CCW Education

My Top 11 Criteria for selecting a concealed carry handgun are:

1. Accuracy- can you initially hit your target and precisely place your shot with the gun out-of-the-box (without modifications that may affect legal concerns if a carry shooting occurs, etc.); some guns are more accurate than others when made by manufacturers (I recognize training, practice, & experience are major influencers for Accuracy);

2. Reliability- can you consistently, time after time, over repeated trials hit your target; is the handgun made well, fine fit and finish to wood & metal; high quality materials, strength & functional durability mechanically; many handguns are picky about the type of ammunition they will digest and will not properly feed some ammunition, so consider its ability to feed your preferred ammo; some handguns are more reliable at feeding ammo than others;

3. Ergonomics or handgun fit- can you efficiently work the Controls and does the handgun fit your hand and fingers- e.g. can you easily reach the trigger, safety, decocker, mag release, etc. and is it comfortable given your physical (e.g. finger length, hand size) and medical conditions (e.g. arthritis, carpal tunnel); grip size, grip angle, overall weight and balance, muzzle length, caliber & other personal factors should be considered;

4. Trigger Press - what are the pounds required for each press & can you handle it; what is the Trigger Travel distance & will you practice frequently enough with it to adapt to it; the shorter the distance the trigger has to move, the less likely you are to move the sights out of alignment before the gun fires; Consistency of Press is important so each trigger press is close to the same pressure (e.g. always long and heavy like Double Action [DA] OR always short and light like Single Action [SA]); transitioning between DA and SA & requires much practice;

5. Barrel Length - compact (3.5″-less than 5″- my usual choice), sub-compact (less than 3.5″), full-size (5″ or longer); guns with shorter barrels have more recoil and are harder to shoot because the sight radius (distance between front and rear sight) is shorter- but consider the concealability tradeoff; barrel length affects the speed at which the slide cycles (also affected by ammo, gun cleanliness & recoil spring) and the speed at which rounds come out of the magazine; remember handgun width is more important than length for concealability purpose);

6. Sights: type; quality; and sight radius; the farther the sights are apart, the less small errors in sight alignment affect where the bullet impacts; “3 dot” sights are popular but if you line up the 3 dots the gun might shoot higher or lower than it does if you ignore the 3 dots & align the top of the front sight with the top of the rear sight; some chose to black out the dots and learn to shoot aligning the sights themselves & prefer a solid black rear sight and either a solid black front sight or a front sight painted a bright color or a fiber-optic front sight (like I do); remember for ME point shooting is used for up to 3 yards, then flash sighting for about 3-10 yards, then sighted shooting for 10 yards and longer);

7. Weight - If the handgun is lighter, the amount of muzzle flip increases with recoil; this then slows down the speed of your follow-up shots, & increases the likelihood for flinch in response to recoil, causing misses; lighter is not necessarily better (train and practice); use a quality belt & holster to support the weight of the gun;

8. Caliber - I recommend starting with a 9mm for carry (see my USACARRY.com related article “What Gun To Purchase: Consider the 9mm Pistol for Self-Defense?“) because it has the most manageable recoil & ammo is readily available at a reasonable cost; remember you are better off with a pistol that you can shoot well in 9mm than a bigger caliber gun that you miss with; my next level carry caliber recommendation is the .45 ACP since it has less recoil than .40 S&W due to its heavier bullets & slower velocities that reduce recoil (even with my carpal tunnel I can handle the .45 better than the .40 S&W for example); shot placement is much more important than caliber; any of the modern hollowpoint designs will do the job if you do your part and I recommend hollowpoints for personal protection and self defense since they are more likely to stop an assailant and less likely to over-penetrate than FMJ “ball” rounds;

9. Availability of Accessories & Ammo - 9mm ammo is readily available now and as of this writing prices have come down considerably since early in 2013; there are more accessories (grips, pouches, holsters, sights, mags, etc.) available for 9mm since it is the most widely-used caliber worldwide;

10. Cost of handgun and ammo - pistols generally cost more new than revolvers, but considering this is a lifetime purchase and for defending your life, maybe gun cost is not the most important or even a top criterion; and

11. Concealabilty - proper size dimensions (width, height, overall length, etc.) and design that allows handgun to be easily hidden; width is more important than length, i.e. pistols are thinner than revolvers with their cylinders; handgun matches your Lifestyle (work, sports, fun & business) dress, attire, physical stature, preferred mode of carry, & demands;

Accuracy trumps anything, in my opinion, and a long and hard press with the added movement from more pounds of force applied detracts from it. To me reliability and accuracy are the most important criteria and are really interchangeable for the top criterion. Ideally we would like it all, but there are tradeoffs and priorities.

The semi-automatic pistol is initially more challenging to manipulate (the slide) than a revolver, but to me and my observations the pistol is easier to master with proper training (which should include handling malfunctions & stoppages.) With training in the correct technique, the slide can be racked by almost anyone without certain medical conditions (see my article “Racking the Pistol Slide: Technique Not Strength“)

I always say in class that the Gold Standard for Concealed Carry for everyone is:

Carry the largest handgun you can conceal in the largest caliber you can shoot effectively. The emphasis is on shoot effectively for ACCURACY, overriding the type of equipment or caliber.

Finally, once your new concealed carry handgun has been purchased… 

PRACTICE! Practice is critical to being able to properly employ your handgun in self defense situations. If you have taken the time and effort to research and select your handgun that meets your criteria, then get professional training in how to use your handgun, have fun and make practice enjoyable.