Though bigger guns are prefered for most tasks, especially learning, smaller guns certainly have their place. They are easier to conceal if your wardrobe or circumstances require a smaller footprint. They can be a good choice as a backup gun, if that is a requirement for you. And that’s about where the benefits of a smaller gun end.
When I was a uniform cop, I carried a G19 as my duty gun, and a Kahr 9 (later a G26) as my backup. The Kahr was a wonderful shooter, but the G26 just made more sense as it took the same spare mags I was already carrying for the G19, and it reduced the amount of training time I needed to spend on my second gun.
In a non-uniform capacity, I have occasionally carried a J frame, LCP or P32 as a backup, often in a pocket but occasionally in an ankle holster. Ankle holsters have never worked well for me, so pocket was the usual choice. I have experimented with other locations as well, but none are as long term livable.
When it comes to carrying a smaller gun as a primary, as many heretics do, I prefer the largest most shootable version I can manage. Today, that means the HK P30SK. I am continually amazed how this G26 sized gun shoots about the same as the larger P30 does. It gives up a little velocity, which means that ammo selection is more critical, but that is not too hard to do these days. It also gives up purchase. Purchase for a draw and purchase for weapons retention, so both those aspects need to be trained a bit more. In that regard, the shorter barrel does aid in weapons retention in that it gives an attacker less purchase on his end as well.
One real flaw of smaller guns is that they are never going to be as reliable and durable as a larger gun. In the Glock lineup, the G19 is more reliable than the 26 and the 17 is more reliable than the 19. The longer barreled guns also tend to last longer, with more rounds between spring changes and the like. The difference isn’t always meaningful though, especially in the case of the 26/19/17.
When you drop to the stack and a half and smaller guns, reliability takes a pretty big hit, as do almost all the other metrics we have talked about. I know some guy out there is going to chime in with the fact that his 43X has been perfect for x number of rounds. I’m happy for him, but when you look at large quantities of that gun, and especially when you formally test it, it simply doesn’t do what the bigger guns do. That’s why it is a CCW gun and not a duty gun. It might be “good enough”, but it isn’t objectively great.
As much as I like to malign the poor souls who carry small guns (it’s not the guns fault its small, its the owners fault for carrying it), the truth is that for civilian self defense in America, the size, capacity and shootability of the gun is actually not that important most of the time. Situational awareness trumps gun size any day. Good tactics trumps the size of your gun. A moderate amount of skill trumps guns size most days. Having the gun on you all the time certainly trumps a bigger gun left in the range bag.
At the end of the day, that last bit there is why small guns can be great. Having a gun on you is way more important than which gun it is. In fact, assuming a proper caliber choice, the only area where a small gun is truly at a functional disadvantage over a larger gun is in training. Please, bring a full size gun to training, either at a class or on your own. I appreciate training with what you carry and that is very important, but learning to shoot better is hampered by these small guns.
My idea of proper training with a small carry gun looks like this: I shoot the bigger gun as much as I can and at the end of every training session, I shoot a few rounds through the smaller gun. Depending on which gun it is, that might be 3 magazines worth, 3 cylinders worth or maybe even one magazine or one cylinder. I’m simply trying to take the skills I have developed with the bigger gun and transfer them to the smaller gun, while at the same time, making sure the smaller gun still works and hits where I want. I am also acclimating my hand to the smaller gun, both for the draw and recoil control. This method has worked very well for me for the past 3 decades and I have not seen a reason to change it.
good training instruction, thank you
Thank you.
I train and compete with a G17 and carry a 26. Like you mentioned about the SK, I find the shooting experience remarkably similar but the 26 conceals dramatically better in tee shirts playing with the kids. I love the G26/P30SK type guns because they shoot so well for how well they conceal. If there is a triangle covering the factors of concealment, comfort, and shootability, most people think of full size guns which sacrifice concealment and comfort for shootability, and micros which sacrifice shootability to gain comfort and concealment. But the 26 and P30SK give you concealment and shootability while providing closer (still better) carry comfort to a full size, which is an excellent balance for someone like me who is happy to accept the comfort of the 17 or 19 but can’t conceal one in summer clothes while chasing by my kids.
Couldn’t agree more. I think the 26/SK type guns are the sweet spot for civilian self defense carry in most circumstances. I can usually get away with adding a 13 round mag to my sk or a magpul 12 round mag to my 26 and have a little better draw speed and grip and basically the same concealment as the 10 round mags. For what we actually face day in and day out in America, the full size guns are best as duty guns for professionals or for the relatively rare enthusiast who simply wants to.
I carry my 17 on Sundays- button up shirt and maybe a slightly different threat than grabbing a pizza for the family after work M-F. Love using the same holster and spare mag all week.
I’ve been shooting and competing for 40 + years. Generally the competition was with a 1911 in .45. When I got the appropriate permit to carry full time I left the 1911 as too big and heavy and went to smaller (Officer model 9mm) 1911 then to Shields (2). Now all my range time is done with the Shield and a Dot. I shoot about 50 rds. every week. I really can’t see the sense (although I still love my 1911 best) of shooting anything but what I carry. Time, money, ammo, etc. are all limited and I’m sorry but I can’t devote any of those things to guns I don’t carry. To get better shooting what I don’t carry, and then have to transition to the gun I do carry just doesn’t make sense to me. Shoot and get better with what you will use to defend with make much more sense.