I have been carrying my Colt Agent between work and home. Small, light and normally it is just me. Today, I picked up the girls and we stopped at a park on the way home. They are playing and my mind starts to wander. Keep the jokes to yourself. My primary gun is a Glock 19, 16 rounds of 9mm. So I start to wonder, are 6 shots of .38 special enough? I actually felt a little undergunned. Just curious what your thoughts are?

How many of us do you know on this forum that carry a "642"?

Does that answer your question.

My thinking goes something like this:

There's a whole bunch of unexpected events that could kill me. Of the few where a handgun would help, let's say 100% would be handled adequately by the maximum concealed-carry package, whatever that is -- let's imagine it's a pair of double-stack .45s with a pair of 9mm backup guns, and a bandolier of magazines. Whatever. Of that 100%, my gut feeling is that a 6-shot revolver without backup or reload would handle 95%. Maybe 99%.

I carry a 5-shot revolver. So far the largest group of fellows I've felt anywhere near threatened by was three. I don't feel 'undergunned'.

Odds are, in my opinion, that if you need more than 5 or 6 rounds, you're gonna be facing more than one or two assailants, possibly each of them armed. That creates a whole new set of circumstances to contend with.

Both of my carry guns are 45's. One with a seven round capacity the other with 6. I usually carry my smith model 25 with a spare moon clip in my pocket. Personally I have never felt at a disadvantage with this set up. But to each his/her own.

You are already ahead of the game in that you carry.The best hope is that for the rest of your life you have to use none. In most "real" situations rarely will BG's stand there and have a shootout with you....they are real brave, until someone shoots back.........I have rarely read about defense situations where more than three shots have been fired, and typically it is one or two....

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Unless it is an active shooter. Having and pointing a gun will stop most assults IMHO.

With an active shooter, you need hits and I would rather have a 5 shot revolver than my hands. Just practice getting hits.

+1
even if you have that 16 rounds you would be in a heap o trouble

Sure! I, personally, usually carry more, but I would definitely not feel undergunned with 5 or 6 shots of .38. In fact, a 642 is my next planned purchase.

I routinely carry 9, thought about making a practice of carrying an extra 8, but feel 9 will do in a high enough percentage of encounters – if 9 rounds isn’t enough, I have likely screwed up on situational awareness badly enough that anything shy of one of my AKs would not be quite enough. Additionally, 9 carried is better than 17 left at home.

Actually, I like to think of this as something of a continuum. .. I most often carry a 9 rounds of 9x18 – the 9x18 is arguably adequate and may require follow up shots to stop a determined attacker. In 1 – 5 weeks I expect to add a .454 to my carry options & will probably load .45 LC +P for that purpose. I expect that the .45 LC +P has more stopping power, thus I need fewer rounds e.g. 6. So these may be extremes of a continuum. The 9X18 is only slightly hotter than a .380 & doesn’t have a huge amount of firepower. The .454 is, probably the second most powerful handgun caliber widely available. While the .380 is probably the smallest realistically defensive caliber, the .500 S&W Magnum is definitely the biggest defensive handgun caliber. In terms of rounds at hand I think there is a big span of stopping power vs. Carry-abilty & though I may soon represent two of those extremes . . . somewhere in the middle is probably just right for the “one gun” carrier.

End note – The Alaskan is on backorder, but I am intending it for shoulder holster carry in those parts of my life that I have found IWB with my Mak to be either uncomfortable or excessively exposed i.e. while motorcycling, wearing leathers but on a sport bike.

P.S./ Edited to add - Srigs has it spot on. dang this is a good thread! I am glad I know you guys . .. and know you guys are "out there".

Yeah. What he said.

How many times have we read that the average non law enforcement encounter is 3 rounds inside of 3 feet and last 3 seconds. I'm thinking you are just fine with 5.

"Sometimes all you need is an iPod and a GLOCK." -- My brother.


That said, I usually carry a bit more armament and leave the iPod at home during walks.

I only carry with my 15 round clip cause i figure if i cant get it done with 15 i should not be carrying. But at work ai am required to carry 40 rounds.
But why would you need more than 3 well placed shots? When the person drops then it becomes excessive force.

Because you shoot until the treat is eliminated.