Mouse Guns : YOUR Definition, CCW, etc. ?

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1: What is YOUR definition of a Mouse Gun ?
2: Would (do) you use one for primary carry ? Which one ?
3: Same as above, for backup ? Which ?
4: Specify largest and smallest Mouse Gun you would "consider" carrying ?

Thanks for all objective replies .:)
 
To me a mouse gun is very easily concealable, one that basically is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Something like a NAA Guardian, Seecamp or the likes. For me it would be a backup, but for some it could be the primary as I know of a couple who use them as a primary.
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I carry a lcp almost everyday. I live in what most would consider a very safe community. I am comfortable with the. 380.
I often carry my lcp as backup to my AR pistol.

#1. Small enough to conceal with minimal summer attire.
#2. Original lcp .380
#3. If I wanted a bug, it would definitely be my lcp
#4. I am going to assume by mouse gun you are alluding to a small caliber pistol. The smallest I want to carry is the lcp. I had a naa mini revokver.. it was just too tiny. The largest would be a Glock 42. Anything larger than a Glock 42, and I'm going with a 9mm or larger

20160228_145704.jpg .
 
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I consider a mouse gun a tiny small caliber easy to conceal gun.

I personally limit my own carry guns to 9mm and alternate between a small 9mm and an XDs 45 depending on what I’m wearing.
 
My KT P32 and NAA .22 mag qualify, in my eyes at least, as mouse guns. My Kahr PM9 and J-frame Smiths don't.

I will only carry a mouse gun when it is impossible to carry something larger. Backup? Don't make me laugh, I live in NM where we are allowed to carry no more than one concealed firearm at a time.
 
As above, pocket carry that doesn't totally fill the pocket. Carry one as a last resort. They aren't fun pistols to train with, can even be painful.
 
A mouse gun, IMO, is any gun YOU are willing to stand in front of,
and take a full mag to the CBM, because you consider it harmless.
Obviously, it varies from person to person.

I have a 22 cal auto, a 9mm derringer, a 32 cal auto, all of which I
carry, at some point, and I would not want to stand in front of any of them.
 
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My definition of a mouse gun is any so-called sub-compact with a grip that is too short for me to get full grip on. I am not a fan of the "tea cup" grip that leaves my pinky dangling off in space. Any pistol with a barrel so short that I have to worry about my natural two-hand grip putting digits in front of the muzzle is also a mouse gun. And finally, any pistol in a cartridge less powerful than the .38 Special/.380 ACP is a mouse gun.

My EDC is a Glock 20. I've carried a Glock 19 before. But I don't think I would ever go any smaller than that. I like guns that are big enough to shoot well. While I understand the point of a handgun is its discretion and portability, there is a point of diminishing returns and I live in a state where open carry is not only legal, but protected, concealed carry only requires a permit inside city limits, and there is still a decent gun culture. I don't walk around in shorts and a tank top, ever. I like to have real pants with enough pockets to allow me to carry a pocket knife, also fairly large, a small flash light, and other useful items. So no, I don't ever see myself owning a "mouse gun."
 
Mouse guns I’ve carried when nothing else would conceal:
Seecamp .32
Seecamp .25
Bauer .25
Baby Browning .25
NAA .22 LR

Honestly? I rather like the Seecamp .25. I can shoot that little gun like a sewing machine and barely come off target.

Optimal, no. But, I’m hardly unarmed.
 
I consider any .380 or smaller that fits in a pocket and can be easily drawn from there a mouse gun.

I'm a fan. It may get me murdered one day...then again, I eat red meat sometimes, drive a fast car on the weekends, enjoy a couple of cocktails in the evening, and handle a loaded gun every day. All of these things are statistically more likely to kill me than violent crime.

I like full size guns. I carry one when I feel the statistics scale is sliding in favor of one, ie going downtown for dinner after dark/hiking in the woods. I applaud those willing to dress around one every day. I generally don't unless I'm wearing a coat.

I carry an LCP II daily. I have carried an LCP, Bodyguard, and Pico in the past. I currently have become very smitten with the NAA mini revolvers in .22 magnum as a hideout gun that I can carry places where I wouldn't normally be able to carry/conceal a gun.
 
I'd rather not bet my life on 380 but work clothing (tucked-in shirt / dress pants) doesn't lend to bigger than 380, "best one can do".
Other than work attire (yuck), my pocket has a PM9 or PM40 and that is carried as 2nd option to something larger IWB.

Can and willing are two different concepts.
Some people are not willing to dress around a "decent" handgun when they could.
Often the "lesser" handgun is rationalized by location and daylight ("good" places in daytime)
A threat that justifies use of deadly force is the same whether occurring in Small Town USA during daytime or Atlanta at night.
I want the same threat stopping potential regardless of location or light.
I want a caliber with "bet your life" stopping potential, 380 and below doesn't meet that criteria.
 
My own definition of "mouse gun" is a small caliber, small frame handgun. Less than .38 Spl in revolvers, less than 9mm in autoloaders. Usually designed with grip frames too small to be actually useful, barrels too short to be at all meaningful.
 
1: What is YOUR definition of a Mouse Gun ? Small caliber Semi or Revolver in a caliber of .32 or lower
2: Would (do) you use one for primary carry ? I have never carried one nor owned one, However I would love one Which one ? Beretta Jetfire in .25 acp
3: Same as above, for backup ? Same and only for backup purposes
4: Specify largest and smallest Mouse Gun you would "consider" carrying ? Largest mouse gun Id deal with is a .32 of some flavor prolly a walther ppk for nostalgia's sake, the smallest would be an NAA revolver in .22 mag.
 
Anything smaller than a Glock 27 qualifies as a mouse gun for me.
I bought a Ruger LCP II, recently, after surgery limited my carry options. I've been very impressed with accuracy and feel of this pistol. It has become my backup as I am back to carrying my 27 or 23 now.
 
I've carried 'em. It's not common I carry one as a primary, with no second, except while traveling in uniform to and from my no-carry job site.

I consider the following guns I've owned as "mouse guns":

Taurus PT22.

Taurus PT25 (I have two of these, for some reason.)

Jennings J22.

Phoenix HP22A

Bauer 25 Auto

Kel-Tec P32

Taurus PT738 (TCP)

NAA Mini 22LR (1.125-inch).

Only the TCP and the P32 have ever been regularly carried solo, and the P32, when so carried, is stoked with a ten-round magazine. I have probably gone out a couple of times with the PT22 or PT25. I'm sure I've been out once or twice with only the Jennings, too (and survived to tell about it!) The KT and the NAA get carried a lot as backups.

The Bauer is the only one of these I never carried. I bought it for the novelty, not for utility. Some of the others just sort of "came to me" for one reason or the other. For example, the PT22 as a trainer/double for my PF9 and P32, and one of the PT25s because it was stainless, had three mags and grip sets, and was really inexpensive.

Also, my wife will not shoot anything bigger than the PT22, which she actually likes. So that, or one of the PT25 pistols, gets left out for her when I'm not around.
 
Gun Master said:
1: What is YOUR definition of a Mouse Gun ?
2: Would (do) you use one for primary carry ? Which one ?
3: Same as above, for backup ? Which ?
4: Specify largest and smallest Mouse Gun you would "consider" carrying ?

Thanks for all objective replies .:)
Click to expand...

1. Anything smaller than a Rat Gun. A term I first heard here. http://mouseguns.com/ratguns/ratguns.htm

4. Smallest I have: NAA Guardian .32ACP
Largest I have: Remington RM380

__________________

An interesting website that is essentially frozen in time back in 2011 due to the passing of the webmaster/author. http://mouseguns.com/index.htm
 
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Most often I've read that "Mouse guns are generally defined as those small pistols that are chambered for calibers that are lighter and less powerful than the 9mm"

https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2016/1/25/friends-dont-let-friends-carry-mouse-guns/


I personally don't consider .380 Auto a mouse caliber. It was a police round for many years, the FMJ bullets usually penetrate through-and-through and there are hollow points now that penetrate 14+ inches through the IWBA 4 x denim protocol tests.

I don't use one for primary carry but I would. The fact that I can put more shots on target more quickly with the 380 Auto is something I like. I do carry a Remington RM380 as a backup almost every day. If Remington made an RM32 I'd carry it as a backup. I haven't shot a PICO lately but if Beretta has fixed the things about it I didn't like and they chambered it in .32 ACP, I'd carry it as a backup.
 
#1: Anything that will disappear in a pants pocket

#2: NAA Sidewinder .22 Magnum

#3: NAA Sidewinder .22 Magnum

#4: NAA .22 LR Mini Revolver - Taurus TCP/Ruger LCP .380 ACP

I would go all the way down to .22 LR in a revolver, not my first choice but better than no choice. Semi-auto, any centerfire round - I prefer .380 but would consider .32 ACP. I do not consider rimfire semi auto pistols to be reliable enough for carry, mainly due to ammo quality concerns.
 
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I don't know if .380 is a mouse gun or not, but my LCP is probably my most common carry, and usually goes in my pocket. I have three .25's...and I don't know why. They're kind of fun, but would only carry if there was nothing else. I might be more inclined to use pepper spray before a .25, though I couldn't say for sure. They are all 100% reliable, despite being inexpensive guns. The .22lr pocket pistols I've owned haven't been as reliable, generally speaking.
 
Don't really care about mouse guns, my interests are in pocket guns. For 7 years mine has been an LCP. Still carry it but now it shares time with a G23.

The .380acp is THE small caliber for me, as for size I don't consider that a #1 issue weight is.

I want my pocket gun to weigh less than a pound fully loaded, anything more and it goes on the belt.
 
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