Want some recommendations on a subcompact

[darkminstrel]

My recommendation... don't do it.

That's not a recommendation, that's an opinion! Why not? Have you had issues with a small frame pistol vs just a compact?

 

[bbbass]

That's not a recommendation, that's an opinion! Why not? Have you had issues with a small frame pistol vs just a compact?

Ah, but you totally whiffed and missed the humor... don't be so serious my friend. And no, it's not an opinion. An opinion would say that sub compacts suck. A recommendation is not to buy one. Get it?

I hate shooting subcompacts. It's just not pleasant. And they are famous for failure to feed because of the short ramp. Polishing will do no good. That's my opinion. And I own both subcompact and compact. With subcompact, one sacrifices distance, and sometimes reliability, for ease of carry. Same with compact vs full size when it comes to farther out targets. That's why competition shooters go to long slide pistols (sight radius). That's my opinion.

 

[bbbass]

IMO, sub-compact might be ok for small office rooms, if you can find one that cycles correctly. I think you'll want to get one with an extended mag grip tho... anything with a short grip is much harder to control. Test out prospects at the range before you buy.

I've shot Shields and Bersas and didn't like either. I don't like Sig triggers. I've shot a Taurus .380 mouse gun... it's very easy to conceal (pocket gun) but the accuracy beyond 10' is doubtful and anything after the first shot could jam. Not recommended. The Shield is easy to conceal in my experience.

I own or have owned both a G19 compact, double stack 9mm 15+1, and a Ruger SR9c, double stack 9mm with 10rd and 17rd mags. I find both reasonable to conceal with a long shirt, but the SR9c is slimmer w/o losing capacity.

IMO a compact would be better for large office rooms, gathering rooms, hallways, extended engagements, exterior areas, roadways, etc. YMMV

 

[Bumpy]

Transitioning from working on a farm back into an office setting so my current handguns won't fit the bill for comfortable CC. I'm looking for real-world experiences that can recommend a carry piece in 9mm or .40 that isn't a Glock. I'm very set on those calibers as I don't want to have to add another one to reload.

I had a G-27 and only kept it for a couple months as the ergonomics were just not right for me. Been looking at both semi-auto and revolvers. And finally; $500 or less is ideal because I'm gonna be skint for the next couple years.

Edit; I'm about 230, and just under 6' in terms of bulk. I'm expecting to be constantly going from standing position to sitting and want to avoid needing to adjust whatever I'm carrying.

On the spendy side a Sig P938 is excellent. on the more economical side a Ruger EC9S will get the job done! I have both and my EDC is the Sig.

 

[Bottom Gun]

My vote is for a Sig P239. They are compact, reliable, accurate and, with an extra barrel/magazine, can be easily changed from .40 S&W to 9mm if desired.

 

[Jonnyuma]

Not the LE version though.
No 8rd mag and no luminous sights.

The luminescent sights are pretty useless on a CC gun and 8 rd mags are easy to come by. The luminescent sights are just paint (unlike Trijicons) and require a light "charge" to be bright... they'll just be 3-dots when you need em. They're easy to replace with real night sights if you decide to.
The one thing to really be careful of is not to get the minimum 10.5# Massachusetts trigger. Most are in the 13-15# range. If you can't feel it, an easy way to tell was by looking at the disconnector: S=standard, H=heavy on the M1s. I just checked my M2 and it is unmarked, but breaks @ 6#... should be pretty obvious if buying locally and online vendors generally market restricted guns as NJ, MA, CA (whatever) compliant.

 

[Looperman]

Love my Smith and Wesson M&P 9c. Shoots perfect. Never fails. Hard to find. Had Ruger Lc 9. Had to send back to factory. Magazine felt out everytime I made one shot. ??. To be fair, they did fix it. But why did it leave factory like that. I do own several Rugers
I love them.

 

[jay douglass]

Springfield Armory Mod 2 Sub Compact 9MM

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Some that I like:
Sig P365. Love it. Mine has been mechanically flawless. Accurate, shoots like it weighs a lot more than it does. Recoil is relatively soft.
Sig P938: If I want to shoot entirely instinctively, this would be my choice. Feels like a part of my arm at this point. Recoil is more punishing than the p365.
Ruger LC9Spro: A very good budget gun, oem mags have extensions to allow you to have 10 rounds. Its a good deal.

Side note: IME the straight LC9 has a crappy trigger. I own one and wish I didn't

 

[DirectDrive]

The luminescent sights are pretty useless on a CC gun and 8 rd mags are easy to come by. The luminescent sights are just paint (unlike Trijicons) and require a light "charge" to be bright... they'll just be 3-dots when you need em. They're easy to replace with real night sights if you decide to.
The one thing to really be careful of is not to get the minimum 10.5# Massachusetts trigger. Most are in the 13-15# range. If you can't feel it, an easy way to tell was by looking at the disconnector: S=standard, H=heavy on the M1s. I just checked my M2 and it is unmarked, but breaks @ 6#... should be pretty obvious if buying locally and online vendors generally market restricted guns as NJ, MA, CA (whatever) compliant.

I love my luminous sights.
And I wouldn't want to come up against my PPS-M2.
Book it.

 

[cidrmakr]

kimber solo carry 9mm. Really nice weapon. reliable, accurate, hidable

 

[turq]

I agree with Wombat and bbbass.
Some micro guns are too small ; hard to manually touch those Controls that count.
Sig P 365 is excellent.
12. Rounds
Perfect size, accurate.

 

[titsonritz]

Another vote for both the Shield and Walter PPS M2.

I own a Shield and it's a great subcompact piece. Lots of after-market support as well. I have a MagGuts kit to give me an extra round in the flat magazine.

The Walter PPS has the best ergonomics and best sized grips in my hands. Capacity is a little more limited and I couldn't justify having another small 9mm in my collection.

These two, also, I know you said no Glock but check the G43, it feels a lot different than a G26/27.

 

[DeanMk]

Transitioning from working on a farm back into an office setting so my current handguns won't fit the bill for comfortable CC. I'm looking for real-world experiences that can recommend a carry piece in 9mm or .40 that isn't a Glock. I'm very set on those calibers as I don't want to have to add another one to reload.

I had a G-27 and only kept it for a couple months as the ergonomics were just not right for me. Been looking at both semi-auto and revolvers. And finally; $500 or less is ideal because I'm gonna be skint for the next couple years.

Edit; I'm about 230, and just under 6' in terms of bulk. I'm expecting to be constantly going from standing position to sitting and want to avoid needing to adjust whatever I'm carrying.

Rohrbaugh R9 was about as compact a 9mm as I think there ever was.
Unfortunately, they sold out to Remington about 4 years ago....still, if you can find a used one, it will probably fit your needs to a "T".
Another suggestion would be the little Kahr pistols.
Still in production, then mini version of their original "K" series is the "MK".
Available in both 9mm and 40, the little MK will probably be your best bet, but the K is pretty compact, as well.
Even the "full size" T series is really not all that big. "Full sized" is relative, in this case.
Nice thing about these, they're STEEL, through and through.
A little heavier than the plastic framed guns (and Kahr does make those, too), a good heft can help with accurate shot placement and if nothing else, STEEL makes for a nice pseudo "brass knuckle", if the fight goes mano a mano.
Here's Kahr's page on the Mk9 - MK9 Elite (M9098)
The spec chart (about half way down the page, on the right) shows the compact Mk9, the K9 and the full size T9, so you can compare the actual size of each one.


Dean

 

[bumbazine]

Rohrbaugh R9 was about as compact a 9mm as I think there ever was.
Unfortunately, they sold out to Remington about 4 years ago....still, if you can find a used one, it will probably fit your needs to a "T".
Dean

My understanding is that, aside from redesigning the magazine release, Remington pretty much left the rest of the Rohrbaugh design alone and the RM380 has been getting relly good reviews, if you can find one.

My favorite subcompacts are the Sig P938 and the Glock 42. I think if Sig would 'marry' the 938 with the 365 they'd have a winner there too.

 

[mikemenzie]

I skipped 9mm and went for the Rugers LCP380 and SR40c.
For a double stack .40 the SR40compact really isn't terribly oversized, depending on carry position of course. And I have the .380 subcompact for times when I can't carry the .40. I practice with both and of course the subcompact is more difficult to grip comfortably and the sights are ridiculous, but I'm not too bad with iron sighting to 30 yards or reflexive sighting to 15 or 20 yards, which is more than would typically be necessary.
The .40 is absolutely more comfortable, but the loaded magazine weighs more than the pistol, at least subjectively, haha.

For reference, I'm 6'2" and 180 pounds.

-Mike

 

[ilikegunspdx]

My understanding is that, aside from redesigning the magazine release, Remington pretty much left the rest of the Rohrbaugh design alone and the RM380 has been getting relly good reviews, if you can find one.

My favorite subcompacts are the Sig P938 and the Glock 42. I think if Sig would 'marry' the 938 with the 365 they'd have a winner there too.

Just a quick note re the rm380. Sportsman's warehouse has them in store. I handled it and I like it's mostly all metal build and the trigger break. Assuming one is ok with the caliber, the very long double-action-only trigger pull is the biggest negative imo. There was a recent thread where the OP of that thread bought it. Anyone have the Kahr p380 and what do they think about it or other micro pistol?
Some good opinions etc in that thread fwiw.

Also I recently learned of the seecamp 380. Handmade all metal and smallest 380 on the market. Sorry to be wandering off topic talking about 380s as I know OP is looking for 9mm or 40sw.

I know some poeple who carry 9mm or larger have something tiny like a North American Arms 22mag for the times when they otherwise would have no gun at all. I was researching the rm380, lcp2, and seecamp 380 for that same role, mainly just out of curiosity.

Seecamp 380. Can u say "belly gun"? Ha ha

 

[mikemenzie]

I know some poeple who carry 9mm or larger have something tiny like a North American Arms 22mag for the times when they otherwise would have no gun at all.

I do have a NAA .22mag also as a BUG when appropriate, but rarely have a situation where carrying it is more appropriate than the LCP380.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Transitioning from working on a farm back into an office setting so my current handguns won't fit the bill for comfortable CC. I'm looking for real-world experiences that can recommend a carry piece in 9mm or .40 that isn't a Glock. I'm very set on those calibers as I don't want to have to add another one to reload.

I had a G-27 and only kept it for a couple months as the ergonomics were just not right for me. Been looking at both semi-auto and revolvers. And finally; $500 or less is ideal because I'm gonna be skint for the next couple years.

Edit; I'm about 230, and just under 6' in terms of bulk. I'm expecting to be constantly going from standing position to sitting and want to avoid needing to adjust whatever I'm carrying.

Just thought of an idea and please feel free to ignore. Since ergonomics are a big factor u may want to handle multiple guns that seem to fit the bill at a big store. Then u could rent the one u like at the English Pit in Vancouver to shoot it (I think rent for most of the guns is like $10-$15). Just a thought and may not fit for several possible reasons but just passing the thought along fwiw (feel free to ignore) Thx!

 

[DeanMk]

I do have a NAA .22mag also as a BUG when appropriate, but rarely have a situation where carrying it is more appropriate than the LCP380.

If you're ever looking for the ultimate in compactibility, I don't think anything on the planet can beat the little NAA .22 revolvers with the fold-up grip.
I swear its about as inconspicuous as a pocket knife....kinda works like one, too!