Carry Gun Advice

[HammerStriker]

Hi all,

I'm considering the below pistols and would love to hear everyone's experience/opinions. I will carry IWB (not Appendix), and concerned with comfort and printing, but also want a reliable gun that I can shoot well with and enjoy training with.

In no particular order, they are:

CZP01
CZPCR
Glock 19
Clock 26
Glock 43
Glock 43x
M&P 2.0 compact
M&P shield
Sig 365

Thank you!

[revchuck38]

All of those pistols have good reputations for reliability and accuracy. There's a wide spread among them in size, though. I'm a fairly big guy (6'1", 195) and am retired, so I can get away with dressing to conceal a full-size gun. How tall and wide are you? How do you dress?

My pick of the choices you listed would be the M&P Compact because it's available with a useable thumb safety.

[Oldherkpilot]

I see two pistols with hammers and the rest are striker fired. All are perfectly suitable for your purposes. I carry CZs and LEM HKs, but if you're starting out, striker-fired would likely be easier to train with. If you hadn't already ruled out AIWB, maybe the hammers would still be in play.

The problem today is that you can't swing a cat without hitting a perfectly adequate pistol. Between all the great gun choices and all the great holster choices, my advice is go get a second job. Its going to cost you a fortune to answer this question. I know it did me.😁

[Jared]

Don’t overthink this too much.

Printing is as much a function of holster selection, belt selection, and clothing selection as it is fun size.

Any of the guns you listed could be carried concealed without issue. They’ve all got good reputations. Pick one and get the support gear you need to keep it hidden and you should be golden.

FWIW, of the ones you listed, I’d take either the G19 or the G26. But I’m not you and you have to find what suits you.

[RJ]

"Printing" is highly individual and dependent on one's personal situation.

What is your waist size? How tall are you? (your "shape" will dictate what get away with. A larger person can carry a larger gun. But a double stack vs. a single stack will be heavier, and weigh down your pants more.)

What is your typical cover garment (T-shirt? Work shift? Suit and tie?)

What belt do you plan to use?

Do you currently have a gun that you enjoy shooting, but is "too large" to "Carry"? If so, what is it?

When you say you want to "train" with your carry gun, what kind of "Training" do you mean? 1,000 rounds a day over multiple days training? Or 100 rounds in a 1/2 day training?


The default solution that works for many is a Gen 5 G17 or G19, plus a Gen 5 G26+12 round OEM mag for carry. You get Glock accuracy, simplicity and reliability, ability to swap mags, huge aftermarket, and disassembly down to component parts with a 3/16" punch. Absent additional information expanding on the above questions, that's where I'd start.

[Rex G]

The double-column mag Glocks, in your list, would be my choice, due to better-established track records. In real life, I did recently buy a new Gen3 G26, which I bought to replace a Gen4 G26, which I had sold to one of my former rookie trainees. I also owned three Gen4 G19 pistols, two of which were thoroughly vetted. (I only briefly owned the third one, to try an RMR on its MOS slide.) 9mm double-column-mag Glocks seem to just work, for me. I only sold/traded my Gen4 G26, and the three G19 pistols, because my aging right hand is now vexed by shooting most compact nines. I replaced the G26, because a G26 is just too useful, even if I will only be shooting it lefty. (I believe in toting second weapons, and am reasonably ambidextrous.) I am keeping my larger Glocks, of “orthopedic” size.

Notably, I could conceal a G17, as effectively as a G19, so rarely carried my G19 pistols, because I liked that I shot the G17 pistols noticeably better. (The exception was @ AIWB, where the G17 was just a bit too large, but AIWB is not a factor, in this discussion, and I never learned to like the G19 for AIWB carry, anyway.)

I have no personal experience with the other pistols, on your list.

I know enough folks, who have had good luck with their M&P-series S&W nines, that I would be comfortable if I had to carry the M&P Compact 2.0 or Shield, on your list.

There are reliable accounts, in this forum, of the G43/43x/48 Glocks being more likely to have functioning issues, than their double-column-mag cousins.

In real life, I will probably buy at least one more G26, because spare/reserve pistols are a good thing, even if they are niche pistols.

[Navin Johnson]

AT least 1K and likely closer to 2K pages here on those here....

[4RNR]

All those are solid makes. Individual guns will vary of course.

Only you can judge what's comfortable.

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[Lost River]

A reliable gun that you can train a lot with, concealed carry, shoot well, and not have to mess with, sounds like a Glock 19.

Yes there are a Brazilian other guns on the market, but sometimes it is simply easier to buy the standard by which everything else is judged (for very good reason) and just start doing the important stuff, which is putting in the work.

When people come to me and they want to start hunting, and they have a long list of hunting rifles, I tell them the same thing. Buy a Tikka T3, scope it with A or B and put in the work.

They are tools.

Skill sets are what is important.

Cheers!

[BillSWPA]

First choice: P365, second choice: Glock 26.

Both of these are easy to conceal and easy to shoot well. Both can be carried in a pocket (in a pocket holster that completely covers the trigger area) with the right pants. In particular, the P365 is a pocket carry game changer with flat base pad 10 round magazines, and is a very nice IWB gun with 12 round magazines. I know you mentioned IWB and not pocket carry, but having options is important.

Holster availability is critical, and is high for both choices.


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