I recently picked up an LCP II. VERY impressed with it. Beats my wife's BG 380 by a mile. Great trigger, not punishing to shoot and surprisingly accurate at self defense distances. I won't be lighting a match at 100 yards with this thing but so what. I put some white paint on the front sight which made the decent for a 380 sights even better. It's been 100% reliable and small enough that there is NO excuse to ever leave the house unarmed. I'll probably still holster or pocket my CM9 if I'm forced to go to Walmart after dark though.
Talk A Noob Through Concealed Carry 380s
- Thread starter dranrab
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kevincallahan
Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2006
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I have been carrying since 1981. I really believe the best firearm is the one you have on you if trouble comes. That said, I am retired and no longer have to go out looking for badguys. I use a Smith bodyguard 380 in the summer in shorts and light clothes. I feel it is plenty for getting me out of a jam. If I have to defend myself, I probably am going to be doing it at close range under 12 yards and shot placement is the key . It is different for a cop on the job, or even off duty who may have to take action at longer ranges and under different types of cover. I do go up in winter to a sig 290rs or my trusty 457 smith when heavier clothes come out and I am worried about how effective a 380 will be in penetrating thru heavy clothes.
I pocket carry a Rohrbaugh R9 as my primary, so the RM380 is a natural choice for a BUG for it.
But I really like the RM380. Now that I've been dry firing it the trigger has smoothed out.
Right from the start I didn't want a firearm that I had to operate a manual safety to be able to deploy it. I don't generally like spongy striker-fired (Glockish) triggers either.
The slide stop lever on the Kahr 380s gouges me, it gouges my shooting thumb. I have a CM9 that I don't have that problem with, its just the slightly smaller PM380 happens to get me in the thumb. You can take a Dremel and soften the sharp edges on the slide stop lever.
The RM380 is really growing on me, its an easy pistol to shoot. It has plain black sights with are milled into the slide, but mine is perfect for 6 O'Clock hold.
But I really like the RM380. Now that I've been dry firing it the trigger has smoothed out.
Right from the start I didn't want a firearm that I had to operate a manual safety to be able to deploy it. I don't generally like spongy striker-fired (Glockish) triggers either.
The slide stop lever on the Kahr 380s gouges me, it gouges my shooting thumb. I have a CM9 that I don't have that problem with, its just the slightly smaller PM380 happens to get me in the thumb. You can take a Dremel and soften the sharp edges on the slide stop lever.
The RM380 is really growing on me, its an easy pistol to shoot. It has plain black sights with are milled into the slide, but mine is perfect for 6 O'Clock hold.
1KPerDay
Member
The Kahr .380 is a gem IMO. I shot one and now I want one. the PM9 is awesome also.
I pocket carry an LCP and it is a great pistol for the purpose.
I pocket carry an LCP and it is a great pistol for the purpose.
gunhappy
Member
I recently put a hogue on my first Gen lcp. I hated that gun before...now I like it and carry frequently as I can get a real grip on the gun, which helps me shoot it better. It is not a sleeve, it is the one that pins in place
Since this thread has well outlived it’s op I’ll chime in:
I view anything less than 9mm as suboptimal. Pistol ammunition already has piss-poor ballistics so I try to keep the best caliber I can shoot well with me. In my case, unsurprisingly, it’s 9mm. On top of that, really small guns are a lot harder to shoot than their larger brethren. Also, if you have an untucked shirt it’s almost no harder to carry a small 9mm in the shield/g43/lc9s catergory.
That said, itty bitty guns have a place in a sensible carry selection. It’s way better to have a bodyguard or j frame in your pocket than nothing at all. There are times when the only option might be in the pocket of your dress pants and the .380 (or smaller) is the only option. I find no fault with that.
As others have said, whatever you choose will be a trade off. A .380 might be best, but if you try a slightly bigger gun, it could surprise you at how easily it carries.
I view anything less than 9mm as suboptimal. Pistol ammunition already has piss-poor ballistics so I try to keep the best caliber I can shoot well with me. In my case, unsurprisingly, it’s 9mm. On top of that, really small guns are a lot harder to shoot than their larger brethren. Also, if you have an untucked shirt it’s almost no harder to carry a small 9mm in the shield/g43/lc9s catergory.
That said, itty bitty guns have a place in a sensible carry selection. It’s way better to have a bodyguard or j frame in your pocket than nothing at all. There are times when the only option might be in the pocket of your dress pants and the .380 (or smaller) is the only option. I find no fault with that.
As others have said, whatever you choose will be a trade off. A .380 might be best, but if you try a slightly bigger gun, it could surprise you at how easily it carries.
I cannot really agree. I carry all manner of firearms, depending on mood. But if I want to really carry concealed, the LCP or P32 is the ticket. Either literally fits in my shirt pocket without being noticed. My J-frame and Shield always need belt support, even if IWB, where a gust of wind under my t-shirt might make them visible. The 9mm and .380 seem similar in size in the gunshop, but those little .380/.32 pistols are amazing for concealed carry.
Part of it is that they are so light that they can sit in an inside jacket pocket (in a pocket holster, for example) without sagging the sportcoat, and I have many times gone running for quite a few miles with the P32 clipped to the inside of my UnderArmor without even noticing it was there, so it is not just overall size. Yes, I wish they fired a 300-grain slug at 1200 fps, but the trade-off is often worth it to me (although certainly not always).
TreeDoc
Member
I don't worry about the sights on my early gen LCP, at the distances I'm likely to be using it.
mdauben
Member
Of those three, I'd go with the LC9S as its a 9mm, the other two are .380ACP. The 9mm is generally considered a more reliable combat round. I'm also partial to the LC9S as I have one myself.
Depending on what you mean by "don't wear baggy cloths" that may eliminate pocket carry. People who were tight fitting jeans sometime find it hard to draw a gun from their pocket easily. It can also exacerbate the problem of "printing" (outline of gun showing) I generally wear Dockers, which tend to be a little looser so I don't have that problem.
Wearing those sorts of clothes, I would tend to go with pocket carry, but you would probably want to go with one of the smaller .380 guns (Ruger LCP, etc.). With the larger guns like the Ruger LC9, you might want to look at an IWB belt carry.
I love the P238. A couple friends have them and I've shot them on multiple range trips. Its on my "short list" for a potential purchase. For or IWB carry, though, I'd probably go with a larger gun than the Sig P238. If you do want to belt carry, I'd look at either a "summer special" style holster (originally designed by holster legend Milt Sparks but lots of makers have similar designs available these days), or the N82 Tactical Pro holster. The latter has a ridged plastic holster with a padded backing pad. Its a super-comfortable holster for all day carry and I use it exclusively for all my IWB carry guns.
Totally disagree. You need to train regularly with your carry gun, If its not comfortable to shoot you won't shoot enough, or if you do you will end up training yourself to flinch or pull your shots. Neither are good training!
Eh, I think I disagree with this statement. In my experience, Walmart belts are neither stiff enough, nor do they last very long. I do tend towards very stiff gun belts and most of mine have polymer lining. I have yet to wear one out, though, as opposed to the 6 months I used to get out of cheap Walmart belts. I guess YMMV.
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I don't see the 380acp as, as it was said, "suboptimal." For many years it served as a standard police and military caliber. People have no changed in those years.
Are there more powerful rounds? Yes, I would readily point a person to something like a 454 Casull if they are looking for a significantly more powerful handgun round. Now I do realize that most people do not mean that much more powerful, they want people to agree that their favorite round, generally the 9x19, is ideal. I am not going to say the 9x19 is bad, it isn't. However, just because the 9x19 isn't bad, that doesn't mean that the 9x17 is bad.
Neither is "suboptimal." the 9x17 has a proven history as a suitable defensive round. There is plenty of good ammunition for it. In fact there is so much good ammunition for it that two intelligent people can have a different preference and neither of them is necessarily wrong.
Are there more powerful rounds? Yes, I would readily point a person to something like a 454 Casull if they are looking for a significantly more powerful handgun round. Now I do realize that most people do not mean that much more powerful, they want people to agree that their favorite round, generally the 9x19, is ideal. I am not going to say the 9x19 is bad, it isn't. However, just because the 9x19 isn't bad, that doesn't mean that the 9x17 is bad.
Neither is "suboptimal." the 9x17 has a proven history as a suitable defensive round. There is plenty of good ammunition for it. In fact there is so much good ammunition for it that two intelligent people can have a different preference and neither of them is necessarily wrong.
As the original posting date was about a year and a half ago, let's assume that the OP made a decision.
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