Posted: 10/30/2002 3:43:57 AM EDT
| I am looking at getting a Wilson CQB Tactical with Ambi safetyand extended mag well and eventually adding an M-3 tactical light for home defense. My load would be 230gr Hydro-Shock. I love wilsons and am finally set on buying one. I am looking at a CCW handgun I can carry all the time and not feel like I have a brick on my hip. I am a big fan of training with like weapons platforms. I am looking at getting a Colt Govt. .380 and getting it customized for reliablity and accuracy. Nite sites, extended safety, trigger work and a few other things done. I would load it with +P Corbon ammo and have two mags on my belt, Pepper spray, Commander surefire and an Emerson Commander Folder, I will have an ASP in the car and Maglite. I am wondering what you all might think of this package. The reasons I picked this package is this... Light, Thin, functions like the regular 1911 and it is a size I can carry in the hot months with light clothes in Georgia. I am not going on raids or war. But the number one rule to a gun fight is have a gun! Better a .380 on me than a 45 at home. |
| While I would strongly advise anyone planning to rely on a .380 ACP as a primary sidearm to rethink their choice it is better than having no gun at all... but not by much. Personal preference of a sidearm is just that and baring that in mind I feel obligated to say that it is your choice but it‘s not one I would ever make. You’re the one who’s gonna’ collect the interest on the loan of what gun you carry. One should always carry the largest handgun they can conceal well and shoot effectively no matter what it is. If you’re worried that a larger gun will be too uncomfortable to carry for extended periods of time I suggest you look into better and more comfortable ways to carry said gun. Don’t skimp on your carry gun ’cause you don’t want to be inconvenienced... learn to carry the larger gun. Basing your choice of carry gun on weight or size or how much one will “fee” the gun as they carry it as opposed to effectiveness or shootability is, IMO, a mixed up set of priorities. Carry what you will but don’t sacrifice if you don’t have to. |
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I have a .380 govt model and there's nothing really wrong with the gun. Something to consider though is the package itself. If you're going to carry all that crap around your belt to begin with (two spare mags, I assume in a carrier, surefire, I assume in a carrier, pepperspray, I assume in a carrier, the gun, in a holster, and the knife) then you're fairly encumbered as-is. You might as well carry something bigger, as you're already going to need to dress properly to conceal all that gear. I have no qualms about packing a smaller gun when you can't pack a bigger one, but I'd rather pack a bigger gun and loose some of the extra gear. Ross |
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I get weary hearing the Clint Smith quote all the time. Now that it's cooler here - I carry a 45 mostly. But in the summer here - I tried. No way. Makarov is the biggest I can conceal, and that's problematic because of the belly band. (Very slow draw, impossible to draw when seated, and it can still draw attention if you're seated without benefit of a table.) The proprietors of Smart Carry claim being able to pack a Commander in this holster, and that he carries a full size 1911. But there's no way. Maybe if you're 6'4" and have a long torso and stubby legs. |
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Look at other ways to carry. I carry a .45 always. I also carry a G27 as a backup, always. I live in Phoenix. Want to talk about hot? I wear a large t-shirt and carry IWB. I pack a USP45 full sized. Want to talk about large guns? I also carry that USP in a Galco shoulder rig and wear a Hawaiian shirt over it. Cops can't even tell I'm packing unless I show them. The G27 I carry in either an ankle rig or an SOB along with an Emerson CQC7 (front pocket) ASP (back pocket) Kubutan (key ring, waistband) Surefire (belt carry) Sometimes cuffs (over kidney). Spare Grock mag (rear pocket). I could drown in a small puddle. Work with some people on carry methods. I have packed 7 handguns and various weapons under a Hawaiian shirt. I am 5'08", 155 lbs. Not a big guy. I sometimes carry a USP45F and a USP45C under a t-shirt. Sometimes I carry my Model 29 .44 Mag and the baby Grock. Don't skimp. Shoot big! Clint is right. Work on the options. |
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I guess I'm one of those strange folk that consider the 9mm Kurz an acceptable caliber as a primary defensive weapon. I doubt that we will ever settle the Caliber Wars. The 9mm Luger folk think they are fine, the 40S&W and 357Sig folk look down their noses at a mere 9mm Luger, the 45acp folk scoff at those who carry 40S&W while the 357Mag folk know that all the others are deluded. Then there are the 41's, 44's 44mag 454, 50... A friend of mine just shot this during competition.  Notice the quarter as a size comparison. This was shot a 50 feet. That is 10 shots and was done in under 40 seconds. Now even though that was a only a 22, I just gotta believe that would have been effective. |
Maybe it would have been but unfortunately I don't think it's quite that simple. The idea that in a fight if you place your shots in a certain area you guaranteed incapacitation just doesn't hold true... especially with handgun cartridges no matter what caliber it is. That's why one should keep shooting until a threat is neutralized and also why one should carry the largest handgun in the largest caliber that they can conceal well and shoot effectively. That's not to begrudge anyone who chooses to carry a .380 ACP, .32 ACP, .22 LR or anything else. So long as that person understands that those cartridges have serious limitations both in projectile diameter and penetration depth and thus won't typically be as effective as say a 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, etc. If one carries a smaller caliber one must remember to shoot accordingly and that shot placement may be even more paramount with a smaller less powerful caliber than it would be with a larger more powerful caliber. That being said shot placement should always be paramount!! Gunfights aren’t predictable and there are far too many variables in a fight that determine it’s outcome, sometimes even shooting a large caliber well just isn’t enough... but it will help and it will also give you a relative advantage. In a fight assuming all things are equal such as target construction, target mindset, bullet path, etc. the largest caliber will have the most advantage. Carrying the handgun that gives the shooter the most advantage will help to remove or at least reduce the number of variables when it comes to a fight. Its simple mathematics... larger calibers have a greater advantage. Barring that in mind it’s important to remember that for fighting all handguns suck and none of them really works that well. Choose the largest one that works the best for you and think of it as one less thing to worry about. |
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>>I guess I'm one of those strange folk that consider the 9mm Kurz an acceptable caliber as a primary defensive weapon. << Nothing strange about it. Only in the U.S. and only in recent years have the smaller calibers come under fire as being inadequate. I find this rather strange when one considers that historically the .32 and the .380 have done an excellent job as CCW weapons and as LE weapons. Not that long ago the Walther PPK in .380 was touted as the ultimate concealed carry gun. And of course one must remember that the police all over Europe and Asia found the .32 and the .380 to work just fine for their purposes. |
Sounds like a good setup to me. Especially if that is a combo that you are comfortable with. 230 Hyda's are very good. A couple of others to consider that I also find very effective, are 230 gr. Golden Sabers, 230 Gr Speer Gold Dots or Pro Load (which use Gold Dot bullets) and 200 gr. Speer Gold Dots and Pro Loads. |