Concealed Carry Gun Selection

Concealed Carry Gun Selection can be a big can of worms.  Everyone has an opinion, and of course, it’s totally right. For them, at least.  I’m not going to get into “what caliber is the best”, or what ammo is the best, I’m simply going to point out some facts that should be universal.

Small guns are easier to hide.

File that under “no duh?”, right?  There are a lot of people that pick out a duty sized weapon for concealed carry.  It doesn’t matter what the reason might be, or what the perceived need is for a full sized duty gun is. The bigger it is, the harder it hides, it’s as simple as that.  If you pick on a smaller weapon, you are going to have more concealment options.

Hurtful Things

Sharp angles and pointy things HURT.  And they hurt YOU.  Anytime you have an odd or pointy shape pointed against your body, you are asking for pain.  If you choose to carry a gun with such features, there are ways to help.  Switching to Outside the waistband holsters.  Using something that gets it away from being pressed against your body (belly band, concealment T-shirt), but it is something that needs to be considered. Even just getting a “body shield” style holster can make a difference.

Rust is not your friend

Your best bet for a convenient concealed carry gun selection is going to be one that’s as rustproof as possible.  If you carry a finely blued gun, sooner or later, you are probably going to be cleaning surface rust from it.  Pick a stainless, a hard chromed, a nickel plated gun, or a Duracoated Gun (or just one with a really nice hard finish), and you will spend a lot less time worrying about the metallurgical state of your weapon.

Safety Features

This is easily “the eternal question” and probably deserves it’s own write up.

Safety features should always come into consideration in concealed carry gun selection.  Make sure that you are are comfortable with the safety features on your weapon, that there are enough for you to be comfortable, and that you practice until the muscle memory takes over and you don’t have to think about pulling down the safeties when you need the gun.

Muscle memory is the phenomena where you are so used to doing something, that you automatically do it without having to think about the steps involved.  Think “buttoning up your shirt” or “tying your shoelaces”…  you just do it without thinking “this goes here, and I push on that”.

Slim is In

The thinner, the better. Usually.  Automatics tend to be thin already, but some of them are still quite thick.  A thinner gun is simply easier to hide than a thick one.  Single stack mag weapons (guns with magazines that hold one round on top of the other, not “staggered” to put more rounds on it) tend to have the thinnest outlines, because they don’t have to accommodate a double stacked magazine.  There are double stacked guns out there with pretty thin outlines.  Choose carefully.

Remember that the obvious “flip side” to a thinner weapon is that you carry less ammo in the gun. If the amount of ammo that you carry is a concern, you should weight that when considering a thin gun.

Price and Safe Queens

Price comes up when selecting a concealed carry gun, not only because you need to be able to afford to buy the gun (because even if it’s perfect for you, if you can’t afford it, it doesn’t help), but because you need to actually be willing to CARRY the weapon.  Time and time again, I’ve heard people talk about their perfect carry weapon.

That they don’t have on them.  Why?  Because if they carried it, it might get rusty, scratched, dinged, or otherwise depreciated.

I understand that, but that doesn’t help out when you need a weapon.  Sometimes, picking on an ugly and relatively cheap weapon as your day to day carry makes perfect sense, especially if you actually carry it day to day, rather than leave it in the safe at home.  The gun you have with you is far more effective than the gun that you left at home.

Weapon Reliability

Of course, reliability of the weapon is a key concern, and that should be obvious to anyone.  Reliability not only affects whether it goes “boom” when you want it to, it also affects whether or not it goes “boom” when you DON’T want it to.  Make sure that the weapon that you choose is reliable enough to satisfy you in both of these regards.

There is no one perfect gun. If there was a perfect gun, that’s the only one that would ever be made.  Every weapon has a mix of features and benefits (and liabilities), that you are going to have to weigh to find out what works for you in the situations that you find yourself in.  Just be sure to think about the options carefully, and in time, you will find yourself a good option or two.

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Holster Accessibility and Retention

Holster Accessibility and Retention are two sides to the same coin, and they are always intertwined.

Test Accessibility

The best concealment rig in the world is totally useless if you can’t present the weapon when you need to.  Because of this, you should always consider how easy and fast it is to get your weapon into play from a given concealment rig.  Before making a holster purchase, put it on, stick your gun (or an acceptable substitute such as an aluminum dummy gun) into it, and see how easily it is to draw. Keep in mind that some holsters need a “break in period” before they draw really easily.

Holster Retention

Holster Retention breaks down into a couple of issues. One is keeping the weapon from dislodging from your own efforts. The other is keeping it out of the hands of others.

Let me address the “keeping it from others’ issue first. Police officers use specialty retention holsters all the time, as well they should.  Their weapons are “front and center” and on the minds of every criminal looking to get an advantage.  Without a good retention system, more bad guys would get their hands on more police weapons, which is NOT a pretty sight.  Retention holsters are very much an excellent idea for anyone with an exposed weapon, because it helps to keep the criminals from arming themselves with someone else’s weapon.

Exposed versus Concealed

Do you see the caveat there?  Exposed weapon.  If a weapon is properly concealed in the first place, no one knows that they should be grabbing it, let alone knowing where to grab it from.

Overblown issue?

Retention against others is probably an overblown issue for the average concealed carrier. I’m sure that there are those out there that will disagree with me on that. If no one knows you have a weapon, it’s kind of hard for them to decide to take it from you. Still, even with that, it’s a decision that you, yourself, have to make in regards to your situation. Perhaps everyone in the universe knows that you carry, and you don’t want people pawing your piece.  If you feel you need it, you probably do, so go for it.

Your own actions affect this

Another piece of the holster retention issue is “retention against your own actions”.  If you jog, run regularly, dogsled, or whatever, you should take into account your physical exertions and how likely they are to affect your carry.  There is nothing quite so embarrassing as having your gun fall out in front of some random people.  Having to scurry not only to get it back away.  Explaining to the more nervous ones that they shouldn’t be alarmed by this.  Only you know your physical activity level, and how likely you are to perform a sudden back flip, so that’s another piece of the puzzle that you need to work on.

Public Restrooms

Even if you are the proverbial couch (or mouse) potato, there are situations that might bear watching. The meme of losing a gun in the restroom stall is repeated often, because it happens far too often.  Most everyone has read accounts of people leaving guns in places they shouldn’t have.  If you have a concealment rig that’s vulnerable to having your pants down, think ahead.

An ounce of prevention, and all that, really beats a pound of pistol skittering into the next stall.

Slow Presentation

The higher the holster retention level, the lower the holster accessibility is going to be.

The more secure the weapon is, the slower / harder it’s going to be to put it into action. When you need the weapon, you are NOT going to have plenty of time.  Adrenaline is gonna be pumping.  Your friends and family are depending on you to do the right thing, and do it NOW!  The simpler this is to accomplish, the more likely you will accomplish it.

“When you need your gun, you needed it five seconds ago. Not Five seconds from now.”

You should practice with your chosen rig just for this reason.  That includes holsters both with and without retention systems.  If they have holster retention systems, all the more reason you should practice with them until drawing through the retention is second nature for you. Holster Accessibility is something that you should NOT have to think about. Something that you can accomplish when the only thing you can see is the aggressor.

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Holster Comfort

When people first get into concealed carry, many of them do not give enough attention to the issue of holster comfort.  An old saying goes: “A Gun should not be comfortable. It should be comforting.”  It’s always a matter of what level of comfort you are willing to live with compared to the other elements you have to contend with. It’s all just part of the puzzle.

Why is Holster Comfort so important?

The more painful it is for you to carry your defense weapon, the more likely you are to forget it, accidentally or on purpose. Some people take this to the extreme of only carrying “when they think that something might happen”.  Hogwash!  The problem with life, is that it doesn’t schedule things for you, nor does it play fair.  Things happen when you don’t expect them to, not when it’s convenient for you.

Assuming you wear a seat belt when driving, do you only wear it when you expect to be in an accident? Or do you wear it whenever you are driving?

When you think you need it

Simply put, Holster Comfort is necessary, at least to some degree, because it encourages you to carry constantly, not just “when you think you might need it”.  There is no colder feeling than finding yourself in a bad situation, that could be averted with your defense weapon, only to remember that you left it at home.

I want to stress again, this is yet another reason why it’s so important to try on your perspective holster, with a gun (or an acceptable substitute) in it, before making a decision on using it.  If the holster isn’t comfortable, you should look for something that is. Don’t force yourself to use a holster you don’t like.

Strong Gun Belts

Often times, your choice of clothing can make a significant difference in your Holster Comfort. For example, simply adding a strong gun belt can make a holster seem far more comfortable.

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Holster Concealment

Holster Concealment.  On the face of it, it seems simple, but it can actually be one of the harder elements to master of concealed carry. Concealment is a very big deal here.

It’s called “concealed carry” for a reason. Failure to properly conceal can be considered a crime unto itself, depending on the area.  Even if it’s not a crime, you can end up causing a ruckus. You can attract official attention. And you can just plain end up making the concealed carry community look bad.  We have enough issues with the the populace already. They can be afraid of us simply because we actually chose to take responsibility for ourselves and our loved ones. Lets not give them any reason to think about us any further, especially in a negative light.

The rest of the package

Think hard about the true concealment of your weapon, not only the holster concealment, but also the “rest of the package”. You, how you dress, how you act, even what weapon you pick to carry affects this.  Larger weapons are harder to hide, all other things being equal.  Plus, how you act is very important as well… the best concealment in the world can be blown by absently putting your hand on your weapon and/or rig to adjust it while waiting in line at the grocery store.  Get a good rig that doesn’t need adjustment. Don’t adjust it in public, at least not where people can see it.

Try it on if you can

It’s vital that you try on a holster before you buy it. See if it actually concealed on your body frame.  What conceals for your buddy, or the magazine writer that penned that wondrous write up on the XZY 2000 holster, or the mega-sporting goods store clerk, may or may not conceal on you the same way.  TRY IT FIRST!  If in doubt about how well it conceals, ask a friend, a passerby, the store clerk, find a mirror, whatever. Make sure that it hides properly.

Realistically Hidden

Now, there’s a fine line between “realistically hidden” and “vanished into thin air”.  If you can see it, knowing where to look exactly because you just put it there, that doesn’t mean that every person passing by is gonna start bleating “Gun!”.  If you can see a small telltale, realize that it’s because you know where to look and why to look. The vast majority of the population doesn’t.  However, the fewer tells you can give off, the better.  Aim to have fewer tells whenever possible within reason.

Different Situations

Also keep in mind that, unless you wear the same set of clothes all the time, the holster that works so well with what you had on when you tried it on, may or may not work as well with your “Sunday go to meeting” clothes, or your “working on the lawn” clothes, or your “taking the spouse to the grocery store” clothes.  I’m sure you get my drift.  Not everything works with everything all the time.

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