While there are a lot of good arguments for choosing a single everyday carry gun and sticking with it — mastery (especially under stress) comes from training with and using the same tool over and over again — I tend to alternate between two options. Most of the time, I have a GLOCK 43 strapped to my hip in a DeSantis Speed Scabbard OWB Leather holster. The G43 is light, comfortable, goes bang every time and accurate at personal defense distances.
But there are times when I’d rather tuck my shirt in and go with something more deeply concealed. That’s when I slip a Smith & Wesson M&P BODYGUARD .380 in my pocket in a Sticky Holster SM-2. It’s reliable and slim enough to virtually disappear, even in a jeans pocket.
I own other, “better” guns than those two. My FN FNS-9 Compact, for instance, is a great pistol with an excellent trigger. But it’s a double stack gun and relatively thick, so I tend to leave it in the safe.
I’m a big fan of my Beretta APX, but that’s a full-size duty gun. A 17+1 handgun is more than I’m willing to try to conceal and carry around on a daily basis.
If we’re talking pure quality, I also own a Cabot Vintage Classic. It’s one of the most beautifully made, not to mention dead-nuts accurate handguns I’ve ever handled. But while I’ve carried it occasionally, a big two-and-a-half pound government 1911 is a lot of steel to drag around all day. So I don’t.
All of which means the “best” carry gun is very much in the eye of the beholder. Each gun guy or girl needs to decide what combination of size, weight, caliber and cost works best for the way they carry and go about their daily appointed rounds.
The “best” carry gun, then, is the one that you shoot well enough for personal defense use and are willing to carry on a daily basis. In my case, that’s the G43. Which brings us to our original question…what’s the best carry gun you own?
