Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Carry Guns that I've Tried - Photo

Here is my submission for "Everybody Start a New Thread." Years ago I was trying to find the perfect compact/sub-compact carry gun. I figured it had to be smaller and lighter than my wife's 3" 1911 (shown in the pic (which is a Kimber Stainless Ultra TLE with laser grips)). I just started buying everything, knowing I could sell the losers at the gun show and not really be out anything.

Looking at the pic, I can't even remember what they all are for sure. In the top left is an old Colt Mustang. This is before Colt brought them back, so this was close to a $600 gun when I bought it. It was fine but there just wasn't a love connection and I didn't like something about it (I forgot what). In the top right is a Smith 49 my dad wanted to sell. I should have bought it, as it had less than 50 rounds through it, but I didn't. At the time, no-lock Smiths weren't that big of a deal so I figured I'd wait.

2nd row from the top on the left is a Glock 42. It was fine, but I finally decided that I didn't want a .380. The ammo was too expensive compared to a 9mm or .38 Spcl and I didn't need another cartridge to load for. 2nd row on the right is a hammerless .38 Special that I had for awhile. I liked it, but I decided to sell and try something else. In the 3rd row on the left is my wife's 1911. To the left of the 1911 is a Ruger LCR. I owned a few of those. I had them in .22lr, .22 Mag, and a couple in .38 Special. Both of the .38 Specials failed--sometimes the cylinders didn't rotate when you pulled the trigger. Since it happened in two different guns, I figured the gun had a design defect and sold all my LCR's (after I sent them back to Ruger for repair). Since then, LCR's seem to run great for everybody else!

In the lower left is a Kahr PM9 with factory night sights. I still have that pistol and carried it daily for a number of years. It runs like a top. When I got it, I believe it was the smallest production 9mm available. It has a trigger pull as long as your leg, but for whatever reason I manage to shoot it fine. Last, in the lower right is my daughter's SP 101. Great gun. Fits small hands extremely well. We still have that one too. (I'll dig up a pic of her shooting it).

In the end, the Kahr won. If I started this journey over, I think I'd look hard at a Sig P365 but for now, I make do with a Gen4 G19--I prefer to sacrifice comfort/convenience for ammo capacity.