What is the Smallest, Lightest Defensive Pistol You WOuld Rely On ?

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JR24 said:
Obviously, that wasnt my point. My comment was geared to the thinking that a pocketed LCP is fine because of the 3 in 3 in 3 average, but you gotta be able to deploy the gun to make that work.

If ya gotta or want to pocket carry, great! There are zero circumstances in my personal life where I could only pocket carry vs something (even if it is just as small, like a .38) on the belt or belly band that would be easier to use*, should I need it.

*yes, a pocket gun is fast if your hand is in the pocket but I don't walk with a hand in the pocket 100% of the time and we cant depend on complete situational awareness, as much as we strive for it.
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Hence, for any that haven't done it, or thought it out, I pointed out that sitting is when pocket carry is at it's worse
 
RPZ said:
Hence, for any that haven't done it, or thought it out, I pointed out that sitting is when pocket carry is at it's worse
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Fair enough and I agree. I also found sitting was when pocket carry printed worst as well.

Then again as you said, when it's the only thing that works, it is certainly better than nothing.
 
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JR24 said:
Fair enough and I agree. I also found sitting was when pocket carry printed worst as well.

Then again as you said, when it's the only thing that works, it is certainly better than nothing.
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Yeah when I've done it I stuff my wallet and another Id holder with my DL/Carry license/bank card etc in the other pocket to balance it out.

I'm a lightweight, so a 2" snub in a pocket holster does look like I have a paperback book in there. But I wear hanging Hawaiian shirts to help cover up :p
 
Old Dog said:
While pithy, a poor analogy. We're talking personal choices easily within the realm of possibility, not extremes. Were that the case, I'd like to cart around an M-134 Mini-gun.
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Well, maybe this is a better analogy: I have a single 3 lb fire extinguisher in my kitchen, not a whole house sprinkler system. It might do you good to read Grant Cunningham on the difference between possibility and plausibility.
 
Sistema1927 said:
Well, maybe this is a better analogy: I have a single 3 lb fire extinguisher in my kitchen, not a whole house sprinkler system. It might do you good to read Grant Cunningham on the difference between possibility and plausibility.
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I view these things on a principle of risk versus consequences. You can have high risk, low consequences. Then there's low risk and high consequences. Some things fall in between.
 
JR24 said:
How long does it take you to get off 3 shots with a pocket carried LCP if you don't have a hand in your pocket?

Timing these kinds of things led to me abandoning pocket carry as my primary.
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This thread isn't about who carries the smallest handgun as their primary or how you carry it, its about what's the smallest pistol you would rely on. I might only carry my LCP once or twice a year, and it's the smallest handgun I would rely on in public. And when it's it my pocket, it's because I'm at an event where the other option is to wear something IWB with my shirt tucked in. I haven't timed it, but the times I've practiced removing a handgun that's IWB under a tucked shirt has been clumsy and requires 2 hands. It seems much more practical to drop that little LCP in a pocket at that point.
 
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bassjam said:
This thread isn't about who carries the smallest handgun as their primary or how you carry it, its about what's the smallest pistol you would rely on. I might only carry my LCP once or twice a year, and it's the smallest handgun I would rely on in public. And when it's it my pocket, it's because I'm at an event where the other option is to wear something IWB with my shirt tucked in. I haven't timed it, but the times I've practiced removing a handgun that's IWB under a tucked shirt has been clumsy and requires 2 hands. It seems much more practical to drop that littl9e LCP in a pocket at that point.
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Personally I still found I was faster untucking vs pocket, especially in the bigger "dress pant" pockets I would tuck with.

And again, my response was to the justification of a small pocket gun to the 3 shots in 3 seconds at 3 yards average and the difficulty of even hitting that average from pocket draw, not an indictment of the process in general.

But you are correct, i am done thread hijacking.
 
chicharrones said:
For me, an LC9 sized gun won't fit in the pockets of the pants I own. I know because my shootin' buddy has an LC9. I do have a Glock 36 that is a bit larger than the LC9 and it won't fit in my pockets either.

The 36 is saved for the few cold weeks we have when I'm not working, which allows me to wear a jacket and a shoulder holster. But that is rare.

Why do I choose to pocket carry? I'm essentially a mechanic of sorts that has to wear a tucked in shirt but no jacket. That alone isn't the problem, as I have to work on my knees, on my back, on my sides, and of course on my feet. My first carry gun and holster is/was a Taurus 85UL carried IWB. I found I could get by carrying that revolver in my pocket more successfully at work than carry it IWB.

Having a gun in a pocket puts that gun on my upper thigh. I can work for hours in weird positions with a small gun on my upper thigh, but I can't do that with a lump of gun anywhere on my waist. Same goes for working on things at my house. In the attic for the AC or underneath cars in the driveway.

Sure, drawing from the pocket in any of those positions is problematic. But I'm hoping that when I'm working on a customer's machine that I don't have to keep watching my back. Having a gun in my pocket is for the times in between working on machines whether for work or at home. Being able to upsize the gun and change to an IWB/OWB holster isn't something I can do readily unless I'm at home.

Of course, that's just me. Others have their own reasons.
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Besides, an IWB (or even OWB) would hinder your dancing ;)
 
The smallest handgun that I'm currently comfortable with relying on is the Sig P365 with 12 round magazines.
 
someguy2800 said:
Just ordered one of those today. I intend for it to be my camping/fishing gun. Never had a Kahr but I shot one recently and was impressed. The ability to use 1911 mags sealed the deal for me. I intend to get a thumb break OWB holster for it.
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The flush fit magazine you see in my CW45 is a MecGar 1911 Officer's 6 rounder, nickel plated. I had to do a tiny amount of dremmel trimming of the feed lips to allow it to seat all the way in the grip frame. It works fine but does not lock the slide open after the last round fired. There's supposed to be a bit more trimming to be done, but I have not gotten around to it.

There is a long thread on the Kahrtalk forum discussing the different 1911 .45 magazines that are compatible.
 
Well, though I really don't care to carry anything smaller than a .38 spl. or 9m/m any gun is better than no gun at all if things turn ugly. So I would rather have a .22 or even a .25 acp if that is the only thing I can conceal. So I kinda go with the bigger the bullet the better (yes I know it is a generalization and not always true) so for me it would be the largest caliber I can possibly work with in any given situation.
 
The smallest pistol I would trust for carry is a Sig-Sauer P239 9mm. The smallest revolver I would trust is the one I carry the most often, a S&W Model 642 Centennial Airweight (.38 Special).

The issue of "how small" relates to two characteristics: caliber and mechanical reliability. I think 9mm and .39 Special are about as small as you can go in caliber and be able to count on penetrating the skull of a angry pit bull (or deal with other threats in a reliable manner).

As to mechanical reliability, I have read enough, and watched enough YouTube videos, to reach the conclusion that the very small or micro pistols (in .380 or 9mm) are just not functionally reliable. Some are better than others, but all are subject to ammo sensitivity, accelerated wear on recoil springs, etc.
 
The smallest I have carried is a Walther TPH in .22lr when my usual carry, a Seecamp, was out of action. I value the small size and concealability of pocket guns. Carry a Pico these days.
 
usp9 said:
The smallest I have carried is a Walther TPH in .22lr when my usual carry, a Seecamp, was out of action. I value the small size and concealability of pocket guns. Carry a Pico these days.
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The Pico has proven itself to be not only ultra reliable but the little sucker will run with thousands of rounds down range when others have long gone to the wayside. And it is rated for Plus P or Hot ammo. A testament to the build quality. No aluminum in this gun, all metal is solid stainless steel. And one of the most mild mannered shooters out there, I also have the Kahr, which like and have 4 lcp's of which I still own one, but retired it.
 
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