What are the features of your "ultimate carry pistol" ?

[FireMedic]

As someone who has been burned by most of these before:

1: Availability of accessories and parts- The pistol may be "optics ready" but if it is pre-milled for some small time companies awful red dot that you cannot find then that's a problem. Nice German and Swiss guns are cool but when holsters are hard to find they turn into safe queens. Same with night sights, mags, etc etc etc.

2: Reliability/Safety- I once had a sig P320. It worked just fine and I never had any issues. But after hearing all the stories about drop safety and everything else I just had that little voice in my head saying what if. It went from my EDC, to a sometimes carry, to a never carry, to a sold simply because I thought there was a small (very small) chance that it could go off without my direct input. 

3: Size- a lot of people are looking for a tiny gun for EDC and while you can go to big (I tried a FNX 45 Tac for a week or two on a bet) I think most people go too small instead of too large. I have a sig P938 and it is fantastic. BUT I cannot shoot it as well as my other guns because my hand is too big for the grip. On top of that it is only 6 shot unless I get the extended mags which hold 7. Or, I can carry a Walther PPQ (current EDC) and get 17+1, full hand grip on the gun, and it still only marginally prints if at all depending on what I am wearing. Main point is sizing can be too large OR too small. 

4: Rails- This may be cheating a little bit but if it is a gun I may have on me after dark I insist on a WML. A weapon with no light is not one I will carry after dark which really limits the places I can carry it to. The only none lit weapon I have right now (over than the P938 mentioned above) is a heirloom pistol (Grandpa's 1911 not government issue) that I carry from time to time in honor of him but never after dark. If you cannot identify your target and what is beyond it (firearms rules of safety) then you are not being a responsible concealed carrier.  For that reason I always have WMLs on my EDC. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by FireMedic
grammer

[OPIE]

1: Reliability

2: Caliber of at least .40

3: Nice trigger for double or single action.

4: No extra added crap in or on the weapon. K.I.S.S

[hipower]

On 11/10/2022 at 5:04 PM, Smith said:

I want to carry in a holster, typically OWB,  as normal capacity a gun as possible (G19 etc.). With as little inconvenience as possible. Outside of all the normal conditions mentioned in prior post, convenience is a big factor. The best I've found so far, is the Sig P365 xmacro.

- Size/weight

-concelibility

 - capacity

- shootability

I like the way you said this. All the items mentioned before are important...but I like the way Smith ranked them. I find that size and weight for carry tend to be my biggest criteria. I have guns I like, and guns I carry. Larger frames tend to not carry well for me. I know it's primarily attributed to my waistline and weight, but anything larger than a G19 just doesn't get taken out by me. Have been a hardcore Shield guy for years, and have gone thru the iterations of them. My current favorite is a Performance Center 2.0. Though I have a Plus Model with the 4" barrel, I don't find it working for me.

Capacity enters into it as well. I've had several pistols with capacities of 5-9 rounds, and seem to feel that's not enough. So the 13 round Shield Plus and Performance Center model work for me...for now. That might change.

Got a P365XL earlier this year and like the feel of it. I haven't shot it yet. Will someday, I swear. Also don't have a carry system for it yet. I favor OWB, and I don't like Kydex. That makes the choices a bit more expensive, and I'm watching pennies at this time.

So, in a nutshell...for me, I'd say #1 Size/Weight                                                                                                              #2 Comfort in carry                                                                                                      #3 Capacity

                                                      # 4 Caliber

Although caliber is becoming more of a concern as I get older. Hands don't like 45ACP in these small frames.

                                                          

[Three Bean Dad]

Most have already brought up good fundamentals like reliability, capacity and caliber.  I wish that someone would make a hammer fired, de-cocking gun that has the modular frames and fire control unit like the P365 and P320 series.  I know that hammer fired guns can have a FCU.  My Beretta Pico uses one but it is a DAO with no safety.

It would make a mess for magazine compatibility but you could even have the same FCU do single and double stack magazines.  With the stack and a half magazine configurations you could have a slim single stack config and a double stack option too.

It would allow me to pick long slide, short grip setups, or swap from a larger frame at home to a more suitable carry size when I took the family on vacation.  Heck, I would even settle for a hammer fired with a manual safety if they made it.  Oh, and since it is a wish list, I would want metal and polymer frame options.

[res308]

.44 

[Rainsford]

Reliability and concealability in a decent caliber.

[deerslayer]

On 9/17/2021 at 6:56 PM, deerslayer said:

1.  Must run

2.  Big enough for serious shooting, small enough to comfortably carry

3.  Decent trigger

4.  Decent capacity

A Glock 48 with Shield magazines is about the best carry gun I have found.  

And doesn't need to be excessively loud.  So no .357, 10mm, or comped/ported gun for me.  

Edited December 10, 2022 by deerslayer

[res308]

Pretty much everything has been covered. Aside from my joke about the .44 (not really), everyone has their own preferences and needs as to what a carry gun needs to be, and I’ve always believed one should use the gun that they are comfortable and competent with. That is, assuming minimum requirements such as reliability and effective caliber. 
 

1 - Reliability. If it doesn’t have that, the rest is a waste of time. 

     1b - For me, reliability includes both factory and aftermarket support for replacement parts availability, as well as a good long track record. 
 

2 - Known effective caliber using known effective bullet design, assuming one’s ability to make good shot placement. Minimum of .475 Linebaugh or greater (joking). 

     2b - Caliber must be logistically feasible, so ammo needs to be readily available, and maybe even reasonably priced.  

3 - Ergonomics has understandably been mentioned a lot. For me this means the gun has to fit and work for ME. There’s no such thing as one size (or platform) fits all. I don’t care if someone wants to carry a semi-auto or a snub nosed .600 Nitro Express, it needs to be YOUR gun.

 

 

 

[CMDRStormBorn]

JustReality listed: 6. Not a feature but still important, know your firearm,  shooting it needs to be second nature. Bad things happen fast and you won’t have a lot of time to think about what you are doing.  

let’s just bump that up to number 1. If for number 2, you are wise enough to lather, rinse, and repeat- then your carry options expand exponentially. 

[Guest]

As slim and trim as a Sig P365, with something like Ameriglo night sights. As reliable as a Glock 19 Gen 3 feeding NATO ball, grippy texture on the undercut grip, but not so bad as it would eat your side up in an IWB holster. A long, light DA trigger, reminiscent of a Para Ordnance LDA 45, or a Kahr Arms. Semi-staggered row magazine that has 10-12 rounds flush of (rated for +P+ 9mm).

 

[tercel89]

1. Reliability 

2. Very few parts 

3. Darn near rust proof 

Glock had all of these features up until around 2010 or so. Thata when they stopped using Tenifer metal treatment.  If you have an older Generation 1,2, or 3 then you know how reliable and rustproof they are. I love my metal hammer fired guns but the older Glocks will run and run.