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I'm considering moving to .40 cal for EDC.

I'd like to "slim down" from the G19 I currently carry. I really want to try to move from OWB to IWB.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a single stack - subcompact / compact & DAO preferred - with both slide release & mag release available in an ambidextrous configuration?

I know the M&P line is ambi, and of course the Shield in 40 is single stack and probably what I'm looking for. As if I could find one of those.

Any thoughts on the H&K P2000SK LEM?

If I can't find anything I will start looking towards the XDs in 45 (not that I can find one of those either) or towards the Kimber line in 45. I guess the G36 is a possibility too.

Thanks!

I am a southpaw and the Kahr K40 is an excellent carry option. No its not ambi, but working either the slide release or mag release is very easy to do w/your trigger finger, and it is a great sized gun. I would suggest going with the all steel 'K' version vs. 'PM' poly frame; the extra weight and stiffness is worth it in a small 40.

Love, Love, LOVE my P2000SK. I have the V3 (DA/SA), usually carried AIWB.

My hands are XL glove size and the HK fits me like a glove. It's 9+1 rounds of "Wunderbar!".

I added night sights and swapped the mag release to the HK-45 release (drop in fit). Didn't need anything else.

Not my photo.
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Dusty Harry wrote:I am a southpaw and the Kahr K40 is an excellent carry option. No its not ambi, but working either the slide release or mag release is very easy to do w/your trigger finger, and it is a great sized gun. I would suggest going with the all steel 'K' version vs. 'PM' poly frame; the extra weight and stiffness is worth it in a small 40.

Ditto. Mine is a CW45 and PM9, and my wife's is a CW45, but the Kahr line of pistols are a really great combination of diminutive size, power, and reliability. One thing.... in the .40 caliber, if you buy used, be sure to buy a newer one. When they first started producing .40 cal polymer framed guns they had some reliability issues. The newer ones do not.

Another gun to consider would be the Walther PPS in .40 cal which is also a pretty small, flat, and reliable single-stack gun.

I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but the springfield EMP is a really nice single stack that can be had in .40. It is one of the finest pistols of that type that I have ever fired and is a breeze to carry.

I didn't even know a single stack .40 existed. Why not just go straight to .45ACP in single stack?

C-dub wrote:I didn't even know a single stack .40 existed. Why not just go straight to .45ACP in single stack?

Capacity vs. concealability vs. stopping power.
Stack up 9 rounds of .45 and see if you can conceal that back strap as easily as 9 rounds of .40.
That's why .45 is typically 7+1.

Looking at my P2KSK, it's really more of a "stack-and-a-half".
A designed-for-CHL 7+1 .45 would be slimmer but taller.
For me the hardest part to hide is the butt

RoyGBiv wrote:

C-dub wrote:I didn't even know a single stack .40 existed. Why not just go straight to .45ACP in single stack?

Capacity vs. concealability vs. stopping power.
Stack up 9 rounds of .45 and see if you can conceal that back strap as easily as 9 rounds of .40.
That's why .45 is typically 7+1.

Looking at my P2KSK, it's really more of a "stack-and-a-half".
A designed-for-CHL 7+1 .45 would be slimmer but taller.
For me the hardest part to hide is the butt

I switched from a Glock 27 to a 30SF and actually went up one round and haven't been discovered yet.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Dusty Harry wrote:I am a southpaw and the Kahr K40 is an excellent carry option. No its not ambi, but working either the slide release or mag release is very easy to do w/your trigger finger, and it is a great sized gun. I would suggest going with the all steel 'K' version vs. 'PM' poly frame; the extra weight and stiffness is worth it in a small 40.

Ditto. Mine is a CW45 and PM9, and my wife's is a CW45, but the Kahr line of pistols are a really great combination of diminutive size, power, and reliability. One thing.... in the .40 caliber, if you buy used, be sure to buy a newer one. When they first started producing .40 cal polymer framed guns they had some reliability issues. The newer ones do not.

Another gun to consider would be the Walther PPS in .40 cal which is also a pretty small, flat, and reliable single-stack gun.

+1 on the PPS from me. Love mine in 9mm :)

There are alot of very good pistols out there. I carry a S&W M&P Shield 9 and love the gun. I think I would also love the Shield .40. The choice of course is yours.

I have the poor man's Shield - single stack Taurus PT709 (7+1) & PT740 (6+1) Slim - swap out monthly for CC.

Walther PPS. Thin, dependable, ambi mag release and multiple capacity mags

Thanks for all the suggestions & comments so far!

I'm curious, how was adapting to the Walther mag release ( the under-the-trigger-guard one ) ?

katmandu wrote:Thanks for all the suggestions & comments so far!

I'm curious, how was adapting to the Walther mag release ( the under-the-trigger-guard one ) ?

I own the PPS in 9mm. The mag release was one of the many reasons I bought it. My husband has the PPQ (SWEET gun!) and we both love the release. Not hard to get used to at all.