First hand gun: concealed or not?

that seems to be the go around with most of the micros. they all seem to work you just need to figure out the quirks.

 

M&P 9mm is perfect for concealed carry and feels like a full size handgun

 

https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2017/9/27/manual-safeties-on-carry-guns-pro-vs-con/

 

If we are talking about CCW, here are my suggestions by category:

Best Concealment:
Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm

Stopping Power:
Colt Defender Series 90 45ACP

Best Overall:
Glock 19 9mm


I'm sure there are better options out there BUT - we are talking about CA here so options are limited.

 

best advice right here.

alot of gun ranges will let you rent guns from them. try them all out see what you like.

 

I have a shield and a G17 both 9mm. I regularly practice with both equally. I prefer the piece of mind with the G17 (the wife); mostly stock (stippling and a o-light flashlight attachment) no safety, 17 round mags (always carry at least 2), and a nice bedside home defense firearm. Printing isn't bad ever. I wear XL shirts to fit my bis and shoulders and the rest of my body tapers so I don't print as badly as my other friends with a G17.

The shield is my side piece. She's the one you take out Saturday night and don't come home until the sun is up. Stippling, apex trigger, meprolight ft bullseye sight, modded magguts mags, has a safety (yes I practice with the safety). This one is nice, concealable and I might even practice more with the shield.

The recoil with the Shield over the G17 is noticeable.

There is a lot to consider when purchasing firearms. Find a range that rents firearms and try with several and go from there. Try a G19 and see how you like it. For me, having bigger hands, I cannot seem to get a good grip on my buddy's G19.

Rent, shoot as much as you can, and buy what fits your needs.

Stay safe out there in Commie-fornia.

 

Bring a small bottle of Hoppe's or Rem Oil with you, though. In my experience range guns don't get a whole lot of maintenance and a drop or two of oil on the slide will typically mean the difference between enjoying your rental and constantly clearing misfeeds.

 

The gun-nuts will complicate this a lot more, but you have the gist. For a given caliber, the smaller and lighter the gun, typically the harder it is to maintain accuracy. Obviously practice will fix this. If you aren't concerned about CCW, a larger and heavier gun for most folks is more comfortable and fun to shoot at the range because you can get nice groupings and have less recoil.

The other topic of discussion is caiber, which if you CCW, the 9mm is basically king. There are nice penetrating rounds that can put a hurt on people wrapped in rifle rated body armor (but not penetrate obviously, likely break ribs so you can run), and there are various expanding rounds for self defense, etc etc. Also, if you look at bear attack data, the 9mm has a near 100% success rate depending on which study you read, where as higher calibers don't. This includes AK grizzlies. The lesson is it comes down to getting shots on target, which is theoretically easier with a smaller caliber - many studies going back tot the 1800s have concluded this too. Most "big caliber stopping-power folk" have compromised and gone with a 10mm for bear defense.

From my perspective a 9mm is a versatile caliber to go with. There will be plenty of gun-nuts that will conclude you need ten different guns, in multiple calibers and that you need to carry multiple magazines with different types of bullets... its gets overwhelming. Nothing wrong with it, but for your first, I think a 9mm that you can shoot well is ideal for having fun at the range, shooting cheaply because of cheap ammo, CCW, carrying in the woods, and for self defense needs. Glock 26 is a nice first choice for ccw. Otherwise a 34 or 17 are both really nice full sized options.

This is a slippery slope. Once you get your first, its only a matter of time before you go to the dark side, become highly opinionated, and start hording - I mean logically accumulating - dozens of various pistols, AR platform lowers, different barrel lengths, tactical attachments, and finally conclude that you need to a bunker/gun safe room in your basement to put all your guns in, and then decided this should be done in secrecy because its safer if no one knows about it, and then start missing work because you lose track of time with all the digging and trying to sneak dirt out of your house one handful at a time, all leading to the embarrassing moment when your spouse finds you surrounded by gun and thousands of rounds of ammo naked and covered in dirt with a shovel in hand and a massive hole in your basement. If you ask most of us, its still worth it though.

 

If you are truly going to ccw and want to do it well, get the thinnest lightest one that fits your hand and trigger finger the best. M&p shield 2.0 is a great gun and easy to shoot and easy to conceal. Plus if you want to add more substantial handguns to your system for home defense you can seamlessly move to a m&p full size . Save your hipoint money for a good holster ,very important. Carrying all the time is a pita but only you can be the first responder.

 

Lol I own a hipoint At least it's in rifle configuration though.



Oh yeah, that pistol is a S&W SD9. Don't buy that. It sucks big time. I had to mod the trigger just to make it almost tolerable.

In fact, that whole picture is a poster of what not to buy. (I actually like the hipoint, but I gotta find a range where nobody recognizes me to shoot it. They're like mopeds, they're a lot of fun as long as nobody sees you.) I agree with the rent before buying, I really should have listened to that when pistol shopping.

 

I bought a broken C9 hi point for $40 knowing they have lifetime warranty. Sent it and they repaired it. I put a couple hundred rounds through it then sold it for $100. Junk? Absolutely! But it did shoot fine.

OP, please buy something higher quality.

 

my favorite is once you have so many guns your wife doenst know whether you bought another or not. so then it becomes a game of how do I get this assembled and in the house and in the safe without her noticing or the kids noticing.

 

dont you hate those range guys that just hangout all day and only come to talk to you about how shitty of a gun youre shooting is?

 

I noticed you have no shots on target... bad day at the range? Perhaps you just need get more involved in human centipede giveway on TW! Everyone - lookup the human centipede giveaway on TW and join.

 

lol i deleted it becuase making fun of a hitpoint is too low hanging fruit even for me lol

 

Yeah those guys suck. I got that when I went to sight in my S&W M&P15. Yeah, it's got iron sights. Yeah, it's a 'budget' AR. Yeah, I haven't "operator'd" the hell out of it with lasers, lights, a vertical foregrip, etc. But do I care what your opinion is?
Nope. Go away.

 

Can’t go wrong with a S&W Shield 9mm.

 

Are you really going to carry this, your first hand gun? I would get something fun, bigger and fairly inexpensive to shoot like a full frame 9mm and get proficient with it first, but that's me. I find that most people say they are going to carry their first gun but it ends up being in a go bag most the time.

 

always happens no matter what you got, and if you bring in something truly special theyll just hang around you all day wanting to shoot it..cant win

 

I pray I never have to take a life in self defense. With that being said, I carry every day and am at the range as often as possible.