Is there is a good solution for carry

I know that the 'What concealed carry gun should I get' question has been asked a few times before. My problem is that I want a concealed carry gun, preferaby in 9mm or possibly .40, that would not be horrible to practice with because of recoil.

First a little background. I can't carry in my state (PR of Maryland). I have a Utah non-res permit which allows me to carry in the surrounding states of Pa, Va and De. So for the most part I can't carry but for a few days out of the year. But I do like that I can now carry in the Shennandoah Natl. Park in Virginia because Va recognizes my Utah permit. We go to the mountains at least once a year.

I already have a Bersa Thunder .380CC which would conceal well. It weighs 18 oz if I remember correctly and is very unpleasent to shoot in my opinion because of lack of weight. So my problem is that I want to step up the power to 9mm or .40. The way I see it, if I get that power in a small light weight pistol like a Kahr PM9 or CW9, it's going to be real unpleasent to practice with. And if I get a heavyer gun it's going to be more uncomfortable to wear IWB. I've already got a Stoeger Cougar which is real big for IWB. I'm 5'10'' and 170 lbs so I'm not a big guy. I've also got larger 9mms like P229, 92FS, XDm which are too big for IWB.

So is there no good solution to the light weight/horrible recoil vs heavier gun/acceptable recoil puzzle? Do I just need to suck it up and get a light weight (CW9) and forgo trying to practice with it much at the range? Or is there a small, single stack (SIG P 239 comes to mind except for the price) with some recoil absorbing weight so that I would not mind practicing with it yet it could be worn IWB?

Thanks for any input. Also feel free to ignore if you're tired of dealing with this type of question.

'Have you ruled out a .357 revolver? Easy to carry, light .38 loads to practice with and big man/beast stoppers for SD.'

I've sort of turned into a semi-auto guy lately but I started out as a revolver guy. I do have a S&W 686 with a 2.5 or 3 inch barrel. Even with that short barrel it weighs a good bit. I'll look into it though. Thanks.

The Kahr K9 or MK9 look great, but fall into the category of 'way more than I wanted to spend'. Maybe I'll look for a used one. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ok guys, I just came back from window shopping a few local gun stores. I saw a S&W 3914 that looked interesting. Single stack, DA/SA, and had a little weight to it. Do you guys have any feeling about them? I'll do a search in the meantime and see what I find as I am not familiar with them. BTW, it was used for around $400.

Thanks for the input everyone. Since I'm interested in IWB carry, I think that a single stack would probably be the way to go. I'm seeing a lot of positive on the forums about the 3914 and almost zero negative. I think I'll take my IWB hosters to the gun store in a day or two and see how it fits. The used 3914 fits my budget for sure. As you can tell, I'm leaning heavily toward the S&W.

BTW, the 3914 is a discontinued model, correct? Or just a bygone generation? I don't see it on the S&W site but the 3913 is there.

Autolycus, I just tried the 229 with both of the IWB rigs that I have and the gun was too big for one holster and the other holster and gun were too big for comfort. I've got a Blackhawk Serpa for the 229 if I can get away with wearing it outside. Just not sure I can pull that off. You need to remember, I've never carried yet. I just got the Utah pernit last fall and have not been able to use it yet. So I have no real experience in 'carrying'.

To benderx4, I would love a P7 but around here (Baltimore area) they're around $900. I know, it's ridiculous. I tried to buy one from CDNN last year for $650 but the deal died when they found out I live in Maryland. And right now $650 is even more than I want to spend. I'm now taking a hard look at the S&W 3914.

My thanks to everyone who made suggestions. The S&W 3913/3914 seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I went back to the gun store today to try it in my IWB holster and do the deal if everything was comfortable. I was a day late and a dollar short, so to speak. The 3914 was sold.

They did let me try it in my holster to see how it fit. It did work fairly well, so at least I know that the 3914 is workable in my IWB holster. Now I just have to find one.

Well, I found a 3913 Maine State Police gun and bought it over the internet. Probably paid too much for it but there doesn't seem to be a lot to choose from. And it sounds like the ones that are for sale don't hang around long. So I snapped it up.