For anyone that carries a full-size pistol, where do compact guns fit in for you, if at all?
I usually carry a G19, but I recently picked up a G17. With my body and clothes, I don't find concealing the 17 much if any more difficult than the 19. I have yet to do a head to head comparison with the two at the range, but if I perform better with the 17, I'm starting to wonder what role the 19 will have at that point for me.
For me the 17 is the duty and winter gun, the 19 is the summer time gun.
It comes in when I don't want people to know I'm carrying. I've got a 3913 and a CS45 to fill those roles. My wife has a G19 I have carried before but I don't see any advantage to that thing, 2 1911's glued together would be any more conspicuous.
The 17 (with Trijicon RMR) is my year round pistol in a Dale Fricke Seraphim. The 17 has never been difficult to conceal... Because I wear a shirt a size larger than I need, I use a great holster, and I work hard at maintaining a chest larger than my waist (an AIWB necessity). The 19 (with RMR) still factors into my wardrobe (instances where properly fitted clothing (but still untucked shirt) is necessary. In which case, a Dale Fricke Zack is used). The S&W J Frame is still my preferred gym gun, and my Kahr K9 is still my preferred "no guns" gun. But both are very niche items. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't feel very undergunned.
I carry a full size every day. About the only time I carry something smaller is when I am going to a NPE. Then its a 442 or the S&W shield.
That makes sense. If it was the difference between a shield and a 17 I can definitely see two different purposes.Originally Posted by KeeFus
My usual carry is a G17, Shield when I need to be discreet. Gonna pick up a G26 soon for jogging/deeper concealment. I sold my G19 because the 17 wasn't that much harder to hide, I can shoot it better and I have issues with the slide stop on the compact Glocks.
Zackly. The 19 is also my tucked-in gun, with the JRC horsehide rig. I could do a 17 in summer, but the 19 lets me worry less about clothing size and lets me wear my SME which is my most comfortable AIWB holster. If my belly were smaller, it would make less of a difference, but as it is, the 19 gives me that little edge and with my thinnest AIWB holsters I can hide it adequately under a "right-size" t-shirt. I've started wearing my wife's mp9c to break in the leather holster for her, and that thing is to the 19 as the 19 is to the 17 - just a small, step-wise difference that is noticeable and gives me that extra confidence even with a "right-size" t-shirt.
$.02
The answer, it seems to me, is wrath. The mind cannot foresee its own advance. --FA Hayek Specialization is for insects.
This
However, I sold my G17 and went CZ. I chose a P-07 over a P-09 because the 09 is even bigger than the 17. The P-07 (and the Glock 19) sit in the same sweet spot as my 3" Model 65.
To answer the OP's question, my first semi auto CCW gun was an M&P9c. When I bought a full size M&P the compact never got carried. When I divested myself from them and went to Glock, I bought the 17 and never bothered with the 19.
M&P9FS most of the time, M&P9c when I 'dress nice' according to my wife.
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