Best concealed handgun

[Hatterasurf]

What do you think is the best handgun to carry in  9mm or a .40 cal. ?

[flintlock]

Don't know if its the "best"...but I carry a Glock 23...every day.

[Redhawk1]

I would say the one you are carrying when you need it. There are so many choices of what we all think is better.

[Feldhege]

+1 on that Redhawk1!

I was always told the best one to carry is the one you WILL carry.

I use a G19 (9MM) with Winchester Ranger T in 147gr. I am comfortable using it, accurate with it, and sure it will go bang when I pull the trigger.

Robb

[PA-Joe]

makarov 9x18

[rockbilly]

:roll: Asking which hand gun is best to carry is kinnda like asking "which girl should I marry."

It is your choice, whatever best suits you.  In my humble opinion, it must have a big bore and be capable of stopping a man with one shot to center mass.  Anything less, and I feel unarmed. :wink:

[KN]

I personally vote for the KAHR P9 covert. So light you can carry it all day and very accurate. I don't care for the PM series and don't consider the extra barrel length a draw back. For me it's the grip length that makes a pistol easy to conceal. I also shot a PM40 once and did not care for it. I couldn't control it well enough to get a second shot off as fast as I like. I also see many more feeding problems associated with the PM series than the P series.

[williamlayton]

I have been considering a P9 in 9MM. I t is a good size, about like my Walther but the caliber is larger.
Blessings

[Feldhege]

I will also say that my wife has a Kahr K9. Same as the P9 but in all steel. It is a great gun.

Robb

[Sir Knight]

I have been considering a P9 in 9MM. I t is a good size, about like my Walther but the caliber is larger.

Yep, P9 is a good carry gun -- DAO, repeat striker capability, +P+ rated, and about as small as you want to go.

[Sir Knight]

I will also say that my wife has a Kahr K9. Same as the P9 but in all steel. It is a great gun.

I had the Kahr MK9. Definitely shoots better than the P9 but lacks a repeat striker capability and I didn't like the fact that the striker was always under partial tension.

[corbanzo]

:roll: Asking which hand gun is best to carry is kinnda like asking "which girl should I marry."

If that's true then I'd recommend the small pretty one that doesn't drain your wallet and give you problems all the time :-D  :-D  :-D

[rockbilly]

corbanzo. I vote for the over sexed, blind, deaf and dumb, rich widow,  that owns a liquor store, and a new bass boat...........Thats my idea of the perfect woman. :wink:

[williamlayton]

I can get by with any of a number of weapons.
I have been carring, in my pocket, daily for 40 years a Walther.
I will even carry in a holster a .45 or a .357 sig but not often those are generally in the truck.
I still am considering the P9 in 9MM, just for the upgrade in caliber--not much but some. I am not sure I would carry the same size in .45 though.
Blessings

[Sir Knight]

not much but some

The 9mm parabellum (especially the +P's) have nearly twice the energy of a 9mm Kurz (.380ACP). The 9mm parabellum penetrates deeper and will expand MOST of the time while the 9mm Kurz penetrates less and will NOT expand most of the time. Additionally, the 9mm parabellum displaces, on averge, twice as much tissue as the 9mm Kurz based on tests performed on ordnance gelatin. Granted, ordnance gelatin is not EXACTLY the same thing as human tissue but it's the cloest thing we have because we can go around performing these test on humans.

So a 9mm parabellum is a considerable step up over the 9mm Kurz. The .40S&W has even superior stopping power. Looking at the below penetration & expansion comparisons ...


... I would say the the .40S&W, .357SIG and the .45ACP are about equal in terms of stopping power -- if it penetrates the same and expands the same and displaces the same amount of tissue, then the effects on the body are going to be the same.

PS: Just to add, I think that a .380ACP can get the job done but the larger calibers will obviously be more effective. Plus, I live in a very rural area where it isn't uncommon to see a fox, coyote, or even sometimes a wolf running through the neighborhood. While most of the time they tend to stay away from humans and even run away when we get near, if I ever encountered an aggressive one, I would prefer to have something bigger than a .380ACP -- at LEAST a .38 +P.

[lovedogs]

Call me old-fashioned but I won't even consider a semi-auto.  If my life depends on it I want it to work no matter what.  I'd like to have something the size of a Ruger SP-101 with a 3 in. 44 Special barrel for a carry gun.  Since Ruger doesn't make such an animal I carry that same revolver in a .38 Special which I stoke with my own handloaded 158 gr. Hornady XTP's loaded +P.  Back when I was with the USFWS I had ample opportunity to test this load on critters from stray dogs, called coyotes, injured big game, and lots of road-killed antelope.  I thought it outdid the 9MM's and feel it'll surely ruin an assailants day.

As an aside, I have a good doctor friend who worked the U.S./Mexico border and has much experience with GSW's (gun shot wounds).  Of the small calibers the .357 is the most destructive, but the real fight stoppers are all at or above .44 cal.  He says the 9MM's and 40's are sometimes quite ineffective.  He's had patients survive as many as 8 shots from a 9MM.  They sometimes won't even penetrate a heavy jacket.

Another friend, a Customs officer, won't carry anything less than a .44 cal.  He's usually undercover and has years of experience with shoot outs.  He likes a revolver that shoots a bullet that will penetrate and end the dispute.  He's had to shoot in the real world... through car doors, walls, and heavy clothing.  I value his opinion above all the arm chair experts.

[PaulS]

First i want to admit that I don't trust semi-autos with my life. There are far too many things (more than a wheel gun) that can go wrong.
But I am also a thinker and I like to look at possibilities. The photo that is attached looks, at first glance, like all these rounds penetrate the same distance and have similar wound channels. Lets look again:

I would be willing to say that the loads penetrate to the same depth plus or minus an inch. They do this at very different velocities though. The 45 ACP does it at 875 fps with clearly the largest of all the wound channels at about the 4 to 5 inch depth - where it will need to be to take out the heart and lungs. It also has the heaviest bullet - that is a plus in my book.
Both 40 S&W loads use smaller bullets - 165 and 180 grains and they have a shallower peak size wound channel. They both have the largest wound clearly at less than one fourth the distance through the 12 inch distance - say two to three inches deep. It is deep enough to kill head on but diminishes with any angle to the side.
The 357 Sig uses a 125 grain bullet but because of its 1300 fps velocity it has a wound channel that is deeper at its peak than either of the 40 caliber loads. The Sig carries its wound cavity deeper than any of the others which gives it a clear advantage on side shots. I would like to see the results from this gun using a 140 or 158 grain HP bullet. That would tend to deepen the channel and widen it a bit. I think it would be a clear winner in the ballistic geletin test.
Neither of the 9mm loads has a large enough or deep enough wound cavity to be comparable to any of the other loads in this test. They are half the diameter and length of all the others.
Most lethal? How dead is dead? How quick will they kill? Is gel a good indicator or is it just smoke and mirrors?

If I had to pick one of the six loads to protect myself with, using only the test results in the picture I would choose the 357 Sig. Its wound cavity is at least as large in diameter and at least as long as any of the others with a larger diameter for more of that depth. It "looks" better than the others.
The 45 ACP would be a second place and the 40's would be a distant third. (NOTE: I would have said the 45ACP and 40's tied for first yesterday - for the calibers listed - based on reports and opinions I have heard from law enforcement officers who use them in real life - but we are basing this on this picture and most LEA don't use the 357 Sig)
The 9mm's would be a DNQ (did not qualify) which is an opinion that I also would have voiced yesterday before seeing these results - I have seen results that are similar in my own Fackler box. They compare with 38 Spl +p but nothing more powerful.

So to answer the original question the 40's take third place, the 45 takes a close second place and the 357 Sig is the winner in my opinion.

For my own protection I carry a 357 Magnum with 140 JHP bullets at 1464 fps. from my 6 inch Ruger Security-Six. I have been shooting nice tight groups with this load for about the last 20 years. The first 14 were spent trying to find what worked best. It what I carry all the time and places I carry.

[Sir Knight]

Interesting observation. I obviously didn't look at them in that much detail but would have rated the three rounds "about" equal and tied for first with the 9mm coming in second.

• Call me old-fashioned but I won't even consider a semi-auto.  If my life depends on it I want it to work no matter what.

  
  

• First i want to admit that I don't trust semi-autos with my life. There are far too many things (more than a wheel gun) that can go wrong.

  [/list:u] While it is true that more things can go wrong with an autoloader than a revolver, a jammed autoloader can usually be cleared and brought back into service with no special tools in under a minute. A malfunctioning revolver is out of the game for good.
  
  I had autoloaders jam up on me at the range and I corrected the problem and was able to continue my shooting session. I had my S&W 342 revolver sieze up on me and it was time to go home because there was nothing that I could do to bring it back into service.
  
  Best thing to do is carry one of each ...
  
  
  
  

  I'd like to have something the size of a Ruger SP-101 with a 3 in. 44 Special barrel for a carry gun.

  If I recall correctly, Taurus makes "something like that" in a .45 (long) Colt.

[K.K]

The best (for me) is the Glock 27.  It offers great comprimise of power (40 S&W), concealability, and firepower.  It has never malfunctioned in wel over 2,000 rounds.  I do carry others depending on my whims and climate, but day in and day out, chances are it will be that baby Glock

[retrieverhunter]

The "best" is a crap shoot.  I currently own a Sig P228, Glock 17, and a Glock 23, but I CARRY my S&W M38 Bodyguard.  I haven't found any other gun that is as light and comfortable to carry as my Bodyguard.