Picking an EDC Pistol

As an instructor for average ordinary people choosing to carry, I see folks show up with a diverse array of pistols and often by the end of the first few drills realizing they need to change. The change I see most often is from a Glock 43 to either a Glock 19 or M&P9 Compact 2.0.

The short cut question to really think about is: if a life or death confrontation unfolded and you could hit the pause button and grab any pistol to put in your hand at that moment, what would you pick? That should be a pretty good starting point for a decision subject to some other considerations.

1. Is it comfortable enough that it will be carried all day, everyday? Jeff Cooper used to say a carry pistol should be comforting, not necessarily comfortable. High quality holsters and belts are critical to comfortable and safe carry. Plan to try several. ebay is a good place to sell the ones that do not work out.

2. Will it conceal well enough to not draw attention in a person’s usual daily life?

3. ABSOLUTELY 100% RELIABLE. RELIABILITY IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE FACTOR. A pistol should go at least 500 rounds absolutely perfectly with the actual carry ammo. Yes, carry ammo is expensive for testing, but cheaper than a funeral.

4. Accuracy - most engagements for citizens, not LEO’s, are 3 - 7 yards, but can go back even to 25 yards. Beyond 25 yards is rare, but not unheard of.

5. Drawing - an EDC pistol only works if it can be drawn and deployed quickly - about 1.5 seconds or less is the goal.

Practice - whatever is carried needs to be used in practice, more often is better than less often.

Maintenance - treat your pistol like your life depends on it, someday it may.

Last, carry all the time, every where legally permitted. SHTF can happen anytime, anywhere. I went through some rigorous training 15 years ago because of a very specific credible work related threat. Nothing ultimately happened. When did I have to actually draw on someone? Years later, a man and woman team tried to car jack me in the middle of the day at a drive up window of a taco place in Refugio. The unfortunate reality is bad things can happen anywhere at any time in very unexpected places to people minding their own business.

Hopefully this will help someone.

Great info Jeff, Thanks for posting

So curious why are they switching I been carrying my 43x and like it wife is carrying her 43
I went thru a course last month and used my 26 but only because I needed 3 mags and wasn't able to find a third for the 43x in time

I’m thinking open carry of an AR 10. You really gonna mess with a guy with an AR10 strapped across his chest?

l2b,

reliable accuracy under pressure is the biggest issue, recoil management is the root problem. Even highly proficient shooters’ accuracy improves with a mid-size pistol. If you shot the same course of fire with a G43 and again with a G19, your score almost certainly will increase, or at a minimum you will find the 19 easier to control the follow up shots. Most of the people I help are entry level with no prior real instruction. The difference for them usually is stark.

kmon1,

you’re welcome.

TC,

would be effective, not too sure about not drawing attention though.

After years of trying different pistols I settled on a Glock 19. The Glock 19 hits all of your points for me personally.

I have carried a CZ Rami, P320c, p938, and now a P365. Having gotten back into good conditioning, I'm now appendix carrying the P365 in a Vedder LightTuk. This is easily my favorite carry system.

Me too

I have NO Faith in a semi auto to save my life

lets go revo. a stove piped semi will get you killed

whats the argument??? More rounds??

forget it, grease that bad girl up till it stains your boxers, still JAM city


betting your life on it?????

8 cant do chit if the fist one FTF's

sorry

Cause no revolver has ever failed...

You do buy Jamo matics

Says the guy who doesn't clean his guns adequately and blames failures to fire on Barnes ammo and not his dirty pistol....

I can tell you from personal experience, you want all the ammo you can carry when it happens. Two people exchanging fire from cover, the last one to run out of ammo is gonna win.

Malfunctions? Train to correct malfunctions and take good care of your weapon.

Buzz, you bought a Taurus lemme guess

I haven’t cleaned my HK in 10 years, at least 5k rounds never a failure most likely 10k rounds

I’m thinking he most recently bought a Dan Wesson. Buzz any negative feedback on the Dan?

... then again if ots all you got it beats nothing.

Also coming from a standpoint of personal preference and style, lever gun and revolver.

And at least you don't need to stinking magazines!

But for a weapon purely for defense, more capacity, less reloads, and all you gotta do is pull the trigger wins.

Lol that DW is a safe queen, he probably hasn’t even shot it yet.

Nah buzz’s guns are clean as they get, not because they are dirty

Well when he bashed Barnes ammo and told everyone it would get them killed because it doesn't work, the issue was a dirty pistol that was getting light primer strikes.

^a revolver wouldn’t do that

Yes they do. I could post tons of links to other forums or YouTube vids about light primer strikes with revolvers but I'm sure you can Google it yourself.

good info
and get some real training too...
I was definitely one of those "I don't need training, I have been shooting my whole life since I was 5" Even did some IDPA and IPSC competition before I took my first real training class(es)

It was an eye opener and a bit humbling

If I could only own one pistol it would be my Gen 3 G19 that has had a tad bit of work to it..

I get asked by friends and people I meet all the time about which handgun they should buy, I generally tell them a G19 as it's the optimum balance of conceal-ability and shoot-ability

I haven't carried mine since I got the Sig P365 though as my range time shows me it is both 100% reliable (with my carry ammo AND practice ammo) and I am very accurate on the draw fast.

I do agree also with doing training with a shot timer and also MOVING...

As my buddy who works at KRTraining said the most important thing to do in a gun fight is not get shot.
He had the unfortunate incident of having to kill someone who kicked down his front door at day break and continued advancing when confronted with his wife and children behind him.

The sarcasm was missed.

90% of the time my carry pistol is a Glock 23 (mid size, and same size as a G19). I think it is the best size for a CCW and shootability. I don't own any 9mm pistols. Everything is 40 cal and 10mm for me.

But we all know the 9mm is better for defense than all the other calibers combined

I like the G19, but I wouldn't carry it every day. Especially at my job. That's why I bought a gun that I know I'll carry. It's a 9mm that's small and light enough to not interfere with my job, and still has a respectable ammo capacity. I've never left it at home.

short barreled semis are time bombs. You want to risk it, no skin off my back. Ya'll read too many gun magazines and read too much BS on Forums. Plus you're SO easily trolled

oh yea, how many of you have beards?

Sorry, I had to!

I love you guys !!!!!

I carried a G23 and then a G19 after that for about 15 years. I agree that the G23/19 are the perfect “do it all” size.. Having said that, I’m an IWB guy and they are bit too thick for me to comfortably carry on a daily basis. I switched to a shield in 9mm several years ago for daily carry and haven’t looked back.