Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Suggestions for compact 9mm

When there is a question about handgun choice Glock is always the best answer.



mike r

Mike, That may be a “bit of a reach”! . memtb

I have never owned a Glock, again my single action tendencies. But I am definitely going to have to get one to try. Never heard of anyone who owned one who didn't like it. Before I got a P938 as a carry gun, I looked at a Kahr. Really well made gun, machining as nice on the inside as out and I shot it really well. The only downside was the trigger. It had a really great trigger, too good as a matter of fact. I pocket carried at the time and was afraid of putting a handgun with that nice of a trigger in my pants pocket without a safety, again probably just my years of carrying a single action.

What do all the people who have to be one of the cool kids carry?

Last year I paid $349.99 for a new S&W M&P 2.0 Compact 3.6". That's a lot of bang for the buck. Similar deals pop up regularly. Right now SOS has the .40 S&W version for $299. I don't really want another .40, but they're making it hard to avoid.

The Sig P365 really is a nice little pistol. I carry it with a 10 round magazine with a 15 round as an occasional backup.



That's a revolver - I'd consider a S&W Airweight J-frame.

That P-938 is a helluva gun - I have one myself and a Wright Leather Works holster's being made even as I type this.. But as far as 'compact' goes, I think the Kahr P-9 is very slim... The smaller CM-9 is even easier to conceal..

Redneck, We have 2 Kahr CM9’s......they are “car” (pun intended) guns. They live in our vehicles as a back-up gun. I loved my little Kahr, but my wife didn’t like the trigger pull. At least for myself, it may be one of the best “naturally pointing” handguns I’ve used. I attempted a “snap” shot on a sprinting ( left to right) house cat, at night, at about 40 feet. I really thought that I had hit the d@&n thing. The impact was so close, I thought that I’d made a pass-through shot. A sprinting cat, across a narrow opening,doesn’t give time for sight alignment ....just “ point and click”! memtb

I shot a P365 the other day and will likely order one this week. I've been thinking about trying appendix carry on warm days when I still have to dress decent and tuck in a shirt. The manual-safety version of the 365 holds some appeal for me there.

I'm not sure of your definition of cool kids but most of the people I know who take defensive shooting seriously carry Glocks. Becoming proficient takes a lot of work for most people and high volume shooters often rate reliability as the 1st requirement. I was issued a Sig 226 and shot about 1k rounds/week for 12 years and found it very reliable but, for me, difficult to learn to shoot well and difficult to conceal.

I purchased a Glock 17 in 1987 and in less than 1k rounds was a convert for life. Many serious shooters have been converted by the shootability, relentless reliability and ease and economy of maintenance. I used a G23 for a few years then switched to G19s for EDC. Mine now have grip reductions, aggressive stipling and a few enhancements starting w/ sights.

Several of my associates are now carrying single stack Glocks and I am probably going to add one soon. We all carry at all times and train frequently and deliberately.

I chose to take your question seriously and hope you find my response sufficient.



mike r

Back in April I wanted a reliable, sometimes carry handgun and didn't want to spend a lot. I ended up with a S&W Shield for around $300 after a $40 rebate. Since then I've heard they can be had for a little less.

It's plenty accurate enough, easy to conceal and so far it's been completely reliable. I've put over 700 rounds of everything from cheapo Brown Bear to high end self defense stuff through it with no malfunctions. It's not my favorite gun to take to the range but for what I got it for it's worked out pretty well.

I wouldn't spend much money on a pistol you're never gonna shoot. And I suspect the "carry" part isn't going to happen either. So get some good pepper spray, or maybe a Tazer and call it good.

I’ll shoot the gun to get comfortable with it, but then it will be shot occasionally and used as a self defense gun and archery carry gun. Sorry, don’t have the coin to blow through ammo all the time and I don’t feel the need to carry every where I go. Even though in this day and age, you aren’t safe anywhere. Thanks for your $.02 though.

Lots of Ruger Lc9S's left out there. I love mine.

I paid maybe more than I should have, but I bought before the price dropped steeply.

Either theLc9S or it's ec9s clone are reliable, accurate, and user friendly.

Think of the APX Carry as a Nano 2.0, it’s basically a Nano with a slide stop lever. If you are able to get the Nano at a good price I would go with that.

And really inexpensive...

I thought Gander was a thing of the past?

First ever post on the Fire. Joined just to say: the idea of carrying a gun you never shoot is not good. Like, really not good.

That said, go with the Sig 365. Great to carry, and great to SHOOT.

Welcome to the Fire Jackstraw.

Really liked the LC9S pro. May some around to see if I can find a new one.

Well, my question wasn't especially serious but I appreciate your detailed and personal reply.

Don't you find any contradiction between "Glock is always the best answer" and "Mine now have grip reductions, aggressive stipling and a few enhancements starting w/ sights". There have got to be choices out there for some people that don't require hacking on the grips and replacing the sights at least.