Capacity of CCW Handgun

How often do you carry a concealed handgun with a capacity of more than 10 rounds?

  • Always

    Votes: 34 21.9%

  • Frequently

    Votes: 30 19.4%

  • Sometime

    Votes: 13 8.4%

  • Occasionally

    Votes: 26 16.8%

  • Never

    Votes: 52 33.5%
  • Total voters
    155
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AK103K said:
Trying to get that NAA into action in any kind of realistic encounter, would likely get you killed. :)

I totally agree, whatever it is you choose to carry, you should be very familiar with it, and practice with it, all the time, and from how you carry it.

The problem I mostly see is, that isnt the norm, for most shooters in general, and even less, for those who tend to carry the smaller guns, especially those who might think something like that NAA Mini, might be a viable choice.
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See that at the range pretty often, guy next to me (or before or after) might be shooting something else or just show up for the mouse gun, sets up a big target, shoots a shotgun pattern target (well, at that range a shotgun would be a much tighter group) at 5 or 7 yards, a mag or two at best, then reholsters and leaves.
 
JR24 said:
See that at the range pretty often, guy next to me (or before or after) might be shooting something else or just show up for the mouse gun, sets up a big target, shoots a shotgun pattern target (well, at that range a shotgun would be a much tighter group) at 5 or 7 yards, a mag or two at best, then reholsters and leaves.
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And I see that all the time with folks that carry larger guns as well. And you are right, I have for many years seen folks that buy a LCP for example and spend so much time taking the proper stance, slowly squeezing the trigger etc etc. But do not think for a second that is what all people that shoot them often do, on the contrary. And I do shoot them often and have been for years and my targets are set up from 7-15 yds.

But we seem to be morphing away from the OP's poll. For that I apologize.
 
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Ernie Bass said:
And I see that all the time with folks that carry larger guns as well. And you are right, I have for many years seen folks that buy a LCP for example and spend so much time taking the proper stance, slowly squeezing the trigger etc etc. But do not think for a second that is what all people that shoot them often do, on the contrary. And I do shoot them often and have been for years and my targets are set up from 7-15 yds.
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Not saying that folks who shoot them often can't shoot them well, I know I can't (I think I have an LCP somewhere in my safe still, haven't shot it in ... 6 years?). I've personally never seen anyone with a small gun shoot it well, or more than a mag or two, but I'm sure folks exist that practice regular with small guns, just not at my range when I'm there.
 
When we say "shoot them well" in the context of personal protection, we should be thinking of the kinds of drills encountered in the better defensive shooting training regimens.

That might be a Bill Drill at close range--two shots on each of three steel plates in less than two seconds.

...or turning to face a new target, drawing while moving, and firing three to five into the area of a small pie plate at perhaps twelve feet, in less than two seconds.

In either, the first shot follows the decision to draw by around a second and a half.

Sound too fast? Remember that a fit assailant can close at a speed of more than five yards per second.

That's not what we see at the range, but I believe that an experience "square range" shooter should be able to develop those skills in less than a day of trying, firing 800-1,100 rounds until he ore she has mastered the trick.

By the way, I am in the usually "no" category. I believe that more than ten is better, but chronic back pain has mitigated against the weight.
 
Ernie Bass said:
And I see that all the time with folks that carry larger guns as well. And you are right, I have for many years seen folks that buy a LCP for example and spend so much time taking the proper stance, slowly squeezing the trigger etc etc. But do not think for a second that is what all people that shoot them often do, on the contrary. And I do shoot them often and have been for years and my targets are set up from 7-15 yds.

But we seem to be morphing away from the OP's poll. For that I apologize.
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Youre right, a lot of people fit that bill, or at least your "average" (being a bit broad here) shooter anyway. Id say the majority of handgun shooters arent near as serious as they should be with them.

Id dont see to many people who are serious about things though, carrying one of the little (sub compact) guns as a primary. Second line, third maybe, and likely, they are well practiced with them too if they do.

But we are talking about a group of people who are at a higher level training/skill wise, than "most" shooters, and civilan gun carriers. And probably even most cops.

I know the question is one of capacity, but Im thinking, its the definition of capacity, thats the problem. :thumbup:
 
RETG said:
You can remove my vote for always. If you want to add a qualifier to a poll, I suggest you add it to the wording in the poll; not in the first reply! My normal is 10 round mag, plus one in the chamber; my sometimes in wild areas; is 14 round mag plus one in the chamber. Note: Always one in the chamber; that save my life once!

And stating "handgun with a capacity of more than 10 rounds" also includes the option of carrying one in a chamber. If you wanted to know magazine size in a handgun being carried, than you should have asked that question about the magazine!
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I had considered you point. And then I thought to myself "The OP is part of the poll information, so people really should be reading the OP to get full context before voting." That's what makes sense to me. I always read the OP before voting in a poll, so that I don't miss critical information.
 
Kleanbore said:
...

By the way, I am in the usually "no" category. I believe that more than ten is better, but chronic back pain has mitigated against the weight.
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Sorry to hear that.

Too many years of heavy guns and properly cinched belts to support them, and IWB of large frame revolvers & pistols as a younger man, have bequeathed to me easily aggravated glute, hip and iliac crest hot spots. IWB carry can quickly cause referred pain problems, and sometimes even normal belt scabbards can cause lingering discomfort due to how a sufficiently cinched belt puts pressure on those hot spots. The bills of youth come due, and that can include carry methods. Sigh.
 
Would that I had the prescience or the choreography skills that many in this thread ostensibly have. If I could plan my gunfights, I wouldn't need to carry a gun since every gunfight would be avoided. Or those fights could be scripted to perfection with the presence of my dogs, the number of rounds I need, the avenues and ability to retreat, etc.

Because I don't have those abilities, I'll keep training as if handguns suck and life throws you curve balls.
 
fastbolt said:
Sorry to hear that.

Too many years of heavy guns and properly cinched belts to support them, and IWB of large frame revolvers & pistols as a younger man, have bequeathed to me easily aggravated glute, hip and iliac crest hot spots. IWB carry can quickly cause referred pain problems, and sometimes even normal belt scabbards can cause lingering discomfort due to how a sufficiently cinched belt puts pressure on those hot spots. The bills of youth come due, and that can include carry methods. Sigh.
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Something many folks do not consider. Weight matters and can play hell on a spinal column. Maybe that is one reason, I carry light. About 20 years ago, I slipped a disc really bad. Worst pain in the world. Actually so bad, I had considered suicide. Horrific pain. Lost my job, house etc. Thankfully God intervened and brought along a great surgeon. No pain since. But I do not forget and I carry light. I will accept less rounds for light weight. However when I accepted the fact that I was going to carry light, like a Pocket gun or Micro 9mm many years ago, I became determined to master it. Now 10 yrs of shooting them religiously. Thousands of rounds down range, many drills, many trips to the range. There is a flip side to everything and life is full of Compromises. I am content with a good Pocket gun or Micro 9mm. I know the limitations and I know my skill set. Life is good.
 
fastbolt said:
Sorry to hear that.

Too many years of heavy guns and properly cinched belts to support them, and IWB of large frame revolvers & pistols as a younger man, have bequeathed to me easily aggravated glute, hip and iliac crest hot spots. IWB carry can quickly cause referred pain problems, and sometimes even normal belt scabbards can cause lingering discomfort due to how a sufficiently cinched belt puts pressure on those hot spots. The bills of youth come due, and that can include carry methods. Sigh.
Click to expand...

I empathize. I am fortunate, in that my lower back, hips, and legs can still tote the weight of substantial weapons, which can be considered a minor miracle, after nearly 34 years of wearing a police duty belt, but, my mid/upper back, and my right shoulder/arm/wrist/thumb have not aged so well, presenting other problems.

Last evening, I was handling one of my Glock G17 pistols, dry-practicing slide manipulations, both righty and lefty, and received another reminder of the decline of my right hand’s capability. Sigh.
 
Ernie Bass said:
Something many folks do not consider. Weight matters and can play hell on a spinal column. Maybe that is one reason, I carry light. About 20 years ago, I slipped a disc really bad. Worst pain in the world. Actually so bad, I had considered suicide. Horrific pain. Lost my job, house etc. Thankfully God intervened and brought along a great surgeon. No pain since. But I do not forget and I carry light. I will accept less rounds for light weight. However when I accepted the fact that I was going to carry light, like a Pocket gun or Micro 9mm many years ago, I became determined to master it. Now 10 yrs of shooting them religiously. Thousands of rounds down range, many drills, many trips to the range. There is a flip side to everything and life is full of Compromises. I am content with a good Pocket gun or Micro 9mm. I know the limitations and I know my skill set. Life is good.
Click to expand...

Glad you overcame it and have adjusted well. :)

Yeah, listening to a lot of folks, both private /CCW and cops, it seems that when a lot of them opt for a pocket-holstered weapon they accept that they won't be able to shoot it ... or effectively use it ... as well as whatever larger weapons are being replaced by the smaller one.

Well, if smaller weapons ask more of us (more recoil, smaller grip, shorter & faster cycling slides requiring enhanced grip, etc), we probably ought to step up and make ourselves capable of delivering it. Just because we wish to compromise on size and weight, that doesn't necessarily mean we must choose to compromise on being able to use them under stress and duress.

When I first made the transition from carrying my 4" revolvers and Commander off-duty, to a J-frame, I knew that I was giving up size of the grip, weight of the weapon (to absorb recoil) and some capacity. (Going from 6 & 7rds down to 5rs.) I started carrying the smaller J-frames to official situations, too, meaning to court, meetings and training.

However, just because I was planning my activities in lower threats assessment environments, that didn't preclude me from finding myself in a high risk/deadly force force situation. That being the case, that meant I had to better prepare myself to be able to effectively "fight" with the smaller revolver (and later, smaller pistols). That meant more range time.

In subsequent years, when I again returned to desiring to carry a small revolver, I'd been appointed to our firearms training staff, which meant I had a LOT more access to range time, targets, training, drills/practice, etc ... at a LE-Only range (which opened the possibilities of the training and practice methods available). Since I was not only returning to carrying 5-shot snubs after about a 10 year sabbatical, but was also ordering and using my first Airweight (642-1), I invested a lot of time and effort in dusting off my revolver skills. I vaguely remember having used up at least a couple cases of .38Spl & .38Spl +P re-familiarizing myself with the J-frame ... and using a training inventory 640 (a .38Spl, but marked as approved for +P+ in the frame window) to burn up a case or so of some 110gr +P+ donated to our range by another agency (who had just transitioned from duty revolvers to pistols).

That reawakened my interest in the attributes and practicalities of the venerable J-frame. Especially in the Airweight lines. My collection of J's started to grow, and I was carrying one or another of them off-duty. When I was attending meetings and serving as an instructor on s statewide committee that had me attending seminars and conferences up and down the state, I was now able to dress for summer heat while pocket-holstering a 642 in my dress slacks. Nowadays it means I can sit quite comfortably in the differently framed chairs and and other seating at my private cigar club, and during long road trips. ;)

I still make sure that at least one of the honorably retired peace officer CCW and LEOSA weapons I use for quals is one of my J's. Like I've used my S&W 3.25"/6+1rd CS45 for the pistol quals, or a G27, or one of my other smaller/lighter (but harder recoiling) pistol, to ask the most of myself when running the qual courses-of-fire. Or one of my LCP's. Sure, using one of my 9's is generally an easier task, as is using one of my 5" 1911's, but challenging myself is still of interest, if only to demonstrate to myself that I'm still in the fight against the inevitable ravages of normal aging (and prior injuries, etc). ;)

As with many other interests, pursuits and physical activities ... when it comes to shooting, youth really is unappreciated, and wasted, on the young. :)
 
Rexster said:
I empathize. I am fortunate, in that my lower back, hips, and legs can still tote the weight of substantial weapons, which can be considered a minor miracle, after nearly 34 years of wearing a police duty belt, but, my mid/upper back, and my right shoulder/arm/wrist/thumb have not aged so well, presenting other problems.

Last evening, I was handling one of my Glock G17 pistols, dry-practicing slide manipulations, both righty and lefty, and received another reminder of the decline of my right hand’s capability. Sigh.
Click to expand...

We can fight the good fight against the ravages of time and aging, all the while knowing we're only prolonging the inevitable ... but making the effort to stay in the fight is its own reward. ;)
 
Typically I carry a Walther P99 9mm with 15 rounds in the gun and a spare mag in my pocket, but lately, I've gone back to carrying a 1911 with eight in the mag and one in the chamber with two spares on my support side in the event of some kind of mechanical failure with the gun. Mechanical failure is also why I carry a spare magazine with any pistol I'm carrying. To be honest, in the event that you ever have to use your gun for its intended purpose, odds are that 5 shots or less will be fired so long as you're placing your shots reasonably well.
 
That's based on what I've learned in my occupation as a defense attorney. Clients that I've had who were shot by home owners during attempted home invasions are typically shot three to five times before they decide to up and leave since it's not as easy a target as they had hoped for. Having said that, I also defended a gentleman in a defensive shooting a couple of years ago. He planted two shots into his attacker's abdomen at which point the attacker stopped. Unfortunately, he was still convicted of Assault since he was ultimately the instigator of the dispute.
 
I have also admittedly carried more than 8+1 very rarely. I used to carry a KelTec P11 with mostly 10rd mags. That was the 2nd gun I ever CC'd. I wasn't terribly impressed with the accuracy nor the reliability. After that I began carrying Makarovs and later my 8+1 9mm Shield...which to this day has logged more time on my person than any other gun due to ergonomics and sheer quality. I recently switched back to 9x18...incarnated in my Radom P83, also 8+1. My first CC weapon was an 8+1 Bersa UC45, and that shares CC duty with the Radom now, probably for the duration of the winter.

I own a Bulgarian Hi-Power clone (13+1, true to form), which I did carry when the BLM riots which hit my city last summer. (A riot is a riot, I'm not singling out BLM for any reason). That was only for a few days. It's back in the safe now, kinda big and clunky for CC. That is actually the highest cap handgun I own...except I do have one 20rd mag for the KelTec P11 which I brought with me sometimes to places where psycho black rifle toting radicals are statistically more likely to carry out their atrocities.

For the most part I'm comfortable carrying 9x18. I have 6 mags for my Bulgy which equates to 48+1! And I tell you, those slim little single stack mags are cake to carry around, easier than anything else I have. They also reload far faster than a tightly wound 9mm Shield magazine.

I often ponder at how after all these years I've never picked up a "high capacity" 9mm gun, like in the 16+ range. I just dont feel any more compelled to get one than I was 5 years ago or 10 years ago. Maybe when the right gun falls into my lap, I dunno. I agree with others that it may become closer to a necessity with mobs materializing more and more.
 
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Corpral_Agarn said:
So I have been carrying the P226 now for about a week. Not impossible.
I appreciate the 15+1 and the 18 reload.

I figure: If it isn't that much of a struggle, why not?

I am liking the Tier 1 concealment "Axis Slim" for this purpose.
View attachment 954800
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Funny how it turns out the struggle really isnt a struggle when you actually do it, isnt it. :)

I see you too have one of those weird SIG's with that strange, abomination on it, and apparently on both sides yet! :eek: :p
 
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