Concealed Carry: Advice from a Cop

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 1/15/21 | N Perna

[w1n1]

Large-frame handgun? Small? What caliber? Glock? S&W? It's all about balancing 'Comfort vs Lethality,' says longtime Policeman.
One of the best parts about being a cop is HR 218. This law allows officers to carry a firearm in practically every locale in the United States. "Carrying on your badge," as it’s referred to, is one of the few perks law enforcement still enjoys. In 2020, the job lost a lot of its appeal, but I still appreciate the fact that I can carry concealed to protect others and myself. In a perfect world, these rights would be afforded to every law-abiding citizen. Maybe someday.
I remember as a new copper, excitingly carrying my department- issued Glock 22 in a Desantis black leather holster while off duty. Of course, I was packing an extra mag or two, a pair of cuffs, pepper spray and an incredibly shiny new badge. I had to buy an extra-large shirt to cover all of that gear but, by god, I was armed and prepared for the worst!

THAT WAS 20 years ago. A lot has changed since then. For starters, I dumped the Glock 22. I'm not a huge fan of .40 caliber. The recoil is sharper than what I would like it to be and there are better options out there. Now I carry a .45 (Glock 21), the official caliber of old cops. I'd consider switching to a 9mm but I don't feel like shelling out the dough for a new gun, magazines, duty holster, tactical holster, mag pouches and so on. With the gun and all of the necessary accessories, you're looking at a few thousand dollars to make the switch, so I'll stick with the trusty .45.

Large-frame guns are the way to go while working the streets, but these days I don't generally walk around with a large-frame handgun while off duty. It's not practical and, obviously, difficult to conceal.
I am very picky, though, about what I choose to carry for protection. To me it comes down to comfort versus lethality. I want something that conceals well but will still do what it's designed for if I need to use it. Something that won't jab me in the ribs every time I sit down. Before I get into my choices for concealed carry, I want to point out some common errors I see.

• Fashionistas: For some, a concealed carry gun is more of a fashion statement than a practical means of defense. “Accessorizing” a weapon to match your outfit is not a good idea.
• Gun of the month club: The only thing better than owning one gun is two guns (or three, seven, 15). We all like buying and owning guns, there’s no denying it. But just because you own it does not mean you should carry it. You need to carry the most reliable, deadliest weapon you own.
• Getting too comfortable: If comfort is the biggest concern in terms of what gun to carry, you are making a mistake. A .25-caliber semiauto or a five-shot titanium-frame air-light revolver is like “wearing nothing at all,” but if you have the option to carry a more lethal firearm, you should do it.

I RECOMMEND CHOOSING a handgun make and model that comes in small, medium and large frames. Just about every successful handgun on the market today comes in these varieties – the Smith & Wesson M&P series, Springfield XD and so on. Basically, the same gun, just in different sizes.
My preferred carry weapon series is the Glock. I’m not advocating for it over the aforementioned brands or others. On the contrary. I carry Glock weapons because that’s what I was issued many moons ago, so I’m familiar with them. Read the rest of everyday carry gear.

[V_TWIN]

Oh boy....gun porn.

[baclava]

I agree. Glock 43 with 7+1 pinkie extension mag, in an IWB kydex holster, with the new SD ammo its perfect for me.

Light as a feather and just disappears.

[Lurkinanloomin]

In a perfect world, these rights would be afforded to every law-abiding citizen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not in a perfect world, in a free country.
Which we are not any longer.

[SimpleJack]

Good article. Thanks.
A video on carrying with one in the chamber or not.
Lenny Magill shares his personal Concealed Carry Techniques.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QbjxxYPSuc

[RC one]

However much money you spend switching from .45acp to 9mm will be offset by the cost difference in practice ammo. 9mm is plenty effective and cheap and you can stuff more rounds in the magazine.

If your shot placement is good, the bad guy won't be able to tell if he got shot with a a 9mm or a 10mm or a .45acp. If you can't afford to train, your shot placement will be bad and, again, it won't necessarily matter if you're carrying a 9mm, a .45acp or a 10mm.

Cheap, plentiful and effective enough makes 9mm the better choice which I why I gave up on .45acp and 10mm. Don't even get me started on 460 Rowland.

[offduty]

I remember the day our department went from wheel guns to semi-autos. Everyone thought we’d be carrying S&W..we were surprised when we went to the range and there were our new Sig Sauer P-226’s.

No one had ever heard of Sig before.

After carrying the Sig for over 10-years, I retired and now Sig is all I own.

Preferred carry: P-226 Legion or SP2022.
Alternate: P-365 SAS

[circlecity]

If your focus is lethality than marksmanship is more important than caliber. The ability to put quick, accurate initial and follow up shots on target is most important factor according to the exhaustive 2015 FBI study. That’s why the feds went back to the 9mm from the 40 cal. The lesser recoil of the 9 enabled all test subjects to make quicker more accurate follow up shot. They determined that the “stopping power” of the 9mm, 40 and 45acp were essentially the same.

[1Old Pro]

Preferred carry: P-226 Legion

Yep

[SERE_DOC]

Advice is always appreciated, even at times that it is tempered by reality.

When I was in the Navy, there would always be that one Marine or fellow sailor who would say

"My mom's a nurse, and she said I need this"

To which the reply would be "then have your mom write you a script and go out in town and get it filled"

Or you can let me do my job and I will confer with my Doc and come up with an action plan.

Which ever works for you, works for me.

So when a law enforcement professional provides "advice" it is always considered, yet tempered with the knowledge that like medicine, the practice of law is just that, a practice, not an exact science.

And depending on the "Instructor" (and their ideology) of the knowledge gained will determine the value of the instruction.

Dr. Josef Mengele was a competent Dr. as the history goes, but still a monster.

No judgement, just an observation.

[Yo-Yo]

I started out my concealed carry 'career' with a Gen 3 Glock 26 with a hybrid IWB holster. Great gun, but I hated having to drop trouser in order to get the holster properly placed on my pants waist.

For the tee shirts and shorts days I would pocket carry a Smith J frame (Model 60, Smith's first stainless revolver) in a pocket holster, and it was comfy enough for baggy shorts, but the cylinder thickness made it too tight for slacks or blue jeans pocket carry.

Then my wife had surgery and temporarily couldn't rack the slide of her Glock 42, so I loaned her the J frame. Out of curiosity I tried pocket carrying the Glock 42 in a Desantis pocket holster, and it was fantastic! The 42 was slim enough to pocket carry in most pants front pockets, and was oh so easy to just slip the thing in my pocket rather than the ordeal of putting on the IWB holster for the Glock 26.

Reluctantly I gave her back her 42 after she recovered from her surgery, and she INSISTED on having it back.

So then I found a Ruger LCP on sale for $199, and I couldn't get to Dunham's fast enough to snap it up. The LCP was smaller and thinner than the 43 (but carried the same 6+1 rounds of .380 ACP,) and even easier to carry! I've been pocket carrying that LCP daily for the past 2 years, and loving it!

[real saxophonist]

Well, anyone who listens to anything Lenny Magill says probably would believe that ‘Am Shooting Journal’ put out a ‘good article.

[TexasGator]

“To which the reply would be “then have your mom write you a script and go out in town and get it filled”

Advice is not always appreciated, when it is not tempered by reality.

[riverrunner]

I live on cold country I only carry mid to full size handguns any more.

A Glock 23 being the smallest the others are all bigger.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

A perfect world presupposes a free country.

[Tucsonican]

CZ75 Compact in an Alien Gear Cloak Tuck. Allows for decent capacity/magazine and the holster works tucked or untucked.

Alternate holster is a Bianchi 100 which takes up less space and is a little bit more comfortable but the metal clip loses its spring after a while.

[No.6]

I keep reading about people using pocket carry but don’t really get how that works for people.

E.g., the G42, loaded, is just shy of a pound and about 4”x6” (and follow-on readers, a Sig 365 is nearly the same; this isn’t a caliber question). I don’t even put a 4x6 phone in my front pocket. The 3:30 position is ok tho as it doesn’t get in the way of moving.

Kinda same question for appendix carry people; don’t see how anyone could comfortably sit much less walk or (gasp) run.

[glimmerman70]

I would not recommend the Taurus 709 slim. Trigger pull is almost all the way back before it fires, makes you wonder if the safety is on or not racked. And pulls the shot. There is no trigger work that can be done on them and they are all the same. Is not very accurate. It goes bang when you shoot it and that’s about it.

[taxcontrol]

The five rules of a gun fight:

1) Gun beats no gun
2) Fast beats slow
3) A hit beats a miss
4) Big holes beat little holes
5) Two holes beat one hole

[Buttons12]

I have the hands of a 10-year-old girl.
Parents advised me: “Nobody wants to be shot, even by your mini revolver.”

While I’m on the subject, can anyone tell me where to find an instructive discussion on the matter of recoil, particularly how much a factor is the ammunition and how much the gun? If the gun shoots .357 or .38, how does that affect the recoil? And if another gun shoots only .38, would that mean still less powerful recoil than the heavier weapon? (In other words which gun has less recoil with .38 round?) I’m sure someone has quantified this but I haven’t found it yet.