How many CCW guns is enough?

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JDGray

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I carry a G23, which I'm very happy with, but it seems like every time a buy a similar size gun, I end up wanting to carry it too. I have 2 holsters ordered from Milt Sparks, 1 for my Sig P239, and another for my CZ Compact, now I'm thinking of adding 1 more, for my S&W commander. How many gun-holster combos, do you guys and gals have? I love the simplicity of the DA only Glock platform, but love the slim 1911 & CZ design for carry IWB. The Sig fits my G23 holster, but really deserves its own leather. I'm truly addicted!!!:)
 
I have three, and they all serve a particular purpose.

My winter carry (because the clothes allow better concealment) is a P220.

In the summer, I carry my P239 because it hides better. I sacrifice the terminal performance for the ability to better conceal.

Then, SOMETIMES, my manner of dress will not allow me to effectively conceal either the P220 or the P239, (shirt must be tucked in, no jacket or overgarment, etc..) and a smith airweight in .38spl goes in a pocket.
 
I got lucky. My full size 1911, my warthog, and my kel-tec pf-9 all fit the same holters. They all share the c-tac, don hume, and fobus. The only one that has it's own holsters is the millinium pro.
 
Of 13 handguns I own, I consider all but my two .22s (6+ inch barrels) suitable for CCW with appropriate attire. At one time or another, I've carried all but the .22s.

The five that actually get carried with any frequency: 642, SP101, PM9, Glock 26, and Glock 19.
 
I carry one of two: either a Ruger LCP or a compact (G19/G23/G32) Glock. I only got the LCP because the dress code here (due to warmer weather) doesn't let me conceal the Glock as well. Otherwise I'd just stick with one. I've considered going to a compromise again, like a Kahr K9/K40, but will stick with what I have for now.

jm
 
I have three... Walther PPK/S, Keltec P32, Kahr PM9. I used to carry the Keltec all the time, but I am carrying the other two more often instead.

But I love the way the P32 hides. When it finally warms up, I will wear the Keltec more I am sure.
 
Consistency

There is the temptation to get "just one more" rig than what you already have.

But consistency. There is something to be said for lots of drills with one system.

Regularly switching carry pieces - Glock, S&W, 1911 - with different pointing styles, recoil, and actions - 'safe action', DA, SA - takes away from that instinctive edge. Under stress, I want to know exactly how my weapon will respond without ever having to think, "Which gun am I wearing today?" or "Where is it?"
 
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I carry either a commander size 1911 and a 605 or model 60 and sometimes a full size 1911 and the commander! both at the same time that is.
 
I stick with the same "family" of carry guns and don't approach carry like "fashion".

If you train, as you should, with the gun that you make the quickest quality hits with, then why would you change the basic layout and ergonomics of your carry guns? If you point 1911s and train with 1911s then carry guns that point like 1911s (Whether it's a P14 or a Colt Combat Commander or a 9mm 1911 or a Springfield XD) regardless of size and materials. If it's CZs or Sigs, carry within those families. Remember, you carry against the day that your life depends upon being able to get that gun out of the holster and pointed so that the rounds end up on target and not so that you can enjoy carrying a different gun every week.
 
hso,

That's why my primary two carry guns are sig P series. Same manual of arms for both, very similar "point."

The .38 airweight is for that last resort situation where I just can't practically carry either of the P series. It's, the "this is better than nothing at all," concept.
 
I either carry a Walther P99QA or a P239. My 229ST is a bit heavy for everyday carry, but I sometimes carry it OWB it while hunting or at the range, etc.

99% of the time, my P99 is worn with a t-shirt/tucked dress shirt or additional layers in the winter. It is by far the most concealable I own and therefore most carried.
 
I carry one gun at a time. The ability to carry a concealed weapon, or carry one openly as we can do in Arizona, does not mean that the world has become a battlefield. I see no reason to become even midly paranoid and go about bristling with weapons. There are venues where one simply does not need to carry a gun anyway.

In Arizona, though we have liberal laws regarding concealed carry, we also have a complete imbecile as a governer. We cannot carry a weapon into any restaurant that has a liquor license. So I do not. That means having to remember that law, and often just leaving my gun in that car that day.

The new laws we are all enjoying are a true benefit for us. I recommend that we do not get carried away with carrying. LEO's might go about better armed, but citizens have no need of a personal arsenal hidden about our persons. More important is honing your skills at observation, cover and tactical advantage.
 
Very good points on different platforms. The reason I like the Glocks and Sigs for carry, is the lack of manual safety. They both point the same for me, same size, both thick, however. I like the slim 1911, and the more I think about it, I think I'll get a holster for it instead of the CZ. The commander is lighter, and way thinner in the grip. Simplicity of platform and similarities between the G23 & 239, tells me to just stick with them, but the 1911 is just to thin and light to not try.
 
I have 3 to suit different attire. In the winter or cool fall/spring days when I'm wearing a jacket, I carry my Witness Compact 10mm. In warmer weather, My PF-9 is generally used with an un-tucked T-shirt. If my shirt is tucked in, my P3AT hides behind the belt buckle.

95% of the time it's one of these three, though occassionally I just feel like carrying something else for no particular reason.
 
How many pockets you got? :)

Seriously though kinda like olives in martini's one isn't enough and three is just too many.

EDIT: Oh I thought you meant carried at one time. If counting total stock...well how much money you got?
 
just one. carried the same way, in the same place, every day for 9 years now. never could find a good reason to change up my carry outfit. its works very well for me.

Bobby
 
It depends on the outfit (we forest people can be surprisingly fashion conscious), the activity, and the season!

The 3# obsidion short axe with the fire-hardened digging point (as long as the long bone of my leg) slings just as easily from the back as it hangs from the hip, making it ideal for most daily activities in warmer months and light leathers. It all but disappears under a water bladder or a skin of mead as long as the lower half of the haft is sheathed (don't ask about the time the mead skin got punctured while I was at camp roasting rabbits and fish!) securely.

The light pair of bolas (each three starting with mouse-sized round river rocks dipped repeatedly in heated sap mixed with ground elk horn until twice the size and then wrapped in scraps of elk belly to keep them quiet on their braided cords of gut) hang beneath the wrap of my skirt on each hip under a slit concealed by the caste and tribe feathers and paint required of all.

Four throwing blades are a pair on each upper arm, beneath the loose tunic of the season, the shorter sleeves split under the arm to the crook of the elbow, hilts down in sheathes of boiled, sueded badger. They are my personal treasures, having been passed down through my family for a span of generations the numbers to the counting of the fingers of the hand to the width my thumb marches down my arm! They are priceless. . .

The common long sheath knife of folded iron from the lands of the snows, where the peoples eat jellied dried fishes as often as we feast on bison and elk and the fleet, striped dun eltella of the high plateau is in plain view at the small of my back, the leaf-shaped blade the length of my forearm to the point nesting in the flesh of my palm and its hand-and-a-half hilt of birch burl sheathed in dun kydex braided with silk and familial cordings of each generation of my mother, and hers.

Firearms I carry, the blued Colt in a crossdraw at my waist beneath the sash with which I belt my tunic and its sister in the dailes bag I carry everywhere when arising from sleep.

Of the forest peoples, we are not as is common among the cities folks who only look at the ground and almost scurry in endless efforts to be preoccupied, demanding their polices and their payments in tax (a pox on all that levy any tax!) substitute for a spine and a beating heart that loves!

Are you answered?
 
Sounds like the guy trying to get his third concurrent wife because he can't make up his mind. :eek:
 
This is an interesting question. How many CCW guns is enough? I have wondered that myself, and may start to thin mine out. I have some that I rarely carry due to their size and my dress/lifestyle. Frankly I am inconvenienced if the carry gun is bigger than a pocket pistol. I may get rid of my two snubbies and get a Ruger LCP. I have a Kel-Tec and a Beretta .22 LR now, and they see much more carry than the .38's.
 
Wow, Trisha sure knows how to accessorize!!! :D

My carry options are just a little bit simpler.

S&W 642-1 / Vintage Charter Arms Undercover / Ruger SP101 2.25" .357 magnum

Similar triggers in DA, similar sights, and one additional strip or loader in .38 special standard pressure works for all three. I'm usually pretty close to my truck, so there's a Mossberg 12ga. or Mosin Nagant M44 handy too.

rd
 
similarities between the G23 & 239, tells me to just stick with them, but the 1911 is just to thin and light to not try

If you've never shot a range session with a 1911, it's a great idea to find out if it points for you and is easier and more accurate in your hand than the Glock or the Sig. OTOH, if it's just "I wanna new gun", quit trying to rationalize that you want it for a carry piece and just get it as a new toy.

If you can't figure out which one type of gun to carry, don't worry about being able to hit with what you're carrying, it is after all how good it looks that matters.:rolleyes:
 
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