What is the best carry and conceal handgun?

Answer 1

Conceal and Carry Firearms are generally rated in 5 categories, which vary in importance depending the person. These include size, dependability, stopping power, rate of fire, and ammo capacity. Size is heavily dependant on who is carrying. A larger person can obviously conceal a larger frame firearm in any sort of weather (clothing dependant). A male with a slimmer build or slim female would have trouble concealing mid to fullsize semiautomatics on their body where a larger man would not. A Glock 17 (standard police officer issue sidearm) is a relatively slim 9 mm with a 5 inch barrel but is somewhat difficult to conceal on slimmer body styles unless baggy clothing is worn to compensate. The shorter Glock 19 (4 inch barrel) is somewhat easier to conceal. The Springfield XD-40 (3 inch barrel) is even easier. However, in general, the shorter the barrel length, the worse the accuracy. Find the size that is comfortable and versatile to wear while still retaining the accuracy you want. Dependabilty is the result of quality, care, and complexity. Simply put, "Better quality guns are gonna shoot better." This does not mean the most expensive wins. Research the quality of the many brands out there. Care is more a question of how much effort its going to take to clean on a daily basis. Complexity is usually the simple question of Revolver vs. Semi-Automatic. In short, a revolver is a lot more dependable because its far simpler in design but has less ammo, and lower rate of fire. Rate of Fire is usually a direct result of the choice between Revolver and Semi-Automatic and Large Caliber vs. Small Caliber. Stopping Power is one of the more important questions because it will often determine what range of firearms you can look at. Most Conceal and Carry handguns are chosen specifically for close range self defense. Smaller caliber guns (.22 caliber for example) offer little stopping power while being easier to conceal, carrying more ammo, and are easier to control. The Larger calibers (.357 Mag, .45) offer more power while having larger frames, carrying less ammo, and have greater "kick". The midrange option is largly responsible for the popularity of .38, 9mm, and .40 caliber pistols as they off a range of pistols with both the stopping power as well as ease of use. Ammo Capacity is largely a personal choice in respect to all other factors. A large caliber revolver will hold the least ammo, usually 5 rounds, such as the Ruger .357 Mag XP101. This example provides excellent stopping power in a compact frame (2 inch barrel) but at the expense of rate of fire and ammo capacity. At the other end of the spectrum, many small to mid caliber semiautomatics carry 14 or more rounds, such as the Springfield XD-40 9mm, which can carry up to 16, at the expense of stopping power. In answer to the question "What is the Best", all 5 factors must be considered by the person carrying the gun in respect to their personal preferences. It should also be noted that there are a wide variety of conceal and carry holster and bag designs that can improve the "carryabilty" of many hard to conceal firearms. Additional information: That is a very good answer, except that I'm going to respectfully disagree with the first point about a small person having trouble concealing a large pistol. It is a urban myth, for lack of a better phrase, that a smaller person can't conceal a large gun.

While it is easier to conceal a smaller handgun, concealability is more a function of holster design than body size. In the range where I teach, we teach people how to conceal a handgun. We have a very large number of female students and slender male students that carry full size guns on a daily basis, and it has never been a problem for any of them.