Massad Ayoob - Gun Digests Large Concealed Handguns eShort

With more fine, powerful, very small and light handguns than ever, why would someone want to wear a full-size service pistol concealed? There are several good answers to that question.

For many, the reason is commonality of training. Lets say youre a military person who will be issued an M9 pistol in combat, and youve cared enough about your skill at arms to purchase your own identical Beretta 92 pistol for practice. Or, youre a police officer who has been issued a full-size Beretta, Colt, Glock, HK USP, Ruger, SIG, or S&W service pistol. Your employer has not only paid for the gun and ammo and magazines, but has paid you to train with that particular gun until you can use it to the best of your ability.

Certainly, you can buy a smaller version of your duty pistol for concealment and transfer much of that skill. A Mini-Cougar from Beretta, any of several subcompact 1911s, the baby Glock, the USP Compact, or the flat little P239 from SIG or Model 4040 from S&W will share a high degree of commonality of training with their companion models of full size service weapons. However, if you carry the service pistol itself, you have 100 percent commonality of training with on-duty and off-duty carry since youre using the same pistol for both purposes.

Money is an issue. That chopped and channeled mini-1911, baby Glock, or whatever will cost you several hundred dollars. For well under $100, you can purchase a suitable concealment holster that lets you discreetly wear off-duty the pistol you already have for on-duty carry.

This is why the topic of the cop using the issue gun off duty versus buying his own off duty weapon can be a controversial one. There are two sides. At this point in my life, I buy and carry my own, and use the company guns only when working for the PD. This is because I travel a lot, and if Im involved in a self-defense incident in another jurisdiction, I dont want a money-hungry plaintiffs lawyer thinking my use of a department gun could tie in the department, and its communitys tax base, for a deep-pockets lawsuit. Having dealt with several such sharks, Id rather keep that blood out of the water. At the same time, I remember being a young cop, not making much money, and a quality personal handgun being a significant expense that could cut into family needs. Each officer has to weigh and balance and make his or her own choice in the matter. The important thing is to carry some high quality handgun of adequate power off duty.

For some, the difference in performance between the small gun and the big one is dramatic. Back in the days when cops all wore revolvers, it was a four-inch gun or larger for uniform wear and typically a small-frame model with a two-inch barrel for plainclothes. Many an officer who qualified just fine with the full-size six-gun simply couldnt make the grade with the snubby; it was that much more difficult to shoot well.

There is less performance difference between the full size and subcompact police service automatics of today than there was between the revolvers that preceded them. Still, though, there are some advantages to the bigger guns. A friend of mine works for the FBI and was given the choice of the full-size Glock 22 or the compact Glock 23, both firing the same 40 S&W duty loads. He appreciated the greater concealability of the G23 under the suit he wears to work, but he still chose the bigger G22 for one reason: he shoots it just a little bit better than he does its little brother. If he has to pay more attention to his wardrobe and holster selection to gain absolute maximum combat shooting performance, he figures its a cheap price to pay for an edge that could someday save his life.

I know what he means. I am fond of the 40-caliber Glock in both the full-size G22 configuration and the miniature G27 format. The little one, of course, is much easier to conceal. From the bench at 25 yards, the little one is actually a little bit more accurate than the big one. Itll put five 155-grain Winchester Silvertips into an inch and a half at that distance, and its big brother will seldom do better than two inches even with the load it likes best, the Black Hills EXP 165-grain JHP. But the big gun handles better when the speed and the pressure are on. The toughest qualification approved by my state, known as Course Five, comprises 36 rounds from three to twenty-five yards in time frames as fast as two shots in three seconds from the leather. In qualification mode on the B27 target, where anything inside the competition 8-ring is worth five out of five points, I can score 180 out of 180 possible with either. But when it goes to the tighter rings of competition scoring, Ill be in the 355 out of 360 range with the full-size Glock 22, but will only score around 345 with the subcompact Glock 27. Because performance edge is as important to me as it is to my FBI buddy, I, like him, am more likely to carry the Glock 22.

The full-size pistol has another performance edge: the longer barrel generates more pressure from the burning powder within, increasing muzzle velocity. This is particularly important with some rounds, like the 45 ACP, whose velocity falls off dramatically as the barrel is shortened. It can sometimes mean the difference of whether or not the hollow-point bullet youve fired opens up as intended.

For cops, theres another good reason to carry that full-size issue gun. If an officer is involved in a shooting, that expensive pistol can become evidence for a period of years until the last civil lawsuit arising from the incident is wrapped up. Even when you get it back, it may be rusty from bloodstains left in situ for evidentiary purposes, and its finish may have been ruined by the fingerprinting process. If the expensive gun is going to be lost to you for a period ranging from weeks to years and come back messed up, many cops reasoning goes, let it be the departments expensive gun instead of your own. Once it is taken for evidence, unless you are indicted or something, they have to issue you a replacement anyway.

So, it may be a performance factor or an economy factor or both that brings you to the decision to use a full-size handgun for concealed carry. Whatever the reason, there are two critical areas youll have to address in concealing a larger handgun: the holster, and the wardrobe.

No question about it, inside-the-waistband is the best place for that beast to be if you want to hide it under a minimum of clothing. The concealing garment can rise as high as the lower edge of the belt without revealing the holstered gun, and the fabric of the trousers breaks up the line of the holstered gun when you are seen in silhouette.