Thread: Best pocket gun

I love my LCP but you gotta practice with it. I was about to give up on the thing a month after I bought it but decided to put some rounds thru it every time I went to the range and now im confident I could use it all the way out to 50 feet and thats without the laser and that insanely long DA trigger pull. Does got a bit of a bite cause its so small but thats the price of admission.

I have a Bersa Thunder .380, I've not had any issues fitting it in a pocket holster into my jeans pocket. It does print a little, but it looks like I just have a bunch of stuff in my pocket.

That depends on the size of your pocket. My ideal pocket gun is a 4" S&W 686(I would never want "pocket wear" on my 586). Rarely do I wear those pockets, though. Honestly, I can't say enough about the LCP. It is so pocket friendly. I am a big dude 6'4", 275lbs. and I do believe I will step up to the LC9. But whether you are 4'9" or 7'6" an LCP can hide under your baseball cap for under $300. Once you learn proper control of the long trigger pull(a necessary safety feature), it becomes a surprisingly accurate gun. I have made 30 yard shots regularly just to show off the accuracy to non believers. A barrel that short combined with a pull that long should not be so accurate. Kip.

Originally Posted by sasquatch

S&W 342PD......5 rounds of .38 Spl +P..........and it weighs just 10.8 oz !!!!!

Sweet gun but the AirLites are too light for me. Makes my hand hurt just looking at it. My 642 AirWeight & .38Spl +P ammo is bad enough at 15 ounces.

Ruger LCR in a Galco pocket holster, 14 ounces, 5 rounds of 125 gr .38+P, no jams to worry about, no safety to worry about, no mag release button to accidentally press, no hammer to snag on clothing when drawing. Shoots from inside a coat pocket if necessary. Point gun, pull trigger, done. Stick a couple of Speed Strips or a speedloader in the other pocket, and you are good to go.

By far, the best one to have is the one you have when you need it, not much else counts!

LCP, I think not, who the hell likes a DAO trigger? Not me. I had a sig p238, and it felt great in my hand, could go into any front pocket, but past say 15 feet, the rounds looked like buckshot. I like a S&W 638 in .38 special or a 639 if you want a .357 mag. Some people with big enough pockets can squeeze in a glock 26/27. I cant, it does not fit most of my jean pockets. Some of the smaller KAHR pistols are not so bad, but the smaller you go, the less accurate you are. Colt has a new version of the mustang coming out soon, or will hit the market in the coming weeks. But then again, if you want a get off me gun, a sig or colt, a little more range and accuracy, the S&W and Kahr's.
Best thing to do is, take your favorite jeans and go to a shop and put them in your pocket. See what you can draw the fastest. Then go to a range and rent what you like and go from there. $50 at a range is better than $150 loss on trying to sell it used to get what works better. I am not one for DAO, I do not like spending $$$ on rounds trying to get the perfect pull of a DOA trigger, I will spend the $$$ on rounds getting better and better with shot placement.

Originally Posted by Allfat

I carry a PF9 IWB. I bought a pocket holster for it, but it is just too big for me to pocket carry. I have seen several posts of people online who pocket carry it, and I have a friend who pocket carries a Kahr PM9 with similar dimensions.

I can pocket carry an LCP with no problem.

My experience also, just a tad too big for pocket, but with a good IWB it carries all day like nothing is there.

Wow, so many variables in what “pocket gun” might even mean. Different for everyone.

To me, it’s tiny and light, totally concealable and almost forgettable, something I would pull and shoot only if necessary. Not to stick around and repel an army of meth-craving zombies. It’s to GTFOOH. Leave and live. I sincerely hope that scenario never happens, ever. But I want a fighting chance if it does.

S&W 638 with JHP +P x5 and a couple rubber speed strips. Not a fan of pistols without hammers, but certainly not into anything that will snag coming out of a jeans/jacket pocket or backpack. So the shrouded hammer works for me. Nice heavy trigger pull to prevent an inadvertent discharge.

I drill in double action at combat speed. It’s not a sweet comfy target pistol. And it's not a high capacity LE carry piece. It’s an emergency escape device I can hide effectively in pretty much anything I wear or carry, winter or summer. In panic-speed practice coming from the pocket, it makes reasonable face-sized groups at 7 yards.

Oh yeah, and a good pair of sneakers to haulassss.

^ Teflon made some very good points about what a pocket gun should mean.

This thread is as good as any to show off the new Spegel stocks on my pocket protector. While doing so I'll elaborate a little on what I've already said here.



To me, this is "the best" setup. A S&W 642 in a Mika pocket holster. This is not something I would want to use for a head-shot at 20 yards, but I can produce this weapon out of nowhere (right front pocket) and have it pointed @ center mass quicker than a cat can lick his ***, tail up & tongue out. It will be very effective within ten feet or so and out to ten yards if need be.



I prefer to use a stainless colored pocket gun simply because I want it to be seen if it's out of the holster. There is a chance the person it's pointed at just might see it easier than a black gun and decide it would be a good time to get outta there ASAP. That is the preferred outcome in most cases in my opinion. The color may not make much difference, but any little thing that might help you get out of trouble is a good thing.



At 15 ounces the 642 is just the right weight (for me), a good balance of light enough to pocket carry and heavy enough to control reasonably well. It's all a trade-off, but I do not notice this gun is in my pocket. Best of all, the gun is reliable. It's going to work if needed. No stupid internal lock to jam up when you least expect it. DAO is a very good idea too.

The Mika pocket holster makes it disappear and holds it steady while walking/running. Drawing is fast and smooth, re-holstering one handed is easy and safe. Maximum concealment. Throw in a speed strip or two and I feel pretty well armed while doing the day to day things we all do.

So there is my opinion of "the best" pocket gun. How do you like them grips? They feel great and are not sticky like the stockers.

but I can produce this weapon out of nowhere (right front pocket) and have it pointed @ center mass quicker than a cat can lick his ***, tail up & tongue out.

WTF did you get that statement? LOL

tail up & tongue out

That's great lol

I just put a stop watch on my cat and he is not that quick. Actually kinda leisurely like he was enjoying it.

If I am going to rely upon a semi-auto for self defense...particularly one of the pocket .380's that are known to be tempramental and jam-prone....I want to run at least 100 rounds of carry ammo through it and 200 would be better. The problem is that premium defense ammo for a .380 is horribly expensive...to the point where 200 rounds will cost almost as much as you paid for the gun. And there is only so much stopping power that you can wring out of a 90 gr bullet moving at 1000 fps max. I just dont trust a .380 to do the job against a tweaker. An airweight .38+P snub resolves all of these issues.

I find carrying in my front pants pocket a Makarow loaded with hot HP's a very accurate pistol.. At times when concealibility has to be done with a small amount clothes like at the gym my Kel-Tec P32 does a good job.

Originally Posted by Spad

I find carrying in my front pants pocket a Makarow loaded with hot HP's a very accurate pistol.. At times when concealibility has to be done with a small amount clothes like at the gym my Kel-Tec P32 does a good job.

I had a KelTec P32 and it was a reliable and easy to conceal gun....but on two occasions I had to use it to put down deer that had been hit by cars and were laying in the road and it took multiple head shots at point blank range to finally get the job done. I had it loaded with 65 gr Silvertips and I may as well have been using a paintball gun for all the good it did. I got rid of it soon after and upgraded to an airweight .38 snub.

rufus-First of all, your revolver is beautiful and the grips look great. I am a huge fan of S&W revolvers. For me personally, I would rather shed weight and stick with my LCP. 9.4 ounces empty. If I were to carry a pocket revolver(and I'm sure someday I will), it would have to be .357 mag. Everyone here has a preference and from what I have seen they will all work as "pocket pistols". Practice, find what works for you and master it. If that is a Keltec PF9. great. S&W .38 sp., LCP, LC9 and even the new Beretta Nano looks like a fine idea. Has anyone seen the new Kahr 5+1 .40S&W pocket gun? I can't remember the model name, but if you can handle .40 recoil in a pocket package, the bigger the better! Shot placement and reliability with YOUR gun is most important. Kip.

Kel-Tec 9mm either the old P11 like I carry or the newer single stacks.

Soberups, Your story on the deer and .32 caliber is well taken. I only carry that .32 as a last resort get off me gun. Spad

I cary my Rohrbaugh.

Medic!

Very nice guns all the way around.