Your handgun cartridge minimum? Maximum?

[Twodogs]

Carried a 32 acp in my coat pocket for years, now it's a sig 938, have a Glock .357 sig in the truck, Glock 10MM for in the woods and a .45 acp on the night stand.

 

[Camelfilter]

Min: .380

Max: 10mm

Commonly carried: 9mm

 

[bigtimber]

9mm

 

[deadeye]

Regularly 38 sp to 45acp

occasionally 22mag to 45-70

 

[bradsteen]

The conventional wisdom, for as long as I can recall, is to carry a handgun in the most potent cartridge that one can safely and effectively carry, draw, and shoot at an interloper. It makes sense, of course; if a situation has become so dire as to necessitate employing a handgun against another human being, well, it better be effective at stopping the altercation fast.

On that score:

• What is the absolute smallest, lowest power cartridge you would and have carried for personal defense?
• On the flipside, what is the largest, most powerful cartridge you would be willing to carry?

Thanks for sharing.

I have carried as small as .22 mag, and as large as .45acp. I prefer to carry at least .380, don't really have an upper limit. That said, I'm firmly in the camp of "any gun is better than no gun", so if all that's available is .22LR, I'll carry .22LR. It beats being unarmed.

 

[Outpost75]

Carried a .32 ACP as BUG and NPE for years. Ammo was always Euro ball. Primary concealed carry has always been a .38 Special snub or two. For field carry I prefer a 4-inch S&W Model 29-2 in .44 Mag, using 240-grain bullets with 7 grains of Bullseye. Produces about 900 fps from 4-inch barrel. Controllable for double taps in DA. Very manageable recoil. Outstanding penetration. Large meplat cast bullet does not need to expand.

 

[Member 361]

Personally, I prefer to just bring my wife with me if I go somewhere I feel the need for CC. She carries a 9mm and is quite good with it.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

While not a cartridge gun....
.54 is the largest handgun caliber I own....
So that is my maximum....
Andy

Belt pistol and knife.

• Andy54Hawken
• Jun 26, 2024

 

[Tinman357]

.380 as an absolute minimum .
.357mag is my maximum these days.

LCP in the coat pocket on the days I carry the P365XL . Most of the time it's the standard P365 in coat pocket with a 1911 on the hip and 7 mags. The weight is pretty substantial.

 

[Jerry]

I've carried .22 derringer through a S&W 57 in 41 mag. And 45 acp.

 

[hker71]

For concealed carry guns 9MM is minimum and 45 ACP is the maximum. I carried.380 until the 9MM guns got to be as small as.380s.

I do however believe shot placement is more important than caliber.

Carrying something is better than nothing at all. If you're comfortable carrying and shooting something you will be more likely to carry it.

 

[OrPackrat]

Currently, carry guns caliber ranges from 22lr to 44mag.

22lr with the Keltec P17.
22mag with a NAA
380 LCP2
38spl
9mm with alot of platforms compact to full
10mm 1911 and G40
556 AR Pistol Jakl
300bo AR Pistol
44mag 6shot Taurus 4"


Future Pistol calibers I hope to have is 500S&W Magnum (if Oregon does a magazine limits, its a "F" "U" as a backup carry where 1rd of 500 should have the energy of 10, 9mm rounds so the equivalent of 50rds of 9mm)

Also immediately looking for a 357 with 3" barrel for that small pocket with a tad more barrel.

 

[widgeon22]

I don't carry often. I do carry a pocket knife at all times. When I do carry, it's either a 9mm or .357 with 3 inch barrel.

 

[cp1927]

Current minimum & max: 9mm, looking to expand the carry options in the near future.

 

[thorborg]

I found my BFR 45-70 revolver with a 10" barrel a little hard to conceal, even when I was in my prime, so anything below that use to be OK, but now that I'm enjoying a new life of sarcopenia, I'm down to 9 or less as a regular basis. I'll admit to carrying a 32 and sometimes even a 22mag more than I'd like.