Didn't think to check if Lemmy had a CCW community, made this post on reddit but I would like some input from here as well.

Trying to figure out what to buy as an every day conceal carry pistol, and all the usual recommendations I found on here seem to be missing something.

XDM 3.8 has a fairly odd grip, (and I can barely get my pinky on it, somehow.) and it flares out at the bottom even more which to me seems like it would just show through a shirt. I was told removing that mag well and adding a pierce extension to the magazine would make it fit perfectly, not

Glock 29 seems fine mostly, a little thick everywhere but then you hold it and your pinky is just not on the grip at all. Again a mag extension was suggested to make it just barely longer. However Is that not too thick for concealing?

Smith M&P 10mm, the Sig Xten comp, comfy and decent capacity but could either of them be concealed even remotely well? They're tall and long, and not that much skinnier than the others. I can't picture in my head how some could be carried without just showing.

All of these I've gotten my (relatively small) hands on and nothing seems to fit. Do I have to modify them to make them work better? What am I missing?

And an honorable mention, someone mentioned a Witness P compact. Hammer fired and external safety is cool but unless I am reading something wrong it is the biggest of the bunch. Thoughts?

Please feel free to talk to me like an idiot. Just wanting to find the "right" one for me. Have shot 10mm before, never carried before.

This is one of the problems I have with accuracy. I tend to shoot low and left, but only after the first round. This video was helpful, as were others from the same shooting coach.

I usually carry a 632 UC, which is a revolver chambered in 32 H&R Magnum. It has very little recoil, so I can shoot a bit faster and more accurately. I'd really like to shoot my 9mm guns better (9mm is MUCH cheaper), but it has been a challenge. What put me on the road to improvement was an understanding that several different issues are in play on every shot.

This video talks about managing the trigger press. The other things that I struggle with are grip pressure (putting pressure in the right place instead of tiring out my hands after one box of ammo), and proper tension in my wrists (so the sights snap back on target without bouncing around).

The key for me has been to slow down. I find that if I concentrate more and take my time, I can do most of the things some of the time. Apparently, more focused practice is better. Who knew? 🙂

I do like Chris Baker's gun-nerd take on things. In this case, I was trying to figure out why my guns all seem to move around in my hands when I'm shooting, causing me to take extra time to re-aim after each shot. In contrast, most of the people in pistol-related videos have their sights snap right back on target.

This blog explains some of the mechanics of recoil with different designs.

I have an optic on my Shield Plus that I don't shoot as well as the sights on my S&W 632. At the range, that is.

I carry it anyway because I need reading glasses to see any detail within 2 yards or so. The red dot works whether I have glasses on or not. Even high-vis iron sights are really hard to pick up against a bright background.

Has anyone else with older eyeballs found that a red dot helps? If not, if suggest giving it a try.

I was a bit skeptical of this idea, but I actually bought a Smith & Wesson 632 UC. Now I think the author of this blog post and video is right.

I carry it loaded with 32 h&r mag. This has noticeably lighter recoil than a 38 special in such a small gun, but it's very manageable. More importantly, ballistics are comparable to a 38 special out of a snubby. At the range, the gun is actually fun to shoot when I load it with 32 Smith & Wesson longs. I also tried some 32 shorts in it, and recoil is like a 22: Virtually non-existent. 32 short is pretty hard to find, though, and the only brand that I found was Magtech. Unfortunately, Magtech has a reputation for having a high number of dud primers, which has been my experience.

The 32 longs have very light recoil in any case, so I've just been sticking with those at the range. I have also watched the price for all .32s drop noticeably in the past couple of months. It isn't cheap, but it's cheaper to shoot then a number of other calibers that were popular 25 years ago.

Finally, I picked up a couple of HKS speed loaders from Midway USA. They were less than 10 bucks each, and although it isn't nearly as fast as reloading a semi-auto, it is doable in two or three seconds. A speed strip takes more like 10 seconds for me. More to the point, a speed loader in this caliber doesn't make a ridiculously large bulge in my pocket.

These are the two that I carry most often. Both are Smith & Wessons. I am still trying to get used to the optical sight on the Shield Plus, so I usually have the 632 UC on.

I carry AIWB at around 1:00 for either of them. I find it comfortable for all day, though the revolver is a bit more comfortable.

Holsters are a Philster "City Special" (for the revolver), and a Harry's Holsters "Shorty" for the 9mm. I replaced the grip on the 632 with an Altamont wood grip - the one it came with did not fit my hand well at all. The Shield Plus is wearing a Hogue grip sleeve because it also didn't fit my hand well. I have very large hands (more long than wide), so most good CCW guns need something to improve the grip for me.

There are other CCW forums on Lemmy, but none on discuss.online, which is a US-based Lemmy instance. Since the US has the most permissive concealed-carry laws for the largest number of people, it seemed like a better instance for a group like this than lemmy.world, which is hosted in the EU AFAIK.

I would really like this group to avoid politics-based argument. I'm happy to add links in the sidebar to groups that encourage this, though - please just contact me to add one. I don't want to be too specific about that that means, but if it gets too noisy or rude I'll ask people to take it to a more appropriate forum.

I'm a regular reader of the /r/CCW forum on reddit (liked in the sidebar). I created this one because:

• I think we need a backup, in case Reddit shuts it down for any reason
• Lemmy is a better experience, without a bunch of ads always in your face
• There already were a couple of CCW groups on other instances, but nothing on the largest US-based instance (which is this one), so I know there is some interest in the subject here

I'll get things going with a couple of other posts shortly, and pimp this group in the appropriate places on Lemmy. I'm not sure about promoting it on reddit (I suspect that Reddit polices any Lemmy links) - I'll ask the /r/CCW mods what they're comfortable with, if anythting.