UPDATE: Glocks, Sigs, Kahrs, CZs, and Tauruses have been added to the spreadsheet.
So, being the unmitigated nerd i am, and being rather bored yesterday and today, I put together a handy dandy little spreadsheet of all of the various firearms I am considering for the purposes of concealed carry. Yes, it is virus-free. I promise. And if you do not believe me, do not download it. Regardless, it has all of the basic information – make, model, style, caliber, capacity, dimensions, accessories, weight, safety styles, price, etc. Feel free to take a look at it yourselves, and if you have any information concerning the few holes in it (or any corrections for the information I do have), feel free to let me know. Just leave a comment.
Unfortunately, this conglomeration of data has in no way assisted me in figuring out which firearm, in specific, suits me best, in light of caliber requirements (starting to lean towards .40 S&W being a feasible caliber for personal defense, though I am still not sure), costs, size, weight, and all the rest of that nonsense. It sure is useful to compare the raw details, but not much beyond that. A lot of this has to do with which firearm I am most comfortable with, which one fits my hand the best (though, honestly, the Px4, XD, and P2000 all fit equally well… the USP actually did not feel too good in my hands, for some reason, which is kind of unfortunate, considering the positive aura of reviews floating around them), and completely subjective information like that, and there is no way of inputting any of that into a spreadsheet. One thing I have definitively determined is that I positively despise is the whole two-finger-and-dangly-pinky grips a lot of compacts, and almost all subcompacts, have gone to recently. It feels like I have almost no control over the firearm whatsoever, and that is definitely bad in a situation where accuracy counts, both from defending myself and others, and not shooting bystanders. Thankfully, each of these "taste" things is only serving to narrow down the field of prospective purchases, so that is a good thing.
And, yes, I did include both 9mm-chambering firearms, as well as my own Baby Eagle. The inclusion of the smaller caliber was primarily for reference, and out of curiosity to see how the weight and dimensions characteristics were dependent upon the round used, and me including my current pistol was entirely for reference. In comparison, that thing is definitely not intended for concealed carry purposes… for its relative weight and dimensions, you can either carry a much larger caliber weapon, or a lot more bullets, and still have weight to spare. Good to know, I suppose.
Regardless, knock yourself out, and do not really worry about any attribution or anything. All of the data on the spreadsheet is freely available online – I just did the legwork. Of course, now I have to figure out how to convince the Sheriff of San Diego county to actually give me the concealed carry permit. From what I understand, you have to be a doctor, own a business, frequently carry valuables or excessive amounts of cash, or already have a threat on your life to even be considered for a permit. Of course, the argument that one’s life is the most valuable thing a person has does not seem to carry a lot of weight in that particular location. Gotta love the People’s Republik of Kalifornistan.
In Tennessee you simply take a course taught by local Sheriff or Police, pass the written test and pass the actual firing range test and you get your carry permit. As I remember we had to get finger printed and a background check run, but no problem.
I have a Taurus Titanium .38 special. It fits nicely in my special pocket in my purse, fanny pack, etc. Light weight. It’s pretty too.
p.s. We keep a 9 mm in the Durango
One of the things they told us at Front Sight about caliber selection was you should pick the largest caliber you can control. To me that means you need to shoot the gun in the caliber if you can. Obviously if you can’t you can’t, but you might be able to rent something in a similar caliber.
You should really look at Kahr Arms. I got a Kahr CW-40 for just over $400. It is 40 S&W, 6 round mag, light weight, and accurate. If you prefer all steel, the K/P-40 models are only slightly larger. Perfect for conceil carry.
Re: .45 acp
Don’t believe all that crap about a .45 being able to knock a man down. If the bullet was that powerful, the equal and opposite reaction, (remember Mr Newton?), would knock you down too. Also, don’t believe all that crap about a .45 will jam more often than a 9mm. It depends on the gun, some .45s are more reliable than some 9mms and vice versa.
Do believe that a .45 requires a minimum barrel length of 4 inches to function reliably.
Have you fired a .45? How about a .40? Cuz there is a big difference from the 9mm. If you haven’t and want to try them out, start with a mild load, like the Federal 165 gr in both .40 and .45acp. Also, the Federal 135 gr .40 feels like a 9mm+P. All other .40 and .45 loads might be a wake up call for you.
As for which gun to choose, Ron and Homer gave some good advice. If you don’t like pinky danglers, the Kahr K9/40 or the T9/40 will give you a large grip while being very slim.
One of your criteria was how well the gun felt in your hand. Try the CZ P-01 or the CZ-75 compact, you will think they were custom made for you, especially the P-01. Both are available in 9mm and .40s&w.
Eep. This is probably the most comments I have ever received for a single post… ever. Thanks for all your inputs, I do appreciate them.
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Now on to the content… Florida (where I live now) is much like that, Debbie, only even easier – no range test (as I understand it, at least… I have not researched the matter since I will not be here much longer). And it would certainly be nice if purses were in fashion for men, but that might draw more attention than I might otherwise desire
Ron and Tim, I have had the chance to rent and fire a .45 1911 fullsize, and found the recoil and round almost more controllable than 9mm through my Baby Eagle. Granted, this is a full-size, metal-framed pistol, but still. I have already decided to rent something relatively similar to what I am looking at, once I have narrowed my choices sufficiently… just, at the moment, renting everything I have in mind at the moment would hurt. I have not had the chance to fire a .40 yet, but how does it compare against the .45?
I honestly had not done a whole lot of looking at the Kahr line, being quite unfamiliar with the line, and logically sticking with names I know for the moment. It appears that the gun shops around me do carry their pistols, so I will take a look next time I am out.
Again, thanks for all the help!
I just went through this exercise (including multiple spreadsheets) and it boiled down to which subcompact 9mm fit in the console of the truck. The choices were Glock 26, H&K P2000SK, S&W M&P Compact and the Springfield Armory XD9 Subcompact. The XD9 fit my hand and the truck console, and went home with me.
As for Kahr, I owned one and traded it. It was the PM9 and would often fail to go into battery. I decided I would rather have 5 rounds of .357 instead of 7 (maybe) rounds of 9mm. However, with crime increasing in central Florida, I’ve decided to try a handgun with at least double the capacity of my Ruger SP101.
Good luck on your search.
widen the spread
In light of suggestions and ideas concerning the spreadsheet referenced in my previous post, Glocks and SIGs meeting my original criteria have been added to its rows and columns. I just realized I forgot Kahrs and CZs, but I guess…