far and away the most popular in American police service at this writing, but the S&W M&P is coming on strong in that sector and so, to a lesser degree, is the XD.
Double-action semiautomatics can be had with polymer frames (Beretta Ninety-Two and Px4, the current HK series, SIG P-250 and SIG-Pro, Ruger P95 9mm and P345 45, for example). These require a long, heavy (read “deliberate”) pull of the trigger for the first shot, and are considered by some to be less prone to stress-induced accidental discharges for that reason. They can be ordered DAO (double-action-only, with that same heavy pull for every shot, such as the popular Kel-Tec series), or TDA (traditional double action) in which the pistol cocks itself to an easy, light pull for every shot after the first. The latter will be fitted with a decocking lever to safely lower the hammer when the shooting is done. Of course, the same companies – plus Smith & Wesson and many more – offer double-action autos with steel or aluminum frame construction, too.
Two approaches to making 1911’s butt less protuberant in concealment. Top: shortened Officer’s frame on Colt CCO. Center: “Bobtail” configuration developed by Ed Brown, shown on his Executive model pistol. Below: standard size 1911 frame for reference, here a Smith SW1911. All 3 are 45 ACP.
S&W lightweight Centennials have been the choice of experts for deep concealment for more than half a century. Top: Original Centennial Airweight, circa 1953. Center, Model 442, early ’90s, with Eagle grips. Below, Model 340 M&P, with factory-furnished Hogue grips, introduced 2007.
A classic favorite among American shooters is the single action semiautomatic, typified by the 1911 pistol that has been popular since the eponymous year of its introduction. To be ready for immediate, reactive self-defense, the 1911 type handgun has to be carried cocked and locked (hammer back, thumb safety in the “safe” position) with a live round in the chamber. This alarms some people not in tune with the tradition, and there is no shame for those people to simply go to a double action or striker-fired handgun instead. The 1911 was popular for concealed carry from the beginning because it is extremely thin for a gun of its power level, and is therefore very comfortable to wear inside the waistband or even in a shoulder holster. The most popular chambering is the one this gun was designed around, the 45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), but enthusiasts have bought them in 38 Super, 9mm, 10mm, and other chamberings. The 1911 was designed by firearms genius John Moses Browning, who before his death did the initial design work on another famous weapon that bears his name, the Browning Hi-Power. Even slimmer, and capable of holding 14 rounds of 9mm Parabellum, this high quality weapon has something of a cult following in the CCW world.
Revolvers have earned a reputation for good reliability and have been around since the year 1836. A swing-out cylinder double action design is the easiest handgun for new shooters because of its simple “administrative handling,” the routine loading and unloading, checking, and cleaning that accompanies all responsible firearms ownership. Its “manual of arms,” i.e., its physical operation, is without parallel for simplicity. This is one reason most experts recommend the double-action revolver as a “starter gun” for new shooters.
Model 642 Airweight 38 Spl. may be today’s “best buy” in a carry snub, opines author.
642 with Uncle Mike’s grips and pocket holster, backed by Speed Strip, and loaded with 135-grain Gold Dot 38 Spl. +P is an excellent everyday carry snubby set-up.
Revolver or Auto
As you assess your particular balance of needs, you’ll find some stark differences between the attributes of the double action revolver and the semiautomatic pistol. Let’s go for a quick overview.
All autoloading pistols have long bearing surfaces between slide and frame, making them sensitive to proper lubrication. They are also depended on clean, pristine magazines with unfatigued springs. Thus, auto pistols are more maintenance intensive than revolvers, which can be left unlubricated and at rest literally for decades with no degradation in function. Military spec auto pistols such as the Glock, Beretta, SIG, etc. have large tolerances between the moving parts, allowing them to function when sand or dirt get in the mechanism; the more finely fitted revolvers may choke if dropped in a sand pile or immersed in mud. Thus, while the revolver is more forgiving of lack of routine maintenance, the automatic is more forgiving of field abuse.
In the serious defense calibers (38 Special and up) revolvers have only five shots in the small frame models, six in the standard frame, and occasionally seven or eight in the larger, progressively harder to conceal sizes. The smallest 9mm autos start at seven rounds on board, quickly progress to ten or eleven, and if you can carry a light polymer-frame, full size 9mm auto, you’re up to 18 rounds or so, twenty if you don’t mind a small magazine extension protruding from the butt. With quick-interchanging magazines, the autos are also much faster to reload. By any measure, if firepower’s what you want, a semiautomatic is what you need.
Most semiautomatics can jam if pressed against an assailant’s body before firing, as can happen in a belly-to-belly fight to the death or rape attempt. The pressure will push most autos’ slides out of battery, or firing alignment of the parts, preventing even one shot from being fired. If the first shot discharges, viscous blood, fat, and brain matter may be back-blasted from a shot against bare flesh into the barrel bushing area of the autoloader as it cycles, preventing the slide from closing into battery for a subsequent shot. With a revolver, however, this is not a consideration. If your likeliest threat profile is a contact-distance mugging, rape, or murder attempt, the revolver will give you an advantage. Muzzle contact shots are particularly devastating since the violently expanding gases of the muzzle blast are directed into the opponent’s body, causing massive additional damage.
Crimson Trace Lasergrips make an excellent addition to hard-to-shoot snubby revolvers.
Seen here with 340 M&P, Centennial’s design lets the hand get higher on the backstrap for superior recoil recovery in rapid combat fire.
Revolver shooters have tended historically to practice with light loads, using mild wadcutters or feeble 130-grain generic 38 Special range loads for training, and then loading monster Elmer Keith Memorial Magnum loads of 357 persuasion for the street. Cops got away from that long ago, because they realized that light loads didn’t prepare the officer to hit with a hard-kicking gun at the moment of truth. Too many private citizens still delude themselves this way. An advantage of the auto pistol is that it won’t run with light loads, forcing the shooter into relevant practice.
Shorter, more efficient auto pistol loads tend to produce less muzzle flash at night than revolver ammo of equivalent power levels, i.e., 38 Special versus 9mm, 357 Magnum versus 357 SIG, or 45 Colt versus 45 ACP or 45 GAP (Glock Auto Pistol). The less muzzle flash, the less the shooter is blinded by his or her own weapon, another advantage to the auto.
Autos tend to have squared-off “handles” that press tightly against the body, particularly in pocket, ankle, belly-band, or other deep concealment carry modes. This means the fingers of the drawing hand may have to fight a little to get between the flesh and the gun to gain a drawing grasp. The rounded profile of the small frame revolver
