The Annoyed Man wrote:I second the snubbie suggestions. Mine is a 5 shot M&P340 scandium .357. The scandium framed guns are a little tougher when it comes to managing recoil, but they weigh so little that pocketing them is s breeze. Mine weighs 13oz. To put that into perspective my 5+1 round XDS-45, which is also pocketable, weighs 21.5 oz. My Kahr PM9 pocket gun Has 6+1 rounds and weighs 15.9 oz. with an empty magazine. Both of the semiautos have a couple more rounds of capacity, but they are also mechanically more complicated, and the snubbie, believe it or not, actually has an easier and faster sight picture. The XDS is my EDC. The PM9 is my "deep cover" gun because it is so tiny. But the snubbie revolver is by far the easiest "grab and go" gun of the three.
If you compare firepower, the snubbie may have the lower capacity, but it is he hardest hitting of the three guns. I keep it stoked with Hornady's 125 grain Critical Defense, which cranks out 1200fps/400 lb ft from a 2" barrel.
The XDS I load with Hornady's 185 grain Critical Defense For 900 fps/333 lb ft from a 3" barrel.
The PM9 (3" barrel) is loaded with Corbon 115 grain +P DPX, which develops 1250 fps/399 lb ft from a 4" barrel....so the Kahr is lower than that in both velocity and energy.
The Corbon ammo in the Kahr approaches the Hornady in the snubbie, but the Kahr's sights are harder to see, and there is always the risk of a malfunction.
Everybody should have at least one good reliable snub nose revolver.
i've always been a fan of the pm9 for these applications but after reading this post i may need to checkout a snubnose, i've actually never owned a revolver.
i'll agree on the sights, the kahr has such a small sight radius that it takes longer to get a good picture