Your suggestions on what handgun I should buy.

[Cigar Guy]

Both good choices. I was also down to those two last year.

Have you gotten a chance to rent them yet?

Not yet. Need to travel pretty far if I want to do more than grope them.

Which one did you get?

 

[Blue_2]

Not yet. Need to travel pretty far if I want to do more than grope them.

Which one did you get?

My criteria ended up a little different than yours, and I already have a P229. Carry-able, but a little bulky for the summer.

I rented a bunch of guns and these were the two that both shot great and felt good in my hands. The Glock 43 and XDS weren't nearly as comfortable to me as these two. An hour with each really helped me make up my mind.

I ended up with the Shield (with night sights and no safety), and am going to save up for a nice safe queen. Personally I wanted a Honda Civic for this task, not an Acura IDX. I needed something I could pound on, wear daily, and even neglect with little regard to it's looks if I had to. The 938 was just too nice for my daily driver. It's a beautiful gun and I may still get one in the future.

At the end of the day it's your car, but I highly suggest test driving a bunch. You might end up with a Kahr PM9.

 

[OkieStubble]

My criteria ended up a little different than yours, and I already have a P229. Carry-able, but a little bulky for the summer.

I rented a bunch of guns and these were the two that both shot great and felt good in my hands. The Glock 43 and XDS weren't nearly as comfortable to me as these two. An hour with each really helped me make up my mind.

I ended up with the Shield (with night sights and no safety), and am going to save up for a nice safe queen. Personally I wanted a Honda Civic for this task, not an Acura IDX. I needed something I could pound on, wear daily, and even neglect with little regard to it's looks if I had to. The 938 was just too nice for my daily driver. It's a beautiful gun and I may still get one in the future.

At the end of the day it's your car, but I highly suggest test driving a bunch. You might end up with a Kahr PM9.

+1 I'm with Dan.

 

[nortac]

My criteria ended up a little different than yours, and I already have a P229. Carry-able, but a little bulky for the summer.

I rented a bunch of guns and these were the two that both shot great and felt good in my hands. The Glock 43 and XDS weren't nearly as comfortable to me as these two. An hour with each really helped me make up my mind.

I ended up with the Shield (with night sights and no safety), and am going to save up for a nice safe queen. Personally I wanted a Honda Civic for this task, not an Acura IDX. I needed something I could pound on, wear daily, and even neglect with little regard to it's looks if I had to. The 938 was just too nice for my daily driver. It's a beautiful gun and I may still get one in the future.

At the end of the day it's your car, but I highly suggest test driving a bunch. You might end up with a Kahr PM9.

I don't know if this is an endorsement or a warning, but I love my Kahr PM9 and P45!

 

[simon1]

I'm a Ruger man

Oh I'm so sorry.

All kidding aside, I love Rugers...they are built like little tanks. I dearly love my old 3 screw Blackhawk.

But there is something about the old classics....

 

[Blue_2]

I don't know if this is an endorsement or a warning, but I love my Kahr PM9 and P45!

More of a "Keep your options open" type of warning, with an Kahr endorsement thrown in. There are some guns I didn't even think to try originally.

The RSO at the local range recommended one and I tried it out. They have a 21 shots for 21 bucks program for any rental gun. I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy, but the trigger was a bit stiff for my taste. Nice gun, felt good in the hands.

 

[fella]

Sig 938: superb concealment, shoots like a much larger gun. Downsides: single stack magazine, have to train to disengage safety - an issue if you are not used to it

Glock 19 - it's a tank. Thicker profile than the 938; however higher capacity mags available. Sexiness factor 0 unless you get a company like Robar to trick it out. Manual of arms simpler than 938.

 

[Joe Mamma]

About any Ruger..

 

[FarmerTan]

Beautiful pic. I have a beautiful little Smith and Wesson .22 model 63 kit gun in SS that I love to use in single action mode. But.... Rugers just have my heart, lol.

 

[simon1]

[MENTION=109962]FarmerTan[/MENTION] Thanks there BibOverallsMan. At 15 ounces the little Colt is a joy to carry. And they beat S&W to the airweight punch. I bet that kit gun is nice!

I've looked at the SP101, and they are little tanks, but I'm getting more into the old classics now since I have plenty of options for concealed carry. Ruger has dang sure worked its way into the "Big Three" now.

Mark...I hope you don't mind that your thread has been HIJACKED!!!

 

[noelekal]

Here's another huge fan of the Colt Detective Special. Superior in my view to every single other snub revolver ever made. That's saying something since classic, traditional Smith & Wesson revolver are my favorites. Don't care about Rugers, even if they are built-like-a-tank. It's easy to shoot with great accuracy like a full-sized "service" revolver but hides as readily as a J-Frame Smith & Wesson. Holds 6 rounds of +P 158 grain .38 Special goodness to the 5 round capacity of the others. May be pocket carried in a suitable pocket holster, toted IWB, or on the belt beneath a sport coat. Well worth the cost and effort to find a good one.

 

[simon1]

Nice looking 2nd issue there, Bryan. I have a T-grip on the way. I'm looking for a DS to go along with my Cobra but haven't located one yet in my price range. I did see a very nice one last year at a show complete with box and papers...$1,150. I'm just looking for a shooter grade one.

 

[JRRIII]

I could not recommend more highly the glock 19 for the best all around pistol money can buy. It's reliable, hold's 15+1, cost effective, parts are cheap, basically no maintenance, and it's the perfect size for a fun day at the range or a to carry around as a concealed carry weapon. I have a 19 that I carry and I was have a 43. I use the 43 for a summer carry gun if that's all my clothing will permit me to conceal. The only thing I would suggest with any glock (or other guns for that matter of the same price range) is make sure to allow in your budget upgraded sights, either night sights or a fiber optic front. I run night sites on all my pistols especially my glocks since they are concealed carry guns primarily. Good luck!

 

[simon1]

Bryan...what brand of holster is that for your Detective Special? It looks nice.

It should be noted (being as I intentionally hijacked this thread ) that Mark has chosen an S&W Shield w/o the thumb safety as what he is getting.

After much research and a lot of help from you guys, I have decided to purchase an M&P Shield as my carry gun.
I have my pick (for the same price) of one with or without a thumb safety. What are your thoughts on this?
I will be carrying IWB.

As of right now...I think I will get the one without the safety. Just one less doubt when I pull the trigger. If it's never there, I never will have to worry about it.

Looking at the forks in the path of this thread, I may start a tread about Classic Guns. It seems that the ones I consider just "regular" guns have become classics now. And the music I listened to when in my teens and twenties is now being played on the "Classics" radio stations.

What y'all think?

 

[noelekal]

That's a Triple K Secret Agent holster. Don't know if Triple K still produces the model to fit the Detective Special.

The Detective Special in my photos dates to 1966.

The Smith & Wesson Shield will do nicely for Mark's purposes. I have no grips with reliability of the one here. It's well-behaved with mild recoil and exhibits good practical accuracy for what it is.

I'm like you, Mike. The firearms I still rely on are now classics just as the music I like to spin on the stereo is now classic rock.

I'd get a kick out of a classic firearms thread.

 

[WallMatt]

Taurus

 

[OkieStubble]

I could not recommend more highly the glock 19 for the best all around pistol money can buy. It's reliable, hold's 15+1, cost effective, parts are cheap, basically no maintenance, and it's the perfect size for a fun day at the range or a to carry around as a concealed carry weapon. I have a 19 that I carry

and I was have a 43. I use the 43 for a summer carry gun if that's all my clothing will permit me to conceal. The only thing I would suggest with any glock (or other guns for that matter of the same price range) is make sure to allow in your budget upgraded sights, either night sights or a fiber optic front. I run night sites on all my pistols especially my glocks since they are concealed carry guns primarily. Good luck!

@JRRIII, +1 on the G19. I have carried one for more than 20 years now and it's just a part of me now. I got my wife the G43 for Christmas. I had many ideas of all the different modifications I wanted to drop in the gun, for what I thought would make it easier for her to manipulate and shoot better.

However, she has been to the range twice now, and has put about 700 rounds down range.

Here is her very first B27 "smurf" target with her first couple of mags thru a brand new stock Glock 43 at about 7 yards back in March. She went on and put 400 rounds thru the gun, getting familiarized.



Here is the very last B27 "smurf" from this past weekend, after putting another 300 down range. this is around 12 or 13 yards.



This is some good shootin with a very small Glock straight from the box folks. I thought, i might stop arguing with her so much after seeing this.

I was going to put some Trijicon HD's on it for her, but she doesn't seem to mind the stock sights, from what I can tell. Or the heavy 7 pound trigger. Hell, or even recoil from the looks of those targets.

Taught her everything she knows. (see how I just took the credit)

 

[simon1]

That's some pretty good shooting there, especially for a GIRL!

Some bit of flyers there, but nothing in the white. Good shooting.

Taught her everything she knows. (see how I just took the credit)

Yeah...right.

 

[OkieStubble]

That's some pretty good shooting there, especially for a GIRL!

Some bit of flyers there, but nothing in the white. Good shooting.

yeah, she had a few flyers when loading the magazine to capacity with 6 rounds. had her loading 5 rounds and it helped a little. I have a 3.5 pound connector from ghost.inc coming in. I'll drop that in for her and polish the internals while it's apart. Should smooth things out a bit and take about 3 pounds off the pull for her.

That should tighten up her groups some. I get to jack with her a little bit next time, when we start practicing reloads and malfunctions. Adding a few dummy rounds to the mix, makes for exciting times. It's funny to hear her cuss a bit.

 

[simon1]

Are you sure you want to put the connector in on a carry gun for legal concerns? She seems to be doing just fine.

But...I've got a 1911 that has had a lot of work done on it by Bill Wilson that I carried on duty and still carry.

I've "heard" that the Ghost connectors take a bit of polishing, fitting, and stuff. The Taran Tactical connector was just a straight drop-in. It cut down the trigger pull weight and has a great re-set. I love it (for what a Block is). If you can spend the time to do it that sounds like a great project. I've never messed with fitting a connector though.

My Bangor Punta era L frame was gone over by a P.D. armorer and it has one of the slickest DA pulls I've ever seen.

Mark...are you sure you're Okay with hijacking the thread? Echo...Echo...Echo....

Edit: Yeah, the dummy rounds are fun. I trained an attorney on her Block and slipped in a few dummy rounds. She shot 147 out of a possible 250 on her CCW qualification.