I’m old enough to remember the “carry gun” definition of yore: a gun that in some way has been modified—or compromised—in order to make it more “carryable.” Early examples might be, say, a 50’s lightweight Colt Commander, or 3” round butt K-frames, or an early Colt DS or pocket pistol, or even “shopkeeper” SAAs.
Seen through that lens, a G17 or a Gov’t 1911–both guns that I find great fun to shoot—aren’t really “carry guns,” rather, those are
Service Pistols that one can get away with carrying on private time. I supposed an argument can be made for the new Ruger 1911 Gov’t with the aluminum frame—I suspect that my copy will be plenty fun to shoot.
But with lightweight 1911s on one extreme, and something like a Seecamp on the other, here’s my personal list for “fun:”
1911s with an aluminum (or poly, as in RR’s poly) frame. Very fun. Even the officer guns, if they work. An officer’s in 9mm is Donkey Kong/Mario brothers’ level fun.
3” six-shot revolvers, eg, my S&W 65-3 RB 3” or my 856 Executive, or the new Colt King Cobra. AIWB peeps can extend that barrel an inch, so long as the carry compromise rule is in effect with a round but (or, in the case of an M12, RB and alloy frame!).
I love a smooth, 6-shot DA wheelie: my favorite guns.
The G26 sort of makes the cut for me, mostly because, while not exactly riotous fun, it’s fun enough in a Calvinistic, Glock sort of way—and is the very definition of “carry gun.”
I have to leave J-frames off the list—and this is coming from a guy who still has 6 of them. Reason being: they’re a bit more like work to shoot, than fun. Don’t get me wrong, a trip to the range with a couple of J-frames beats an email from admin any day, but I take J-frames to almost every outing to
do the work. I don’t mind the all-steel iterations, but they’re still not all that silly fun to run. I don’t like shooting lightweight guns at all. I do it, because: super-efficient tool; proficiency. And I can run a J-frame, make no mistake. But shooting them is like the last reps in the last set on pull-up day. I do it through gritted teeth because it’s good for me.
Similar, but to much less extent, is micro 9s like a G43. They’re fine, but I don’t really
enjoy running one in a class, or punching paper with one. I admit that they can be a good compromise tool though.
That leaves, surprisingly, the .380. I have always enjoyed shooting .380s, from my earliest memories shooting my dad’s war-era Beretta ‘34 up to today’s locked breech micro guns—almost all of which I’ve owned or shot. I like shooting the bigger guns, like the later Beretta Cheetahs or the Sig P232, and I like shooting the popcorn-light guns like the Sig P238 or Kahr P380.
But the ultimate “fun carry gun” for me is the
Glock 42. It’s the moto guzzi of pocket pistols: nowhere near the raw power of the more brawny competition in the size range, but it’s got enough to be fun, the guns provide great feedback to the operator, and have loads more character than one would expect by looking at the little bricks. A G42 is astonishingly accurate, has recoil so soft that Dr. Ruth could shoot it WHO, but yet still has enough ‘kick’ to be fun. The later iterations run and run. It’s super-compact, but not absurdly so.
Honest to God, if I was a wealthy man, I’d buy .380 by the case weekly and use G42s for 22LR style plinking at tennis balls, beer cans, and every sort of polymer reactive target that one can buy, just to end each day of the work week. I’d leave Saturday for J frame work—as penance for all the grins that shooting unlimited .380 acp through the 42 would provide.
Originally Posted by Duelist
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