Carry Conundrum: Which Gun??

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Redcoat3340

Redcoat3340

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0205191512[1].jpg 1120181858_HDR.jpg S&W has thrown my IWB carry options into a state of total confusion. That damn Shield has fouled up everything.
For years I honed down my carry options to a few select guns: a S&W .38sp Model 442 (shrouded hammer and Performance Center tuned) for pocket carry; a 9mm Smith Chief's Special also well-tuned; a Smith and Wesson 6906 for a bit more bulk and more bullets; a Beretta PX4 9 Compact for a lot more bullets and a bit more bulk; and a Smith 4513TSW for bigger bore without a lot more heft.

Then I latched on to a .45 Smith 2.0 Shield. It shoots those 45 "flying ashtrays" with minimum recoil, as accurately as I can shoot; and it's small. As small as my Beretta .32acp model 81 Cheetah, smaller than the 4513, smaller than my Beretta 85F .380, smaller, in fact, than almost everything and it even fits nicely in the pocket of the jeans I mostly wear.

And now I'm stuck with a bunch of really good guns that I have trouble justifying for carry. I mean why consider anything of lesser caliber that's actually bigger (except I really like those other guns and I don't want them to feel lonely or neglected)?

Time for a gun safe sale? (Not really, but sometimes it just feels good to gripe.)
 
Just an FYI, but the Speer "Flying Ashtrays" are from long in the past. The term referred specifically to Speer's 200 grain JHP. Some folks call the Speer Gold Dots flying ashtrays, but they aren't. Nothing else is a flying ashtray to the purists, only the old Speer bullets. I'm a purist. I use to buy and handload the old Speer bullets. (I guess that makes me old.)

So, if you have a supply of the old Flying Ashtrays, you're lucky. But I suspect you might be referring to the current Gold Dots.
 
fxvr5....my bad. I had no idea. I'd just heard the term years and years
ago in reference to all the big 'n slow .45acps, not just Speer. I thought the term appropriate versus 9mm. I'll be more precise in the future. (And in reality, I still rotate among all my options, it's just the Shield gets used probably 2 to 1 vs the other stuff.)
And just to keep the whine going....I picked up a couple of .40S&Ws along the way, with an HK UPS 40c the most appropriate for carry (I got it before the Shield arrived)...and I still keep asking myself why carry 40 when I can tote 45?
 
Redcoat3340 said:
fxvr5....my bad. I had no idea. I'd just heard the term years and years ago in reference to all the big 'n slow .45acps, not just Speer. I thought the term appropriate versus 9mm. I'll be more precise in the future.
Click to expand...

No worries. The term is often brought up, and folks think it refers to any wide hollow point 45 bullet or the Speer Gold Dots, but it only applies to the original Speer 200 grain jacketed bullet. It earned a good reputation for expansion because - well, it expanded really well. I and many other 45 shooters were very fond of it. I used it for hunting small game back in the 70's, and it worked very effectively.

There might be many current bullets that equal or exceed the old flying ashtray, but folks like me remember it with particular fondness as it seemed to be the best of the breed back then. And that hollow point was HUGE.
 
Love the choices of handguns you’re struggling to pick from. Nice collection. What a great problem to have!
 
I have several carry guns that don't get carried any more. I still like them too much to part with them.

One of the nicer shooters is the Kahr CM9. But it is so close in size to the XDs in .45 acp that I always grab the larger caliber when I carry a larger pistol. When I want a smaller pistol I grab the less impressive DB9 because it is smaller with pretty much the same fire power as the CM9.

The CZ-75D compact will be traded some day. For me it is too big and heavy to carry and does not hold comfortably in my very long hands. I just never warmed up to the CZ like I thought I would.

The Remington R51 was one of my very few impulse buys... I think its trade value is so low it isn't really worth trying to trade.

I have been tempted to get on of the double stack sub-compacts (Hellcat or Sig P365) but I value the heavier hitting .45 acp over the larger magazine capacity of the double stack sub-compacts. Maybe I might try to trade my CZ compact for a Hellcat after the Hellcat has been out for longer and they are more readily available on the used market.
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Redcoat3340 I know exactly of what you speak. My Shield replaced my variety of carry handguns. Accurate, adequate round count, and easy to carry/conceal. What's not to like? Oh the prior ones still get taken to the range but the Shield is my daily companion.
 
That's a very nice collection of S&Ws you have there, but Shields do have a way of messing up one's carry plans. Mine turned my EDC G19 into a benchwarmer in no time flat. My Shield gets carried about 95% of the time I carry these days, which is pretty much all of the time that I'm not working, sleeping, or in the shower. But if you really feel like throwing a monkey wrench into your CC decision-making, imagine if S&W made a Shield with a 4" barrel. And imagine if you could get it in either 9mm or .45 acp.

You're welcome. :evil:
 
Haven't carried a .45 in quite some time and then it was a Colt Combat Commander or an Officers Model ACP. Nowadays it's mainly a Kahr CM9 that gets the CCW call and it works great for me!
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The Shield line is one of the handiest EDC guns available. My Shield .45 just kinda made most of my carry guns moot. Up into the Smokey Mountains, to the beaches, to the office. Its such a slim and comfortable gun that I often forget I have it in my waistband.

Love my heavy revolvers and steel autos, but the Shield is my most oft carried companion.
 
Don't sell anything! I still regret pistols that I sold because "I did not need them anyone". Shooting habits change and I wish I still had the Combat Masterpiece, and a couple of other firearms that are now, too expensive to replace.
 
The Shield isn't the latest and greatest anymore but I love mine, and it's an old original version. I'm sure the 45 Shield is even better being a 2.0 model. I have some other 2.0 M&P's and they're noticeably improved over the originals in a lot of ways. I carry larger and smaller at times but the Shield is my overall go-to carry pistol.
 
fxvr5 said:
Just an FYI, but the Speer "Flying Ashtrays" are from long in the past. The term referred specifically to Speer's 200 grain JHP. Some folks call the Speer Gold Dots flying ashtrays, but they aren't. Nothing else is a flying ashtray to the purists, only the old Speer bullets. I'm a purist. I use to buy and handload the old Speer bullets. (I guess that makes me old.)

So, if you have a supply of the old Flying Ashtrays, you're lucky. But I suspect you might be referring to the current Gold Dots.
Click to expand...

To be specific, you're referring to the Speer 4477. At one time the mark of a reliable 1911 pistol was the ability to consistently feed those from 8-round magazines. They haven't been made in 23 years though, and there are many offerings available now that are better from a terminal ballistics standpoint. Including the Gold Dot replacement.

As a matter of interest, the 4477 cavity can easily accept a pencil eraser, for reference. They required quite a bit of extra holdover past 70 yards.


They were great for one thing in particular though- nothing would grab the skin of a bowling pin like a 4477. Especially with 6.5 grains of Universal behind it.
 
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