frustrated with gun search

[Venus Pax]

I'm trying to make my final decision on which gun to get.
I LOVED Charles & Dave's 1911 .45 cal Springfields, but they're a bit big for me to conceal.
I went today to a range and rented the 3.5" 1911 in a .45 cal. I mega-jammed the thing twice. When I say mega-jammed, I mean that I couldn't get the magazine out, and the bullets were lodged such that it took the range employees' use of a tool to dislodge the bullets from the chamber. Not only do I find this dangerous, but I would hate to be in that situation if I were defending myself.
(I shot the full size 1911 again, and LOVED it still.)

What do the ladies on this forum carry? Guys on the forum, what do your wives/girlfriends carry?

[anygunanywhere]

All short 1911's can be finicky on self defense ammo. They should be flawless on ball ammo.

It might have been the rental.

Anygun

[jbirds1210]

VP-
Make your life easier and just get a Glock 19. You will thank me later. Kimberly carries a Sig 239, which is a great size of gun for concealment. You can shoot it anytime you like.
Jason

[TX Rancher]

My wife prefers to carry her Kimber CDP. It's been ultra reliable with ball, Winchester 230G SXT, and 185G Corbon.

A couple of times I've talked her into trying the Glock 26, but she likes the reduced width of the Kimber and always comes back to it (says she feels it's easier to conceal and likes the mechanical safety).

I'm not sure I agree with the suggestion of carrying a Glock 19. It's not exactly a small pistol. I'm not picking on Glocks, I have (and carry at times) a G19 and a G23, but the size is a little bigger then the Kimber Ultra or CDP. My suggestion on the G19 is to go to the range with someone who has one, and work out with it. It would also be a good idea to wear it for a few hours and make sure your comfortable with it's size before you put your hard earned dollars down on one.

Your profile lists you as SE Texas. If your anywhere close to Bastrop/Austin, your welcome to come out and try ours.

[ea40ss]

+1 on the Sig P239. It is my normal carry. It is available in 9mm, .357sig, and .40s&w. It is a single stack, so it is fairly flat and very concealable.

The 9mm is 8+1 and the 357Sig and .40s&w are 7+1. It comes either da/sa or the new DAK trigger system which is a constant dao pull of around 7lbs.

http://www.sigarms.com/Products/ShowCat ... tegoryid=9

But, if you really like the 1911, you might try someone else's 3.5" 1911. That problem doesn't sound like something you could have done with handling. Seems like just a problem with that particular gun or ammo.


Good luck

Eric

[SRVA]

VP, Donna carries her Kimber Ultra CDP and loves it. Ask her nice and she may let you try it out. Since you live pretty close we can probably get together between now and Christmas. TTS is having our monthly match on Saturday.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Venus:
I have a Sig 239 in 40 that you can shoot at PSC. I can also bring Martha's Kimber Ultra Carry to see if you have any better luck with it. Are you available this Sunday afternoon?

Chas.

[quidni]

What do the ladies on this forum carry?

Well, ever since I found out that I could...

My favorite carry is a Colt Defender (officer's), but I've also carried a Colt Mark IV Series 80 (gov't). Holsters are either a flat, pancake OWB or the Milt Sparks VersaMax. (The SmartCarry is another option I'm trying with the Defender. I've done the purse/fannypack route, & only use them as a last resort now.)

The Defender is a bit more finicky with ammo than the gov't model.

Backup is usually a Colt Mustang in .380 (did I mention that I like Colts? ) and/or a NAA 5-shot .22 (usually and).

My usual mode of dress, year-round, is a sleeveless or short-sleeved shirt with another, unbuttoned shirt over top as a "jacket." I didn't have to change much at all to accomodate the holster.

[Skiprr]

Dear Vice President (that's abbreviated VP as well, ain't it?):

You know, I never rent guns. I don't know where they've been.

Seriously, I think maintenance, magazines, and ammunition play a huge role in reliability and "end-user experience." I have a couple of very accurate, tack-nailing, full-sized 1911s, and despite what some claim on http://www.1911forum.com/, I think a clean gun is a reliable and accurate gun.

Please don't trust the range rental that's had 5,000 rounds through it without decent attention. I admit I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive about this. My guns get a field-strip cleaning every time they're fired, not just a bore snake run-through. Every 500-1K rounds they get a full-strip cleaning. And in my full-sized 1911s I use Wilson's Shok-Buf inserts and change the recoil spring about every 2K rounds, whether it likes it or not.

You can't assess the performance of a properly broken-in pistol unless you break it in yourself, find someone's to borrow whose pistol care-and-feeding you can trust, and/or evaluate the review material in the gun rags. Love those magazines or not, I look through them online or in-hand before I make a major purchase. Input is always good.

Personally, I'd rather have seven .45 ACP defensive rounds charged in a carry-sized 1911 than 14 rounds of 9mm. (I'm gonna take flack over this, I know.) But hey, I've been practicing my magazine reloads.

[age_ranger]

My wife isn't carrying yet, but it's on her list. She's a little recoil sensitive so she's looking at a smaller .380 or .32 although she'll have to qualify with a .380 or larger. I'd like to see her with a Kahr 9mm at the very least. It's fits her hands well and the trigger is good. The size is on the smaller side the spectrum but it still packs a larger round. Recoil is very moderate and it's an accurate pistol. I carry my Kahr CW9 daily in an IWB but it's such a perfect size, it'll fit on an ankle, under an arm, in a purse, bag...ect.......you get the idea.

My requirements are (no specific order):

1. the pistol must be reliable and of a good defense caliber. No .22 here.
2. I must shoot the pistol well
3. It must fit my hand well and be comfortable to shoot
4. I must be familiar enough with the pistol to know its operation instinctively
5. I must shoot it regularly and maintain my proficiency
6. the pistol must be concealable and somewhat comfortable to carry.

This has helped my wife in narrowing her dicisions greatly.

[Skiprr]

age_ranger: Your reply reminded me of the Kahr P45, probably the smallest, slimmest .45 ACP on the market. Just FWIW. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

[Cosmo 9]

I love my Kahr I really do but a 1911 it's not!!! To me they shoot more like a flat wheel gun. IMHO you had a bad rental experience. Shoot one thats been well maintained.

[casselthief]

my ole lady carries a purse with a brick in it.
however, as mentioned elsewhere, I bought her a .380 Bersa.
it's small, no kick, holds a sufficient amount of ammo, Federal Ammo (even though everyone here hates them) makes a HydraShock for it.
we'll see how she likes that little dude after X-Mas.

[gigag04]

I'm not a lady, but if you liked the smaller 1911 platform, I carried a 3" Kimber Ultra Carry. I worked flawlessy with ball and JHP ammo. I had a Wilson mag for +1 carry capacity.

This was a small, thin, easy to conceal package.

-nick

[AV8R]

VP-
Make your life easier and just get a Glock 19. :grin: You will thank me later. Kimberly carries a Sig 239, which is a great size of gun for concealment. You can shoot it anytime you like.

For reliability, I don't think you can beat a Glock and my G19 (with Speer Golddotes) has not been a problem to carry off or on the body.

Hubby's 1911 is great for the range, but even he carries a G21 for self-defense.

Go with reliability when your life depends on it.

Oops. . . This is Grannyglock on AV8R's account!