Your #2 requirement of a carry gun?

[HammsBeer]

I know carry guns are often a compromise, and I would guess that everyone's number one requirement is that it goes bang every time. So besides reliability, what characteristic do you consider to be a top priority for your carry gun?

Is it ammo capacity, caliber, weight, size, shootability, price, accuracy, concealability, etc...?

 

[MedWheeler]

Ability to actually be present.

Fortunately, I have choices of several types that meet both your "first requirement", and this one.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

For me, #2 is shootability -- how well I can shoot it.

#3 is power.

I see it like this -- it's got to go bang every time you pull the trigger. Given that it went bang, you've got to get a hit. Given that you got a hit, it has to have the power to do the job.

#4 is concealability.

The M1911 does extremely well in all four categories.

 

[Deaf Smith]

1. Reliability. It must always work as well as humanly possible.
2. Effectiveness. It must be effective. And effectiveness is a compromise between power and controllability. To much power and the weapon becomes uncontrollable, to little power and your opponent is not stopped in time.
3. Concealability. It must be realistically concealable.

Art least for me that's what I look for. Firepower is farther down the list.

Deaf

 

[Stevel]

Ability to actually be present.

Fortunately, I have choices of several types that meet both your "first requirement", and this one.

What he said. If it's in the car and you're in the mall........

 

[wally]

Size. First rule of the gun fight: Have a gun!

 

[km101]

1. Reliability - it must work first time, every time.

2. effectiveness - it has to be able to do the intended job, and provide adequate stopping power and capacity.

3. concealability - if you cant hide it, you cant carry it. You must be able to conceal it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have to shoot the handgun accurately because the best ammo and the most powerful cartridge in the world will do you no good unless you make good hits.

I hit what I'm aiming at every time with my current carry.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Accuracy in fast follow ups is #2 for me. Bullet placement trumps everything else behind reliability for me.

VooDoo

 

[bigfatdave]

Ergonomics

And I'll point out that you can MAKE an ergonomic gun reliable, with maintenance/repairs/ammo selection/mags/etc

 

[g_one]

Concealability. My definition of a true carry gun is, aside from going bang every time, a gun that no matter where I'm going, or what I'll be wearing while I'm there, I will not have an excuse to not have it somewhere on my person. (Obvious places excluded - gun-free zones and the beach are the only two I can think of.)

 

[Hokkmike]

concealability...The first requirement ALWAYS being reliability.

 

[Girodin]

That I can shoot and run it adequately well. If it doesn't go bang its not particularly useful, but if I can't shoot or run it well enough to be effective under stress in a time is life situation then it isn't that much more useful even if it is a as reliable as can be.

It is amazing to see how many folks really can't shoot or run their guns once you go from a stress free static square range to even mildly more difficult situations.

Whether you will carry a particular gun is largely and most often a choice and one that can be made with lots of time and planning. Whether one can then be effective with that gun is a different matter. I'm not saying I carry a G17 everyday, however, I want a gun that I shoot or run well. After all using a gun in self defense is pretty serious business with extremely high stakes.

 

[bannockburn]

After 1) Reliability, there's 2) Accuracy, 3) Shootability, and 4) Concealability.

 

[C0untZer0]

2) Effectiveness - not to be a caliber snob but I didn't like going "below" 9mm for my primary.

3) Concealability / carryability - It is really difficult for me to discipline myself to strap on a heavy pistol every time I leave the house. I start cheating and leaving the gun behind for "quick trips". But the quick trips turn into longer trips as I stop by this place or that or fill up the gas tank etc... I also can't discipline myself to dress "up" to the pistol in the summer. I wear shorts and a T-shirt, no belt, and if I have to wear a belt to hold my pants up because of a gun I start to cheat again and the gun often gets left behind. So I settled on a pocket 9.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

So besides reliability, what characteristic do you consider to be a top priority for your carry gun?

#2 - Can I shoot it accurately? This one is a no-brainer. If you can't hit what you're shooting at, what's the point? You're actually more dangerous to those innocents around you if you are a poor shot with your carry gun.
#3 - Can I carry it comfortably? If it is uncomfortable to carry and annoying, chances are you'll just leave it at home, or in the vehicle. That doesn't do you any good in a life threatening situation.

I wear shorts and a T-shirt, no belt, and if I have to wear a belt to hold my pants up because of a gun I start to cheat again and the gun often gets left behind. So I settled on a pocket 9.

I usually don't go without a belt, but I too have a hard time concealing in certain situations. I'm considering a S&W Airweight just for that reason.

 

[nyc71]

Ergonomics

And I'll point out that you can MAKE an ergonomic gun reliable, with maintenance/repairs/ammo selection/mags/etc

You must be referring to the M&P line

 

[bigfatdave]

Nope, I was more thinking of old surplus pistols.

 

[Fiv3r]

Depends on the situation.

Most days, I carry a snub .357 revolver because it reliable, powerful, and I shoot it better than most anything close to it's size. I also carry OWB so the weight of this Ruger is not off putting, but a longer barrel catching on things would be.

The downside? It's only 5 shots, and reloading a revolver in a hurry is something I have never been able to master as fast as dropping a magazine and slapping a new one in.

While I know that there is no crystal ball to tell me when/if I will need a gun, I try to play the odds. Walking around the quaint downtown of my little hamlet, the .357 is most likely 5 more shots than I will need in 100 years carrying around there. If I go to the more urban and run down downtown of the next larger city over, the snubbie would probably do the trick, but I do feel a little light on fire power. In those situations, I carry a Glock 26 with two extra mags. I honestly find the extra 5 rounds of quality 9mm in the magazine to be totally sufficient for protection, but with a gun so lightweight as the 26, tucking a double mag pouch onto my belt's weakside isn't all that noticeable, so why not.

In short:
1.) Reliability

2.) Comfort (actually packing the thing)/Firepower (depending on the situation).

 

[DT Guy]

Isn't it amazing that Col. Cooper said it so accurately when he said, "Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas"? All our answers will end up being some variation of what enables us to do those, it seems...

Larry

 

[gamestalker]

For me it goes like this. I'm sure there are others here that will offer a better professional idea of what is most important, but this is my take.

#1 Must be 100% reliable

#2 Practice shooting it until consistently proficient. For me, this means getting out regularly to stay sharp and familiar with both the firearm, the holster and manner of carry, and the ammunition intended for SD.

#3 The ammunition carried, is the ammunition I personally practice with. And since I carry a full house loads, this is a critical element for me.

#4 I never leave home with it, I mean never.

#5 One must know that when you decide to carry, you also must come to full terms that you may have to use it. I feel that some folks think that just displaying it, or having it will some how be enough. It isn't, and is probably the most dangerous mind set to one can have.


GS

 

[gunsablazin]

My #2 requirement is that it should be 1911, chambered in .45ACP

 

[Arkansas Paul]

^ Doesn't #1 being it has to be 100% reliable preclude the 1911 platform?

 

[JohnBiltz]

Its nonsense to think there is a number 2. I also notice price has not been mentioned and the truth is if there is a number 2 that is probably it. Pistols and carry pistols in particular are all about compromise. You take all the factors and judge what that totals out to. Weight, size, caliber, capacity, ergonomics, accuracy all matters and can be deal breakers no matter how you place them on your hierarchy of what is most important and once you have decided the guns down to a couple of choices if one costs a several hundred dollars more that may decide the final choice.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I also notice price has not been mentioned and the truth is if there is a number 2 that is probably it.

For some people that is true and for others, not so much.
For me, price was certainly part of the equation. However, if you buy a gun that is uncomfortable to carry and you leave it at home because of that its different. It really doesn't matter that you got it for $300 if its at home in the dresser.