Gun for conceal / carry

for home defense - a shotgun. period.

For carry? The options are endless. I have a Glock 22 (40 S&W) and I love it, but I think it is too big for everyday carry. Perfect for wearing on a thigh holster! For everyday, I would get a Glock 27 and shoot it enough to get proficient. I was never a Glock fan until I owned one. There are plenty of other handguns that are awesome, pretty, cool, etc., but for trusting my life with when I need it to work and being accurate, the Glock is pretty much unbeatable (compared to other semi's).

The main thing is to get something you are comfortable with carrying and can shoot well.

Side note, I read recently that more people are killed with .22 rounds than any other rounds. Just food for thought.

My primary carry is a Springfield XDM 9mm 3.8" and my backup / summer carry is a Ruger LC9 9mm.

My XDM is an outside the waistband holster carry while the Ruger is an inside the waistband carry.

It's not what we like or use, but what you will feel best using. Try them if you can, if you have friends with one that you like, have them give you a chance to shoot it. How does it feel in your hands and so on.

S&W 38 revolver will never fail you on reliability.S&W .380 Bodyguard for compact carry. I have it on most everday and you never no, has a pretty hard trigger pull that needs adjusting out of the box.

The Judge does sound more like what you want though as stated above you can get something for a snake type shot or a single large shot.

Go out and shoot, get something comfortable for you, my wife carry's the 38 revolver for trouble free shooting, while having accuracy and confidence.

I carry a Taurus PT109 Slim 9mm and my wife carries a S&W Body Guard 380 with a laser. I like her little gun but it's too small for my hand really. I'm not crazy about my Taurus and have been thinking about getting something else. It carries well, light and small but it jams a lot during target practice. Not something I want happening when I really need it.

Some guns that have been suggested so far:

Springfield XDM
Walther P99
S&W M&P
Sig Sauer P229
H&K 45
Glock 19

Guns, like guitars, come down to what is right for you so I would echo the other comments here about shooting all the ones you are interested in and find that one (or two) that you are really happy with... having said that...

Love the Sig... used by Canadian Special Forces, British SAS and waaaaaay too many US agencies to list here. P229 is avail in .22 LR, 9 mm or .357 Sig as well as .40 S & W .

I have a Sig P238. I love it!!!!

I chose a S&W .380


I wanted a S&W .45 compact, but it was too large to fit inside the waist of my pants. Had the same problem with most 9MM I looked at also. Went to many pawn shops and gun shows...."sir, is it ok to see how this fits in my pants?" LoL


So I went with the .380. Ammo is more expensive than 9MM ammo, but I am happy with my choice.

Personally, I carry a full size Taurus PT1911 in a Crossbreed Supertuck, with a P3AT as a BUG.

Kind of happy/annoyed that I have lost so much weight I have to buy new gun belts.

springfeild xd sub compact 40 cal its my off duty weapon and i love it fed thousands of rounds threw it never had a jam misfire or anything pretty much dead accurate from a confrontational distance or any distance thats in reason for a hangun really. the grip is a little small but with the mag extender its great draws easy and you can get right on target plus i love the 40 s&m 45 imo has a little too much kick for a smaller weapon that u would want to conceal and 9mm lacks some stopping power the 40 in just right you hit the aggressor with this weapon center mass hes going down idc if hes on bath salts meth pcp your gonna do some real damage

also to answer the questions about .22s yeah they can be light weapons to carry on the run or what not. but it seriously lacks stopping power. a lot of the 22 ammo is more prone to not fire which leads to more malfunctions and misfires. and when your carrying it for self defense the first shot counts. i wouldn't trust my life on a .22.

i had a sig mosquito it was a fun gun to shoot hardly any recoil was fairly accurate when the rounds fed correctly but i always had problems with the ammo malfunctioning i cut this way down by buying cci mini mags but still had problems.

so with that being said if i needed a light weapon if that was my goal id most likely go with kel-tec.

and as far as revolvers yeah some have great stopping power they are stone reliable but i still have my concerns. i know worst case scenarios are just that."WORST CASE" but these days you never know when your going to find yourself in that situation. even with having the upper hand that most would have when engaging a target from a concealed weapon. i would not want to be carried by a few rounds. exsp if their was more then one aggressor.