.I would vote P229 or USPc/P2000.
I've personally gone from preferring striker-fired to hammer-fired with defensive triggers. As for defensive weapons, to me the USPc with LEM or Match Trigger and P229 with SRT or DAK are my two choices (and with Heinie Straight Eight Sights and nothing else) They are as small of size as I feel comfortable with and are the two guns I feel are offering a combination of the best size, with the best reliability & longevity, with the features that fit me best, that I am most proficient with shooting, cleaning, detail stripping, and repairing (with the USP being the model I am by far the most competent with).
Every class I have done has been with a compact, full-sized, or a combination of the two. When you go below compact, the smaller you go the harder it is to shoot the gun 1,000 or 2,000, or more times in the course of a few hours to a few days. The large majority of my practice is using compact or full-sized guns. I can shoot them accurately and fast in a variety of training situations and can clear the common jams very quickly, and so they are the defensive sizes I prefer as my probability of surviving an attack is much higher with them than something smaller...and I think that applies to many people so your list of compacts and subcompacts rather than smaller is IMO an excellent list and one of many great guns. My assumption of why so many LEOs choose to carry the G19/P229 sized-guns when they have smaller carry options is largely due to the performance issues smaller guns suffer, as mentioned below.
A lot of people go for subcompact and smaller than subcompact for carry due to size...IMHO, as you go below compact, you are suffering major performance tradeoffs. Once you go below subcompact, you are looking at a gun that is harder to fire accurately, harder to fire faster, very difficult to sight, difficult or impossible to clear a jam in a quick fashion, stupidly hard to shoot weak-handed or from a weak position, have significantly lower magazine capacity, may be shooting something below a .380 which is arguably the smallest 'people rounds' should go, and are shooting through a barrel in which hollow point ammunition may fail to penetrate deeply enough to hit vitals, may fail to expand as designed, or both. Having worked at a range for a little while, I would say 98% of people shooting microcompacts were unable to shoot the firearm in a fashion that would have a high probability of hitting the target in a consistent fashion that is needed to stop an assailant (i.e.: multiple, well-placed shots at center mass)...and this was a stationary slow-fire situation upon a paper target. Put all of the above in a stress-shooting situation that mimics an actual situation and the above deficiencies are amplified significantly.
Don't overlook the Kahr CW9. Great pistol!
That's what I'm talking about!
It doesn't matter what someone else's favorite firearm is. The guns you've listed are all pretty good. Try to get hands-on with as many of them as possible, and get the one that you shoot best.