Gun Digest Concealed Carry 2023 SIP #1

I get asked gun questions all the time—from friends, from GDTM readers—you name it. It comes with the title, I suppose … and it’s actually one of my favorite things about this job. We know guns so you know guns, and I take that responsibility very seriously. “What do you think about the new pistol from Brand X?” is a pretty common query, likely surpassed in volume by “What defensive ammo do you run in your carry gun?” Those two are pretty common, as are holster questions and my recommendations for practice drills … from bolt-action work for hunters to pistol skills for everyday armed citizens. But, this is the question I get more than all others combined: What pistol would you recommend for concealed carry? And, oddly enough, that’s the toughest question…

HISTORICAL NOTES Introduced by Colt in 1929 as an improved version of the older .38 Auto, the .38 Super Auto is identical to the original cartridge … except that it uses a more powerful loading. It’s a fine high-speed sporting cartridge for the improved Government Model automatic pistol, but it should not be used in the older Colt pocket models. The Thompson submachine gun was once available in a .38 Super chambering. In Spain, Llama has made pistols for it. It’s not popular in Europe, but it is very much so in Canada, Mexico and South America, where pistols in military chamberings have been prohibited. GENERAL COMMENTS The .38 Super Auto was, for many years, the most powerful pistol cartridge made in the United States, from the standpoint of both velocity and energy. It…

Many shooters stupidly ignore their eyes and ears: too often they take them for granted. That’s partly understandable. Eyes and ears are kind of like hands and feet; you use them so frequently and without conscious thought that they’re just part of your everyday life. Their use doesn’t seem special. Oh, but they are. I’ve been at this shooting game for a long time … long enough to have intense hearing impairment—possibly from my time on the tank range in the Army—and to have experienced near disastrous eye damage. I’ve had multiple incidents with handguns that could have been blinding had I not had my eyes protected. So, I’m going to give you some advice. It’s expensive advice, but it’s good advice, and advice that might allow you to see and hear well,…

“Customer Shoots Robber in Houston” is what the headlines say. In fact, if you Google that phrase, you will find the video showing the incident. Many of the search results show news stories that include the video edited to not show the actual shooting, but if you dig deep enough, you can find the unedited footage. It’s worth finding that video. But, was it justified? At first blush, it’d appear so—but the customer (who, at the time of this writing, has yet to be identified), does a remarkable job of attempting to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A LEGAL LOOK First off, the robber was using a fake gun. This fact could be used to suggest that deadly force by the shooter was not warranted, but even a first-year law school student…

One of the fun matches I attended was the Second Chance Combat Bowling Pin shoot. It closed in 1998, was resurrected in 2017 and is back on as “The Pin Shoot.” It’s one of the few matches you can attend where ammunition consumption can be measured by the cubic foot. And when hosing buckets of 12 gauge at the pins and plates, your bore can get seriously fouled. You’ll build up impressive amounts of plastic and lead. We used to take a packet of Chore Boy scouring pads and turn them into bore-scrubbing clumps. By tying a length of 550 cord, you could make a really aggressive bore-scrubbing tool. Follow that up with a shop cloth and another length of 550 cord, and you could clean a 12-gauge bore quickly. Well, there’s…

The gun world is rife with marketing jargon and gimmicks. Bullets that are more this or barrels that are more that. Much of it is hyperbole, even if some companies actually deliver on the promises that they make. “A subcompact that shoots like a full size”—that’s what the Shadow Systems CR920 is marketed as. In many ways, this is not the hyperbole that I just outlined. This is likely one of the most shootable subcompacts you can buy. It is flat shooting, optics-ready in a discreet package that has a very respectable magazine capacity of 10 rounds in the flush-fit model, and 13 rounds in the extended flavor. But you can also get that type of capacity from a Glock 26 or Sig P365. One of the most remarkable things about the Shadow…