First Carry Gun, Part II

My last blog was on picking out a carry gun and when it was all over with I found I was still getting questions on exactly what to buy. In reply to one follow-up I realized that my response was a good foundation for a blog on exactly what I would get if someone were to send me to the gun store to purchase gear for them. While there are obviously myriad choices out there other than what I have listed, these are my personal picks for getting started in the concealed carry world. Please don’t be offended if your favorite pistol or holster or thong manufacturer isn’t listed. In a matter of full disclosure, despite my following recommendations, I carry the following: Colt 1911 Gov. 45ACP, Galco Summer Comfort or Adams Leather Avenger style, Comp-Tac Kydex Reinforced Contour Belt.

Your mileage may vary on the following items, but I don’t think anyone would ever say they are BAD decisions.

Carry Guns
I would highly suggest one of the striker fired polymer guns that are very popular right now, and very affordable. Glock set the standard years ago. Today I find the Smith & Wesson M&P line and Springfield Armory's XDm series to be the best of them at a reasonable price. HK's HK45C (compact) is possibly the best of the polymer guns out but carries a steep price tag in the area of $1000. Also to be considered are the Kahr MK9, the new S&W SD series, and MAYBE even Ruger's new LC9 (no first hand experience yet). These last three guns will be very tempting due to their small size but may not be the best idea for starting out learning to shoot. I would suggest that 9mm be the caliber of choice. It is very effective, easy to shoot, and more affordable than other major calibers. Don't get too lost in the caliber wars, or what some gun store commando says is the best thing ever.

So let's recap guns real quick. Top Picks: S&W M&P, Springfield XDm, Glock (in that order). Very Secondary Picks: Kahr MK9, S&W SD, Ruger LC9 (no order there).

Leather
Gotta have a holster if you're going to carry right? I highly suggest the Galco Summer Comfort IWB (Inside the Waist Band) for concealed carry. For OWB (Outside the Waist Band) carry I like the Galco Avenger or Combat Master. These holsters will be a great place to start as they are basic, reliable, and easy to use. There are a lot of other designs out there that you can get to later, so once again, don't get too caught up in the hype of the new wonder holsters. That said, DON'T SKIMP. Buy good quality leather. You'll be tempted to go with a cheaper kydex or nylon holster, but these will fall apart, cost you more in the long run, and discourage you from carrying right from the start. You're going to spend between $70-100 for a holster and that's that. You will also need a belt made for carry. I highly recommend Comp-Tac's kydex reinforced contour belt. My beautiful wife and I both have one and it is by far the best belt I have ever owned, and at a reasonable price too. Galco's belts tend to go for about $120, while the Comp-Tac is $80. A carry specific belt is made to hold the weight of the gun, keep it from moving around, and make for an overall more comfortable experience. A lesser belt will fall apart sooner, be very uncomfortable, and again discourage you from carrying simply because you have cheap gear.

Let's recap again. Galco’s Summer Comfort or one of the OWB holsters, or both but in that order. Comp-Tac belt. This is taking my ten years of carry experience and paring it down to what I have now, saving you the time and cost of experimenting like I have had to do.

Feel free to keep the questions coming, but if you stick to the basics I think you'll be fine and won’t regret any purchases. Sticking to quality basics will also keep you from buying more gear or guns prematurely. Trying to save a couple of dollars on holsters, belts, magazines, ammo and guns is rarely a deal that pays back.
-KP

First Carry Gun

The First Carry Gun

There are generally two kinds of guns in this world: those one will carry, and those one will not. Among these two categories can be derived several subcategories. When the time comes to pick out our first carry gun we must ask ourselves what guns fit where, and which one we will choose.

Choosing a first carry gun is much like choosing your first car. You’ve probably already got something in mind that you have been lusting after in your dreams for many months now. It might be shiny or black, big or little. Heck it might be pink with purple polka dots. Whatever it is, you want it, and you want it yesterday. But I implore you to treat the purchase of your first carry gun not so much like a 16 year old boy getting your first muscle car, but rather like buying your first family car with the wife and kids in tow. You see, your carry gun isn’t going to be around to show off to your friends, make you feel macho, or pick up girls. Your carry gun is going to be there to quietly stand ready as a vital tool for you to be able to defend the lives of your family and yourself. Your carry gun will be your constant unseen companion on many walks through the park, trips to the grocery, and dates to the movies. Such events do not call for the foolish angst of teenage boys. Instead they call for the decisive decisions of a seasoned and worldly man with more stake in this world than just his own self. So let us now look at those two kinds of guns, and what may be contained in each.

Guns You Won’t Carry

Anyone who has more than a passing fancy for firearms probably has one or two guns in the safe that will never be carried. Such guns are usually either too large in size or caliber, or too small to be effective. Some are flatly unreliable and can’t be depended on in a life threatening situation. Take that old Iver Johnson that your grandfather gave you years ago as one example. That old break top 22 is not only a somewhat less than ideal caliber for stopping a lethal threat, it’s so fragile that it may not stand up to the day to day rigors of concealed carry. Leave that old piece in the safe and save it for target practice with your kiddos. Now let’s look at that beautiful piece of craftsmanship that is a Smith & Wesson Model 29 with an 8 3/8” barrel which so wonderfully graces a lone shelf in the big steel box. Dirty Harry may have dominated the streets of San Francisco with such a mighty piece but it is an impracticably large firearm for most to carry. In addition to the size of the gun, there is the size of the cartridge to consider as well. Many smaller framed (and some larger) can’t very well manage the punishing recoil of these large caliber firearms. Maybe this piece too should be kept secure in the vault until hunting season arrives and some fresh Elk is desired on the table.

Guns You WILL Carry

While the lines between what you will and won’t carry can be hard to see sometimes, I’m going to attempt to lay out some guidelines to help you pick out the type of gun you might be willing to carry every waking hour of your life. I have found over the years that most people, me included, tend to like a daily carry gun to be relatively small, light weight, thin, simple to operate, light in felt recoil, of a powerful cartridge, and 100% reliable. Many of these things are mutually exclusive, and this is where the problems come in. A powerful gun that is light weight and small will usually feature punishing felt recoil. Your hand will sting, your wrist will ache,

and you wont be willing to practice with it enough to be effective, let alone competent. A gun that is powerful, easy to be accurate with and is pleasant to shoot is probably going to be so large that it will fall into our previous category. A balance must be struck that gives you the most powerful handgun you can shoot accurately and with speed, and still not drag your pants on the ground. There’s no medal given for the guy with the biggest gun, especially if he left that gun at home.

Many folks like to debate the various merits of revolvers and semi-automatics. Let’s get this right out there; both are just fine, don’t depend on a high round count, it takes training to shoot either, and you can conceal whichever you choose. That said, revolvers tend to be more reliable on the whole, and present a ‘bulk’ that many people find hard to hide. Semi-autos tend to be smoother in the waist line, and somewhat more complicated in their basic operation. The one true advantage I see semi-autos to have over revolvers is that you can still fire the gun during the reloading process. With a revolver this is not the case because the cylinder is opened and all rounds are effectively out of the gun. This assumes that you have not made the mistake of buying a pistol with a magazine disconnect, in which case it’s the same as the revolver.

My best advice is this: try a LOT of different guns in a lot of different calibers and see what you like. Try to find a gun that is slim, easy to shoot well, and agrees with your lifestyle. Be sure it is of a reputable brand and can fire through a few hundred rounds without a malfunction. Check to see that you can get a wide variety of holsters as this is something you will most likely end up with a large collection of before it’s all over.

So there it is. Be it a Glock, Springfield, S&W, 1911, or any number of other manufacturers, be sure of the purchase you’re making. The life you save could be your own, and it could be your child’s.

Reputable Brands

Smith & Wesson

Colt

HK

Ruger

Springfield

Sig Sauer

Glock

Common Major Calibers

9mm

40S&W

45ACP

38spl

357 Magnum

44 Magnum

Holster Makers

Galco

Sidearmor

Milt Sparks

Mitch Rosen

Twistedwire Tactical

ALWAYS Carry!!

ALWAYS Carry!! Even at Home.

Today proved a point I’ve been trying to make to people for years now; ALWAYS carry!

What It Means
It sounds simple right? Always carry. That means all the time right? Well yeah it does, but people (including myself sometimes) seem to love making exceptions to the rule. I commonly hear quips like, “I carry when I go out at night,” or “I carry when I go out to bad neighborhoods,” or “When I get home my gun goes in the safe.” See how easy that was? All you have to do is make a little exception here, and a little exception there, and pretty soon you’ll catch yourself not carrying when something happens. So carry, and do it ALL THE TIME.

What Happened
My beautiful wife (henceforth known as Hotshot) and I are renters. We’ve recently found ourselves in the midst of a few rather minor plumbing issues that we wish to have fixed before they are no longer minor. So the landlord sent over his ‘handyman’ to take care of our plumbing issues.

First impressions are a BIG deal. In Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear, de Becker lays out his theory that intuition is everything. We know when something is off, we often just choose to ignore our ‘gut feeling.’ Today was one of those days. When the plumber called for directions, and I was overhearing the phone call, I immediately thought ‘if this guy can’t get directions right in the first THREE tries, I’m not sure I want him working in my house.’ Upon arrival my wife answered the door and he just started walking in. No greeting or verification of identity seemed necessary for this guy. After practically barging in he promptly went to check out the wrong sink. Fast forward past the part where he asked to borrow a rag and flashlight and our not-so-handy-man was on his way to the door. When asked what he did he said he “tightened some stuff”, and didn’t want to deal with the frozen pipe that he said was causing one of our problems. This guy couldn’t get out fast enough for me.

In our after action report (yeah, we’re that nerdy) Hotshot and I discussed some things we did wrong, and some things we did right. The first thing she pointed out was letting him get past her without so much as a ‘hello.’ By doing this she pointed out that she not only put herself at risk, but also me. Don’t forget that folks, it’s not just you depending on you making the right decisions for personal safety, you’re family needs you too. And that’s why you must ALWAYS be prepared. This isn’t being paranoid. This guy seriously put off some crazy signals and exhibited some very off behavior. Don’t take these signs lightly.

One question I asked my wife was, were you carrying? She was, but not in a way that allowed for rapid access to her firearm should this guy have been an attacker and not a handyman. Her method of carry was perfect for concealment, but fell short on speed, and ease of deployment. Several lessons then came to be drawn from this one question and its answer. First, have a gun and be able to get it out, FAST. Bad guys don’t care if you forgot, and they don’t wait for you to get the personal protection tools you will need to save the lives of you and your family. Second, trust your gut. You know when you feel something isn’t right, so act on it from the start. Don’t do what we did and sit back and let things happen then kick yourself later. For this turn we ended up disappointed in a lack of work on a plumbing job. It could have easily been something much worse. Third, learn from your mistakes, and the mistakes of others. This story is free to you. You didn’t have to let anyone into your home, or go see a loved one in the hospital. Read the stories of others and ask yourself what you would do, and what they could have done differently to avoid their situations. War-game your personal life. Look around and ask ‘what if’ all the time.

In Col Jeff Cooper’s book Principles of Personal Defense, the Colonial tells us to have a plan. Think through your day to day life and have a plan for as many situations as you can think of. Don’t think of it as paranoid, think if it as a game. It’s like chess only more interesting and with real meaning. And lastly, ALWAYS carry. It’s not just a matter of preparation, but a matter of mindset. Get your brain in the game, and your head out of the sand. Be proactive in your own safety and security, as it’s your responsibility alone.