Im new to this board, but have been an active shooter and gun owner for many years - and Im just now starting to re-evaluate my approach CCW and am looking for opinions or advice.
I have had a CCW for roughly 12 years from the different states Ive lived or worked in, but other than some early enthusiam for carrying a .40 Glock 23, but I was never overly pleased with my IWB holster set up so I found myself carrying infrequently at best. The fact that the compact, lightweight-ish G23 had fairly snappy recoil with full strength .40 loads didn't make it much fun to shoot either - so my range time was usually spent with my Sig 9mm or my full sized 1911 .45, because they were easier and more fun to shoot well. But they weren't great concealed carry guns for an office paper pusher guy like me.
Then for a few years I worked in a state office building with metal detectors that did not permit me to carry on a daily basis, so my CCW pistol mostly sat in the truck most of the day. That lead to what can best be described as some pretty lazy CCW habits of just not carrying but maybe a dozen or so times a year, but mostly leaving in the truck.
Since then, Ive just gotten out of the habit of carrying on a regular basis. When I left my job with the state to work for a private company in an office job, I had a temporary rush of CCW enthusiasm and bought and tried the Kel-tec P3AT .380 on a recomendation from a friend. I tried everything with that little pistol, sent it back to Keltec twice, tried every kind of .380 ammo I could find but could never get it to shoot as reliable as Id like. I have no beef with Keltec, as far as I know it could be operator error as two friends of mine have Keltec .32s that they swear run like clockwork. But although the size was outstanding, that particular pistol and I never saw eye to eye. Now it sits in a safe.
But I never got back into the habit of daily CCW carry, in large part because alot of my current office job involves trotting over to the state building I used to work at to handle business there. Which means metal detectors and no carry. So the old habit of not carrying regularly continued.
Then a guy at work, an older manager type, but also an avid shooter who knew I was as well, quietly suggested I look into the trusty J frame S&W. So pumped up by the sky-is-falling feeling around election time in the Fall of 2008, I ran out and bought a Smith & Wesson airweight 642 in .38 special. Although its not much fun to shoot with .38 +P self-defense rounds, with standard .38 loadings I found myself rather enjoying it for practice (but still carry the .38+p for carry).
I actually love my J frame S&W. It rides great in a Nemesis front pocket holster, hardly prints at all, mostly doesnt look different from keys or a cellphone or such. And with a set of Crimson Trace laser grips it makes indoor shooting much easier. Its actually a great, almost ideal CCW solution to the majority of situations and cirumstances that I might reasonably, or even unreasonably, encounter. The J frame airweight .38 seemed to be "THE PERFECT CCW/ANSWER' I was looking for.... except it didn't have more than 5 rounds.
I knew that going in to buying a J frame, so its not like thats a suprise, but I still wanted more than just 5 rounds.
Im currently pondering a Glock 19 9mm, 15 rds instead of 5 sounds good to me, although not sure about 3rd Gen vs 4th Gen.
Maybe its the pending elections that have me riled up about my sudden surge of interest in getting another CCW, hard to say. Not wanting to get into politics really, just a wild guess about why Im suddenly so interested in my CCW again. Maybe Ive just been seeing seedier looking dude hanging out in the parking garage after work, particularly after working late, I dunno.
So thats where I am. Trying to think of a new CCW pistol purchase to jump start my interest. Any suggestions on pistols? G19? CW9? PM9? Something else cool Ive never heard of?
I have had a CCW for roughly 12 years from the different states Ive lived or worked in, but other than some early enthusiam for carrying a .40 Glock 23, but I was never overly pleased with my IWB holster set up so I found myself carrying infrequently at best. The fact that the compact, lightweight-ish G23 had fairly snappy recoil with full strength .40 loads didn't make it much fun to shoot either - so my range time was usually spent with my Sig 9mm or my full sized 1911 .45, because they were easier and more fun to shoot well. But they weren't great concealed carry guns for an office paper pusher guy like me.
Then for a few years I worked in a state office building with metal detectors that did not permit me to carry on a daily basis, so my CCW pistol mostly sat in the truck most of the day. That lead to what can best be described as some pretty lazy CCW habits of just not carrying but maybe a dozen or so times a year, but mostly leaving in the truck.
Since then, Ive just gotten out of the habit of carrying on a regular basis. When I left my job with the state to work for a private company in an office job, I had a temporary rush of CCW enthusiasm and bought and tried the Kel-tec P3AT .380 on a recomendation from a friend. I tried everything with that little pistol, sent it back to Keltec twice, tried every kind of .380 ammo I could find but could never get it to shoot as reliable as Id like. I have no beef with Keltec, as far as I know it could be operator error as two friends of mine have Keltec .32s that they swear run like clockwork. But although the size was outstanding, that particular pistol and I never saw eye to eye. Now it sits in a safe.
But I never got back into the habit of daily CCW carry, in large part because alot of my current office job involves trotting over to the state building I used to work at to handle business there. Which means metal detectors and no carry. So the old habit of not carrying regularly continued.
Then a guy at work, an older manager type, but also an avid shooter who knew I was as well, quietly suggested I look into the trusty J frame S&W. So pumped up by the sky-is-falling feeling around election time in the Fall of 2008, I ran out and bought a Smith & Wesson airweight 642 in .38 special. Although its not much fun to shoot with .38 +P self-defense rounds, with standard .38 loadings I found myself rather enjoying it for practice (but still carry the .38+p for carry).
I actually love my J frame S&W. It rides great in a Nemesis front pocket holster, hardly prints at all, mostly doesnt look different from keys or a cellphone or such. And with a set of Crimson Trace laser grips it makes indoor shooting much easier. Its actually a great, almost ideal CCW solution to the majority of situations and cirumstances that I might reasonably, or even unreasonably, encounter. The J frame airweight .38 seemed to be "THE PERFECT CCW/ANSWER' I was looking for.... except it didn't have more than 5 rounds.
I knew that going in to buying a J frame, so its not like thats a suprise, but I still wanted more than just 5 rounds.
Im currently pondering a Glock 19 9mm, 15 rds instead of 5 sounds good to me, although not sure about 3rd Gen vs 4th Gen.
Maybe its the pending elections that have me riled up about my sudden surge of interest in getting another CCW, hard to say. Not wanting to get into politics really, just a wild guess about why Im suddenly so interested in my CCW again. Maybe Ive just been seeing seedier looking dude hanging out in the parking garage after work, particularly after working late, I dunno.
So thats where I am. Trying to think of a new CCW pistol purchase to jump start my interest. Any suggestions on pistols? G19? CW9? PM9? Something else cool Ive never heard of?
