*shrugs* I can think of damn few times when I'm even in shorts. Maybe when I'm out fishing on the boat. But some of them pike get pretty nasty!

All kidding aside--here's how my thought process went when comparing the LCP I was thinking of getting, to the Glock 26 I wound up with.

Compared to the 26, Ruger LCP is 1.3" shorter, .3" narrower, and .5" shorter in height. The Glock is measured at the slide stop, by the way, which protrudes a bit.

(If I drop the 9mm Glock down to a 43, then it's only 1.1" in length, .2" in width, and .6" in height.)

If I want to have the full 7 rounds my state has deemed sufficient for my self-defense needs, I'd have to use the LCP's extended 7-round magazine. The 43 only holds 6 rounds of 9 (it was never even in the running), but the 26's double-stack 10-round magazine would be underloaded. And if the 7-round limitation ever gets unambiguously repealed, then I can go right on to 10 rounds.

I don't find the width to be that big a deal. The length is negligible--it's either inside the pants, or under a cover garment in the winter. Of all, the height matters the most, methinks, because that determines how much the butt is going to push out and print given otherwise equal holsters.

Weight? It sounds cliche, but I've worn the 26 home and literally forgotten about it.

The flip side is--smaller is not always better. Shorter means a smaller sight radius. Less butt means a smaller capacity and less heel on the hand to control recoil. Narrower means nastier recoil and a crappier grip--I like a 1911 with a short trigger, but my fingers get awful crowded on the petite .380s. My fingertips are frequently jammed into the meat at the base of my thumb.

So I wound up with the G26, and I love it. I shoot it pretty much every time I hit the range. I can't say the same about S&W Bodyguard .380s and Ruger LCPs I've tried (and as much respect as I have for Ruger as a manufacturer, I find the LCP to be...not their best effort).

Hence--that's how I see the compromises balancing out. If you emphasize extreme concealability, then the math changes a little. But to be brutally honest: swim trunks??!! C'mon, man, it's not like you can swim with the gun on anyway!



I hear ya, but aesthetics for me stop at downgrading the cartridge. Admittedly, though--what are the chances I'm ever even going to need the thing?

*shrugs* Good for them. For 99.99% of us, we're just wasting money and hauling around useless weight anyway, so they're ahead of the game.

I, on the other hand, am completely irrational when it comes to what guns I cravenly lust after.