Small carry gun Shield, LC 9, or a small Sig

[gguess66]

Looking for a small carry gun. The ones I am leaning towards is the M&P Shield, Ruger LC 9 or, a small Sig. Even though you can't find ammo right now I am sticking with 9mm. Your thoughts would be helpful. Texan first American second!

[jmra]

Looking for a small carry gun. The ones I am leaning towards is the M&P Shield, Ruger LC 9 or, a small Sig. Even though you can't find ammo right now I am sticking with 9mm. Your thoughts would be helpful. Texan first American second!

If you want the shield get ready to pay a premium. I was looking at both the shield and the PPS. Leaning toward the PPS but if I read correctly Springfield is releasing a 9mm version of the XDS. Maybe I need all three.

[fickman]

Are you wanting it for pocket carry?

[gguess66]

Are you wanting it for pocket carry?

Pocket carry or just a smaller carry than my xdm

[FishInTx]

I have a S&W M&P 9c. It's new and I only have a few rounds through it but so far so good. It conceals well, feels "right" in the hand, and no feeding/ejecting issues. The grip is a little small for me so I like the pinkey extension on the magazine. I carry it in a iwb CB supertuck and owb in a ravenconcealment. 13 rounds of 9mm hidden so well I forget I have it with me. What has surprised me most is the accuracy for a small light weight pistol. Pretty good factory trigger.

[TexasGal]

The Shield has a better trigger than the LC9. The LC9 is not an undesirable gun, though, if you don't think the trigger will bother you. It has a huge amount of travel and in large hands, that "can" cause you to move off target since the trigger doesn't break until you have your trigger finger curled far back toward your palm. I would advise renting it first to see how it works for you. The Shield has a really good trigger and mine has had no issues with ammo or dependability. If you already have a gun in the XD line you might want to wait for the XDs 9 to come out soon. It has the interchangeable backstraps and the same grip safety as your other XD guns. The Shield is $399 at Academy Sports, which is a steal. The difficulty comes in snaring one when it comes in. They don't get a lot of them and they are usually gone by 8am in the morning after coming in on the truck the night before. We got ours by simply being persistent in calling all area stores at 7:30am every morning until one of the stores had one come in. You can ask them to hold it until you get there, but some stores won't do that, so be prepared to dash to the store. Good Luck

[Dave2]

Find a place that will rent the guns you're interested in, and try before you buy. In my (limited) experience, it's much more important get a gun that's "compatible" with you when it comes to pocket pistols than it is even with the sub-compact versions of larger guns.

[Teamless]

Pocket carry or just a smaller carry than my xdm

Pocket Carry would mean certain guns, and just smaller than my XDM could mean something totally different.

---why do you want smaller than your XDM?
are you planning on carrying differently, or do you just want something smaller than your XDM due to its a full size and you are worried about concealment?

--- if you want pocket carry, most of the small 9's are out, at least for normal everyday pockets (like a pair of jeans) would not work - - oh and please be sure your ALWAYS use a pocket holster.

--- if you want pocket carry, check out the S&W Bodyguard .380. Yes, I know its not a 9mm, but it is pocketable, and conceals well. It also shoots very well (and no, I do not use the laser that comes with it)

[blackgold]

If your hands are not huge, the p938 is an awesome gun that shoots nicely. I've got the sig p290 as well but prefer shooting the p938.
Brian

[RPB]

Just a "more than one way to skin a cat suggestion"

Make your pockets bigger

I know it sounds funny but any seamstress/alterations place can cut the bottom out of pockets and add material to deepen them... suggest strong material (like the Firehose 12' deep pockets on some Duluth trading Company pants)

I carry Glock 26 with 13 round mag (10+PierceGrip G39 adds 3) +1 chambered for 14 rounds in Desantis Nemisis pocket holster


Or do it yourself:
Dritz- 2 Iron-On Repair Pockets $2.69 or similar other brand for example, FOR A PATTERN but they are a thinner material... really could use those as a pattern though
+extra material (stitch them too, I wouldn't trust just iron on glue-weight)

Anyway, point is, cut off bottom of pocket, sew on longer extension.
Alterations people can do it.

Altered or Deeper pockets opens a whole new world up for concealing ... pockets can be cheaper than new guns... but not as exciting

[Salty1]

Of the 3 you mentioned the Sig is by far a higher quality gun and a better shooter. Comparing the 3 is not really a level field though as the Sig 938 is a SAO gun that comes standard with night sights so you will pay more. We have sold a lot of LC9's and people seem to really like them, one customer sent his off to a local gunsmith and it came back with a very nice trigger. If a gun can have too many bells and whistles the LC9 could be one of them, mag disconnect, loaded chamber indicator, safety... although many people like these features. We have not received a Shield yet so I do not want to comment, one thing I do notice is it seems some people sell them soon after buying. Also check out what trigger is in the Shield if you purchase one, they make one that is Mass compliant and I am told it is really stiff and harder to pull. I guess the big question is what gun could you actually buy right now if you wanted to and what would you have to pay for it.....

[Keith B]

One that wasn't mentioned that I would look at is the Kahr PM or CM series of guns. My main pocket carry is a Kahr PM9 and I love it!

[MoJo]

There's always old reliable a .38 or .357 snub nose revolver. Mine rides nicely in a pocket holster by Mika and it always goes BANG! Five shots of "get off me and leave me alone!" I don't have to worry about contact shots disconnecting the action, limp wrist, fail to feed, fail to eject, magazine getting ejected in the pocket or picking up brass when I'm practicing. YMMV

[RPB]

There's always old reliable a .38 or .357 snub nose revolver. Mine rides nicely in a pocket holster by Mika and it always goes BANG! Five shots of "get off me and leave me alone!" I don't have to worry about contact shots disconnecting the action, limp wrist, fail to feed, fail to eject, magazine getting ejected in the pocket or picking up brass when I'm practicing. YMMV

True, just don't let the bad guy grab the cylinder so it doesn't turn and you can't fire, or if it's an antique. don't shoot uphill so the cartridges slide backwards, preventing the cylinder from turning so you can't fire (an *almost* funny surprise discovery at Charles Whitman in UT tower event for a few people on the ground)

Really, if you have 5 rounds in a revolver, hopefully it's empty by the time a bad guy is close enough to grab it anyway. I met a guy at Lake Whitney in the 1970s who had 6 scars from a guy who shot him with a revolver, the 6th was in his hand as he took it from the guy and beat him with it bad enough that the ambulance took the beaten guy before the shot guy because he was in worse shape...

I have a Taurus .357 snubby stainless I really like, but I carry two Glocks ... just because I like 'em more.

[snakeyez78]

I carry a LC9 in the summer,I had a Sig p238 for a bit that my wife decided she didn't like. Before the LC9 I had a LCR 38+p that was a easy carry, but I never came to terms with the 5 shots and my accuracy with it was to close range for comfort
For me being a bigger guy the lc9 has been the smallest pocket gun I have found that I both can shoot well and also fit in my hands.

I would me more than glad to let you check it out.