Mindset Behind Expense Of Carry Piece

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I've carried a 45 acp Ed Brown Special Forces (over $2k) quite a bit.
Also carried a Ionbond Delta Elite 10mm quite a bit, I think it was $1,200
Currently carrying a Ruger CMD lightweight 45 acp its a nice little pistol.
I bought the Ed Brown and Delta to shoot and carry, don't need safe queens.
 
I own about 4 dozen handguns and none of them have cost me as much as $600, so ... ;)

Of those there are ~½ dozen that I consider carry pieces. They are all reliable, concealable, comfortable to me and accurate in my hand. I shoot them the most and carry them (concealed) all at least periodically. In choosing which one to carry, I do not consider its value or rarity.

I wouldn't carry a P08 ... if I had one.

If available, I would carry a proven-reliable & accurate AutoOrdnance or Rock Island 1911A1 before I would carry a 5x-as-expensive Colt 1911A1.

That said, I will sometimes carry my 3" 629 that I bought 30+ years ago. Sometimes I wonder how crazy-valuable that is now.

So I suppose this boils down to ... I am actually in neither & both camps of thought.

Helpful, huh? I always try to be helpful with such questions. :)
 
Mr. Mosin said:
I do not yet carry, but I've always heard tell from several people close to me something along the lines of "Don't carry anything not readily found, afforded, or replaceable. You ever have to use it, you probably won't get it back". They own quality handguns, but they all carry run-of-the-mill new production handguns, from an LCP, Smith 637, and several others I can't recall. Handguns that you could run to the local Academy and take your pick of from the display. They don't carry Colt Gov't's, Pythons, old Smith Mdl 36's, etc.

On the other hand, I have another handful of buddies that carry handguns not as readily found or replaceable- Colt Gov't Mdl's, a Python, a Colt SAA, an original Mdl 36, etc. Pieces that you don't just find growing on Academy display counters.

To which group do the community of THR fall ? The "I'll carry something readily replaced group", or the "I bought it to use it, I'm gonna use it" group ?
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I carry what fulfills the criteria of MY carry HG. In no particular order.
-Concealable
-Reliable
-Effective
-Fun to shoot

My EDC HGs are not rare or expensive but if I had a rare or expensive one that was 'best' of MY criteria..I would carry it. Doesn't make sense to carry something that doesn't suit you well because, "You ever have to use it, you probably won't get it back"..Your chances of using it are teeny, tiny...Life's too short.
 
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My CC guns are tools and I have an acceptable level of quality, other than that it’s about price.

I don’t really buy into pride of ownership or wow factor in handguns and in my book the so called “classic” handguns are just a memento of what was and not what is.
 
There are many carry guns that have proven reliable and shootable that are very affordable.

If I get a carry gun that isn't reliable, or I can't make it reliable, it becomes a range only gun. I've never been able to bring myself to sell an unreliable defense gun to anyone.

I sure hate losing faith in a carry gun, which has happened twice now, but that's when that gun has to move to practice only or gun buy back status.

I guess that doesn't answer the price of a carry gun question, though. Fact is, none of my handguns cost me over $750 in 2020 dollars. Which means none of my carry guns have cost me over that amount either.
 
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Anything you have on your person is effectively disposable, subject to being lost, stolen, damaged, or confiscated, depending on the circumstances. The cost of the gun and ammo is inconsequential to the value of your life. Once people get these concepts through their thick skulls, the decision of gun cost becomes more moot.

I have known folks who drove $200K cars and wear Rolex watches but carried a Kel-Tec P32 for self defense because the police might take the gun after a defensive shooting. I know folks who carry $1000 cell phones but are afraid of losing their guns to the cops and carry $400 guns for self defense. The disparity of logic is mind boggling. Mind you, people have cars that get crashed, get vandalized or burgled, but don't think twice about the expense, even when the deductible is more than an expensive handgun. People lose or break cell phones with some regularity and just consider it an expense of owning a cell phone, but God help them if the expense they endure is for a firearm that they used to save their lives. Again, the disparity of logic is mind boggling.

As folks have noted, carry what is reliable and that you shoot well, hopefully of a sufficiently significant caliber.

Never mind the number of times each of us is apt to lose a gun to the cops in a self defense shooting over the course of our lives. I can tell you that I have expensed several vehicles and several cell phones during my adult life, but never once have I lost a gun to the cops.

Unless you are truly destitute, the cost of the highly unlikely eventuality of losing a gun to the cops should not even be a factor that enters into your mind when considering what you will carry for self defense.
 
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Mr. Mosin said:
I do not yet carry, but I've always heard tell from several people close to me something along the lines of "Don't carry anything not readily found, afforded, or replaceable. You ever have to use it, you probably won't get it back". They own quality handguns, but they all carry run-of-the-mill new production handguns, from an LCP, Smith 637, and several others I can't recall. Handguns that you could run to the local Academy and take your pick of from the display. They don't carry Colt Gov't's, Pythons, old Smith Mdl 36's, etc.

On the other hand, I have another handful of buddies that carry handguns not as readily found or replaceable- Colt Gov't Mdl's, a Python, a Colt SAA, an original Mdl 36, etc. Pieces that you don't just find growing on Academy display counters.

To which group do the community of THR fall ? The "I'll carry something readily replaced group", or the "I bought it to use it, I'm gonna use it" group ?
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I fully grasp your question.

So how much is your life worth,AND if you knew you would never see that pistol again.

BUT it saved your life,do you see that happening again in your lifetime ?.

If you see my point,you will see that if you set up "the pistol" for S/D then carry it IF you shoot it the best..

Otherwise carry the SCCY that you paid less than 200.00 for !
 
I carry one or another standard model mass production pistol, not because it is cheap and replaceable, but because it serves my needs better than the custom gun I used to carry.

If I were assaulted on the range and I defended myself with a high end match pistol that ended up in the evidence room for the rest of my life, I might grumble but mostly I would be glad to have survived the encounter.
 
3 identical Glocks or M&Ps (or something else, if you must). Pick your size and caliber.

Shoot the absolute crud out of one - weekly or better, if you can. Clean it when it gets too gunked up to run, replace parts when they break. This is your practice and match and class shooting gun. If you wear it out, get another one and carry on.

Pick one of the other two to vet and put away. Run 200-500 rounds through it, clean it, and put it away. This is your spare.

Shoot at least 500 rounds through the third one. Clean it, load it with the best defense ammo you can afford in that caliber. This is your carry gun. Shoot a box through it at least once a quarter, and shoot and replace the carry ammo every year.

If you get in a shooting scrape and the carry gun gets taken as evidence or lost in a river, get out your vetted spare and carry on. Replace the spare when you can.

Shoot enough that the cost of the pair and spare becomes immaterial.

This is the Way.
 
I don't own any handguns of special sentimental or collector value. If I did, I would be hesitant to carry them based on the additional wear they would suffer. My current carry gun is in the $1000-$1100 range, and if carrying it means losing market value due to wear, I don't care. In my mind it's the best combination of all the things I look for in an EDC.
 
Double Naught Spy said:
I have know folks who drove $200K cars and wear Rolex watches but carried a Kel-Tec P32 for self defense because the police might take the gun after a defensive shooting. I know folks who carry $1000 cell phones but are afraid of losing their guns to the cops and carry $400 guns for self defense. The disparity of logic is mind boggling. Mind you, people have cars that get crashed, get vandalized or burgled, but don't think twice about the expense, even when the deductible is more than an expensive handgun. People lose or break cell phones with some regularity and just consider it an expense of owning a cell phone, but God help them if the expense they endure is for a firearm that they used to save their lives. Again, the disparity of logic is mind boggling.
Click to expand...

Bingo.... My last mountain bike wreck had me paying 500.00 for a new phone screen yet the gun in my pocket was a-okay.
 
Carry a gun that you can fight with effectively. If you carry it for COS play (like a Colt SAA), then that's your problem. The point that a trial will cost $50,000 and up is a good point, Even in the 'so called' good shoot where you contact a lawyer (a must) and they don't charge you, might start at $5000.

If you don't carry - take a quality class from a quality instructor. Your buddies may not know that they are talking about and just virtue signaling.
 
My EDC is a S&W Shield 9X19mm which is an adequate cost effective tool. Life is full of choices be they good, bad or indifferent. Avoidance of stupid people, places and things is of more importance than your EDC.
 
For a while, my carry piece was a Colt's Government .380 stainless... a pistol that would have gone for $800-1000 at the time... I replace it with a Kahr CW9, a pistol that cost 1/3rd the value of the Colt. As it turned out... I'm glad I did, my truck was broken into and my pistol stolen shortly after I started carrying the Kahr, when I was somewhere I was not allowed to carry inside.

I didn't start carrying the Kahr because it was cheap, I started carrying it because it was superior to the .380... and I still carry it to this day. If I lose one, for any reason, a replacement is as close as the house... I have 5 other Kahrs as backup. Once down that path... so to speak.

I don't consider my carry piece to be a fashion accessory... I carry it because, down and dirty, it's the best pistol I have found for me to fill the role. If I thought a 4" Colt Python was the best handgun for that role, that's what I would carry, etc, etc.
 
The most I have ever paid for a handgun is $550. Most of mine were purchased used and cost something like half of that.

My carry pieces are a Ruger LCR, a Ruger LCP, and a Kahr PM40.

I carry them because they're easy to conceal and I shoot them well.

I've never considered their cost or value one way or the other.
 
Dang Dan (Mr. Mosin) your first post is the same thing as the email you sent me yesterday. Did you not like my answer? I would never pick a gun to defend myself based on cost and the fact I might lose it if I used it. I have a safe full of spares. And anyone Gun-Man enough to be on this forum probably has their own spares tucked away. Kind of reminds me of the Indiana Jones movie where he lost his first gun then you see him packing his luggage for his next adventure and he reaches in his sock drawer, pulls out a new gun and throws it in his luggage and he is ready to go again.

But if I have a gun around me I want one I know will work every time I pull the trigger. And if you want to carry a gun that cost you $1200-$2000 and you shoot it well and know it will work then carry that. I would carry my S&W SW9VE before I carried some over priced Colt Python. I never really bought in to the Colt mystique. Nice guns if you want one but I don't. I would rather have 3 GP-100s as opposed to one Colt Python. But thats just me.
 
chicharrones said:
Nothing wrong with reaching out to ask the forum as a whole. :cool:
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Yes I know. I'm just razzing the OP. I trade emails with him all the time. Dan is a good guy and I hope he gets his first pistola ASAP. He ask me lots of questions about guns and I am happy to answer everyone of them. I wish he was close enough to me so I could take him shooting. I would let him shoot any of my guns he wanted to shoot. He is the kind of young person you like to help because of his enthusiasm.:thumbup:
 
ThomasT said:
Yes I know. I'm just razzing the OP. I trade emails with him all the time. Dan is a good guy and I hope he gets his first pistola ASAP. He ask me lots of questions about guns and I am happy to answer everyone of them. I wish he was close enough to me so I could take him shooting. I would let him shoot any of my guns he wanted to shoot. He is the kind of young person you like to help because of his enthusiasm.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Awesome. I didn't know. :)
 
Different people have different perspectives on what works & what doesn't work. Some people have had bad experiences with inexpensive guns so they believe any pistol that costs less than $XXX is not worthy. Some people enjoy carrying pistols that are precision works of art. A lot of people like feeling like they got a bargain. They like finding something inexpensive that works well enough for their purposes. My father-in-law does not like auto-loading pistols. He has never really discussed why with me but I am sure somewhere down the line he observed one or more that did not function as they should have. I would wager he has never seen a revolver have a malfunction. I prefer semi-auto pistols. While I do own one revolver & more than one type of semi-auto pistol I prefer a striker fired pistol without an external safety for carry. Some people consider a pistol without an external safety a liability.
My opinion for whatever it is worth is that the most important trait of a carry weapon is reliability. Followed closely by ergonomics & mechanical accuracy. If it does not work or I am not capable of shooting it well it will not help me. We are blessed that we have a lot of good options at reasonable prices now (it was even better pre-covid). I don't carry a particularly expensive pistol because I don't own a particularly expensive pistol. I tend to favor stuff made by Ruger, S&W & the like. I want something common enough it is easy to find magazines & accessories (I don't own one but this is one area where Glock shines). I want to buy from a company that has a decent reputation for customer service so if I do discover an issue I can have some reasonable hope of getting it resolved. If I ever do have to use a gun to defend myself I believe whether or not I get my gun back afterwards will be the least of my concerns.
 
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