looking for concealed carry advice

I am about to be in the market for a semi-auto pistol for home defense and concealed carry and I am looking for some advice on what to get. I would prefer a .45, but I will be happy with a 9mm if I can't find one that fits what I want.

I need one that is small enough, and has a manageable kick, for my girlfriend to comfortably use when I am not around. We both have small hands and have a hard time working the safeties and slide releases on a lot of .45's. I am a lefty and she isn't, so it will need to be ambidextrous. I really like the 1911's, but all the ones I have used have been too big for me to reach the safety and slide release quickly and easily.

I have looked at a lot of Glocks and a few Barettas, but I don't like the models with automatic safeties. It needs to have a traditional safety that will not disengage until I want it to.

Some models I have read about require up to 200 rounds to be fired through them before they will consistently fire with out malfunctions. With the job I have right now I can't afford to fire that many rounds over a short period of time.

I am looking to spend about $600 but I can afford to spend up to about $750.

Any advice you guys can give me is greatly appreciated.

if you want a 9mm i would go with a SR9c with the concealment option of the 10 rd mag or the the home defence option of the 17 rd mag...but if you want one in a .45 just find a defender style 1911...

Take a good loook at the Sig 239. It is available in both 9mm and .40 cal, its a single stack, so its on the slimmer side with a smaller grip... and since it's a DA/SA, there's no external safety to trouble a left handed shooter.

http://www.impactguns.com/store/media/sig_239.jpg

Stoeger Industries is a subsidiary of Beretta. The Stoeger Cougars are made in Turkey using the same machinery that Beretta used to make the original Cougars. It is every bit the quality of the Beretta. The Stoeger 8000 in 9mm is identical to the Beretta Cougar L Type P (Cougar L slide, lighter barrel and beveled slide, but with a full-length magazine).

Also use links:

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/fir...ger_cougar.php

http://www.vursan.com.tr/index_en.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YFZsandrider

Take a good loook at the Sig 239. It is available in both 9mm and .40 cal, its a double stack, so its on the slimmer side with a smaller grip... and since it's a DA/SA, there's no external safety to trouble a left handed shooter.

http://www.impactguns.com/store/media/sig_239.jpg

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The 239 is SINGLE stack which makes it thinner :smt033

oops... thats what I meant! see edit. :mrgreen:

The CZ 85 Combat meets your requirements. Also, both the safety and the slide release lever is ambidextrous, so you can release them with the index finger if you desire. It is a standard sized pistol, but the grip is easily useable by my wife, who loves to shoot it. Both the grip size and the overall weight make it very controllable. They are also *very* accurate.

The HK P7PSP would also meet your requirements, even the requirement for a safety lever. However, the safety lever is the cocking lever in the grip and not on the slide. This lever is actuated when you grip the pistol with enough force to depress it. This lever has to be depressed in order to shoot the pistol, and the pistol is instantly rendered safe when the lever is released. This grip lever also serves as the slide release too, so you just have to squeeze it to drop the slide. When you combine that with the heel mag release, it truely is an ambidextrous handgun. It's also considered by many to be the most reliable semi-auto ever made.

Otherwise, just get an H&K with a safety lever and be done with it.....

p.s. Forgot to mention that the P7PSP is not made any more, but can easily be found on the used market.

While I LOVE my Stoeger Cougar and I conceal carry it, it is not the easiest gun to conceal and it is pretty heavy for every day carry.

If ease of CC is high on the priority list you would do better with a smaller, lighter, weapon.

I'm thinking of getting something different and keeping my Cougar as my primary range and home protection pistol.

The new (should be out soon) Bersa BP40CC catches my eye. Funny because it is so different than my Cougar.

There are a lot of Taurus bashers around, but take a look at their PT145. It's DA/SA, .45 acp with 10+1 capacity, and definitely small enough to conceal easily. It does not have ambi controls though. With some practice, you and your wife will learn to use them efficiently. It comes in around $400, leaving enough money to practice with it.

M&P 45c Not too big , can be had with manual ambi. safety and mag release is able to be switched from side to side and made in the USA

I got small hands and I like the grip of the XD. The best, I was told, is a .357, ammo is available everywhere. My personal carry is a Glock 23 .40 caliber, but my XDm is a 9mm because I want to keep up with the boys with their 9mm.

I would reccomend the S&W M&P compact in whichever caliber you choose...personally I would stick with 9mm in a good holowpoint for self defense and get the cheaper stuff to shoot with....great gun, fits small hands well, and has the safety you are looking for....I would also look at the ruger 9mm, they have some very nice ones well within your range, although Im not sure if the safety is ambi or not....I would also look at the beretta px4 storm in compact size, I have not shot one but boy does it feel nice in the hand and looks to be of very good quality....I personally carry a glock 26, and its my all around gun, I shoot it at the range at least once a week, keep it in my nightstand loaded with speer hollowpoints, and carry it hot whenever Im not workingin that God awful sate of Massachusetts......its going to take a really, really good gun for me to give that one up as a concealled carry piece..good luck and if you dont have much cash to spend on bullits after the purchase, I would try to get a nice used gun for around 400 bucks and then put the rest torwards amo...it sucks having a gun and not being able to shoot it..and for 400 clams you can definitely get a decent gun used if you look around....

I like the M&P9 for carry myself, with the small backstrap in place I can reach all the controlls pretty easy. With good personal defense ammo I'm very confident with it as a daily carry gun.