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small concealed gun for fiance

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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my fiance is tiny @ 5' and 95lbs and im looking for a small framed gun chambered in a size big enough for a concealed carry/personal defense usage.
she thinks my 9mm is a bit too much for her and we tried out a few others over the weekend. the titanium S&W .38 we shot was obviously still a handful but the pistol's frame size was about perfect.

any ideas?
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
32 and up will be fine. the revolvers will always kick harder than an auto. the lc9 is a tad bigger than the keltec thus a bit easier to hold. but either way I have outfitted alot of gals with either of the two and they use them well. plus they come in chick colors
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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32 and up will be fine. the revolvers will always kick harder than an auto. the lc9 is a tad bigger than the keltec thus a bit easier to hold. but either way I have outfitted alot of gals with either of the two and they use them well. plus they come in chick colors
the LC9 will also kick a bit more then the keltec because of caliber size too right? i dont want her to bitch out if we get it since she doesnt like my full-size 9mm

is .32acp different?
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
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I really dont feel much of a different between the two. the lc9 will be more easy for her to handle. ammo is the same cost
I was gifted with a Lorcin .380 when I turned 21. Fires pretty consistently and is surprisingly accurate under slow fire. I still have it. Makes a great paperweight. Damn thing almost killed me when I double tapped and weighs more than my .357mag, which is why I won't carry that for CC.

I'm actually in the market for a smaller CC weapon. I usually carry a Sig p220c loaded with 3/4 charge speer gold dot (handload). I was thinking of getting the S&W Bodyguard 380 for when I want to CC when wearing summer clothes. Hearing good stuff on it.



Round comparison between 9mm, .380, .32

 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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What's wrong with a .380?

I've been admiring the Ruger LCP and Kel-Tec P-3AT.

My thinking is that the chances of you ever using a handgun for personal defense is miniscule, so why lug around a big gun?

And if the classic argument of stopping power comes up, teach your fiancee how to do double taps.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
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Im over here now
What's wrong with a .380?

I've been admiring the Ruger LCP and Kel-Tec P-3AT.

My thinking is that the chances of you ever using a handgun for personal defense is miniscule, so why lug around a big gun?

And if the classic argument of stopping power comes up, teach your fiancee how to do double taps.
her father only had home defense rounds in his .380 and only had that mag worth of ammo. i want to pick up some more ammo for her to try it since the .38sp was a bit too much for her in the little revolver we used.
i do want a small-ish frame for her since she is small herself, so a 1911 is out of the question...even a compact version.
ill teach her double taps when she gets comfortable enough for the gun we choose
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
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This guy has some valid points. Needs to define some of his terminology. I feel he's missed a few bits of critical info, but for the most part, I agree with most of what he preaches...

http://stevereichert.com/srs-handgun-caliber-choice-and-why/

...A bullet simply cannot knock a man down. If it had the energy to do so, then equal energy would be applied against the shooter and he too would be knocked down. This is simple physics, and has been known for hundreds of years. 6 The amount of energy deposited in the body by a bullet is approximately equivalent to being hit with a baseball. ...
edit: I think by "knock a man down" he means take him off his feet hollywood style. I can knock a man down with a well placed punch... doesn't mean I hit him so hard he went horizontal in mid air before hitting the ground.
 
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sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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This guy has some valid points. Needs to define some of his terminology. I feel he's missed a few bits of critical info, but for the most part, I agree with most of what he preaches...

http://stevereichert.com/srs-handgun-caliber-choice-and-why/

edit: I think by "knock a man down" he means take him off his feet hollywood style. I can knock a man down with a well placed punch... doesn't mean I hit him so hard he went horizontal in mid air before hitting the ground.
Well, his point about the size of the hole made by different calibers is specious.

Yes, the size of entry wound from a 22 to a 45 is not much different, but the damage to the internal organs will be.

He made a good point about how "knockdown power" is inaccurate, but I'm sure there have been many eyewitness accounts on how effective 45 is versus 9mm. Maybe someone is not being blown backwards, but I bet the 45 caliber shooters will talk about how a man has collapsed after being hit by one.

And trust me, if someone said to me, “the .45 would lift a gook of his feet”, I won't need to understand ballistics to know I was talking with an idiot.
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
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And trust me, if someone said to me, “the .45 would lift a gook of his feet”, I won't need to understand ballistics to know I was talking with an idiot.
I used to get college liberal arts buddies saying I shouldn't shoot a .45 because it was designed to blow up the heads of Filipinos.

I would retort... "Filipinos can be some hard headed motherfcvkers... if it works on them, it'll work on anyone."... I'm Filipino btw...
 

specialist55

Chimp
Feb 24, 2012
2
0
Phoenix,Arizona
I carry a Glock 26 (baby Glock) when ever I leave the house. (9mm) it's the size of my hand! I ride mountain bike with it tucked in waistband with in pant's holster! Give it a try at your local gunshop who handles Glock and see what she think's! Goodluck and look up concealed carry web site for more idea's!
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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494
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we got this thing for her to practice with and to maybe keep. P22 w/ 5" barrel and i have the 4" barrel conversion too.
we're going to shoot it tonight but i can already tell how terrible the DA feel is.
 
Oct 26, 2001
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God Hole NC
Great getting the 22! Over time with practice, she should be able to handle most any caliber. If she liked the .38, you could look at something like a Ruger SP 101. Being all steel, it will tame the recoil a lot over the lightweight Smith. Also, try loading up some 147 grain 9mm. They shoot a lot softer than the 115/124 grain bullets and would be a good way to get her comfortable with the 9.
A bunch of us around here use and awesome clay's recipe. Let me know and I can pm it to you.
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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And any gun which she will get lots of range time is a good thing, and nothing as easy and cheap to fire than a 22.
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
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The Natural State
I'm late to this party, but I've been looking at either a Sig P225/P6 as our CCW. We've got a P226 as our home defense gun, and I wanted something that had the same controls for less confusion.

I've eyed those Walther 22's for a while, would be a nice gun to get the kids aclimated. I'm with you on the DAO feel, I'm not a fan.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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damn. firing a .45 in that tiny/light thing must be pretty crazy. its also pretty pricey.

i heard good things about the Taurus PT638 and hope the gun shop/range a hour away has one to try. apparently its a fairly easy shootin .380

 

Pisgahboy

Chimp
Apr 23, 2011
11
2
Sig P238 is a nice small .380 that shoots very nicely. It's not cheap. Mine has been almost flawless and is one of the best shooting handguns I own. The only flaw it has is that it hates cheap Russian steel cased stuff. Give one a whirl and I think you'll be pleased.

BTW, it's single action only. It's basically Sig's version of the Colt Mustang. You can carry empty chamber or cocked and locked. Just like a 1911.

damn. firing a .45 in that tiny/light thing must be pretty crazy. its also pretty pricey.

i heard good things about the Taurus PT638 and hope the gun shop/range a hour away has one to try. apparently its a fairly easy shootin .380

 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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I have been thinking about a P238.

Something about it appeals to me more than the LCP or Kel-Tec.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
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My ex was looking at those for a CC piece. They are damn nice. The integrated red dot is a nice touch, too.

<edit> It's hard to tell in that pic, but it's thinner than the wallet I carry. I slid it into my back pocket and it was perfect.
 
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IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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we've been shooting our P22 as much as we can and until she gets comfortable with a .22lr, i wont be dropping coin on anything else. shes been getting pretty good but if we go too long in b/w range time, she loses all she learned from the last time
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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so we checked that Bodyguard .380 out and it feels great. we're hoping to go shoot one this weekend as well as looking at a sub-compact 9mm for her. the construction of the Bodyguard is far better then any other "pocket pistol" we saw with the Sig P238 maybe being the only exception (though its almost $220 more and without a laser)

shes been getting pretty good at shooting my full size 9mm, so we might have a look at a few sub-compact 9's.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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found one! called 25+ stores and was able to find a Gander Mountain about an hour away that just happen to get one in. every store had a 30+ person waiting list and i didnt want to wait until September when production was supposedly ramping up.

it shoots fantastic and its trigger feels very similar to my full size M&P. i did notice that the 8rd extended mag requires a bit of force to fully seat which echos what i had heard on some youtube videos. its not too big of a problem since shell be carrying it with the flush, 7rd mag

 
i personally would avoid shooting lead. but if your purpose is to coat the lands and valleys in the barrel with copper, it's probably gonna take ~500rds.

9mm FMJ factory loaded ammo is pretty cheap nowadays...cheaper still if you're reloading with jacketed bullets. lead i find to be dirty, and probably toxic over the long haul.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
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Im over here now
9mm FMJ factory loaded ammo is pretty cheap nowadays...cheaper still if you're reloading with jacketed bullets. lead i find to be dirty, and probably toxic over the long haul.
jacketed bullets are still 2-3x as expensive as lead bullets. i pay $55 for 1000 124gr bullets so each round roughly comes out to $.09/each with what i paid for everything else.
dont most jacketed bullets have lead in them anyway?


edit: i found some Berry's plated bullets for $25ish more then
 
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DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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FWIW......... I do not fire soft lead rounds through a semi auto ever. Just don't like the feed. In the revolvers I will fire soft lead all day, but for semi's I prefer FMJ, JHP, or JSN..... The last two are much better for self defense than the FMJ anyways.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
FWIW......... I do not fire soft lead rounds through a semi auto ever. Just don't like the feed. In the revolvers I will fire soft lead all day, but for semi's I prefer FMJ, JHP, or JSN..... The last two are much better for self defense than the FMJ anyways.
ive fired 1100+ leads rounds through my pistol with zero issues. nor do i notice a difference in the way it "feeds" compared to fmj's.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
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Yeah its just me more than anything, I have friends on both side of the fence, some that have issues, some that do not.... My guess is that for me it would be a non issue seeing I keep all of my firearms in extremly good condition, clean, and always check everything out. What I did notice back with the bereta 9mm I had years ab, was that after shooting more than a few magazines worth of soft lead rounds, I was getting some lead buildup on the ramp, Probably had a small burr I could not see..... Also i am flat out overly picky with stuff like this.