I carry a Ruger LCP .380. One in the chamber and safety on. I worry that I might forget the safety in an emergency. That oh shit!, moment when the gun doesn’t fire. I take it to the range now and then. Practice drawing, turning off the safety and firing. The LCP is a bitch to rack. It’s hard to get a good grip on the slide.
I’ve heard about DA/SA (double action/single action) or even just a DAO (double action only). Load, rack, decock, and carry. Pull trigger. I’ve been reading and getting used to a DA trigger can be an issue. By design its a hard pull. Supposedly snagging on clothing won’t fire it. https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/ccm-columns/features/mastering-the-double-action-pistol/
I carry the Walther P99AS (the AS stands for “Anti-Stress.”)
It’s available in 9mm or .40S&W.
The AS model is SA/DA. There’s an internal striker, like a Glock, but you have the option of decocking it via a button on the top of the slide. Once a round is in the chamber and the gun has been decocked, it is a double-action pull. After the first round is discharged, the gun will be single-action until decocked.
Once decocked, you can recock the gun by pulling the slide back about 1/8 of an inch and releasing. The trigger won’t move, but there will be no resistance until you reach the single-action “notch”.
The P99 comes in a QA model, which is essentially just like a Glock, with a partially-cocked striker at all times and a pull somewhere between single/double action. It also comes in a DAO, or double-action-only model.
I carry a Springfield XDS (.45), it’s striker fired, which I suppose you could call single action for the sake of this post.
I carry one in the chamber and safety off - since it does not have a safety lever. I used to carry a Taurus 24/7 which is Single Action/Double Action, the first shot is in DA, subsequent shots in SA. It has a safety which I always kept in the fire position, and of course I carried one in the chamber.
All in all I prefer the XDS trigger style better, I’ve never carried a true single action weapon.
I don’t like safeties. I use my Glock whenever possible. I am thinking about getting something smaller and more easily concealable. That will probably have a safety.
A long gun – such as a rifle or shotgun – should *always *have an external safety. This would be a small lever or button near the trigger that you must manually and consciously actuate between “safe” and “fire.”
On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason a *handgun *carried for self defense should have an external safety. None whatsoever. Even worse, an external safety on a handgun can get you killed for the reason you mentioned (i.e. you’ll forget to actuate it in an emergency).
I will *not *carry a self defense handgun that has an external safety. My current CW is a S&W M&P 9 mm. Love it.
I carry a Taurus PT140 Millennium Pro in .40 S&W. DAO, the pull is long but not too hard. I prefer DAO for concealed carry because every trigger pull is the same, I don’t want a long pull on the first shot and then shorter pulls, that affects aim, especially under stress.
I chose the Taurus, in part, because it has an external safety and where it is located: right where my right thumb lands when gripping it.
I respectively disagree. I’ve seen video of, and heard tell of, too many people shooting themselves on the draw with a handgun with no safety. No matter how much I drill and practice, I don’t want to take the chance that in an actual draw in anger, I’d put my finger on the trigger too quickly and get an accidental discharge. Conversely, I do feel confident that I’d flip the safety off when needed: its placement and action are just perfect. If by some chance I did forget, it’d be off in a fraction of a second, since it’s right under my thumb. In sum, I’d rather risk that than risk an accidental discharge.
On the rare occasion that I carry I prefer my Beretta 92F. It’s the gun I’ve shot a bazillion rounds through and it’s the only semi-auto pistol I own that has never failed to feed and fire.
The double action with de-cocker safety is so second nature to me that I have no doubt I would make the correct moves in the “gravest extreme”, just out of auto-pilot.
So that’s my opinion I guess, whatever you have trained with and has hard wired your muscle memory.
I have no preference, I’ll carry any and all of my pistols. I tend to lean toward my Glocks, though, simply because my Glock 27 was my first gun and I’m used to it. Right now, though, I’m carrying my Kimber Tactical Ultra II cocked and locked just for something different.
I like DAO with no safeties. When I first crossed over from revolver to semi-auto For over 10 years I carried a DAO Ruger P89. Then I went to a Glock, which is single action (they can call it “safe action” all they want. No second strike capability=single action in my book).
I now carry a Glock 21 on duty and a Glock 30 off duty.
But guess what? I sometimes carry the 30 in a pocket with no holster, which made me a bit nervous, so I actually installed a safety on it. I put one on my little 26 too.
And I love it. It works well. Wouldn’t put it on my duty weapon, though. Still don’t like safeties for that.
Second strike is what sold me on the Walther above Glock, though the QA model is a Glock clone and doesn’t have second strike capability, the AS and DAO both do. The ergonomics also beat Glock, which has always felt to me a little like a brick.
The best friend recently moved from the Walther to the S&W M&P and loves it.
I keep a DAO Taurus PT-111 in my glovebox, but generally don’t carry it because of the external safety.
There are some really good suggestions for me to consider. Thank you.
I have thought about carrying my .38 S&W Airweight compact J Frame revolver. Mainly because of the reliability. Revolvers almost never jam. My S&W is double action and you can manually cock the hammer with your thumb for SA use. I keep it in the bedside table. Maybe its time to switch out and carry the S&W and see how it works out. http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/images/SW_CatList_JFrame.jpg
I got mixed up in the OP. I just looked at my Ruger LCP and theres no safety. Which scares me because I’m pretty sure its SA. I can see the hammer through a notch in the slide. Theres no way to decock. Got to be careful drawing it from the holster.
The Boberg looks pretty interesting. But right now they’re expensive as hell 9if you can even find one) and I haven’t seen any magazine reviews yet. But sometime down the line I’d like to shoot one.
I like my Beretta 9000S. SA/DA with the safety/decocker right under my thumb when I draw. Flipping the safety off is automatic when going on target at this point. I practice with getting the first shot off from the decocked position so staying on target for followup shots is familiar.
Don’t carry at the moment, and don’t know if I’ll get licensed–the Ohio CCW law is, unless it has been amended since it passed, a giant pain in the ass. If I did, though, I’d be carrying a 1911 variant, so put me down for SA. I can’t shoot double actions worth a flying good god damn, so no way I’m carrying one.
