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All the talk about the new .380 Rugar LCP has got me think'n...

What is the smallest caliber you would carry in a CCW?

To me nothing beats the idea of carrying in .45, but I also have a S&W .38 SP Snub Revolver. I just know that it might take all 5 shots of the .38 to do what I expect the .45 to do in 1 or 2. The Rugar seems like a great little .380 pistol, but I wouldn't be comfortable with it's stopping power.

So ladies and gentalmen, how low will you go?

Sometimes (dictated by clothing) I can only carry my Kel-tec P32 in 32ACP. But I don't really have confidence that it would "do the job" in many possible street scenarios.

I would say that the smallest caliber I feel comfortable with is 38 spl. And that would be in a +P loading.

Mostly these days I'm packing a 45. With either my Commander or my Para LDA, comfort level is not an issue.

I carry "most" of the time. I own a 92fs and a P95 both are 9mm, I am not uncomfortable when I am unarmed.

If I had a a smaller pocketable gun I would carry it at those times I choose to be unarmed. If I am comfortable with being unarmed, I would be Be just dandy packing a 22long rifle. I don't see any need to carry less than a 380 though. Keltec and Ruger have nice options in these sizes.

Anything is better than nothing.

My "always" gun is an S&W 340Sc loaded with 145 grain Winchester .357 Silvertips.

Depending on clothing, occasionally I may carry a 9mm or .45.

Always gun is a J Frame 642 with +p 38 Spl rounds. If able, I carry my XD40.

Also depending on clothing, I sometimes carry a .32NAA, but most of my carry is a .45ACP.

I used to carry a 9mm sometimes, but my wife considers that her gun now, so until I replace it with another .45ACP, I'll stick with what I have.

Quote: "My "always" gun is an S&W 340Sc loaded with 145 grain Winchester .357 Silvertips."

Hank -

FWIW, when I got my 340 right after they first came out, I tested the "jumping the crimp" thing with several diffent brands/weights. IIRC, 5 out of 8 did not stand up to zero movement of the 5'th round - and, disappointinly for me, the Silvertip was one of them*. That testing (and shot to shot recovery time) led me to generally just keep the 340 loaded with 38+Ps, sometimes with the last chamber or two a real .357.

Edited to add: * Maybe I just had a box from a batch with light crimps.

But more on topic, I'm with many others. It depends on circumstances, especially clothing. PM-9 with 6+1 in 9mm is the "go with" on-bod gun for today.

Yeah, the new Ruger mousegun might be a "fit" some day. And it still won't go in some places I can tuck NAA .22Mag - not what I'd want for sure, but as others have also said, might very well beat nothing.

At 6:30 this morning, on my way out the door to my Weight Watchers meeting, wearing just shorts, t-shirt, and sandals, I debated between a 642 Airweight in .38 Special (which would slip easily into the pocket of my shorts), and a Kimber Ultra Carry II in .45 ACP. I took the Kimber.

I do own a Colt Government .380, but I don't have enough confidence in the pistol's reliability, and I'm not convinced that the .380 is enough cartridge. It is certainly better than no caliber at all, and I have no desire to test one out on myself, but I would feel at a disadvantage if the other guy were armed with a gun.

I do think that .38 Special is an adequate round, and the 642 revolver certainly goes bang the first five times you pull the trigger. After that, it goes click, click. I'm left handed, and I have to switch hands to open the cylinder; besides which the gun and cylinder are so small that the speed loader is clumsy. So although it is a nifty little gun, it's not really right for me. The Kimber is a little bigger and heavier, but it functions flawlessly, and it is more or less ambidextrous to use. And you can't go wrong with .45 ACP.

I prefer a Kahr PM9 9mm (in front pocket holster), or a Glock 26 (Comp-Tac IWB holster), but there are occasions I just have a NAA .22 mini-revolver (not what I'd want to have if I ever needed it, but at least it's a gun).

The majority of the time, I carry a 1911 in 45acp. However, if circumstances call for deeper concealment, I may carry a snubby 38spl or a tiny 32acp semi auto.

The smallest I feel comfortable with is a 40 S&W. I currently carry that in an H&K USP Compact. However, I'm going to start carrying my new XD 45 Compact taht I picked up this week.

My BUG is a .22 NAA Mini with the folding grip.

380+p in bug
9mm in main carry

I have a p226 40cal for main
Looking at a H&K compact in .45 for BUG

I'm entirely comfortable with my 9mm as a primary carry sidearm. During the summer months I normally switch to .38 Special and never feel under equipped.

If it was my job to go after BG's, then I may want something larger, but that would most likely mean a shotgun or rifle. Even when flying in Iraq, I felt fine with the 9mm on my survival vest. Of course there were also M60 door guns and M16's in the back, but that just reinforces the concept of a pistol as the weapon you use to fight to escape or to reach a serious fighing weapon (crew served is better).

Accepting the fact that any pistol is underpowered and is at best a marginally effective defensive weapon, the only thing I expect to gain with its use is "time". If I am lucky, the BG will run away. If not, he will get his clock reset and hopefully I'll gain a fraction or two of a second to stay ahead of him. I don't expect him to drop. If he does, I'll chalk it up as pure luck and continue to NOT rely on a handgun to stop a BG.