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Bobby -

I've come up with five criteria for choosing a carry gun. I've ranked them in order of importance to me.

a. Reliability. If it doesn't go BANG! when you pull the trigger...

b. Stopping power. More is better. Although bullet design has improved tremendously over the years, big sharp bullets moving fast are generally more effective than small slow blunt bullets.

c. Proprietary to the user. That's something I first read about from Mas Ayoob. If you are at the point of using your gun, you may well be in a hand-to-hand struggle. If you lose the gun, the BG may pick it up and try to shoot you with it. If he can't figure out the controls, you may have time to do something besides get shot.

d. Practical accuracy. How well can you hit what you're shooting at? Shot placement is important, more so if you're shooting a smaller caliber.

e. Concealability. Semi-autos are generally easier to conceal than revolvers. The gun butt is usually the hardest part to conceal. Shorter is better. Thinner is better.

I weighted the above criteria as follows (YMMV one hell of a lot):

3 - Reliability

2 - Stopping power

2 - Proprietary to the user

1 - Practical accuracy

1 - Concealability

If you are considering three different guns, rank them from best to worst in each area. Give the best one 3 points and the worst one 1 point. Then multiply the points you gave that gun (say 3 for stopping power) by the weight for that criterion (2 for stopping power).

Here's an example: Your choices are a 1911 in .45ACP, a Glock in 9mm Parabellum, and a Kel-Tec .32ACP.

Reliability: You think Glock is best, then the 1911, then the Kel-Tec. So they are 3, 2, and 1. Multiply each by 3 (weight for reliability). The Glock gets 9 points, the 1911 6 points, and the Kel-Tec 3 points.

Stopping power: You decide the .45 is best, then the 9mm, then the .32. The 1911 gets 3 points, the Glock 2, and the Kel-Tec 1. Multiply by the weighting factor of two. The 1911 has 6 points, the Glock 4, and the Kel-Tec 2.

Proprietary: The 1911 gets 3 points, the Kel-Tec 2, and the Glock 1. Multiply by a weighting of two and the 1911 has 6 points, the Kel-Tec 4, and the Glock 2.

Practical accuracy: You decide that you shot the Glock better than the 1911 and both better than the Kel-Tec. The Glock gets 3 points, the 1911 2, and the Kel-Tec 1. Multiply by 1 for weighting and the results stay the same.

Concealability: Here's where the Kel-Tec shines. It gets 3 points. The 1911's slim butt gets it 2 points and the big grip of the Glock gets it 1.

Let's add it up. The Glock gets 19 points, the 1911 gets 22, and Kel-Tec gets 13. When two choices come out close together in points (like the 1911 and the Glock in this example), it's wise to see if changing the weight of your criteria a bit changes the outcome.

And now for the rest of the story...

My every-day carry gun is a Kimber 1911 with a 3" barrel in .45ACP. I wear a Liger gunbelt and carry it in a Tucker Gunleather "The Answer" leather/Kydex hybrid IWB holster at about 3:30.

I dress around my gun. I no longer wear polo shirts tucked in, unless I'm going to wear a sportcoat or other cover garment. Most of the time I wear dark slacks and an untucked camp shirt. The pistol disappears. Occassionally, I have to wear a coat and tie. Same rig.

If I have to go somewhere in shorts and a T-shirt (rare), then it's a S&W 642 in a pocket holster. I'm still in the process of picking out a suitable holster for carrying the 642 as a backup with the Kimber. Tucker Gunleather is making me a "Cover-up" IWB holster that may go to either Appendix or cross-draw. If that doesn't work for the 642, it may end up in an ankle rig.

Finally, on rare occassion I need to dress in such a way that neither the Kimber nor the 642 will do. That's when I carry my Colt Mustang Pocketlite in a SmartCarry.

Life is full of compromises. This ain't no different. Best of luck to you.

Bill