Moving Away From The Slim 9mm Fad

[feedthemlead]

Accuracy improves at close range, with officers hitting their targets 37 percent of the time at distances of seven yards or less; at longer ranges, hit rates fall off sharply, to 23 percent.

About one-quarter of all accidental discharges occur while officers are “struggling with a subject.

[Corse]

The chances of needing a gun ever as the average ccw holder is pretty low. I think anything of adequate caliber is fine and would serve a trained user well. Of course more ammo can't hurt if you can carry it. If the P365 gets all the kinks worked out, it would be ideal I think. It has a good ammo capacity and a great size for ccw.

[17K]

All I own are single stack 9s. Full size 1911, CCO, and Glock 43.

I have shot and carried all manner of double stacks and I never did like ‘em. If my single stacks carried twice as much ammo I wouldn’t complain, but I’m not gonna burden myself with pistols I don’t like.

[JusticeM4]

I don’t know man. The whole reason for carrying concealed in the first place is that “you never know”. To go along with that sentiment: “ Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

Well, suppose I’m in a situation where 2-3 armed robbers are working as a team? Suppose I have no choice but to engage an active shooter who’s loaded for war? “You never know”. Is my G43 with 8 rounds sufficient for that? Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it. Im starting to think the “Let’s get as small and thin as possible” fad in carry pistols isn’t the right mindset. Would my G43 be enough to stop 1 attacker? Likely, yes. But am I also failing to prepare and violating both “you never know” and “Better to have it and not need it . . . “? Likely, yes. I will never have advance notice that I’m about to be in a gunfight for my life. I won’t know if it’s one attacker or four. I won’t know how many rounds of HST it’s going to take to end a threat. I won’t know if I will successfully and quickly perform a reload under intense amounts of adrenaline.

All this to say: Is it ever a good idea to carry a tiny low capacity pistol? Will it be sufficient? What is their proper role in a gun collection? Should I carry my G19 by default and only dust off the G43 for those deep-concealment-is-necessary type of outings?

I'm not sure what type of situations you are in daily that 8rds is not enough...

Sure 2-3 attackers are possible but that gives 2-3rds per badguy, not counting you spare mag/reload. If that's not enough, you'd need to learn and practice more situational awareness, handgun shooting techniques, or just carry a larger capacity pistol.

I've carried plenty of low cap single stacks (still do) and never feel undergunned.

[hburn]

I normally carry a g19 with a plus 5 mag and generally agree with your point that 8 rounds isn’t enough but I do carry a small 9 for one occasion. When I’m running and can’t carry the 19 but I still want something on me

[Doc Safari]

I had been lusting after a Glock 43. This weekend I shot my girlfriend's Glock 42. Granted it's a 380 and not a 9 but it couldn't get through two full magazines without a malfunction. I shot about ten mags worth of various types of ammo and then told her, "Sell it. You'll never be able to rely on this for defense." It was one of the early Glock 42's that we sent back to be "fixed" by Glock. Obviously it wasn't fixed. That experience soured me on the slimline Glocks for a while, though. I'd have to read glowing reports of reliability from users before I'd ever consider one now.

[26 Inf]

I had been lusting after a Glock 43. This weekend I shot my girlfriend's Glock 42. Granted it's a 380 and not a 9 but it couldn't get through two full magazines without a malfunction. I shot about ten mags worth of various types of ammo and then told her, "Sell it. You'll never be able to rely on this for defense." It was one of the early Glock 42's that we sent back to be "fixed" by Glock. Obviously it wasn't fixed. That experience soured me on the slimline Glocks for a while, though. I'd have to read glowing reports of reliability from users before I'd ever consider one now.

I shoot mine (Glock 43) regularly practicing for GSSF. I use 115gr JHP from Precision Delta for my loads. No problems at all with it through several thousand rounds. I got mine in 2015.

It's funny, I really like shooting my early Ruger LCP and this 43. Because of the GSSF rules I have Pearce finger extensions on most of my mags (not +1's although I believe they are legal) - they give me enough for a good grip. My carry mags are a mag with a Vickers/Tango down in the pistol and, when I carry a reload it is a mag with a Strike industries plus 2 - it matches the grip nice, but you end up with a skinny G19 size grip for concealed carry which to me kind of negates carrying the smaller pistol.

In other words, although I can't speak to G42, I have had absolutely no problems with my G43. It is cleaned after most practice sessions because I use it for carry.

[Dump1567]

I had been lusting after a Glock 43. This weekend I shot my girlfriend's Glock 42. Granted it's a 380 and not a 9 but it couldn't get through two full magazines without a malfunction. I shot about ten mags worth of various types of ammo and then told her, "Sell it. You'll never be able to rely on this for defense." It was one of the early Glock 42's that we sent back to be "fixed" by Glock. Obviously it wasn't fixed. That experience soured me on the slimline Glocks for a while, though. I'd have to read glowing reports of reliability from users before I'd ever consider one now.

The 43 doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems of the 42 (I had a similar experience with an early 42). My 43 has been flawless.

Here's a good article on the 43 by Jeff Gonzales:

https://www.tridentconcepts.com/2015...up-throw-down/

[Mozart]

Have you been in lots of fire fights lately? In your premise you would feel better with an AR or AK. may be a shot gun ,Yea maybe a full size high cap would be better but realistically,,,,, dream on think about what is 4 gangstas with no remorse if they kill 9 other people when trying to kill you , where would you stand in a gun fight? Are you Jerry Miculec good? Gun are tools bring the tool that makes you comfortable. I hope we are never in the hi cap mag need.

Ugh. There’s always one . . . .

[Mozart]

I carry for a living and my current duty weapon is a G22 that i carry daily AWB. My off duty gun is. G43. I have come to a couple of realizations. One is that while off duty and carrying my 43 my only true response is of a defensive nature. You simply are not going on offense with a 43. This doesn’t mean that the 43 isn’t capable. It’s plenty capable at filling a defensive role. No gun is going to likely save you if you are attacked by three armed robbers as the OP suggested. You have to be realistic about your equipment and abilities. Many people want to say they are running to any active shooter, but most of those people haven’t even looked down a set or sights at another man. Prepare for the realistic fight and you can realistically win. Outside of that do what you can to save the people around you and your family.

Nice post. Taking ability, likelihood, and training out of the equation, my premise is that more rounds are better to survive more situations. Strictly from an equipment standpoint. Understood that good marksmanship and combat training is far more important in a self-defense shoot than gear, as a rule. I wanted to start a discussion about comfort/convenience vs. preparedness in concealed carry.