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Conceal Carry Opinions for a "Small woman"

Tori.F

Damsel here-

Currently I carry a Beretta Bobcat .22 pistol which is exceptionally perfect for my size; however, recently I had someone tell me it was a BABY PISTOL and would only "piss someone off" if they were shot by it. As I think about it more, I don't enjoy getting slammed for my decision to conceal and carry a handgun that I feel comfortable shooting; especially from a guy who should be cheering on women for even owning a handgun for protection.

I guess what I want to know is, what are some other options as an upgrade, but something similar to the Bobcat size to conceal and carry? If I were ever to find myself in a situation where I needed to use my handgun, I don't want to "piss someone off" -I would probably want to do a little more to stop them.

I appreciate any insight, thank you.
 
Opinions will be all over the place here I am sure. A lot of people like to recommend service caliber pistols in micro packages. Recoil and blast can be sharp and noisy and discourage a shooter from practicing. Such as the old recommendation of a j frame with 38+p. My wife hates shooting my 38 j frame but shoots her vp9 just fine. The recoil from my j frame isn't pleasant. Neither is the blast with stout loads such as my carry rounds. If you arent comfortable with it you won't practice. If you don't practice your likelihood of succeeding under stress will be sorely reduced. My best advice is to find a person or place with multiple firearms in 380 or 9mm and look for the largest you could conceal. Longer sight radius, potentially less recoil/muzzle flip/blast and grip size yield better hit potential. Rounds on target are what we want. I will take 2-3 rounds of 22lr on target over 7 rounds missed with 45acp.
 
Without getting too much into the fight stopping ability of any particular round, I am fond of the Glock G43 for small concealed carry. It is an inch longer than the bobcat, and about 3/8 of an inch taller, but the slide is slightly narrower. It isn't terribly hard to shoot, even for my extremely small handed daughter. Be forewarned, 9mm has more recoil than 22, but I believe a little practice will get you accustomed to it.

Before I buy any pistol, I go to a nearby indoor range and shoot their rental gun some to see if the pistol works for me. I would encourage you to do that. I've had pistols in the past that I didn't shoot well enough to be worth having. Endlessly trading guns looking for the right one just gets expensive.

The downside of the G43 is the limited magazine capacity. You have to have good marksmanship with such limited capacity.

From what I have seen in my research, a defensive pistol use is rarely a shoot to stop event. They look more like shoot until the attacker is significantly hit and decides to discontinue their attack. In that, I believe that one has to be prepared to fire every round they have, and then beat their attacker with the empty pistol if necessary.

I believe that even with perfect marksmanship with the 22, it has the potential to fail to cause the attacker to flee with a single, well placed hit. 9mm hasn't demonstrated that in the evidence I've seen.

As with any advice you get on the internet, this one is worth exactly what you paid for it.

Good luck in your search, and good for you, taking command of your own safety!
 
I recommend service pistol rounds for CCW because of five years of working trauma ICU and treating gunshot wounds. I've seen .380s and .22 lr to the heart where the person shot was uncooperative and angry with EMS/LE on contact. Yeah, without advanced medical treatment those would have died, but not quickly enough such that they were incapacitated . I have never seen a heart/lung shot from a service pistol round survive to the ICU.

Additionally, a relative of my spouse who is a truck driver, a fairly big guy, was coming back to his truck a few winters ago and wearing a leather jacket. Somebody tried to rob him and shot him six times in the chest with a .22lr revolver. Of the rounds that made it through the jacket, none of them made it through his chest cavity.

I really hate to see somebody lose their life because their CCW pistol lacked adequate stopping power.
 
Well at one time I had 106 handguns then my eyesight changed and I'm down to 4. I've carried a lot of handguns in my life so far and to me a minimum caliber would be a 9mm with some good proven ammo. I bought a pair of Kahr CW's on this site for dirt cheap money and they are very compact, easy to carry and they are both the same exact size so I have my choice of carrying a 9 or a 45. My advice to you is to find people that your friends with that have handguns and try different ones. See which ones feel good in your hands and see which one you can hit the target with consistently. Your going to get a lot of opinions but in the end it's what feels good in your hands. One more thing you have to do. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, so that it feels like an extension of your hand when your drawing it. In reality I guess it's better to have a 22 pistol than no pistol at all but it wouldn't be my first choice.
 
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IAshooter said:
I appreciate any insight, thank you.
Click to expand...

Try to find a way to test fire a Ruger LC9S if you are comfortable with a pistol as opposed to a revolver. The LC9S fits in a DeSantas V5 pocket holster which fits the front pocket of most trousers or shorts.
 
IAshooter said:
Damsel here-

Currently I carry a Beretta Bobcat .22 pistol which is exceptionally perfect for my size; however, recently I had someone tell me it was a BABY PISTOL and would only "piss someone off" if they were shot by it. As I think about it more, I don't enjoy getting slammed for my decision to conceal and carry a handgun that I feel comfortable shooting; especially from a guy who should be cheering on women for even owning a handgun for protection.

I guess what I want to know is, what are some other options as an upgrade, but something similar to the Bobcat size to conceal and carry? If I were ever to find myself in a situation where I needed to use my handgun, I don't want to "piss someone off" -I would probably want to do a little more to stop them.

I appreciate any insight, thank you.
Click to expand...
Look at the S&W airweight 642 .38+P capable
 
Dave M. said:
Look at the S&W airweight 642 .38+P capable
Click to expand...
Light, handy, and reliable. If you can hit what you're aiming at the limited number of rounds available should be more than adequate. Were I a law enforcement officer, probably not.
 
IAshooter said:
Damsel here-

Currently I carry a Beretta Bobcat .22 pistol which is exceptionally perfect for my size; however, recently I had someone tell me it was a BABY PISTOL and would only "piss someone off" if they were shot by it. As I think about it more, I don't enjoy getting slammed for my decision to conceal and carry a handgun that I feel comfortable shooting; especially from a guy who should be cheering on women for even owning a handgun for protection.

I guess what I want to know is, what are some other options as an upgrade, but something similar to the Bobcat size to conceal and carry? If I were ever to find myself in a situation where I needed to use my handgun, I don't want to "piss someone off" -I would probably want to do a little more to stop them.

I appreciate any insight, thank you.
Click to expand...
First rule of thumb - carry what you can shoot well. If you are comfortable with your Bobcat, by all means carry it. If you are truly considering raising the bar, be sure to try various options before buying. Most of the guns listed in previous answers are good choices, but also come with the added burden of increased recoil.
@JimPag is correct about the Kahr series of handguns. My Kahr CW45 has consumed hundreds of rounds of ammunition without a hiccup. It is my first choice for mild/hot weather due to its ease of concealment under light clothing. In cold/frigid weather I switch to my Commander-size MP Express .45 (1911 style). Word of warning, the CW45 is easy to conceal but a handful when fired! .380 or 9mm is likely what you want to look at for your use, but only limit yourself to what you can shoot well. My daughter uses a Ruger LP9, but loves to run through my supply of loaded .45 ACP at every opportunity. It's what you feel comfortable with.
 
My recommendation is to go to a gun range that rents pistols and try different one's in different calibers and find one that you are comfortable with. A 22 LR at short range is going to do more damage than you think. The someone who said "it will only piss them off" is probably the same guy that shows up at the range with a Desert Eagle 50AE and can't even hit the target and lives in the basement at his mother's house.
 
the next time someone tells you your 22 lr pistol will just piss off an assailiant ask that person to stand 21 feet from you and don't get pissed off as you put 10 rounds in their chest or forehead afterall its just a test! Rule number one is carry what you can shoot accuratly and comfortably. You don't want to carry something that is too big and you can't handle
 
My nephew’s wife wanted a pistol. I took them to a indorange in FtWorth. She tried a small sig. she had a hard time loading the magazine. She tried a S&W J frame hammerless. Too much recoil. She tried a Ruger 22 and fell in love with it. She is shooting that now. Eventually she might graduate to some tigger. For now she is able to handle it well, load and shoot reasonably well with it.
I have a P365 but unless you’re able to Handel the recoil it will be hard to hit with.
 
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