Glock 42 or .380 for carry

[mupepe]

I carry a Kimber Micro Carry 380 IWB. Not sure about other 380's but it is very accurate.

My LCP is accurate as long as the target is a barn at less than 20 feet.

I do most of my practice at 7 yards with it, but I'm confident in my Kimber up to at least 25 yards which is as far as the indoor range I go to has.

[Medley86]

I carry a Kimber Micro Carry 380 IWB. Not sure about other 380's but it is very accurate.

My LCP is accurate as long as the target is a barn at less than 20 feet.

I do most of my practice at 7 yards with it, but I'm confident in my Kimber up to at least 25 yards which is as far as the indoor range I go to has.

I live out in the country, so my range is my back yard. Have an old door laid on its side I put targets on and at about 5 yards I can get about a 1 foot group for a full magazine. I only practice shooting it with one hand at a time, though I do practice with each hand. It's DOA so the trigger is long and heavy, not exactly ideal for accuracy. I can ring 6" steel at nearly 50 with the XD though.

[Cjwglock19]

I carry a pocket .380 when I just can't dress around my Glock 19. I have Hornady Critical Defense loaded in it with a spare mag...won't win any competitions with it but it'll get me home!!

[mupepe]

I carry a Kimber Micro Carry 380 IWB. Not sure about other 380's but it is very accurate.

My LCP is accurate as long as the target is a barn at less than 20 feet.

I do most of my practice at 7 yards with it, but I'm confident in my Kimber up to at least 25 yards which is as far as the indoor range I go to has.

I live out in the country, so my range is my back yard. Have an old door laid on its side I put targets on and at about 5 yards I can get about a 1 foot group for a full magazine. I only practice shooting it with one hand at a time, though I do practice with each hand. It's DOA so the trigger is long and heavy, not exactly ideal for accuracy. I can ring 6" steel at nearly 50 with the XD though.

Yeesh. I usually kick myself when I see the LCP on sale and compare it to what I paid for the Kimber but I think I'll be ok now! I wish I could shoot my XD like you though. One day

[joe817]

My daily carry is a Colt Government .380(see avatar). It's been my daily carry since getting my CHL back in '09. It's very accurate out to about 100'. I carry it locked and loaded, with a spare mag in my pocket(along with my EDC flashlight, and knife-a Gerber covert automatic).

I'd rather carry something larger in caliber, but with budgetary constraints, I go with what I got.

[John Galt]

My LCP is accurate as long as the target is a barn at less than 20 feet.

My LCP is the only gun I have that I have no interest in shooting.

[Wolfgang]

I would say it varies from person to person...ability and preference. As some have pointed out it also depends on the occasion.
I carry a 1911 Commander in 45ACP, but that is way too big for my wife. She's little and has small hands. The Glock 42 fits her hands great and the recoil is something she can handle easy.

[rotor]

I carry a S&W .380 Bodyguard with the laser site when I conceal carry. When I open carry it might be a Glock 43 or a Ruger SR1911. The Glock 42 was not available when I started carrying. I have a Colt Mark IV Series 80 Government Model that my dad left me which is a safe queen. A fine gun but I consider too big for a .380. My wife has a S&W Shield 9mm, performance model. 9mm probably should be the minimum carry gun but there is a balance between easy carry and best carry.

[Medley86]

Well since I was thinking about it and needed an excuse to burn through some ammo I shot my LCP a little today. Here is the target after the first 2 6 shot strings from 7 yards. The grouping isn't great but not too huge either. From the groups I'm assuming something I do with this gun is causing the low right POI, the same doesn't happen with my XDm or my 1911. And it definitely isn't fun to shoot.

[MechAg94]

IMO, I would just try to dress to the point of allowing carry of the G19 all the time. You have more capacity and it is likely easier to shoot accurately. I end up wearing cargo shorts so I can still use my gun belt and just pick T-shirts that hang past the belt without hugging my waist. With cargo shorts, I guess you always have the option of tucking a small pistol into the cargo pocket.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I won't get into the "is .380ACP a self-defense caliber[?]" discussion, but I'd like to comment on the pistols. Until relatively recently, all .380ACP pistols were blow-back pistols meaning they are not a locking-breech design. (For those new to handguns, a locking-breech design is one that locks the barrel to the slide for a very short distance of the slide travel. A blow-back design has a barrel that is fixed to the frame and does not move.) Since the recoil spring is the only thing holding the slide closed ("in battery") in a blow-back design, the spring must be stronger than in a locking-breech design. This makes it much harder to rack the slide and charge the pistol. Couple this with the very small physical size of .380ACP pistols and you have a gun that is very difficult for most women to use, as well as elderly people or those with weak or arthritic hands.

I've seen hundreds of women come to classes with Walther PPKs and their Bersa knock-offs who either couldn't operate the guns, or who had great difficulty doing so. I have a PPK and I hate that gun! My wife loves the size and feel, but she can't reliably operate the slide to charge the pistol to to clear a malfunction. For this reason, I always cautioned women and the men in their lives against choosing a .380ACP unless they wanted to get the larger framed Beretta Cheetah. (The techniques for racking a slide that many of us instructors teach do not work well with block-back design .380APCs.)

All this has changed with the availability of locking-breech .380ACP pistols like the SIG P238. I'm seeing more P238s in my basic handgun classes and LTC classes than any other .380ACP. This is surprising since SIGs have always been on the high side of the price scale, but ladies love those little guns. In addition to having a slide that is easy to operate, they have real sights! There are other locking-breech .380ACPs now, but I'm not familiar with them, nor do I see many in classes.

I haven't seen a Glock Mod. 42 in the flesh, so I'm not sure if it is a locking-breech design, but I'd be very surprised if it is not.
Chas.

[Flightmare]

I won't get into the "is .380ACP a self-defense caliber[?]" discussion, but I'd like to comment on the pistols. Until relatively recently, all .380ACP pistols were blow-back pistols meaning they are not a locking-breech design. (For those new to handguns, a locking-breech design is one that locks the barrel to the slide for a very short distance of the slide travel. A blow-back design has a barrel that is fixed to the frame and does not move.) Since the recoil spring is the only thing holding the slide closed ("in battery") in a blow-back design, the spring must be stronger than in a locking-breech design. This makes it much harder to rack the slide and charge the pistol. Couple this with the very small physical size of .380ACP pistols and you have a gun that is very difficult for most women to use, as well as elderly people or those with weak or arthritic hands.

I've seen hundreds of women come to classes with Walther PPKs and their Bersa knock-offs who either couldn't operate the guns, or who had great difficulty doing so. I have a PPK and I hate that gun! My wife loves the size and feel, but she can't reliably operate the slide to charge the pistol to to clear a malfunction. For this reason, I always cautioned women and the men in their lives against choosing a .380ACP unless they wanted to get the larger framed Beretta Cheetah. (The techniques for racking a slide that many of us instructors teach do not work well with block-back design .380APCs.)

All this has changed with the availability of locking-breech .380ACP pistols like the SIG P238. I'm seeing more P238s in my basic handgun classes and LTC classes than any other .380ACP. This is surprising since SIGs have always been on the high side of the price scale, but ladies love those little guns. In addition to having a slide that is easy to operate, they have real sights! There are other locking-breech .380ACPs now, but I'm not familiar with them, nor do I see many in classes.

I haven't seen a Glock Mod. 42 in the flesh, so I'm not sure if it is a locking-breech design, but I'd be very surprised if it is not.
Chas.

I rotate between my P238 and P938 for carry. 9mm is cheaper to purchase than .380ACP. And since they are a nearly identical platform, any training I do with the P938 carries over to the P238.

[puma guy]

I haven't seen a Glock Mod. 42 in the flesh, so I'm not sure if it is a locking-breech design, but I'd be very surprised if it is not.
Chas.

The Glock 42 is a locked breech. Of all the .380's my wife has shot she favors the Glock. She hasn't shot the Kimber Micro, Colt Mustang but we've tried most of the others.

[allisji]

I often carry my Taurus T738 380 cause it easily slips in my pocket when the wardrobe calls for a small pocket pistol and it shoots well. I'm shooting Federal Low Recoil 90 Grain Hydra Shok JHP with good results and accuracy.

how many rounds of the hydra shoks have you put through it? do you routinely practice double-taps and rapid fire?

I also carry the TCP 380 routinely. I have probably put 300 rounds through it, mostly FMJ target rounds, but always put one or two magazines of hollow points through each range trip. I've been using some Liberty Civil Defense ammo that I got a good deal on.

I like the Taurus mostly because of it's size, and it's got a decently smooth DAO trigger with a decently crisp reset. I haven't had many jams or FTF/FTEs except for a few FTEs that cleared very easily while shooting double taps/rapid fire with target ammo. That said, I was shooting it in April and while firing through a 6 rd magazine it malfunctioned badly. Mid magazine I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. No bang, not even a click. Still had trigger spring tension, but no hammer movement. I racked the slide, no use. Cleared the gun, and couldn't get anything to happen. I ended up sending it in to Taurus and they sent it back within two weeks. Their report said that they replaced the trigger assembly, but didn't indicate what the malfunction was. It's worked fine since, but I plan on finding a new primary carry gun. Starting with my new Sig p239 9mm.

[twomillenium]

From what i have heard and read the .380 compared to the 9mm is about the same power . I am referring to the design of defense bullets and the extra rounds you get with the .380. I have been thinkin about getting a pocket carry .380 myself!

If i am incorrect about the round comparisons let me know

letting you know.