The smallest autoloader I have is a P99C (actually, I have two of them). It's roughly the size of a G26. I can't see going smaller; the only reason the P99C works for me is that I have pinky extensions on all the magazines. If I need to go smaller, I have J frames.
I don't consider capacity that much of an issue, since I'm comfortable carrying K/L/N frames as a primary.
For most folks who carry these guns Jeff Cooper summed their reasons up long ago “People want to be armed with a deadly weapon without any of the attendant burdens”.
Similar capacity, in my mind, does not make duty-sized revolvers and micro-pistols equally useful. Generally speaking, it's much easier to hit with a duty revolver. Similar (or even greater) capacity in the micro's does not make them an equal fighting tool.
@Lost River is spot-on with his assessment.
There exists a balance between what you can conceal and what you are comfortable fighting with.
There is also the question of how will you deploy a gun (i.e. fire and run away vs confront a threat).
Then, there is also the "just have something" thought process. The big gun is not always the answer. Sometimes the small gun means that you will be armed when you might not otherwise be.
I use the scenario based assessment for myself and also give it to other people to help make their decision.
Size-Up Scenarios
The easiest one is, "You are in a bank/grocery store/auto dealer/wherever and a two guys walk in to do a takeover robbery." Initial thought process is likely that you will not engage unless then threaten you. Then change the scenario, "You watch them shoot the clerk." Do you act? Are you ready/comfortable with what you have on you to engage? What if they turn towards you or your family member?
Another could be, "You are sitting in church/school/a movie theater and a guy walks in with a shotgun and starts shooting people. Are you ready/comfortable with what you have on you to engage?"
How about, "You are driving to visit a family member and don't plan to stop anywhere. You accidentally cut someone off in bump-to-bumper traffic. The other guy pulls out a Glock 17 with a 33 round mag and starts shooting from a short distance away and you cannot maneuver your vehicle (this is a real scenario that recently happened locally). Are you comfortable fighting with what you have?"
We probably all agree that an LCP or a J-frame would suck in any of these scenarios.
Let's flip it
Size-Down Scenarios
"You are going to the park to play soccer with your child and the standard attire is soccer shorts."
"You are going to the doctor (who probably does not like guns) and you will likely have to partially disrobe."
"You are going to a business that does not permit firearms."
If you are facing an NPE environment where you are extremely limited on what firearms you can conceal, suddenly the balance shifts and guns like Scandium J-frame, a LCP, or a Kahr P380 start to make a lot of sense.
I gave up the "man with one gun" stuff awhile ago. Different guns meet different needs. Five rounds of 38 Special +P in an 11 oz gun or 7 rounds of 380 ACP in a similar weight package make a lot of sense. Hell, I've even carried a J-frame on my ankle and one in my pocket before simultaneously because the environment and "scenario" dictated it and I couldn't easily conceal a larger gun.
Tiny guns have their purpose or place, but I would much rather have a gun I'd be comfortable with in the "size-up" scenarios.
Be honest with yourself about what you would actually want to fight with and let the tiny guns be what you would carry when you'd otherwise be unarmed.
It’s threads like this that make me think however many years later the industry still hasn’t come up with something truly better than a Glock 19.
My fishing and mailbox gun is a 442. My smallest social carry gun is a G26 with G17 reload. Most often its a G19 or G17 if the situation allows for it, which it usually does.
I shoot the 442 well enough but it gives up much with respect to capacity and reloads to the G26 and not enough in dimensions to justify its more frequent carry. It is a but lighter I feel and makes a better pocket gun when pressed into that role.
The G26 doesn't give up much by comparison to its larger siblings especially with full size reloads and its lighter weight and smaller dimensions made it more suitable for the 10-12 hour days behind the wheel of a recent cross country road trip. For whatever reason I shoot it better than my G19 and on par with my G17 too, so thats a nice plus.
Ive tried smaller but they fit my big hands poorly resulting in less desireable accuracy, slower reloads as big hands don't like small mags, and fewer rounds of sometimes arguably less potent cartridges.
A G26 or similarly sized and capacity autoloader is as small as I go.
When I had to occasionally purse-carry, I carried a 442. Same gun in the pocket of a heavy winter coat.
But these days, it seems to be either a 2.5" Model 19, a 4" Model 64 or a 1911.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Kind of have came full circle on guns and my philosophy with them. Sigs didn't work out with my family and I because the way Sig reacted to my findings, no big deal. Sold with full disclosure. Now I am back to glcoks that I thankfully didn't sell and am content.
I have a glock 43 that I feel confident enough in shooting wise that I carry in gym shorts around the house and to the mail box. during the hot times in New Mexico my social gun is a glock 48 with oem 10 round mags and a reload. It gives me a barrel length that will allow expansion of good JHPs, it is easy to reload, and shoots like a bigger gun. My colder time guns or when I feel like the situation is a higher than usual threat level (big event/large crowds) I carry a Glock 17. I am going to send it to cold bore customs and have it cut down to a glock 19 length and have the slide milled for a 509tx2 when they are wrung out. This gives me the ability to move up and down the size/shoot ability (mostly capacity is the biggest difference) on three different sized guns with similar triggers, sights, and ergonomics.
What ended up happening there with Sig, can you give us deets?Originally Posted by breakingtime91
Gaming will get you killed in the streets. Dueling will get you killed in the fields.
-Alexander Hamilton
Basically told me that I installed it wrong and refused to look at it. The company I bought the parts from were skeptical and didn't feel the same way as corporate. It put in a situation where I would have to rely on someone like Bruce Gray to look at it or just accept that mine worked that way. Everyone I talked to said it wasn't a big deal because the guns would never experience that live fire, I didn't agree. Since I carry Appendix I am not gonna risk something being wrong with a safety on a pre tensioned striker. So instead of jumping through hoops, I cut my loses, sold them to people who did not want to run safeties with full disclosure and haven't looked back. Anytime I stray from glocks besides a fun gun, the gods punish me.
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