Guys preferred Concealed Carry Weapon.

[CountryGuy]

AJ, you might also consider taking your LCP and other guns you have trouble pulling the trigger on to a gunsmith and ask them about doing a trigger job and lightening the pull weight. Don't get it to light as it can become a "hair trigger" but lightening them some might give you relief.

Making the slide easier to pull back and cycle is a different story. In that case the best option might be a small compact revolver like say a Ruger LCR or Lady Smith in .38 Special which is quite similar to your .380 LCP. Just food for thought.

[Applejack]

Country there is no problem with the recoil. It is my hand and fingers are not strong enough to pull back on the lever nor push the trigger back without pain in my index finger. This one was no problem. And yes I did get a great price on it. I have used my husband's 45 many times but the trigger is the problem now. This one though it is a 380 is great for concealed carry. I will be doing some target practice with it next week. And I am going to take the 22 with me as well to see how I do with that also. I really hope I can still shoot with the 22 but haven't tried yet.

[CountryGuy]

I just bought a new Smith & Wesson M & P shield EZ 380 semi auto. It is made for people with arthritic hands. I could pull the lever back as well as squeeze the trigger with no problem. I tried out the judge but can no longer pull the trigger on that without great pain in my index finger. I got this one at the pawn shop by us. I go in there looking around a lot and sometimes find great buys. Last buy was a couple brand new gas cans. Couldn't beat that price on them of 5.00. They were higher than that at walmart. I am going out next week to range for target practice with it next week. This gun had very good reviews. It will now replace my Ruger 380 for my concealed carry.

Congrats on the find AJ, hope you got a smoking deal on it!!

With your arthritis, if you find and that the .380 recoil is getting to you, and it might not make sense, but you might be better off going to a 9mm. With just a slightly slightly larger gun and with the way the cartridge reacts, the perceptible recoil is often much less on a 9 than a .380. this also typically allows for faster follow up shots due to less muzzle flip.

Sadly it seems that if a lady walks into most gun shops looking for a small concealed pistiol, most shops throw and Micro .380 at them. Then when they go shoot them they don't like the recoil as often the gun is even to small to fit their hands and prevents a good hold, the recoil can be a bit snappy and off putting for a new shooter and then they end up not practicing and worse, not carrying it. Just food for thought in case recoil was also part of the issue with your LCP, hopefully your M&P will be just what you need.

I've recently been looking at picking up an LCP as a pocket gun and deep conceal to allow me to have something small enough to carry places that may wish that I don't... hypothetically speaking that is...I wouldn't advocate to violate any laws or say company policy as I'm sure they're all capable of protecting me on a moments notice in the event of say workplace violence. With the prices on some LCP models at like $190 it's sort of hard to pass up. I used to be of the "if it isn't a .45" crowd... but something is better than nothing and to be honest, I know I wouldn't want to get shot period and I sure wouldn't want hit with a .380, especially if it's by a person that knows how to shoot and knows about shot placement.

[Applejack]

I just bought a new Smith & Wesson M & P shield EZ 380 semi auto. It is made for people with arthritic hands. I could pull the lever back as well as squeeze the trigger with no problem. I tried out the judge but can no longer pull the trigger on that without great pain in my index finger. I got this one at the pawn shop by us. I go in there looking around a lot and sometimes find great buys. Last buy was a couple brand new gas cans. Couldn't beat that price on them of 5.00. They were higher than that at walmart. I am going out next week to range for target practice with it next week. This gun had very good reviews. It will now replace my Ruger 380 for my concealed carry.

[SonofLiberty]

If I could find one and could afford it, I would carry an old Detonics 45
https://www.sightm1911.com/lib/history/detonics.htm
I currently carry a SCCY 9mm.
https://www.sccy.com/product/cpx-2-tt-9mm/

[Applejack]

As some of you know, I have arthritis in my hands to the point of possible knuckle surgery which is not going to happen. I have a Ruger 380 semi auto that I cannot even use due to weak hands and fingers. So today though I was not looking for a gun, went into my local pawn shop. They had a big sale going on so I decided to look around. I have bought things from them before. Got 2 gas cans for cheap that were brand new at $1.00 each a while back. So I decided to talk to a couple of the guys about guns and my hand problem. Two or three years ago I was doing target practice with my neighbor's the judge as you call it. Today I tried one out and can't even push back on the trigger. So the guy had me try a Smith and Wesson M&P sheild EZ 380 semi auto. I could pull it back and pull the trigger with no problem. I checked the reviews and they were great. So I tried it out and loved it. So yes I bought it. I now have a gun that my hands can handle without pain. I will now be back carrying a concealed gun again.

[Sierra 173]

Over the years I've carried all sorts and caliber of pistols. In the end, I've come to the conclusion that accuracy is the most important thing to have on your side when launching a bullet. The next thing you want on your side is a decent weight/diameter bullet. The 9 mm bullet lets me have everything that I need to get the job done. For me the Glock 19 gives me 15 rounds of 9 mm diplomacy to immediately put into service should the need arise and it delivers those rounds with dependability and accuracy.

Here's a photo of my primary carry pistol, a grey Glock 19. This pistol is small enough to carry concealed and I use it for such about 90% of the time when I leave home. I have other pistols that use on other occasions but a good Glock 19, with a Glock 17 magazine for an emergency reload, is really a hard combination to beat.

[Sierra 173]

My concealed pistols depend on where I am headed and what I will be doing. They also are determined by the clothes that I wear too. About 90% of the time I carry a Glock 19 for my CCW. Other times, when I am looking for flat and thin guns, I carry a Springfield Armory XD-S in 9 mm or a Smith and Wesson 9 mm Shield.

I have practiced with all 3 pistols and feel comfortable carrying any of them with one or two spare magazines. When I wear more casual clothes like sweatshirts with the tails out I carry the G-19. The G-19 gives me at least 15 rounds of 9 mm diplomacy if I should ever need it. For a compact handgun that G-19 is pretty darned accurate too from about 25 yards right on down to zero yards.

My XD-S is the more accurate of the three pistols. I love to shoot that little jewel. I don't know what SA did but my XD-S is so accurate that a buddy of mine decided to get a SA pistol of his own and loves his too. Normally Charlie can't hit a silhouette target very well from 25 yards. In fact, he's lucky to put 1 or maybe 2 bullets on a silhouette if he's lucky. With his SA pistol or mine he plugs all 6 of his required shots right into the center mass. Not just on the target but in the center mass area of the target.

Any way, that's how I roll with my pistols.

[dalewick]

I've finally changed up after years of carrying a Glock 19. I now am carrying a Glock 43 as I'm not needing as many rounds on my side since I'm retired and the lighter weight and smaller size work better for me now. I carry 1 extra mag for a total of 12 rounds but still practice 2 quick rounds to the heart/chest area and 1 to the head then on to the next target. If I am so unfortunate as to be in a target rich environment that there are that many bad guys around, I will be picking up a rifle from one on the ground.

Dale

I forgot to mention in my last post that my change was more than just swapping my G19 for a G43. I now carry a second "pistol" in my vehicle bag or anytime I feel that I need more than my side arm. I had my criteria for years but until SB Tactical arm braces came about I wasn't willing to deal with the legal headaches of a SBR. Now I have a civilian version of the MK18 and it works very well for me, especially with 77gr ammo. So well out to 300 yards that I use it as my predator hunting gun, I'm satisfied with it.

[CountryGuy]

What you need to do is misdirect the eyes to an area of the body away from the weapon.

My EDC is a belly pack I wear most places, inside I can carry 2/4 magazines, and my weapon on my hip.

To me those 2 statements contradict. If I see someone with a fanny pack in a forward or hip position I automatically assume they are packing. My eye is drawn to it. So to me a fanny/ belly pack is a huge flag. I know you said you're hip carrying and the pack is for your mags but now days a fanny pack is so out of style it becomes a neon sign.

As big of a flag as a fanny pack is one of those camera/ fishing style vests guys like to wear as a cover. A friend of mine wears one all the time and I tell him i think it's a huge tell. Though I do admit I like the look. But how often do you see guys wearing those at the gun shop, range or gun show...

Just my thoughts and observations...

[RICHFL]

I for one have never understand how any one would carry a .380 in a compact with a total of 8 rounds!!!!! The round is too light, and you will have too few rounds to do a good job.

Carry does not mean you have to wear a coat, when it's 80 degrees outside. What you need to do is misdirect the eyes to an area of the body away from the weapon. Bright colors work on the shirt, and so does colors that blend together.

This means you do not carry it in a shoulder harness. Your belt should blend in color wise with your pants. The same goes for your holster.

As for sitting in a car with a strapped on weapon. Never. I have a holster placed on the left side of the drivers seat. No one can get at it but the driver, keeping it safe. Plus the weight is off the belt. Plus I shot expert with either hand. If you don't start working it at the range.

My EDC is a belly pack I wear most places, inside I can carry 2/4 magazines, and my weapon on my hip.

[Hummer]

Well in that case send money!! ! ! ! haha Glad you enjoy them.

I just tried to send you a PM and it bounced. PM me with your phone number. Lets talk and start the new year off with a bang haha.

[Buggyout]

Hummer! Your posts are like Saturday morning cartoons for me! Haha! THANKS!

-Buggy

[Hummer]

After long thought and seeing mass shootings, jerks running down pedestrians etc, or some jerk hold up in a hotel 10 stories up shooting into crowds , a handgun is just not going to cut it to put a stop to such assaults. CIP that Texas church was only stopped by one of our types with a rifle. He might could have done it with a handgun but the odds would have been against him and as it was he had for lack of a better description "equal status" also having an AR. Thus I carry a rifle in the back of my car locally and on trips. Up until now it has been a AR shorty 16" barrel but unfortunately an AR has it's highest lethality in the first 95 yards and unless you have a scope the sight radius on the short barrel variants goes against you especially after the age of at little as 35 as those of us with HMS can't focus on the front sight well enough to get a good sight picture. Then if you have a rifle with a scope at close distances is a handicap as well and even worse in low light conditions. Thus you need to have dual sighting capability with really fast iron sight acquisition capability.

For the rest of you senior citizens HMS is a new acronym I thought up that covers all our problems. HMS= High Mileage Syndrome.

Thus to be really effective should an exceptionally bad situation develop you need to have the ability to engage targets at much longer ranges with a high probability of delivering what is needed when it is needed and in an ideal world ONE SHOT DELIVERED TO THE THORACIC CAVITY. Per Col Martin Fackler MD Commander of the Army Wound Ballistic's Lab before he retired was very clear that the 5.56 does not develop the terminal wound ballistics to accomplish the above and he determined through exhaustive testing that 95 yards was the transition point.

I remember seeing a clip of this guy in Iraq being put up to taking on a Marine Rifle Squad with a RPG by some news reporters. It was stated the Marines were about two hundred yards away clearing houses coming his way. So this guy walks out and assumes a kneeling position and shoulders the RPG and starts to aim and immediately I could tell he was being 5.56 rounds from the Marines. He just shook a little bit kind of like he coughed. He took three shots in lower body and he turned his head and looked at the film crew with a puzzled look on his face. At that moment he took one in the cranial vault and he rolled backwards dead. So he was on the next flight out with 77 virgins waiting for him. Had the Marines had M14s or M60 any of the first three shots would have stopped him.

My first thought was to get a left hand Ruger Scout in 308 but I have to sell a couple pieces in order to get there. I like the idea of having a dual sight system and a see through base rings should allow utilization of the iron sights and a scope. I wish it were available in 260 Rem but alas it is not. I realize it is available in 6.5 Creedmoor but I am already set up to reload 260 and I have plenty of 308 brass to form it from. So at this point I have my sights set for 308 as it will give a longer barrel life. The 6.5 is a excellent long range flat shooting bullet but they eat barrels for breakfast! ! ! ! A 308 barrel should hold up about 5000 rounds if you do proper maintenance and hardened carbon residue doesn't take out your barrel prematurely.

In the last few days I have been working on a Sears 73 (a Mod 70 Winchester w/ shades on) in 30.06 I picked up about 18 months back at a flea market for like 225.00. Stock has some dings but bore is perfect. First I pulled it down and did a trigger job on it so it breaks at about 2 1/2 lbs and will take rapid fire without sear off. Next I free floated the forearm to give about 1/8" barrel clearance all the way to front and bedded it with Marinetex.

I also remounted the sling hardware to the right side of the buttstock (I shoot rifles from the left shoulder) and installed MILSPEC Uncle Mikes 1 1/4" sling swivels and is equipped with a M1 cotton sling. I also chopped 1.5" off the buttstock and mounted a non slip buttplate. I can now carry the rifle through thick undergrowth muzzle down on my right shoulder and it won't get hung on overhead limbs etc. This sling is for now, I have other plans (see below).

The DCM issued hundreds of thousands of rounds of 30.06 Match at Camp Perry in 1979 time frame and I knew that was the last that would ever be seen as I knew DoD was going down to war reserves which means it will never be issued as long as there is a 30.06 in the inventory.
The only problem for most guys was they had all converted to 308 (M1As, M1s, etc) and no one really wanted it except me. In our hut there was about 30,000 rounds going back to New Jersey. Some of my shooting friends had a bunch to take back to NY state and didn't know what they were going to do with it so I asked them if they wanted a home for it and we worked out a very good trade plan and I left Camp Perry with a lifetime supply. I got what I wanted and they got what they wanted on their terms which was a deal I could not refuse.

Then about five years ago I hit on a combo of how to make the 30.06 Match round even more accurate and it was amazing how much I was able to reduce the group sizes. Here is how I did it:

1. pulled the 173 gr bullets with a RCBS collet puller after seating the bullets about .015 deeper to break the waterproof seal at the mouth. If the seal is not broken it will be hard to pull the bullets so alll you to is to just move the bullet to break the seal. I then dumped the propellant in a container and ran a bronze 30 cal brush with a little Eds Red in the necks to remove the waterproofing. I soaked the bullets in solvent (ZEP 505 I got at Home Depot) to remove the waterproofing that stuck to the bullets which make them look like brand new Sierra MKs ! ! ! !

2. Resized the necks with a neck die.

3. Put the dumped propellant back in powder measure and reduced the load from 46 gr. (4895) to 43.3 Gr. with each charge weighed. Do not go below published load data which is around 42 grains I think. Below 42 grains you can and will get spike charges which can have undesirable side effects ! ! ! ! haha. I have shot thousands of rounds of 43.3 in multiple bolt guns with excellent results. I am not sure if this load will cycle the action of M1 Garand but won't hurt to try.

4. I inspect the bullet bases and segregate them into 200 yard and 300 yard loads and the accuracy is really much better.

What the above does is uniform the bullet pull forces as uniformity in bullet release is the key to long range accuracy. Also I only run the bullets with the most uniform base forming. I save my 190 gr match bullets to 600 yards and beyond.

Then a couple months ago on ebay a guy was wanting to dump some AIMTECH bases at about 75% off and I got all five of them. Two were for Mod 70 Win. and that spawned a plan.

I mounted an AIMTECH base and tried to mount a scope and the rear sight got in the way so I had to remove it. I can see the front sight perfectly through the AIMTECH base and I will just have to determine what the point blank range is and drift the front sight to where it needs to go for windage. AIMTECH advertises that just seeing the target at closer ranges is close enough to obtain reliable hits and I can confirm their claim is true.

I became aware of Gunsite Rifle Courses by looking at http://www.frfrogspad.com/courses.htm where a SNAP SHOT COURSE is conducted and consists of other multiple skill enhancing drills.

I modified their Snap Shot course target at 25 yards and stapled up a 6" paper plate I got stack of at Wally World. (Did not have any IPSC Targets) Shooter stands ready in condition 1, with butt on hip and is allowed 1.5 seconds to hit the plate. . This is repeated for a total of 5 shots. I purchased a R U Ready Timer that beeps to initiate sequence and timer starts and when timer hears shot it stops and gives you the exact time it took you to acquire the target and fire. Dont be surprised if your initial shots are taking upwards of 3 seconds. The 1.5 seconds is achievable and I was doing it with a AIMTECH see thru base and factory front sight with a Rem 7615 Police Patrol Rifle.

This will tell you real quick what your ability is with a rifle in close quarter situation and is a REAL EYE OPENER ! ! ! !

http://ruready.com/ Utilizing Friar Frogs courses and one of these timers will really make a difference in your ability to engage a threat quickly at close range.

Now for comparison purposes try the same target/time with your weapon of choice for concealed carry. You will probably figure out on the first clip/cylinder full that you are behind the power curve insofar as hit probability with a handgun on equal footing with a rifle at 25 yards. When I was stationed at FLETC I did lots of practice at 7 yards with a one second target exposure, draw and fire and with that the target turns away before you can see the shop placement.

As a result of the above testing I developed what I refer to as the 3 Great Truths:

1. Never tug on Superman's cape.
2. Never take a knife to a gunfight.
3. Never ever take a handgun to a rifle match.





I am still assembling the rifle and I have a 3-9X scope on it I will zero for POA/POI at 300 yards and I know holding 12" high at 400 yards I will be right on the money. I will work out the hold over and scope power to utilize the 6 O'clock post for longer range when I get it up and going. The next thing is to mount hardware so I can utilize a 3 point sling as is currently utilized by our people in Afghanistan and the rest of the planet. The problem is the attaching hardware and it is looking like a lag eye bolt with about 1 1/4" wood thread is going to be the ideal attachment after the ring is welded shut. It is going to look crude but only thing I can find the small H&K style hooks will engage..

For those that would like more information on terminal wound ballistics, open this link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...3pWYVVJeGlGaFE I recommend downloading this data and put it on a thumb drive so you will always have it.

This is all the volumes published by the International Wound Ballistics Association of which Col Fackler was Chairman of the Board which consisted of personnel from several foreign countries. If you had been a member of the IWBA (as I was) you would have paid $600.00 in membership fees to amass this entire collection.

Fortunately a member of the American Firearms and Tool Marks Examiners got all the volumes, scanned them and put them out and I downloaded the data from him. Fackler completely debunked the wound ballistics theory by the Ballistics Research Lab at Aberdeen Proving Ground set the new bench mark for evaluating terminal ballistic capability. Fackler was a good friend and when he started the association (I knew was coming for several years) he presented me to the Board of Directors and nominated me as a Full Member which he informed me of after I was inducted thus I was a Charter Member (#8) of the association. Marty died in Florida about two years back and I miss being able to pick his brain on different ammo. I remember one statement me made about 7.62 NATO type cartridges where he stated the odds of surviving a solid thoracic cavity hit from a 30 cal rifle were very unlikely.

I had a good friend who was a sniper with 3rd Army, he had five purples, five Bronze with V and was Medevaced in 44 right after D Day and from the Bulge. He had undergone 47 surgeries to remove shrapnel from him he picked up at the Bulge and that was just the ones they could get to. I asked him a couple years ago how many guys he saw with a solid thoracic cavity hit with a 8MM Mauser or a 30.06 and survived. His answer, "None".

• From my shooting/testing I concluded that a handgun has a very slight edge up to about five to seven yards for a first shot hit. A rifle and handgun are about equal from 8 to 15 yards again to obtain a hit and the rifle has it cold from there on and this is only for hitting a target. At all these ranges the rifle is going to incapacitate faster than a handgun. In discussions with Fackler it boiled down to the fact that a non lethal hit from a 30 cal rifle will be more effective quicker than a lethal hit from a handgun.

You can prove this to yourself quickly. Take your carry side are and a 30 cal rifle to range with two one gallon plastic milk jugs and use your cell phone to record the test. Take careful aim at 7 yards with your handgun and shoot the first jug.

Then shoot the other jug of water at 100 yards with a 30 cal rifle and record that shot.

[dalewick]

I've finally changed up after years of carrying a Glock 19. I now am carrying a Glock 43 as I'm not needing as many rounds on my side since I'm retired and the lighter weight and smaller size work better for me now. I carry 1 extra mag for a total of 12 rounds but still practice 2 quick rounds to the heart/chest area and 1 to the head then on to the next target. If I am so unfortunate as to be in a target rich environment that there are that many bad guys around, I will be picking up a rifle from one on the ground.

Dale