Going to get my Chl this weekend and asking some advice on what you guys think the best gun to carry around would be. I have my my glock 21 but it is SLIGHTLY to big to carry around. I am thinking glock 36,26, or 27. Any advice on these would be great and other thoughts are welcome as well.

I love my EMP.

Its also 1K looking for something a little cheaper, but does not sacrafice reliability. Looks dont matter as i will be concealing it lol. Looking in the 5-700 range. Checked out the Springfield XD-S. Not sure about a 45 with such a short barrel tho, i would like to be able to have a decent follow up shot if ever need be.

Josh, You might want to look at the Kahr cw40 or cw9. My wife carries the cw9 and loves it. You can find them for around $350-$399. They have a 3.5 in barrel and are around 1 inch wide. Also the S&W Shield is a good choice IMO.

the new sigs are pretty sweet, haven't shot one but they feel great not cheap though

Haven't shot it yet but just got a Sig 938. If it shoots well I'll be using it for that.

Best CHL carry gun is one small enough to conceal, is 100% reliable that you can shoot well. There are people that carry anything from the little mini revolvers to full size 1911s. There is no best for everybody. Guess that is why there are so many choices


All the above are good and I do like the way the shield feels and shoots.

Good to hear that they shoot as good as they feel. Saw one at the Tyler Gun show but refused to buy it as the dealer wanted $50 over MSRP of $449. Academy sells they for $399 and this guy wanted $499.

I have carried probably a dozen different ones over the years. I always carried the smaller one more because they were more comfortable.

North American Arms
Seecamp
LCP

All are good pocket pistol choices that are easy to carry.

I do not have one but a good friend does and I ran a box through his shortly after he got it.

Glock 26 is a good gun.It just didnt fit my hand as well as some of the other subcompacts. I like the Springfield XDs the best for CCW.

I'll throw a cheap plug out there for a package gun I'm selling. Kahr cw 40 with crimson trace laser, 2 mags, leather iwb holster, 100rds HP, 11 rds fmj, and boxes for the ct laser and gun. $560 for all...

What may be best for me, sure isn't for everybody else. All boils down to what YOU are happy and comfortable with. I think you'll also find yourself carrying different weapons, between the summer and winter months.

Good luck. Buy and carry what feels good and you shoot well with.

Qualify at the CHL class with an semi auto that way you can carry either a wheel gun or a semi auto (least that is the way it was). If you qual with a wheel gun that is all you can can carry (again, at least thats the way it was). Carrying a gun all the time gets to be a pain in the rear.....literally. You will find yourself wanting to go smaller and lighter all the time. I would look at the 5 shot airweight line in .38. 5 shots should be plenty for self defense. The question you have to answer is......., am I willing to give up magazine capacity for daily compfort. That is most definitely a personal decision.

i carry a glock 22 or compact 1911 with a ruger .380 in pocket.The compact glocks are just too small and dont fit my hand at all.With the glock 22,i can hardly tell its there.Some of your gun choice is decided by the holster too.If your holster is comfortable,then the gun size shouldnt matter

An LCP is the easiest thing out there to conceal. You should own one of those just for when nothing else will work.

On the bigger calibers, I find the thickness to be the key. I tried a Glock 27 and just couldn't get it to work very well. I went with a Kahr PM40 and really like it. Very easy to hide.

Thanks for the input guys. I was just curious what everyone else thought I have never had a subcompact only full sized. I am a little worried about getting something to fit my hands I have rather large hands mostly palms not so much fingers. I'll probably go to the shop pretty soon and ask to hold a couple different ones and see what works

It also depends on how you carry to which gun is best for you. If you plan to carry IWB with an untucked shirt, then one of the Glocks you mentioned will do fine. If you plan to put it in your pocket, then you may want something smaller. Get what you will carry. For me, it's a Glock 29 in 10mm most of the time, and a Kahr PM40 for the other times.

If the 21 is only slightly to big, try the 23. 13+1 rounds of .40 S&W HST's.

Lol the all caps slightly was sarcasm sorry about that the thing is huge. Another problem I run into is I'm 6'1" and 170 pounds and I don't really wear baggy clothes so it might have to be something that will fit in the pocket. It's hard to hide something with my build

as has already been said, the best concealed carry is what you can shoot well and comfortably carry.

based on what you said you might want to look into a pocket pistol such as the kahr cm/pm line or maybe a sig 238/938 or shield if you can find one.

go somewhere that rents and try out several carry weapons and see which one feels the best to you, then think how you would carry it

I carry an Ultralite .38 sometimes. It is a pleasure. I also carry 5 or 6 loose round in my pocket to feel better about the 5 shot capacity.

Yes, that 21 is a hoss, but I love the .45's. I've tried the compacts and for me personally, I prefer a full sized pistol. I had a Springfield XD in 9mm for awhile but I started to miss the .45 so, believe it or not, I tried a 1911 because it was a single stack .45 and it fit comfortably. The only problem is that it's a single action and I didn't want to carry it cocked and locked as if for a "service pistol", so I began to train with it and became very accustomed to drawing and cocking the hammer as I firmed my grip and continuing to target acquisition; it became like second nature. This is just my story, but what ever you decide, I would suggest a great amount of training from the point of concealed rest, to rounds down range. When I served in Iraq, I would sit in my GP Medium and practice my draw from my holster because the nature of the war meant that you couldn't tell friend from foe when you're out and about, so everyone became you "foe" and it could go bad 9 ways to Sunday in an instant. I learned the same thing in CHL class. Good luck.

I carry the Glock 29 in my pocket on the ranch, often I have it when going into town.

For concealed carry I have found the single stack semiauto pistols pattern better than the double stack.

I know a lot of guys who carry a 1911 or Sig P220.

I carry the Bersa Thunder 380 with crimson trace laser grips.