The Smallest Caliber You Trust To Carry?

[Ronald_55]

15 minutes ago, Fourtyfive said:

The exact reason you should put a 50 Lb. bag of cat food in the cart every trip.

Well I guess to correct myself, no one but Fortyfive plans for that

[Garufa]

1 minute ago, Ronald_55 said:

Well I guess to correct myself, no one but Fortyfive plans for that

Well, if a snow or ice storm comes up it would help to weight down the ass-end of a truck to make it usable.

[Fourtyfive]

33 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

Well I guess to correct myself, no one but Fortyfive plans for that

Plan to plan for everything....

[MrsMonkeyMan2500]

I am gonna sound crazy compared to most but I carry my g29 on my person and my 20 in my purse. 2 extra mags for my 29 and 3 for my 20. I also carry my 2 GT Kiradishi knives as well. 

[mikegideon]

2 hours ago, LINKS2K said:

I carry a .380 g42 or 9mm g43 when I'm dressed in a suit.  All other times it's a g19mm.

I have all 3, love all 3, and carry both 9's a lot. Normally, I carry the LCP if I am doing the pea shooter thing. It is a lot easier to hide than the 42, even though it's not near the gun.

[mikegideon]

34 minutes ago, MrsMonkeyMan2500 said:

I am gonna sound crazy compared to most but I carry my g29 on my person and my 20 in my purse. 2 extra mags for my 29 and 3 for my 20. I also carry my 2 GT Kiradishi knives as well. 

Well... if you gotta do some killin', you might as well make sure they's killed  

[Sam1]

12 hours ago, peejman said:

A hit with a .22 short causes more damage than a miss with a 20mm. 

Yeah, but it's not nearly as fun to watch the guy mess on himself as the concussion hits.

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, MrsMonkeyMan2500 said:

I am gonna sound crazy compared to most but I carry my g29 on my person and my 20 in my purse. 2 extra mags for my 29 and 3 for my 20. I also carry my 2 GT Kiradishi knives as well. 

I guess to out do you I am gonna have to start open carrying a sawed off double barrel 10GA 

[Fourtyfive]

Wait , we are talking calibers here not gauges.....

[Fourtyfive]

Then again , there is the Taurus Judge caliber/gauge....

[Sam1]

Just now, Fourtyfive said:

Then again , there is the Taurus Judge caliber/gauge....

But its also a Taurus, so ... does it really count?

[Fourtyfive]

That wheel gun does, I have two. Love them. Wait, three , a ported nickel .44 mag, sweet one too.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Fourtyfive

[Ronald_55]

15 minutes ago, Fourtyfive said:

Wait , we are talking calibers here not gauges.....

Well I will carry a double barrel .790 caliber then.....

[Sam1]

11 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

Well I will carry a double barrel .790 caliber then.....

Yeah, yeah... typical Glock owner

[Ronald_55]

10 minutes ago, Sam1 said:

Yeah, yeah... typical Glock owner

Nah, I am just a smarta$$ 

[peejman]

12 hours ago, MrsMonkeyMan2500 said:

I am gonna sound crazy compared to most but I carry my g29 on my person and my 20 in my purse. 2 extra mags for my 29 and 3 for my 20. I also carry my 2 GT Kiradishi knives as well. 

Chuck Norris wouldn't fit?

 

[JAB]

Okay, since even the OP got in on the act of the question not being only a joke...

It depends on where I am going or what I am doing.  When I first started carrying, I was a lot more worried about caliber, capacity, etc.  I liked carrying a snubnosed .357 or a Ruger P95 on my belt with reloads for either.  I would also, sometimes, have my P3AT in my off-hand pocket as a backup.  The problem was that I couldn't really shoot my P3AT all that quickly with much accuracy with my off (left) hand.  I ended up getting a NAA mini revolver in .22WMR to carry in my off-hand pocket.  If I was going somewhere that carrying on my belt would be problematic (I cannot stand IWB so belt carry for me is OWB) I'd carry the P3AT in my strong-side pocket and 'hope' it would be okay.

Then a couple years went by and, realizing that I still had not been in a situation where I had to fight off a horde of berzerker ninja assassins on meth whose one goal was to see me dead, I started 'just' carrying the P3AT in a pocket more often.  I'd usually have a backup magazine or two, though.  Eventually, after realizing that while I am okay with the P3AT (and I still carry it, sometimes) as my one and only, I honestly like and trust revolvers more.  That is when I traded my snub-nosed Rossi .357 - which I really wasn't carrying any more - toward my S&W 642.  After putting some Pachy grips on it, meaning I can shoot it much better, now, I mostly carry the 642 in my pocket and a speed strip (or, rarely, a speedloader.)  Truthfully, for me and my current lifestyle I feel plenty comfortable with that.  Truth is, I can't carry at work, period so anything I carry when I can/do carry - which is pretty much any time I am not at work as long as I am not in an 'illegal to carry' location - is better than what I have on me for what ends up being the majority of my waking hours that are spent away from home.

Often around the house I will have my Heritage Rough Rider with the .22WMR cylinder installed riding on my hip.  The reason is that, out in the country, it is more likely that I am going to have to shoot a possum or raccoon in the chicken coop (and, actually, I have) than that I will have to fight my way out of a confrontation with a human assailant.  For such use, the .22WMR is superior to cutting loose with a .357, .9mm or even a .38 +P.  Further, I have little doubt that five Hornady Critical Defense .22WMR rounds (I carry hammer down on an empty in that, particular single-action revolver) from a 6.5 inch barrel would give pause to said, hypothetical human assailant, as well.

There have also been times, in public, when the only firearm I had on me was the aforementioned NAA.  I load it with Speer Gold Dot .22WMR (my informal tests have shown me that, for some reason, the Gold Dots work better in the NAA but the Hornady works better in the Rough Rider.)  In my informal tests, those Gold Dot .22WMR rounds - from that 1 5/8 inch barrel - penetrated three gallon jugs of water and put a hole in the front of a fourth jug (the bullet rebounded and was found in the third jug) while yielding an expanding bullet that almost literally looked like the one in the picture on the front of the box.  Again, five of those would almost certainly cause any assailant to stop and consider their actions.  Although mine is just a 'vanilla' NAA magnum, I put the larger, rubber grips on it similar to the ones on the Black Widow (without the spider emblem) so it is possible to hit with it, too - especially at likely handgun distances.

Now, if I am going camping up at Citico, Tellico, etc. then the smallest I am likely to trust will be either my GP100 or, more likely , my Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum.  Is a black bear attack likely?  No.  Is it possible?  Yes, no doubt.  In the event that I am faced with an attacking black bear, however unlikely, will I be glad to have a .357 (with Buffalo Bore heavy hard cast) or a .44 Mag instead of a smaller caliber on me?  Absolutely.

Oh, when not at work I also often carry a fixed blade knife in a belt sheath.  I tend to think of that as more of a tool than a weapon, though, as I have zero training or experience with using a knife in a defensive capacity.  That said, if backed into a corner with no choice I would try to insert pointy tab 'A' into assailant 'B' repeatedly, if possible.  I also tend to keep my knives very sharp (razor sharp for the ones that will achieve such) so it just might give me a chance, at least.  At work about the best I can do is a Spyderco Resilience which, again, I see as a tool - it gets used to slice cheese, peel apples and so on.

Edited February 9, 2017 by JAB

[shotgunshooter]

As long as it penetrates 12 inches I don't see why anyone worries about caliber masturbation.

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[Moped]

I carry my little Keltec P32 in my strong side front pants pocket daily. It's actually sitting on the table next to my chair as I type this.  Love this little peashooter!!!  Never thought I'd say that about a Keltec after my PF9 experience!

[Fourtyfive]

Hey, a firecracker placed carefully in the proper place could save your life. Good luck with that, any firearm fired in my direction is enough to make me; first take cover and then return fire. I don't care what caliber I have with me, they all beat rocks.

[conn_air7]

As long as it penetrates 12 inches I don't see why anyone worries about caliber masturbation.

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I think that people get way too caught up in this. I'm happy to see everyone exercise their right to the 2nd amendment. How people choose to do it is less of a concern to me, so long as it's safe.


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[conn_air7]

Hey, a firecracker placed carefully in the proper place could save your life. Good luck with that, any firearm fired in my direction is enough to make me; first take cover and then return fire. I don't care what caliber I have with me, they all beat rocks.

What if I'm a trained professional rock thrower assassin guy?


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[Ronald_55]

6 minutes ago, conn_air7 said:

 

What if I'm a trained professional rock thrower assassin guy?


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Then I am going to try to draw you into an area where you cannot do a tactical reload (pick up more rocks). Then make my ammo outlast yours. 

[btq96r]

Even a small caliber can hit someone harder than I can punch or kick.

[Ugly]

56 minutes ago, conn_air7 said:

 

What if I'm a trained professional rock thrower assassin guy?


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I used to be able to hit pigeons in flight with my rock throwing wrist rocket. 

I could probably carry it in one of those anti states. Imagine hitting someone in the forehead with a slinged rock? It'd be cartoonish but I bet they would run!