TL;DR- Please advise on either a pocket carry or really easy to conceal belt gun for summer carry/t shirt and basketball shorts/ other light wear.
I live in Alabama, and it’s hotter than hell here a good bit of the year, especially during the summer.
I currently carry my first pistol, which I got earlier this year- a CZ P01. I love this gun, and am able to hit good groups with it (albeit a little left of where I’m aiming it) but the size of the grip makes it print very bad when wearing anything other than hawaiian shirts.
Granted, I wear Hawaiian shirts a good bit of the time, but sometimes I just want to throw on a T shirt and basketball shorts and go to walmart to pick up a few things. (I can wear my CZ p01 with this outfit, but again, it prints like crazy and is hard to conceal).
I am currently looking at pocket carry options, such as a SW 442, Charter Arms Undercover, Glock 42, LCP Max, etc. I have handled a 442, Glock 42, and an LCP max and like the feel of all of those, but I imagine the shootability of the Max and the 442 maybe a little rough.
Any input at all on these options, or anything else? I would prefer as good of a value as possible, and am willing to consider outside of pocket carry, such as subcompact, slim revolvers/automatics, as long as they conceal well under a t shirt and shorts.
Thanks in advance!
I’d recommend that you look at any of the “micro 9” category. I carry a Spingfield Hellcat, but the S&W Shield series, the Sig Sauer P365 series, and Glock G43X are all excellent options too. These are all shorter and lighter than previous generations. They conceal well and they are light enough to carry in a pocket.
If you do pocket carry I strongly recommend a holster designed for the purpose. I like Sticky Holsters (yes, that is a brand), but there are plenty of options. Pocket carry without a holster is more likely to print, is harder to draw, and can be just plain dangerous.
I’ve really found the Phlster Enigma to be a good setup for that type of clothes. Plus it’s versatile and can also be used to effectively conceal under dress clothes. That’s how I use it most of the time: carrying a p365x under a tucked in polo at work. And then I can just leave it on when I change into my house clothes when I get home as it’s worn under the pants.
I’m gonna check this out for sure, never heard of the enigma
I do think that on handguns that small the details of the ergonomics become even more important than usual. Some of them will fit a particular individual much better than others and it won’t always be the same ones. I highly recommend renting and trying several of them if you can.
Finally, I like to use +P founds for self-defense. Most manufacturers do not recommend shooting +P in their handguns. Springfield officially says the Hellcat is designed to handle them.
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The meanings of +P and +P+ have been refined over time. +P seems to have originally meant anything over the SAAMI pressure standard. That quickly evolved into +P meaning up to 10% above SAAMI pressures and +P+ meaning between 10% and 20% above SAAMI.
At this point SAAMI does specify maximum chamber pressures for +P ammunition. SAAMI does not define pressures for +P+, but it is commonly used to indicate pressure levels up to 20% above the SAAMI standard.
