Carrying a 'Backup', or Secondary Weapon, has often resulted in folks making odd or puzzling choices.
I remember thinking how one fellow's selection of a foreign-made .22 or .25 might not serve him to best advantage under the worst of conditions.
Joseph Wambaugh's books had quite an impression upon folks, though. For good reason, too.
However, I remember talking to one grizzled old veteran of an earlier generation one time. He said he used to carry a .22 Short pistol in his pants pocket, but he really only expected the noise of the gunshot from the little gun to scare away someone.
Then again, I remember watching another veteran in my agency when he got off-shift ... and he calmly removed a satin-nickeled Combat Commander from under his uniform shirt, which served as a secondary weapon to his revolver (I'm no longer sure, but I think he used to carry a S&W revolver chambered in .45 Colt).
I knew another senior, experienced street cop who worked nights and carried a S&W 2 1/2" M19 in a shoulder holster under his car coat as his backup gun. He carried a larger .357 Magnum revolver as his primary weapon, too.
I remember when some folks promoted the idea that backup/secondary weapons should be chambered in
at least as powerful of caliber as the primary weapon. That made a certain amount of sense ... unless your primary weapon was a .44 Magnum, and I knew a few guys that carried those as authorized service revolvers.
When I carried a secondary weapon it was generally a S&W 649 Bodyguard, carried in my jacket pocket. I went for reliable, compact, ease of carry and drawing/presentation, myself. I felt the 158gr LSWCHP +P was sufficient for my needs in a secondary gun. Still do, as a matter of fact, although I also use the Speer 135gr GD +P load, as well.
Nowadays, while I don't carry a secondary weapon anymore, my commonly chosen off-duty weapon is again a S&W J-frame ... and there have been some occasions when I've carried two of them.
I've seen a number of our folks who thought that they would carry a 5-shot revolver as either a secondary or off-duty weapon, and they were rather startled and disappointed when they discovered that they didn't 'automatically' (it seems) shoot nearly as well with the diminutive DA/DAO revolvers as they did with their issued full-size pistols.
I miss the earlier days when LE folks were required to develop a foundation of handgun skills using DA revolvers ...
Some folks do seem to like remaining with a reduced size version of their service pistols, such as those folks which carry either a G17 or G22 and may chose a G26 or G27. There are even some LE agencies which issue their folks both full-size and subcompact Glocks for this very reason.
While I find the G26 (and to a lesser degree, the G27) to be my favorite Glock, even the subcompact platform is a bit blocky. I just prefer lighter, more rounded and less chunky guns is some instances, myself. Other folks are fine with it, though.
I did try a couple of early Charter Arms .44 Bulldogs, though, thinking they might make good candidates for secondary & off-duty usage. I knew a guy who carried a blued Bulldog for both purposes.
Unfortunately, my experience with both a blued and a stainless Bulldog were much less than satisfactory so I got rid of both of them.
The carry method/location of the backup/secondary weapon can be very important ... just as with the primary.
