Sandy Scott
New member
My Choice for CCW
Applications for concealed carry permits are at an all time high. My state of Florida has over 1,000,000 licensed to carry a concealed weapon. With this recent increase in interest and buying activity of CCW handguns, many newbies to CCW are floundering about trying to make a purchase decision. Forums can be rather confusing in that there are as many opinions as there are weapon/carry choices. I find it amusing that a person will publish a list of 5 guns that he or she has narrowed their search to include and ask for an opinion. Not only will there be proponents of each gun, but other guns will be mentioned even when the poster asked that opinions be limited to one choice. I am going to give you my choice for CCW based on 60 years of shooting including military and police experience. I also have qualified as an NRA Expert rated marksman with a handgun and was a purveyor of firearms for over 20 years.
I’ve always believed in the KISS system as the best approach to most things and firearms is not only no exception, but perhaps even more important to use that concept. Things have evolved from my day as a police officer where I carried my trusty S&W Model 15 both on and off duty. Small, polymer handguns seem to be the darling of the CCW world these days, and there are certainly some outstanding choices such as the S&W Shield and Springfield XDs. My problem with these guns is that although they are incredible guns, malfunctions can and will happen. I have seen people at the range practicing with their CCW semi-automatic experience malfunctions that they were not able to resolve even in a relaxed non-combat mode necessitating the calling of a range master for assistance clearing the malfunction. Under Murphy’s Law, a malfunction will probably happen when it is most disadvantageous – such as a conflict involving utilizing the weapon. With that adrenalin flowing in a life and death situation, I can assure you that you are not going to be more adept than you were at the range. Most civilians simply do not get enough practice with clearing and dealing with malfunctions. AAMOF, most police officers in my opinion are inadequately trained and many do very little shooting once out of the police academy.
I have a Kahr PM9 for example. It’s an accurate, high quality handgun, but after hundreds of rounds fired through it, racking the slide is quite a task – probably an impossible task for most women. I no longer carry the gun for that very reason even though size and weight of the gun make it a very comfortable gun to carry. I have a Kel-Tec P-32 that has been back to the factory twice due to issues that could have caused a rather disastrous situation had they happened in a combat situation.
Here is what I carry and suggest for the majority of people who wish to carry a concealed weapon: A snub nose revolver with a laser grip. Mark Keefe, the editor of “American Rifleman” magazine, carries a S&W M&P 340 as his daily carry gun, and with his experience and position, I can assure you that he can carry any gun (for free) that his heart desires. My choice happens to be the Ruger LCR .38 with Crimson Trace laser grips. The gun fully loaded tips the scale at a mere 15.5 oz. Some might argue that 5 shots is inadequate. I would argue that if 5 shots is inadequate, you might want to consider not carrying a handgun. The gun is reliable, accurate, and easy to operate and shoot. The beauty of a wheel gun is that if you pull the trigger and it does not fire, simply pull the trigger again and from my experience, it will undoubtedly fire. That should not be an issue however with the outstanding array of ammunition available. The only time I have suffered a misfire with a revolver was when I was utilizing hand loaded rounds.
BTW, the beauty of a laser grip is that in real-world situations, firing is often taking place in odd body attitudes – not the position you have been practicing at the range. With the laser, rounds can be fired off with the gun close to the body or from positions on the ground without sighting through the iron sights or relying on point shooting from odd attitudes.
My recommendation for ammunition is 135 grain JHP .38 +P - I use Speer Gold Dot. Although the gun is available in .357, that might prove a bit too much gun for many inexperienced shooters due to the recoil and ability to get back on target for follow-up rounds.
The LCR can be readily carried as a pocket gun, or any of the other various carry options. My favorite carry method is utilizing the very comfortable to wear and perfect fitting Galco Ankle Lite holster. It saves the hassle of dressing around carrying a gun either OWB or IWB.
Whatever you choose to carry, practice deploying it from its carry position and don’t just mindlessly fire off rounds with a target at 21 feet. If you are not allowed to draw from a holster at your range, start the practice sequence from the table, practice speed reloading and be sure to get adequate practice with the iron sights with the laser turned off.
Applications for concealed carry permits are at an all time high. My state of Florida has over 1,000,000 licensed to carry a concealed weapon. With this recent increase in interest and buying activity of CCW handguns, many newbies to CCW are floundering about trying to make a purchase decision. Forums can be rather confusing in that there are as many opinions as there are weapon/carry choices. I find it amusing that a person will publish a list of 5 guns that he or she has narrowed their search to include and ask for an opinion. Not only will there be proponents of each gun, but other guns will be mentioned even when the poster asked that opinions be limited to one choice. I am going to give you my choice for CCW based on 60 years of shooting including military and police experience. I also have qualified as an NRA Expert rated marksman with a handgun and was a purveyor of firearms for over 20 years.
I’ve always believed in the KISS system as the best approach to most things and firearms is not only no exception, but perhaps even more important to use that concept. Things have evolved from my day as a police officer where I carried my trusty S&W Model 15 both on and off duty. Small, polymer handguns seem to be the darling of the CCW world these days, and there are certainly some outstanding choices such as the S&W Shield and Springfield XDs. My problem with these guns is that although they are incredible guns, malfunctions can and will happen. I have seen people at the range practicing with their CCW semi-automatic experience malfunctions that they were not able to resolve even in a relaxed non-combat mode necessitating the calling of a range master for assistance clearing the malfunction. Under Murphy’s Law, a malfunction will probably happen when it is most disadvantageous – such as a conflict involving utilizing the weapon. With that adrenalin flowing in a life and death situation, I can assure you that you are not going to be more adept than you were at the range. Most civilians simply do not get enough practice with clearing and dealing with malfunctions. AAMOF, most police officers in my opinion are inadequately trained and many do very little shooting once out of the police academy.
I have a Kahr PM9 for example. It’s an accurate, high quality handgun, but after hundreds of rounds fired through it, racking the slide is quite a task – probably an impossible task for most women. I no longer carry the gun for that very reason even though size and weight of the gun make it a very comfortable gun to carry. I have a Kel-Tec P-32 that has been back to the factory twice due to issues that could have caused a rather disastrous situation had they happened in a combat situation.
Here is what I carry and suggest for the majority of people who wish to carry a concealed weapon: A snub nose revolver with a laser grip. Mark Keefe, the editor of “American Rifleman” magazine, carries a S&W M&P 340 as his daily carry gun, and with his experience and position, I can assure you that he can carry any gun (for free) that his heart desires. My choice happens to be the Ruger LCR .38 with Crimson Trace laser grips. The gun fully loaded tips the scale at a mere 15.5 oz. Some might argue that 5 shots is inadequate. I would argue that if 5 shots is inadequate, you might want to consider not carrying a handgun. The gun is reliable, accurate, and easy to operate and shoot. The beauty of a wheel gun is that if you pull the trigger and it does not fire, simply pull the trigger again and from my experience, it will undoubtedly fire. That should not be an issue however with the outstanding array of ammunition available. The only time I have suffered a misfire with a revolver was when I was utilizing hand loaded rounds.
BTW, the beauty of a laser grip is that in real-world situations, firing is often taking place in odd body attitudes – not the position you have been practicing at the range. With the laser, rounds can be fired off with the gun close to the body or from positions on the ground without sighting through the iron sights or relying on point shooting from odd attitudes.
My recommendation for ammunition is 135 grain JHP .38 +P - I use Speer Gold Dot. Although the gun is available in .357, that might prove a bit too much gun for many inexperienced shooters due to the recoil and ability to get back on target for follow-up rounds.
The LCR can be readily carried as a pocket gun, or any of the other various carry options. My favorite carry method is utilizing the very comfortable to wear and perfect fitting Galco Ankle Lite holster. It saves the hassle of dressing around carrying a gun either OWB or IWB.
Whatever you choose to carry, practice deploying it from its carry position and don’t just mindlessly fire off rounds with a target at 21 feet. If you are not allowed to draw from a holster at your range, start the practice sequence from the table, practice speed reloading and be sure to get adequate practice with the iron sights with the laser turned off.
