HELP PLEASE --one 9mm pistol for carry, range, and HD!

[Clusterfrack]

Great points. Let me try to walk back my statements . I wasn't trying to argue that a Glock19 is the only or best answer for CCW. But (at least for AIWB carry) if concealment is the reason he's looking for something else, maybe a better holster system is the first thing to try.

...Having lived most of my life in hot/sweaty environments, I know what it's like trying to carry a "real" gun versus a "compromise" gun like the P365/XL. FOR ME, weight and width of the pistol matter a lot. CAN I conceal a G19? Sure. Do I WANT to conceal a G19? Not any more. That's why my last "working" G19 is a dedicated on a battle belt "grab it in extremis" pistol. The P365 or XL get carried every time I leave the house, sometimes both of them. For me, the P365MS is the modernized J-frame. Small/light enough to slip in a pocket, with twice the capacity of more capable ammo, better trigger, better sights, better reloads, etc.

The XL does give up some ground to the G19 when I'm shooting competitive drills (not very much, but some). I'm sure @GJM can give a better comparison of the "shootability" of the Macro versus the G19, but, IIRC, his recent experience has him giving the edge to the Macro. What the XL gives back to me is being MUCH easier to carry/conceal, and the ability to direct mount a good enclosed optic, which I've come to consider a "must have" for a "fighting" pistol.

And, again respectfully, there are those of us who have never been able to adapt to AIWB. For carrying on the hip (OWB or ESPECIALLY IWB), the P365XL conceals a LOT "easier" and more comfortably than a G19, and I'm 6'1" 21x pounds (I know, I'm working on that last part, don't hate!). The only issue with the P365 series in hot/humid environments is the mags will rust on you, but this is remedied by judicious application (and maintenance) of EEzox or a similar product.

Again, this is my experience, and doesn't contradict CF's or other folks' who say the G19 is "the way."

[JonInWA]

The G17 shoots better, in my hands, than the G19*. When I wore enough clothing to conceal a G19, I could conceal a G17. So, to answer your question, exactly as asked, I would choose the Glock G17, preferably Gen4, which is the best fit, in my hands, thus far.

This is real-world. I have two Gen4 G17 pistols, and a Gen5 G17. I did have a factory-stock Gen3 G17, but I sold it to an LE colleague, after moving to Gen4. I still have a Gen3 G17, which has had a Robar grip reduction, so, fits me well.

I traded-away my Gen4 G19 pistols, in 2020. No easier to conceal than a G17. Less accurate, in my hands, than a G17. Then, as a 56th birthday “gift,” they started injuring my aging right hand, when I shot them.

So, in the form that the question was literally asked, “I” choose the Glock Gen4 G17, for range, home/self/general defense, and concealed carry. I am not attempting to apply this choice to any other person, because that is not what was asked.

I do still use “baby” Glocks, but they are too small to fit all three of the criteria.

*Any handgun that has a grip that does not make firm contact with the “heel bone” area of my hand, is unlikely to perform as well, regarding accuracy. This can be due to overall grip height/length, or can be due to a shape that curves away from that part of my hand. The G19 simply does not extend far enough to make that vital point point of contact.

A G19 with a LTT Grip Anchor might be worth experimenting with. I've been impressed; putting one on my Gen 3 G19 and one my Gen5 G23. Best, Jon

[Joe in PNG]

On the body thing, I'm a 34", and found it hard to hide the 19 IWB, even using a great holster & belt combo. It's weird- a CCC Gestalt & Mastermind belt combo could make my 1911 disappear under a tshirt, but a CCC Gestalt & Mastermind belt combo seemed to print way more obviously with a Glock 19.

I also found that my hand just don't like the big & blocky Glock grip. I shoot better with slimmer guns like the 1911, Sig P239, or Shield Plus without getting the pain in the basal joint I got from the Block.

In your case, you got a 365 and seem to like it, so drive on with that.

[Rex G]

A G19 with a LTT Grip Anchor might be worth experimenting with. I've been impressed; putting one on my Gen 3 G19 and one my Gen5 G23. Best, Jon

Yes, thanks, I have considered ordering an LTT Grip Anchor, if I buy another G19. I was already kicking myself for totally trading-off all of my three G19 pistols, because I had not yet tried the KKM mini-comp and barrel. Although I figured I could just use them on my G19x, I later scolded myself for not giving it at least a brief try on a standard G19.

[Lost River]

There are lots of recommendations (including my own) for various pistols, as well as advice, on the subject at hand. The one thing that comes to mind for me is this. There is a point where you just need to know how to use and be fairly skilled/competent with whatever you pick up, provided it is not some super oddball handgun. For the most part, most semi auto handguns really are more alike than they are different.

I used to work a job where I travelled to different locations and when I got there, I was expected to simply pick up whatever was issued to me and roll with it. In the early days prior to .gov standardization, that could be a variety of brands of guns. But I was expected to know how to use whatever. Years later while stateside, I trained some security teams in a similar manner. Frequently we would have a session of testing where we shot guns that were not the individual's work gun. I would bring something totally different. It could be a 4" S&W Model 19 revolver, S&W 4506 .45 ACP or a CZ 75 or a 1911.

Training the guys to hard focus on good fundamentals, which was mostly trigger control and sight picture, allowed them to turn in some decent performances. The complaints about "this does not fit my hand just right", and "This does not point perfectly for me" seemed to eventually go away once they figured out that they could shoot anything if they focused on a good sight picture and trigger control.

A perfect example of this was during a qual I had to do for a .gov firearms instructor cert/position. It covered a very wide range of weapons from M240 belt feds to M110 sniper systems to shotguns. The Beretta m9 handgun was one of the quals. I had not shot a Beretta in at least 15 years. I was quite concerned really. The way the outfit I worked for did things was that there was ZERO warm ups. It was all "performance on demand". They wanted to see how you would shoot under pressure and quals were shot cold, with no warming up. Long story short I focused hard on my trigger control and each and every sight picture. I was worried about making very smooth DA pulls. Ends up I shot a 100% score. Needless to say I was quite surprised. More relieved than surprised honestly, because if you failed one qual you were out of the whole program. But focusing on the fundamentals pays off. Most the time you can hide just about any mid size gun within reason. That is a matter of good carry gear.

[Lost River]

Good leather (or kydex) is what makes the difference.

I have been carrying a G21 lately in a Summer Special with zero issues. As summer and hot weather approaches I will likely go to something smaller for day to day concealed carry, but it really is a matter of having good carry equipment.




In fact I have an IWB holster for a 4" N Frame, and find it to be a solid choice as the belt holding the gun/holster tighter against my body tends to distribute the weight better and conceals it quite nicely.





So when somebody tells me that they can't conceal a Glock 19..

[G19Fan]

@HammerStriker, this may not be the answer you want. But it's the best answer. At your size, concealing a Glock 19 under a t-shirt shouldn't be a problem--if your holster, belt, and pants are optimized.

I'm smaller than you, and a G19 or P-07 in a JMCK WC 2.5 with a Mastermind pillow work great year round for CCW.

Occasionally I'm in a nonpermissive environment (NPE), and I fall back to a mousegun.

EDIT: About living in a 10 round state... Here in OR we came close to that last year, and I did some soul-searching about whether that would force a change in my CCW. I decided it wouldn't change a thing. I'd rather carry a gun I shoot really well, even with 5 fewer rounds.

Agreed on the fewer rounds and all part

[Biggy]

I pretty much feel exactly like the guy reviewing his Sig P365 Macro Tacops in the link below. Having no gut I prefer to carry AIWB where I can easily and comfortably carry my (3.7" inch barreled) P365 Macro Tacops pistol with an Armory craft manual thumb safety and minus the mag well in my Tenicore Vello holster, as the holster's built in claw pulls the pistol grip into my side and doesn't interfere with getting a good grip fast like some other add on claws can. I do like to be discrete as reasonably possible when carrying but then again I'm not a wired narc and absolutely prefer the full grip shootability of the Sig P365X Macro's 17rd grip frame where *I* sacrifice little to no concealability compared to shorter grip frame pistols when I'm walking around Wally world or Micky D's. As we know in a self defense pistol reliability trumps everything assuming you can get good hits with it, everything else is just personal preference and where you choose to compromise.


https://youtu.be/VRFv89bP49M?si=TnnlPnKCbj4dxk3i

[Wondering Beard]

@HammerStriker, this may not be the answer you want. But it's the best answer. At your size, concealing a Glock 19 under a t-shirt shouldn't be a problem--if your holster, belt, and pants are optimized.

All true and I wanted to add: does it have to be a t-shirt? a polo shirt can be a bit looser/wider at the waist and so can a linen henley shirt. There are options in clothing if one just looks around.

[Salamander]

I get the minimalism desire, having already pared down and simplified cameras and clothes. Reducing the number of pistols is in the near future, although not as drastically as suggested above.

A thought on Glocks: I too am in a ban state. My G26 runs reliably with hollow points in a 10-round mag, thus it gets carried quite a bit and conceals easily for me IWB. I sold a G19 because I couldn't get through a full 10-round magazine with hollow points (average 20% stoppage rate), even though it worked fine with range ammo in 10-round mags or with HP in grandfathered standard capacity mags. I know a few people who claim their G19 or G17 runs OK with HP in 10 round mags, but I've also seen lots of them choke at the range. Thus my advice is to extensively test with carry ammo before using 10-round Glock mags, at least some of them are problematic because the design is different. Just one more thing those in free states don't need to worry about, but we do. It's the reason that except for the G26, my 9mm semi-autos are mostly HK.