Hey guys, I am legal as of today for carrying a pistol. Took 10 weeks to get my permit, so now I am in the market to buy my first ever pistol.

I will be honest - I know nothing about what to look for when buying one. What I am looking for is something that is pretty easy to carry/conceal, not break the bank, and also have to use at home/car if needed.

I know zero about make/models or what caliber is best. Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Brian, I have a kel-tec 380 that's ridiculously easy to conceal and reliable as they come along with a Taurus pt 24-7 40 Cal that's large frame, harder to conceal but equally reliable and a sweet shooter. I will say the small frame 380 can be hard on the hands at the range for what it's worth. Either way if you'd like to pick up ammo you're welcome to shoot them both my Friend.

When I do carry, I usually carry my Kahr 9mm... Kahr makes nice handguns and they have many to choose from....

Whatever you decide to choose, make sure it is a good fit for you... What may be a good fit for one, may not be a good fit for another.

Good luck!

I really like my Ruger LCP for carry. Fits well in a pants pocket.

Picked up a Walther PPQ in 9mm a few weeks back, and the trigger on this thing is awesome, 4.5 lb break with .1" reset and < 2lb pull on reset. Shoots and handles like a dream.

Would have preferred a .40, but they're harder to find in a lot of shops.

Springfield XD, Ruger SR40 are good medium size autos, and are also available in compact models.

Recoil is less on smaller models from 9mm than .40, so becomes a choice of how you intend to carry and how big a gun you're willing to deal with, and then go from there. Do some reading of reviews and check for ammo capacity, as several of the smaller .40 pistols have pretty limited mag capacity compared with 9mm.

Hornady has some +P loads in their Critical Duty and Critical Defense lines of 9mm ammo that are approaching .40 performance.

my everyday carry is a Glock 23. 40 cal. You cant stop a Glock Never a single failure to feed or failure to eject regardless of ammo, this thing will run Thats what you want in personal defense guns. absolute reliability and enough power to stop the threat.

Glock 19 police trade in would work for CC, home duties and would not break the bank.

I don't own guns. They are evil. My government says so.

but if i needed one on short notice, I'm guessing an XD subcompact in .40 could be found within a moment's notice.


I'm contemplating getting a concealed carry pressure cooker before they're outlawed as well...

Thanks for the input guys. I am leaning towards a Ruger LCP .380.

Look at an old SIG p 230... just say
In...good gun

You wont regret getting the LCP. h.h.

I love my LCP. Very concealable and comfortable to carry.

+1

I also bought my first hand gun for home defense, target practice and back up for coyote hunting.

I chose the Walther PPQ (Police Pistol Quick) hand gun in 9 mm.

I'm happy with this gun. Not sure if I will carry it on my person as it's a medium sized hand gun and not a small gun. It's also a double stack which makes it's magazine a little wider than a single stack magazine.

This gun shoots well and the trigger pull is really nice. The trigger Reset is fast.( 0.1") I think that the trigger pull is around 4.5 lbs. With a very clean break and little over travel.

The only thing I might change out is the sights. I might think about adding some Night Sights so that I can shoot it better in the dark. It comes with wind adjustable rear sight but I'm not sure that the elevation is adjustable on the rear sight or front sights. But it shooting accurately right out of the box.

I got two additional magazines for it and they each hold 17 rounds as they are larger that the two magazines that came with the pistol.

I'm shooting at targets 25 yards away and hitting the target good. Several shots were inside the center of the 2" bulls eye with the rest in a 9" circle around the bulls eye.

I need to figure out what type of holster to buy for it if I'm going to carry it. Inside the waste band type might require a few new pair of pants and a new wider belt to hold up the pants.

If I go with outside the waist band type holster then I won't be able to hide it under my shirt. But it might be a lot more comfortable to carry with OWB holster.

Not sure what type of holster to get if I'm carrying the gun while driving. Shoulder type maybe?

Right now I'm using a cheap Wal-Mart Pellet Gun fabric holster that I used with my Umarex Walter Pellet Gun. This holster was only about 10 bucks at Wal-Mart and I have two of these. It's working good for now but I want something a little better someday.

I'm not sure on the type of cant and height above the belt to get so I'm thinking of buying something that's adjustable for both cant angle and height above the belt. Just now sure if that exists and what brand to buy. Then there is the material type.

I read that a lot of guys are carrying this gun so I guess that works. It does not look like it would feel comfortable ISWB at the 4 or 5 O'clock position if I'm sitting down and driving my truck.

The Walter PPQ is a striker Fired Pistol and it's very easy to clean and lube. It's very Glock Like in that it's a polymer frame and steel barrel and slide. It' breaks down easily and it well made. German's are good engineers and they make good products.

The only down side is that it's not cheap. And the extra magazines are more expensive but they are well made too. I took my new magazines apart to clean them and had to figure out how to dismantle them as they didn't have a button on the bottom to release the bottom part. I got mine apart but I'm not sure how I did it. LOL Luckily I don't have to clean the magazines very often.

I went to the range Friday afternoon and shoot about 200 round though the pistol. I had fun. And that's what I think it's all about. Having some fun and enjoying some time at rifle range and enjoying the sunshine.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jkd:
[QB] Picked up a Walther PPQ in 9mm a few weeks back, and the trigger on this thing is awesome, 4.5 lb break with .1" reset and < 2lb pull on reset. Shoots and handles like a dream.

What type of holster did you get or do you use?

Brian...my Uncle Heath has had a permit for a very long time and he has always carried a glock 14. He loves it. I don't know the brand, but I can ask him. So, that may be a little something to look into...as well as the Ruger.

Get something that has pretty cheap ammo to.

Get a .22 rimfire, semi auto, cheap ammo, no recoil and will do what you need. Hard to beat the Rugers for the price.

This thread has some age to it but I'll throw my teo cents in anyway. Consider a 38 special j frame Smith & Wesson. A 642 or similar is quite concealable, it's double action only, no hammer to snag either. And it always goes bang. No jams, ftf, fte's etc. I guess I like stuff simple. And I live my wheelguns!

+1 for the S&W 642

I got a box of the Hornady Critical Defense +P ammo but have not shot any of it yet.

I'm shooting the 115 gr Blazer Brass 9 mm FMS bullets now just for practice.

The Blazer brass is cheaper to shoot than the Hornady shells.

As far as getting a holster for the PPQ I have now tried three different Alien Gear IWB holsters and one Alien Gear OWB holster with the PPQ and my other pistol.

Alien gear holsters come with interchangeable plastic shells that can be taken off and replace with a shell for another type of gun.

I got the Tuck 2.0 first as at that time it was their newest model. But I found that although it was very comfortable I had a hard time getting the gun back in the holster while wearing the holster. The opening tends to get covered with the top flap of material which is very soft and flexible. And I'm over weight which makes it even harder to wear an IWB holster. If you are thin then it may work better for you.

My second Alien Gear Holster was the original Tuck 1.0 with brown leather backing. I do like this holster as it's easier to put the gun back inside the holster while wearing it. The top flap is stiffer and doesn't tend to cover the opening as much as the neopreme Tuck 2.0.

They came out with a new holster called the Tuck 3.0. They have put a very thin spring steel plate inside the holster which gives it more rigidity at the top. So the top tab that goes between your gun and the body is not so flexible and tends to straight straighter and not fall over the opening on the holster. This makes it a little easier to replace the pistol back into the holster while wearing it. I've just got this new holster from Alien Gear and have only worn it one time going to the grocery store. It was very comfortable and I am liking it.

Now I purchased the last two holster with the Shell for my New Ruger LC9S Pro pistol. This pistol is striker fired and had a very nice smooth trigger. It's also smaller than the PPQ. It's single stack and carries 7 rounds in total. I carry with one round inside the chamber and the gun is ready to fire so trigger control is ESSENTIAL. I like carrying the Ruger better than the PPQ as it's smaller and lighter and conceals well. The PPQ being double stack and carrying 17 rounds is so heavy that my pants tend to want to fall down unless I cinch the belt up so tight that I nearly can't breath. That makes it uncomfortable to carry the PPQ.

Now a few times I've carried the Ruger in the Alien Gear Outside the Waste Belt leather holster and it's comfortable at the 3 O'clock strong arm position. And with a big floppy shirt it's concealable to most people. But if you know what to look for and are observant then you can tell I'm carrying. I went into Gander Mountain one day and a guy saw that I was packing. Actually all I was wearing was the Alien Gear OWB holster. I left my pistol out in the vehicle when I went inside the Store. And The guy that noticed my holster was looking at people to see if they were carrying. But I was still surprised that he saw my holster PRINTING though my Dark Shirt. Heck I was wearing a 2x size T shirt and it still fits tight around my waist. I guess I need a bigger shirt to help conceal my gun these days.

In summary I would highly recommend the Ruger LC9S Pro or LC9S with the manual safety. The Pro model does not have an external safety.

The FBI has said recently that the 9 mm round it the best over all round to use for many different reasons. But I'm sure that others will argue this point and say that they prefer other rounds. All I know is that I like the 9 mm round. The ammo is readily available and not that expensive. And if you shoot a lot and don't reload it pays to save money in the long run on ammo. I can buy 50 rounds of 9 mm for 12 to 13 bucks which is not that bad. I normally buy 350 rounds for about $100.

I know that this is an old thread, and bean likely has picked one by now; but I recently picked uo a S&W Shield, in 9mm, and I love it!

I like my XD 9 SC, but it is a bit bulky for my taste. The Shield is thin, not too heavy, and just "feels" good to me.

I carry the shield in 40 and love it both IWB and OWB custom leather holsters.

Bean, The LCP 380 is a good choice. Very easy to conceal with any clothing. I use a kydex holster which is molded for the gun. Good setup. They are (as any sub compact) a little hard to shoot. Buy the latest model which has a better trigger pull. Next would be the glock 42 (380) Can't go wrong there, a little more money and a little larger to conceal. But its a glock and shoots great. Good luck.