There is a pair of long stories involved that ended up with me walking into a situation feeling totally underarmed. Basically I was forced to carry a pistol I do not like that I have almost shot myself with to overcome the feeling of being underarmed for a certain situation. Thankfully the situation never escalated and what I was carrying did not matter.
But it left me with a bad feeling. I have a few handguns, my primary carry gun is a Sig P229 in 357 SIG. Awesome gun, great stopping power, great magazine capacity, unsurpassed accuracy. Its the perfect handgun - assuming you have it with you. The fact of the matter becomes that it is just a touch too big, too wide, to carry in light clothing. In the winter where it is not out of place to wear a secondary shirt, easy to carry in good leather. The point is at the time I felt I wanted it with me it was sitting in my safe at home and my Beretta .32 was in my pocket.
I went to the gun store with the intent to buy a baby Glock. I had even settled in my mind to settle for .40 or 9MM. I don't like Glocks, I don't like any gun without an external safety or hammer you have to cock. I don't like either the 9MM or 40 for proven stopping power but the 9MM rounds have come a long way. Its a personal preference thing but again, the need to compromise had been illustrated to me.
I looked at Glocks, I looked at Springfield XD's, I looked at a couple Brownings. I looked at HKs but they seem to me to only be an inferior version of my Sig with all the same problems as my Sig. Finally I struck on the idea to look at single stack magazine .45s. I looked at quite a few (Para Ordanance, one Wilson Combat that was just too big) and found a Kimber Ultra Carry that I really really liked. A bit pricier than I had in mind but not stupidly so. Now I expected in buying it to give up some accuracy from my Sig, perhaps a noticeable amount. I consoled myself with the theory I was looking at compact carry guns and would be giving up accuracy on any of them compared to a full size Sig of all things. That and I had selected a gun in 45, giving me cheap practice ammo (compared to that of my 357 Sig) and debatably not giving up stopping power. Of course I bought a good holster for it
WOW.. I like this gun. The trigger pull is clean and crisp, the beavertail safety does not bother me when shooting it (my previous concern with 1911 style pistols). I put 50 rounds of Federal Hydrashock through it and am very impressed with the accuracy of the little pistol. Its not as good as my Sig out to 20 yards but it is very very close and I would dare to hint that it may point better - I didn't go beyond 20 yards, I mean thats a long ways for a pistol in a defensive sense. I know my Sigs good out well beyond that but I know this 230 grain .45 bullet is going to drop like a rock. Still, its filling a need, it rides comfortably in a Bianchi holster, and it conceals well.
Do I think the Sig in .357 is a better gun in the end? Yeh, I know it is. But the best gun is worthless if its locked away in your safe when you need it. This gun is more than adequate for any self defense role I will call on it for, and will probably replace my Sig as a primary carry gun, maybe even in the winter. I am very impressed with it. Its shortcomings seem to be far less than what I would have thought when I handed over the cash for it
But it left me with a bad feeling. I have a few handguns, my primary carry gun is a Sig P229 in 357 SIG. Awesome gun, great stopping power, great magazine capacity, unsurpassed accuracy. Its the perfect handgun - assuming you have it with you. The fact of the matter becomes that it is just a touch too big, too wide, to carry in light clothing. In the winter where it is not out of place to wear a secondary shirt, easy to carry in good leather. The point is at the time I felt I wanted it with me it was sitting in my safe at home and my Beretta .32 was in my pocket.
I went to the gun store with the intent to buy a baby Glock. I had even settled in my mind to settle for .40 or 9MM. I don't like Glocks, I don't like any gun without an external safety or hammer you have to cock. I don't like either the 9MM or 40 for proven stopping power but the 9MM rounds have come a long way. Its a personal preference thing but again, the need to compromise had been illustrated to me.
I looked at Glocks, I looked at Springfield XD's, I looked at a couple Brownings. I looked at HKs but they seem to me to only be an inferior version of my Sig with all the same problems as my Sig. Finally I struck on the idea to look at single stack magazine .45s. I looked at quite a few (Para Ordanance, one Wilson Combat that was just too big) and found a Kimber Ultra Carry that I really really liked. A bit pricier than I had in mind but not stupidly so. Now I expected in buying it to give up some accuracy from my Sig, perhaps a noticeable amount. I consoled myself with the theory I was looking at compact carry guns and would be giving up accuracy on any of them compared to a full size Sig of all things. That and I had selected a gun in 45, giving me cheap practice ammo (compared to that of my 357 Sig) and debatably not giving up stopping power. Of course I bought a good holster for it
WOW.. I like this gun. The trigger pull is clean and crisp, the beavertail safety does not bother me when shooting it (my previous concern with 1911 style pistols). I put 50 rounds of Federal Hydrashock through it and am very impressed with the accuracy of the little pistol. Its not as good as my Sig out to 20 yards but it is very very close and I would dare to hint that it may point better - I didn't go beyond 20 yards, I mean thats a long ways for a pistol in a defensive sense. I know my Sigs good out well beyond that but I know this 230 grain .45 bullet is going to drop like a rock. Still, its filling a need, it rides comfortably in a Bianchi holster, and it conceals well.
Do I think the Sig in .357 is a better gun in the end? Yeh, I know it is. But the best gun is worthless if its locked away in your safe when you need it. This gun is more than adequate for any self defense role I will call on it for, and will probably replace my Sig as a primary carry gun, maybe even in the winter. I am very impressed with it. Its shortcomings seem to be far less than what I would have thought when I handed over the cash for it
It tould be an honor to be shot at with one of those 
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