Your favorite carry gun?

[Wonk]

My carry gun for the last few years had been a Kel-Tec P11 (9mm), primarily due to the low profile and easy concealment of the gun.  I had a few jamming issues that were ironed-out by sending back to Kel-Tec to polish the feed ramp.  It ran just fine after that, but even one jam is one too many for me.  Plus, I had never been in love with its groupings at the range.

The other day I stopped into the local shop to take a look at a Glock 26 and happened to find a used one in good shape so I made an impulse buy and went home with it.  I have the 17, so I'm comfortable with the platform and reliability--although I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to carry it (the Kel Tec had a nice belt clip).

I'm curious what others prefer in a carry weapon?

[Pointedstick]

I love my Kahr CW9. It conceals very well and has never once experienced a single failure of any type. Scary accurate, too. It is also a great balance between comfort of carry and comfort on the range. A lot of really small guns are no fun at all to shoot. I can blast away with my CW9 for more than an hour before the web of my shooting hand starts to get a bit sore. So I practice more than I might if it were a really small snappy gun with painful recoil.

A lot of the reason I like it so much is the fit. I have fairly small hands so the thin grip and location of the magazine release work very well for me. I find Glock grips just too fat to get my whole hand around and I have to rotate the gun with my support hand in order for my shooting hand to reach the magazine release button.

[MediumTex]

Ruger Security Six .357 (though I don't carry a firearm any more).

I like revolvers due to their simplicity and reliability.

Even if you miss, with a hot load in a .357 the bad guy would probably run away just because he would think someone was firing a cannon at him.

[Xan]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

[Pointedstick]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

Have you ever tried to design and assemble machines using imperial hardware? *shudders* Or needed to add fractional inch-measured boards and convert to feet, say, doing construction work? *Shudders again*

[Bean]

Full sized 1911 in a Holster King universal holster is my favorite and most common.  Unfortunately I carry less than all the time which defeats the purpose.    My plan these days is to avoid the situations entirely that require carry, and just in case I keep a trunk under folder AK47.

What never leaves me is my Kabar KB2.  Makes me feel like can run into the woods and come out 1 year later like Rambo   Plus it was amazing during my civilian version of SERE class

[RuralEngineer]

Glock 19 because I have long fingers and need a fat grip, hate having my pinky hanging in space, want the reliability, and the extra rounds of the double stack doesn't hurt. I carry it in a crossbreed supertuck IWB.

Also, metric 4 life!  The Imperial system graced us with something called the slug...it's one of mankinds most asinine creations and must be destroyed.

[Mdraf]

Walther PPQ

[Kriegsspiel]

Glock 23.

[whatchamacallit]

I like hickok45's videos

He carries the glock 26 in a belt holster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMXJ3W8j80Q

[Lonestar]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

I like it simple and trouble free too, so I carry a S&W 642 with Crimson Trace laser grips.  Light weight and conceals well in front pocket.

[Pointedstick]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

I like it simple and trouble free too, so I carry a S&W 642 with Crimson Trace laser grips.  Light weight and conceals well in front pocket.

So you're telling me that someone with the handle "glock19" actually carries a S&W J-frame? That's pretty funny. 

Perhaps as funny as someone with the handle "frugal" deciding to get into day trading (sorry, couldn't resist!).

[MediumTex]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

I like it simple and trouble free too, so I carry a S&W 642 with Crimson Trace laser grips.  Light weight and conceals well in front pocket.

So you're telline me that someone with the handle "glock19" actually carries a S&W J-frame? That's pretty funny. 

Perhaps as funny as someone with the handle "frugal" deciding to get into day trading (sorry, couldn't resist!).

I remember one time when murphy expressed surprise that something unexpected could go wrong.

[Lonestar]

+1 on a nice, simple revolver.  Also I don't like the metric system, so none of this "9mm" stuff.

I like it simple and trouble free too, so I carry a S&W 642 with Crimson Trace laser grips.  Light weight and conceals well in front pocket.

So you're telling me that someone with the handle "glock19" actually carries a S&W J-frame? That's pretty funny. 

Perhaps as funny as someone with the handle "frugal" deciding to get into day trading (sorry, couldn't resist!).

I know, I know.................................the way I dress the G19 is just too large.  Although I do always wear a T shirt that says "my other handgun is a Glock".

I'm so old I grew up shooting Colt and S&W revolvers.  Still have a fond place in my heart for them.

[flyingpylon]

So for you guys (and gals) that carry concealed weapons, are you frequently in areas or situations where you actually think you'll need them?  Or do you think that life in general is so inherently dangerous that access to a gun is required at all times?

And just for the record, I'm not anti-gun or anything, just genuinely curious.

[moda0306]

flyingpylon,

Not to answer for them, but I think most people on this board take risk-management very seriously.  If there's something we can do to set aside a small amount of income or inconvenience to take a large risk off the table... whether that be buying the right forms of insurance, owning some gold even though we may not think the dollar will collapse, or carrying a weapon that may be of some defensive use (oh, and by the way, makes you feel like you have balls of steel and is fun to shoot on the weekend) .

Risk management, even in the form of insurance, is actually quite fun and interesting once you start to get your head around it and find someone or a few people you trust to bounce ideas off of.

[Libertarian666]

flyingpylon,

Not to answer for them, but I think most people on this board take risk-management very seriously.  If there's something we can do to set aside a small amount of income or inconvenience to take a large risk off the table... whether that be buying the right forms of insurance, owning some gold even though we may not think the dollar will collapse, or carrying a weapon that may be of some defensive use (oh, and by the way, makes you feel like you have balls of steel and is fun to shoot on the weekend) .

Risk management, even in the form of insurance, is actually quite fun and interesting once you start to get your head around it and find someone or a few people you trust to bounce ideas off of.

My favorite analogy for risk management is the put option. Having a big, non-recourse mortgage on my house is like having the option to put the house to the mortgage lender. Of course, exercising that option would be expensive in terms of credit rating, but having it still reduces my overall portfolio risk.

[Ad Orientem]

Being a staunch believer in the KISS rule, for routine carry I am a big fan of the Taurus M-85 .38 spl snubby. Judiciously loaded with +P hollow points it should serve in any reasonably likely situation. It has all the advantages that MT pointed out for revolvers and it is one of the most convenient carry weapons in terms of both concealability and comfort of carry. You don't need to wear a jacket with this. It will fit in your shorts pocket or you can carry it without discomfort in an SOB holster with an oversize T shirt.

If I had any advance inkling of potential trouble though, I'd probably opt for the S&W model 65 .357 Magnum, or maybe a good old M-1911 .45.

[Coffee]

Rutgers LCP, all day, every day.  Disappears in front pocket.  Stopped carrying G19 on hip because its too much of a pia when taking a piss.