How many guns to settle on a carry weapon?

[peterg7]

My Shield9 is EDC, M&P9C is church gun, M&P40 is woods gun.


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[FITASC]

I carry the same regardless of season or dress, a SIG 365. Never understood this summer versus winter crap; what do you do in spring and fall then? Find whatever platform and type you like and buy 2-3 of them and practice, practice, practice...............

[wilford]

hey mike 38 i had the same thing pt22ply 500-600 ran fine then started to ftf ftf fte only used mini mags i think the gun was just wore out

[mpowers]

In California a glock 26 IWB, In Alaska glock 21sf

[Catchabullet]

I've been carrying the same firearm since I was 21... I'm now 33. Colt commander in 45acp. That being said, I own a few pistols. It's just my preference to carry a 1911 platform as I've been shooting them since I was 10. To each their own. I'm also a wee bit taller than most people at 6'3. Maybe due to having more real estate

[Eddiejoe]

I used to carry a Springfield XD9 4-inch, then an XDS9, then a Ruger LCR, now a SIG P365. So far, the SIG is just right.

[Apple a Day]

Makarov
PA-63
Makarov
Taurus 85
Makarov
Smith 637
Glock 26
Makarov
Ruger SP-101
Glock 26
Hey, it's been 19 years.That's pretty much been the sequence, not equally spaced.

[agtman]

I tried the striker-fired guns but they didn't have the heft I was comfortable holding. The S&W Gen3 models in 9mm and .40 caliber felt best and I started working my way through different models and variants. I had to buy them online because none were available locally.
I settled on the double-action-only S&W model 3953 and 4053 as carrying options because the Gen3s are reliable and accurate, fit my hand, concealed IWB well, and I could rely on my past practice skills in a critical life-threatening moment.

Good analysis of the Smith 3rd Gens ...

In the hot, hot summertime - with shorts and a thin t-shirt as the covering garment - a 6906 carried AIWB is about as good as doing it with a G26, for me anyway.

In the cool fall weather, when I can layer a bit without roasting, the concealed EDC rotation will vary from my 10mm G29 or a Smith 4566, either AIWB or cross-draw.

[tallball]

Makarov
Taurus Model 85 (steel w/hammer)
Taurus Model 85 (alloy, hamerless)
Kel-Tech P32AT
Ruger LCR
Ruger LCPII

Those are the frequently-carried ones, anyway. Over the course of 30 years or so it's been slow process of technical improvement: such as the LCR replacing the Model 85, and the micro 380's replacing the Makarov.

[HistoryJunky]

I have been through a lot of different carry guns.

Now I carry one of these 3.

HK P30(DA/SA)

CZ P07 Gen 2

Taurus G2S

Some day I'll probably get another .380 or .32, but for now 9 is fine.

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[ghbucky]

I started carrying with a Kimber .45. It is really too big for summer clothing.

I bought a budget S&W .40 but it had a trigger that took a winch to pull. I would literally have a sore hand after a session at the range.

Then I got into competition shooting using the Kimber and realized I needed something heavier to handle recoil. After a lot of research I ended up with a Springfield 9mm XDM. Awesome gun. I fell in love with it, so I got the XDS as a carry gun and that is my 100% EDC now.

[HawkeyeNRAlifer]

When I was younger (40 years ago), I almost always carried a 1911 or if I was minimally dressed, a 25 cal. I've slowly moved to smaller and lighter autos, usually still in 45. And a LCP when clothing dictates.

[jimku]

For me it all depends on where I am going and the likely situation/s I might encounter.
* If in the woods, it is my .41 magnum with a couple speed loaders.
* If in normal non-woods situations it is my 5-shot 357 snubby backed up by my 16-round compact 380.
* If the world really turns to ... the brown smelly stuff ... I will need a proven battle gun, and that would be my full-size 45ACP 1911 and four spare magazines, and probably backed up by that same compact 380 ... and my tactical 12 gauge pump and a couple bandoleers of 00 buck / slugs.

It did not take me several purchases to "settle" on any of them. I do my homework before I buy.

Is this a handgun? If firing it with one hand, YES.

[kenny53]

I mostly pocket carry a M&P 9c. I also carry IWB the M&P9, M&P 45, or full size 1911 and sometimes a Glock 19. I will also pocket carry LCR in 22 mag, LCP 380. I like options.

[jrothWA]

It depends, as what the siruarion is??
I'll mainly carry a J=frame S&W, or a 4" .38 Spl / .357MAG revovler or S&W m39-2 or BHP and or 1911 type.

[RickB]

My selection process included the somewhat arbitrary requirement that my new gun comply with the size and weight requirements of IDPA Back-Up Gun division, as otherwise, the gun would rarely get any range time.

A buddy had a S&W Shield, and while I didn't shoot it, I did some dry-fire.
I know a Walther distributor, and he loaned me a PPS, which I did get to shoot a bit.
Checking published dimensions, I determined the Springfield XDs is just about exactly the same size as the Walther.
Ultimately, a I had to "go with what I know", 1911s, and after handling a few examples each of the SIG P938 and Kimber Micro 9, bought the former.

My previous carry gun was a 32oz, "compact" .45, and while I'm still a believer in big bullets, I'm much more likely to actually be armed, when my carry gun is a 16oz pistol that fits in some pockets (and holds one additional round).

A little over three years, and 3000rds later, I now have to work any other gun into my range rotation in my shooting "off season", as the little SIG is such a pleasure to shoot.

Still, on an occasion like the night a buddy called, to ask if I'd drive him to the wrong side of the tracks at midnight to recover his stolen car, I was wearing a .45.

[corneileous]

For me, it’s been a little bit of a battle but I think I finally found my ultimate every day carry pistol so I think I might be done on that part… LOL.

So anyway, my story is, I’ve been carrying for almost 4 years now. My first pistol was a full size beretta Storm PX4 40 that I had bought little over four years ago just for the sole purpose of home defense and something to go shoot occasionally.

Wasn’t interested in carrying it at that point but then I began later on carrying it with me whenever I would have to go out of town for work for hotel room defense and then once I got tired of having to unload and load the thing every day because back at that time here in Oklahoma you had to have a permit to carry a loaded pistol in a vehicle, so I decided at that point that maybe it would be in my best interest to just go get my permit so that I could leave my pistol loaded all the time and not have to constantly load, unload, load, and unload my gun over and over again when I would be done driving for the day and then have to go back to driving the next day. Still had no intentions of carrying this pistol on me at this point.

Then the day came to where I decided that I wanted to start carrying a pistol on my person so that’s when I had to go gun shopping again because with my Beretta being a full size pistol, at the time I thought was too big to conceal carry since open carry for me is still only for when I’m around the house or out in the woods so then I went shopping for a smaller compact pistol to carry in one of those hybrid holsters that you carry strong side on the inside of your waistband.

I looked at a Beretta nano 9mm, a Ruger LC9S 9mm, the sub compact version of the Smith and Wesson MP- preferably the 9mm instead of the 40 because I figured the 9mm version would be less felt recoil on a pistol that small and of course the sub compact version of the Beretta storm. That one, I didn’t care if it was 9 mm or 40 because since it was a double stack, I figured the larger caliber wouldn’t affect that gun as much.

I settled on the Ruger LC9S because it was a single stack, it fit good in an IWB holster and at the time, I was wanting my carry pistol to have a safety on it. I really loved the little subcompact storm but I chose against it because even though it did have a safety but with it being a double stack pistol, it was just too tight in between myself and the waistband of my jeans.

The MP was nice but if I recall, I don’t think it had a safety on it. Which was the same for the Beretta nano that all they had for a safety was just in the trigger and that’s not what I wanted. I would’ve even considered the Ruger LC9S pro just for the simple fact that it did not have the magazine disconnect which allows the gun to be fired even if the magazine’s not in it but it’s other difference from the regular LC9S was too much like the MP and the nano to where it didn’t have that slide mounted safety so it was out. I carried the Ruger every day for two years and loved it.

Then… I discovered how much, once I learned to use and be effective with it, I loved the double action shot of my full size storm that I began to really love that pistol to the point to where I had bought my second storm which was a full size 45, and then not long after that, I had bought my little compact 9 mm Storm. It wasn’t long after that when I made my decision on my little Ruger that I really didn’t care for the fact that it had a safety but considering the type of gun the Ruger was, I wouldn’t carry or even own a gun like that without a safety. And what I mean, is your typical striker-fired pistol that just relies on a trigger safety to make it safe.

No need to get into the whole debate over safeties being welcome or not welcome on your carry handgun or whether or not a trigger safety is safe enough to make a gun safe or not or whatever, it just didn’t work for me; it wasn’t comfortable for me to have a Glock, or a Glock-like pistol so that’s why after that I had moved away from striker fired pistols with safeties to the double action/single action hammer fired pistols; And like I said, since I was only okay for a very short period with having a safety on my carry pistol, I didn’t no longer want a safety on a gun because of fear of not so much of accidentally getting turned off, but more of if I ever had to use it in a scuffle, could I guarantee myself to never forget to turn the safety off.

Then came the day when I converted my 9 mm storm from a type F to a type G which means it’s just now a decocker only and no more safety. I love that so much that I converted my other two storms and once I really got the hang of not having a safety on those pistols and being able to rely on what I believe is a lot more safer when you have the double action trigger to go through before you have an uh oh moment, I had found that double action, single action hammer fired pistols were my thing.

So you guessed it, I had to go pistol shopping again… LOL. I settled on the Springfield XDE 45 because it’s compact sized, it’s only a single stack and it fits well in my front pocket whether it’s in my work jeans or my casually worn cargo shorts.

I will add that occasionally in the winter time when I’m not at work and it’s too cold for shorts that I will sometimes carry concealed outside the waistband in a paddle holster, my XDE 45 and sometimes either my 9mm or 40 storm because I can use the same leather beretta pancake holster for those two guns but when I’m at work or when it’s casual, it’s hot and I’m wearing shorts, my go to is my little Springfield. Sorry for the long post… LOL.


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[corneileous]

Oh and I guess since the discussion isn’t about just one kind of carry environment, my single action only Sig P220 Elite 10mm equipped with a rail mounted Streamlight TLR-4 combination laser flashlight loaded with full-strength Underwood 220 grain hard casts carried in a custom made leather pancake holster with thumb strap is my go to for woods carry against four-legged predators.

Yeah, I know, for those that know this gun, it does have a saftey on it but because it’s single action only, it’s really meant to be carried cocked and locked like a 1911, but without the grip safety. But this gun just sets itself apart from my other guns. Maybe it’s because of the fact that I only carry it on occasion and that the environment and the predators it’s carried in/for is why I’m ok with it being what it is.


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[9ballbilly]

At different times over the last thirty-five years I've carried different guns for different reasons. In my early twenties it was a 6" Dan Wesson .44mag.. When I worked as an LEO, and for about a decade overall, it was a S&W model 4006 .40cal.. Now it's a Para elite commander 1911 .45. Those are just the main ones that come to mind, and there have been many in between.

[jeffreybehr]

Maybe a dozen.. Not necessarily different 'pistols', but I've tried 9mm, 357SIG, 40S&W, 10mmAuto, 45Auto, and 45GAP.. Many were Glocks until I determined that their squarish grip cross-sections were not comfortable for me; S&W M&P's ovoid grips are comfortable and I've had maybe a half-dozen of them.. I currently carry and shoot a fullsize M&P40 and have a new one on the way..

[Rangerrich99]

About 347.

Feels like it anyway. Over the years I carried lots of different guns. Even now, I carry different guns depending on what I'll be doing. In the woods I tend towards revolvers, and in the city mostly semis.

But for the sake of brevity, currently I carry a S&W M&P9C 2.0 (God, I hate saying that out loud). Last year I mostly carried my Shield9 1.0 or my Ruger LWT CMD 1911 9mm.

[stephen426]

Sig P228: was too big to conceal easily
Glock 26: was a little too thick
Kahr PM9: long trigger pull was a hinderance to shooting quickly. Also, internals rusted
Glock 43: only holds 6+1 (or 8+1 with +2 base plates)
Springfield Hellcat: current carry gun (holds 11+1 and I carry two 13 round mags)

I’m pretty sure I have found my long term carry gun... for now. LOL

[JKP]

I started with a Kel tec Pf9 when I first got my CCW permit. It shot reliably but hurt to shoot enough to get skilled with. Then I bought a Sig P290rs. This shot fine but the long double action trigger was not good with the small grip. I've always shot revolvers along with pistols so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Smith & Wesson trigger it was not. Then I bought a Sig P938 and sold the P290rs. I really like this gun. Nice trigger, low recoil, accurate and fits nicely in a pocket holster. I became intrigued with the P365 so I traded in the Kel tec (practically gave it away as it was only around for a second CCW) and bought the P365 with safety. I like the P365 but the P938 is my favorite.

[Tygus.Shooting]

When I bought my first carry gun, I worked on the assumption that it would be the first and last handgun I would ever own, so picked up the biggest, baddest piece I could find at the time --- a Smith & Wesson 4506.

Those of you who are familiar with that gun are probably laughing out loud right now, because the 4506 actually weighs more than a 1911, and carries like a proverbial brick.

Fortunately, I discovered that I could afford to purchase succeeding guns, and I soon swapped the big Smith for a Glock 19.

Like Boarhunter, though, I still haven't decided on what gun I would carry, if I only had one choice. I have also since decided to carry a backup gun in addition to my primary, and my primary carry ensemble today rotates through a Glock 23, an S&W M&P9, Taurus Millennium PT145, a Norinco PPN (.380ACP like Prof Young likes) and a Kel-Tec PMR30. I restrict myself to two backup pieces, however --- a Ruger LCP and a S&W 351PD.

So I guess it's a still-unfinished journey. I'm pretty satisfied with the pieces I have now, but can't promise that I won't buy the next "better" handgun that comes along.

Let's just say it took me eight (8) tries to find a gun I enjoy carrying (!)
____________________________________

I love gun control. It lets me hit what I'm shooting at!

[dontcatchmany]

I keep on looking!

Earlier this week I got my 23rd carry gun...lol!

Glock 32 357 Sig.

400 rounds and exceptional performance.....been carrying it the last two days.

This is my umpteenth LAST gun!