Originally Posted by rraisley

I took my CCW course with the 9C as well, and love the gun, but found it too bulky for me except under a jacket. I ended up getting a Rulger LCR, and finally a Kahr PM9 for my carry gun.

I definitely agree with gun1's statements, and much of what is written above, /except/ using a 1911 for SD. I have a Kimber Grand Raptor II, and love the gun. I was going to take the CCW course with it, and the instructor HIGHLY recommended not taking the course, or carrying, a single-action pistol. After thinking about it, I agree completely. To me, there is no safe AND ready way to wear a 1911. Uncocked is no good. Cocked and with safety on requires moving the safety before firing. Cocked and not on safety is an accident waiting to happen. So while I love this gun, I would NEVER wear it. Not if I intended to safely carry a gun ready for action. For the same reason, I would never wear a SD gun with a safety.

Also, it's been mentioned about getting a .22 pistol, and to me, that is the obvious first gun. No matter what you get for self defense, you're going to want to practice a lot, probably more than you can afford. The .22 makes it easy to learn and cheap to shoot. Now, MOST .22's are great target guns, but work nothing like real world SD guns. One of the exceptions is the M&P22. Especially if you intend later to get an M&P for carry. So you could do a lot worse than starting with an M&P22, then getting a 9C or maybe a Shield, if you feel you can conceal them well enough.

To me, once you're selecting a gun for concealed carry, the main thing is to choose one you can conceal well and wear comfortably. The 9C did not work for me, and to be honest, I'm not sure the Shield would have, for me. I ended up with the Kahr PM9, about as small a 9mm as you can get, yet I shoot it better than the 9C. But if you're on a limited budget, get yourself that .22, and try out many SD guns, especially try wearing them for comfort and concealment. I ended up buying 3 guns before getting my final SD gun, and you may not want to do that. (I don't mind - love all the guns and enjoy shooting them, but they all cost money.)