Originally posted by mljdeckard: I USED to say that a .380 is the bare minimum to carry, particularly for people who absolutely must have a deep-carry piece. (NOT for regular guys who are just too lazy to adjust their wardrobe and lifestyle to carrying the weapon they shoot the best.) But then in about 1995 I think, I was blown away by the sub-compact Glock. Suddenly, it was possible to carry a tiny gun in 9mm, .40, .45, or .357 SIG. WOW. concealability AND power. These were followed by a lot of other sub-compacts in bigger cartridges. Now there are Kel-tecs, Ruger, Rohrbaugh, etc. in 9mm that are quite reliable. I've never heard anyone give a convincing reason to carry a .380 INSTEAD OF one of these options.
I dont necissarily agree with everything that mljdeckard said in the above but it is a wise statement indeed about the laziness factor. There are more people getting their concealed carry licenses than ever before and you better believe the majority of them are getting one of two styles of handguns: pocket 380s (such as P3AT, LCP, Bersas) or lightweight revolvers (642/442, Taurus UltraLite, Charter Arms) Both of these guns are small and light enough to just throw in the pocket. I tend to think of pocket carry as something that the not so serious gun toters do. Granted there is hot weather and people dont like wearing cover garments. The micro pistol is a too convenient solution for a problem that is anything but convenient.
I think the best 380 pocket pistol is either the Seecamp or the NAA Guardian. The vast majority of people looking for a pocket gun wont even consider one. True the Guardian costs a little more but that is not the reason nobody wants it. It is the weight. It is only 18 ounces here people. But that is almost twice as much as their precious LCP. Same thing with the revolvers. I tend to think the steel frames are the way to go but the first thing you hear out of an obviously inexperienced [with guns] person's mouth is that it is way to heavy. Yes it is 50% heavier than your precious 642. I suppose in the end it will all be figured out on an individual basis.
As for the end of the first statement in this post it is true. WHY must you insist on the P3AT when the PF9 is also available? Why the the LCP when there are 9mm Kahrs all over? Why a Bersa and not the Taurus Slim 9mm? Why a Sig 238 and not a Glock 27? I have no questions for the revolver shooters because I find the difference in the weight of a 642 and a model 60 which fire the same cartridge to not be as significant as the difference in power between a 9mm and a 380.
Also on this note I really do love 380 pistols but they are the ones that nobody really wants such as the Sig 230 and 232, Beretta 84 (and all Cheetahs) Browning BDA. They would even be good carry guns but I guess they are just too big.