My experience mirrors everybody else's. The LCP is harder to shoot but really easy to conceal, pretty much don't even have to try. The G42 is super easy to shoot for a pocket gun but that's because it's almost the size of a 9mm. But my G43 is not as hard to shoot as my LCP but it's harder than my LCR. So maybe there's a niche for the G42 after all.
Originally Posted by MattyD380
I've been thinking about an LCP for a gym pistol. I picked up my wife's G42 a couple nights ago and tried to remember just what the size difference was...thanks for those pics, Pooty!
Last edited by Gun Mutt; 11-14-2018 at 09:25 AM.
Some more contextual points regarding these two pistols in terms of size and weight;
If pocket carry is going to be the main mode of use, the LCP's smaller size works much better in allowing for a proper firing grip on the gun before the presentation is initiated. Having to adjust your grip (in the process of drawing) in large part negates the advantage of a smooth, quick and surreptitious draw from the pocket. In complete contrast however, the diminutive size of the LCP makes drawing from an IWB holster something of a challenge.
Secondly, while the loaded weight difference between the two guns is significant (5 oz), it becomes almost insignificant depending on how and where the gun is likely to be carried. I barely notice an additional 5 oz when carrying at the waist, but a 5 oz disparity in the pocket is immediately apparent. So, as it is with most things you can't usually have it all without compromise, and the advantages offered by carrying the LCP are best realized with pocket carry. If pocket carry ain't your thing, I'd pass on the LCP to be quite honest.
The path of least resistance will seldom get you where you need to be.
Subscribed, for personal interest.
I am a relatively new G42 owner, and wondering whether to sample other small auto-loaders, before making a financial commitment to custom holsters, additional magazines, and eventual additional G42 pistols. Concealing a G42 is certainly easier than concealing any double-column-mag baby Glock. I like that the G42’s frame has enough real estate for a proper, modern thumbs-forward two-handed grip, at least for my modestly-sized male thumbs. (My Seecamp LWS-32 is, most certainly, a one-hand handgun.)
My son has a Ruger LCP, and, someday, we just might manage to arrange a shooting session.
My reason for .380 pistols is, quite simply, aging-out of shooting more-powerful cartridges from compact pistols.
Last edited by Rex G; 11-14-2018 at 11:10 AM.
@Rex G, I’ve owned and shot them all, seriously. The G42 is the easiest to shoot by a wide margin. Next would probably be the Sig P238–which I once took a local "advanced handgun" course with, including shooting at a robotic moving target. (I did as well as anyone). After that, things drop off a bit further; Kahr P380, and bigger blowbacks like the Sig P232 and then further still with the PPK... point being, you already have the gold standard for .380 shootability.
The 42 is my only non-historical .380 at this point. I’ve sold the rest, and I’ve sold my G43s, and my seecamp, etc. pocket carry aside (as well noted in the post above by 41mag), The G42 fills the "old man/notagun" niches well. JMO.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
Thanks.
If I am correct, in assuming that the P238 is an external equivalent of the Colt Mustang, I have had about three Mustangs, and did quite well with them, though one was not truly reliable, so was the designated trainer. My reason for getting rid of them was simply that the thumb safety did not fit the normal arc-of-movement of my thumb. My first pistol was a 1911, and I have never failed to properly work the thumb safety of a 1911, but I did not have absolute confidence in my unfailingly reflexive operation of the Mustang safety. Operating the Mustangs’ thumb safety had to be a conscious action, with a “just-so” positioning of my thumb.
To assuage my OCD-like worries, in this regard, I carried my reliable Mustang(s) in Condition Two, thumb safety off, and only used it in the occasional deep-hideout role. The weakness of that methodology is that something could, conceivably, bump the thumb safety to the “on” position. The Seecamp LWS-32 and my several J-Snubs conspired to kick the Mustangs from the nest. A Walther PPK/S or PPK may have been involved in that conspiracy, too, but I cannot recall the timeline of all of my so very many Eighties and Nineties pistols.
Last edited by Rex G; 11-14-2018 at 12:10 PM.
P238 is very Mustang-similar; the sights are improved, but the trigger is not. At any rate, there are precious few more mellow ways to get behind a trigger than a G42. Anything more copacetic is either bigger (envelope) or smaller (chambering) or both.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
Pocket carry depends heavily on one’s pockets. In “relaxed fit” pleated dress slacks, I can pocket carry a G26 in an Aholster. In jeans, I am limited to my KeL-Tec P3AT. If one’s pants have already been selected based on pocket carry, a G42 in an Aholster should not be a problem.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
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