Having a hard time... a 9mm or a .380?


The moral of the story is GO TRY SOME GUNS AND FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. Nobody can tell you what's best. You have to see for yourself.
That really can't be emphasized enough.
 

Can anyone tell me about a Beretta Nano?
I think superprincess bought one a short time ago. You could PM her and ask for her impressions of it. The best answer though is to find a range that rents and fire as many weapons as you can chambered in your caliber(s) of choice. The right weapon will feel like it was made for you like a tailored suit.
 
I think superprincess bought one a short time ago. You could PM her and ask for her impressions of it. The best answer though is to find a range that rents and fire as many weapons as you can chambered in your caliber(s) of choice. The right weapon will feel like it was made for you like a tailored suit.
No she got a Beretta PX-4, and I guess she likes it but it is bigger than a Nanos
 
What is it about your husband's LC9 don't you like?

One thing that is very important about picking a semi-auto it being able to pulling the slide back. Some are real stiff, like my Kahr PM9.

Check out Tarus 709. It is thin, has a manual safety and has decent sights. A must for amy distance shooting.
 
No she got a Beretta PX-4, and I guess she likes it but it is bigger than a Nanos

My wife and I just shot one about a week ago when she was picking out her carry gun. Although the quality was very good and it was very easy to slip into a pocket my wife found it too snappy and harder to put rounds on target. She also thought it was too small to handle safely. She also thought there was practically nothing to hold on to while firing. The PX4 is certainly bigger but much more useful if you ever have to use it. With the nano she got 3 out of 5 on the paper (only one was actually on target) while with PX4 compact she was 15 for 15...and in a 5" group. She wanted something smaller (the PX4 isn't the smallest carry gun) but quickly realized that if you go much smaller you're getting something that might not be useful when you really need it.

We both also carry an American Arms .22 mag in our pockets... If you must have something small you can always have in a small pocket... It's not a bad way to go.
 
My wife had a similar experience with the Bersa Thunder 380 CC. It was a really nice gun and very compact. It was just too little to hang onto while she was shooting it, and she has fairly small hands. She wasn't all that happy with her G26 until I put the grip extenders on her magazines. Now she loves it. The nice thing about the grip extenders is that they only extend the front of the magazine, not the back. So having them doesn't really change the concealed 'print' of the firearm like having a larger gun with a longer backstrap or a longer magazine would.
 
well, I know I'm new to this forum and wasn't familiar with the 380. But I'll give my 2cents anyway. I just pulled out one of my reloading books to calculate the muzzle energy. And frankly I was showed the 380 packed to near max loads with a 95GRN produces 232 Ft lbs of energy while the 9 with a 124GRN jacked nearly doubles that with 423 ft lbs of muzzle energy. and the .40 cal produces 538 with a 155 GRN.

and after playing with a 380 Bersa Thunder, I'd thought I had fallen in love, but I think I will opt for something else.
 
Kaytee, the best advice has already been given. Go somewhere where you can shoot a variety of pistols. If you lean toward a small .380, the Sig P238 has been very popular with women. While most .380s use a blow-back design, the Sig P238 uses a locked breech. The result is the Sig P238 is a much softer shooter. One caution about the P238, if you decide to buy one, be sure to get a new one. Some early production P238s were notorious for multiple, persistent malfunctions. I think Sig has since fixed all the problems. But, quite a few problem guns on the "used" market.

Link Removed
 
The advice to try out a number of different guns and find what you're comfortable with is exactly right. I would keep the following maxim in mind (it has been offered on this site quite a number of times by many others): Carry the largest gun that YOU can conceal and handle comfortably in the largest caliber that YOU can shoot well. If that is a .380, that's fine, there are some good choices available in that caliber. That said, there are many very good 9mm choices out there in many sizes/configurations etc. The 9mm has better terminal balistic performance than the .380 and has the added benefit of being easier on your wallet.
 
If you are comfortable shooting the LC9, I'd recommend you stick with it and spend some money experimenting with different holsters. I've been poking around on youTube and discovered that most holster reviews have a nugget or two that can help you pick a style of holster. There are some great reviews done by women that benefit both men and women looking for holster information.

As for the size of the gun, I started with a 380, a Sig P238, as it was the only one I felt I could conceal. I've since learned that I can carry a larger Springfield EMP in 40 cal just by tweaking where I carry it, tweaking the angle, etc.

Enjoy your kids!
 
I'm trying to choose a concealed carry weapon. A little background; I am a mother of a toddler with one on the way. I am not SUPER proficient with handguns though my husband is (he is law enforcement). He typically shoots with a .40 or .45 though, and as I am trying to choose a concealed carry weapon for myself neither of those would be a good fit for me.

I plan to carry everywhere. I've never shot a .380, only 9mm (Ruger LC9 and Glock 17). I would love the stopping power of a 9mm but I am just not sure I can comfortably conceal and carry a 9mm gun with chasing around and carrying a toddler and an infant. Typically, my husband is with me and carrying, but for the times he isn't I definitely need something.

Can anyone tell me more about .380s? Models, preference, recoil, malfunctions, shooting long range, etc. It is not a requirement, but I REALLLLLY would prefer something with a manual/external safety with always having my small children with me. I would prefer to carry on my person, which would help the safety issue, but it would just put my mind more at ease with a manual.

Thanks in Advance!
Kaytee

In responding here I would first like to dismiss the myth of stopping power in a handgun – it doesn’t exist. As I just posted something similar in another thread, I will paste that below.

I have no wish to start a caliber war here, but the .380 has some concerns if the application is SD. While shot placement is more important than caliber, without adequate penetration, shot placement becomes irrelevant. I would consider the .380 at the minimum of performance. In northern climates during colder months, the penetration challenges are aggravated by clothing. So, you should take that into consideration. To best mitigate the forgoing, hardball ammo is recommended. My personal comfort would not permit me to carry a .380 in colder winter months. I will do it occasionally in warmer climates if necessary for deep cover or as a BUG.

I believe the best advice that has been given is to shoot as many different platforms as you can. I know you said you were not proficient with a handgun, but going forward you will need to be. Another consideration is 9mm ammunition is going to be cheaper than .380 and will provide more training/practice opportunities if you are cost sensitive. In closing, I would recommend adequate tactical training for whatever option you decide.

Postscript - There is no reason for you not to carry when your husband does. In fact, I would encourage it and incorporate that into the training.

Personally, I am not a fan of external safeties for SD. It is just one more thing to remember - or worse, forget - and execute in what will be an extremely stressful event. The best safety is between our ears. I do agree with carrying on your person for several reasons, including tactical. But, you must choose what is comfortable for you. Just ensure you are exceedingly proficient with that choice.
 
In responding here I would first like to dismiss the myth of stopping power in a handgun – it doesn’t exist. As I just posted something similar in another thread, I will paste that below.

Stopping power doesn't exist in a handgun? I'm interested in the rationale behind that one.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
 
Kaytee, our local range/gun store has guns you can rent, recommend doing that...you could also talk to them about conceal carry and possible try it out (conceal carry) and see how it fits
 
In responding here I would first like to dismiss the myth of stopping power in a handgun – it doesn’t exist.
So you don't think stopping power exists?
.
I have no wish to start a caliber war here, but the .380 has some concerns if the application is SD. While shot placement is more important than caliber, without adequate penetration, shot placement becomes irrelevant. I would consider the .380 at the minimum of performance.
Why? If stopping power does not exist, then performance does not matter.
.
In northern climates during colder months, the penetration challenges are aggravated by clothing. So, you should take that into consideration. To best mitigate the forgoing, hardball ammo is recommended. My personal comfort would not permit me to carry a .380 in colder winter months.
Now you're saying stopping power does exist, and that caliber is important, so you're contradicting yourself. It'd be nice if you could make up your mind.
.
Stopping power is not a myth at all, it does exist and it does very much matter. If it didn't exist, you wouldn't be talking about going to higher powered rounds, ones with more stopping power, in the wintertime when heavier clothing is worn, and you wouldn't be talking about the 380 as being the 'minimum performance' you would accept. It's the minimum performance you would accept because it has the least stopping power that you'd be willing to live with, at least in the warmer months of the year.
 
When shot, there are two events that will stop the actor - physiological and psychological. The latter is not predicable. Someone could be shot in just soft tissue of the arm with a .25 and - psychologically - they’re out of the fight. In the former, it occurs with either a CNS interruption or enough blood loss for BP to drop sufficiently and the body shuts down. A CNS shot is the only event with a handgun that will physiologically stop a person immediately with one shot and a .22lr can accomplish that. In that example, caliber, expansion and projectile weight, are all irrelevant as long as it reaches the brainstem.

Relying on a handgun to physiologically stop a hostile outside of a CNS hit, we could be looking at several minutes of fight. Even with a direct hit to the heart, a person has the ability to fight for several seconds – 8, 10, or more. For many, even a few seconds can be a very long and lethal amount of time in a h2h fight.

Putting aside semantics, given handgun velocities and projectile weights, with the forgoing, knockdown power, kinetic energy, and stopping power are irrelevant in handguns.
 
In responding here I would first like to dismiss the myth of stopping power in a handgun – it doesn’t exist. As I just posted something similar in another thread, I will paste that below.

I have no wish to start a caliber war here, but the .380 has some concerns if the application is SD. While shot placement is more important than caliber, without adequate penetration, shot placement becomes irrelevant. I would consider the .380 at the minimum of performance. In northern climates during colder months, the penetration challenges are aggravated by clothing. So, you should take that into consideration. To best mitigate the forgoing, hardball ammo is recommended. My personal comfort would not permit me to carry a .380 in colder winter months. I will do it occasionally in warmer climates if necessary for deep cover or as a BUG.

I believe the best advice that has been given is to shoot as many different platforms as you can. I know you said you were not proficient with a handgun, but going forward you will need to be. Another consideration is 9mm ammunition is going to be cheaper than .380 and will provide more training/practice opportunities if you are cost sensitive. In closing, I would recommend adequate tactical training for whatever option you decide.

Postscript - There is no reason for you not to carry when your husband does. In fact, I would encourage it and incorporate that into the training.

Personally, I am not a fan of external safeties for SD. It is just one more thing to remember - or worse, forget - and execute in what will be an extremely stressful event. The best safety is between our ears. I do agree with carrying on your person for several reasons, including tactical. But, you must choose what is comfortable for you. Just ensure you are exceedingly proficient with that choice.

I passed this post up at first but the more I thought about it I thought I'd respond, a lot of what your saying is true, the 9mm is about the cheapest "normal" self defence rd to shoot, but a lot of things come into play here, now I am with you on the safety thing, most will only at best slow your responce, at worst they may get you hurt, but one thing I have to take exception to is handguns do have stopping power, true the smaller calbers are weak in that area, but a single shot from a 22 will stop you, "IF" its put in the right place, then as the size of the caliber go's up, the less important shot placement is. I know this anoligy is to the extream, but have you ever seen what a 500 magnum does to a mellon, after it went through a block wall? even with normal size carry weapons a shot or two with a 45 will stop most BGs, to bad short shotguns are illegal, as I'm sure nobody would go very far after a OO or a slug shot, one last thing, there is one caliber, that I absolutly will not endorse, is a 25acp, that is the most useless handgun rd there ever was, it go's about 1 inch into a phone book, and that is the high dollar self defence rds, a heavy bassball mitt with a hand protector inside will stop one, a women at our local range last year shot herself while tryin to unjam her gun, had her hand over the muzzle and it went bang, the rd did not penatrate her hand, yes it was a nasty looking hole but the POS rd did not go through her hand at point blank, what king of trash is that, I part time at a gun shop, and we generaly wont even take 25s for trades, and never have any new to sell, your way much better off with a 22 loaded with stingers if you want a small caliber
 

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