Justifiable shootings ? The Zimmerman case has taught us alot and what happens to Lawful Citizens for calling cops. How many of us are willing to call cops and wait around for them to arrive? Zimmerman did and you see what happened to him !!! Make your own choices!

Say what? Are you suggesting you would leave the scene after shooting someone?

Be safe.

I see two issues here. One is practical and basic. The other is fun.

1. I have a ton of guns. Any day of the week I could choose a different one. But from the standpoint of concealability (I can't carry openly) I choose a M642 carried in a pocket holster. On different days not so long ago I carried that plus:
a. 2.5" M19
b. 2" M10
c. CS-45

All compact, concealable belt guns. All in quality leather. I don't think twice about how much a gun cost me or if I'll hate myself if the police seize it after a justifiable use of it. I bought these guns to collect, yes, but also to use. The only time I consider a loss is if I travel and ship a gun on a plane. Then I check a gun I don't mind losing but, still, it will be of a similar nature to any other gun I carry, compact and concealable and completely reliable.

If I carried openly, as I did not too long ago during a hunting morning, well, hell's bells, the sky's the limit, a Single Action Vaquero in a Western rig, a Browning Hi-Power on my belt or in a shoulder rig, a Model 27 in a cross draw rig, it wouldn't matter. High quality, reliable if needed for its real purpose, if the gun is confiscated after I use it for that purpose it's just okay with me.

2. For fun I would not hesitate to carry a "barbecue gun", meaning an engraved gun or a highly polished one with pearl or ivory stocks, you know, the whole flashy thing. They'd still be reliable, though, and if used and taken as evidence, so be it. That's what they're for. But for daily carry concealed it's kind of a waste of time to carry anything but a practical, reliable handgun.

***GRJ***

This is a thread shift but can't be ignored:

I'd call the police even if I just drew my gun and let it be seen to thwart a criminal. If I fired a shot I FOR SURE would call the police. Leaving the scene is bad business. Don't ever do it.

***GRJ***

As soon as a shooting case is adjudicated in your favor and no appeal has been filed the Police should return it to you on request. If not your attorney can get it back with a court order. No endless wait.

I guess I never gave much thought to what I carry. But I tent to only by mid to high grade guns from my colt 70series 1911 to my model 15-1 revolver. I hate cheap junk! So as I look for a new carry gun I'm drawn to the sig p380.

My usual EDC is a CS9. Tried others but that was the one that, no matter how I dressed, and considering all other variables, worked best for me. Like the OP I gave thought to the possibility that someday it could become part of a "police evidence" pile. Solution for me was to buy a spare CS9 so that is what I did. Might not be a realistic solution if your carry gun is a pricey one but my few pricey ones sit in the safe and never see the inside of a holster. Someday when I am long gone they will hopefully be enjoyed by someone in the family as great guns in pristine condition.

If you ever have to use your carry gun, the possible loss temporary or otherwise, will be the least of your concerns.

I carry my Smith model 13 3 inch. its shooter grade. after a few years I'll probably have it 're blued and new grips and put it away for grandson or great grandson

I carry whatever the hell i want with no regard to money. Its sunk cost at this point and my life is not worth debating over $300 in difference for a higher end gun or cheaper gun. The price you paid for the gun isnt much in the scheme of things.

I have a German Walther PPK in 7.65 that I absolutely love and shoot well with. But I would NEVER carry it. It would be much to hard to replace.

Carry disposable. No guns that have high collectible value or personal significance. Always assume you'll never get it back and you won't be disappointed, only pleasantly surprised when it does end up back in your hands.

Cost? Hey if you can afford a $3000 Wilson Combat 1911 in the first place, and you trust it, carry it. You can buy another one. Your FBI agent granddaddy's Registered Magnum he left you in his will? No.

Why I have a backup to my primary carry guns and holster.....

My Family heirloom guns don't get carried........

But a Smith 3913 or 3" 66 or even a PC auto.... sure......heck I even drive the $40,000+ BMW on public roads and park it in parking lots..........my backup 3913 cost less than a 6 month auto insurance payment.


My guess is that you're 100 to 1,000 times more likely to be in a auto accident than to use you firearm in self-defense....... do you only drive "entry level" cars and trucks?

Like OP's thinking.
My nightstand "go to" is my cheapest pistol, but it's my 2nd best shooter at the range, & tied for 1st in capacity and reliability. Biggest fear is losing a firearm in an investigation of a righteous shoot defending my family and home...
Well, right behind having to defend my family in the situation in the first place.
As long as it performs reliably and you are comfortable with it. I Say use what you want.

Yes, I have stopped carrying my $1500.00, 1911 for everyday carry around the farm. I now carry an older model 60 for working and my 1911 for Sunday or "BarBQs".

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Riding, Shooting, and Truth

I've never been abler to afford expensive "nice" guns, so it's irrelevant.

I would hate to lose the CEN-series 640 no-dash I've carried daily for years. It's a nice little gun, and only about 5,000 of the ones marked "Tested for +P+" were made. But the odds against my ever having to use it are enormous, especially now that I'm retired and live a very quiet life. If it comes to my life or my nice little 640, I guess it'll have to be a case of "Bye-bye, J-frame."

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Oh well, what the hell.

Amen, brother!!?

If any gun you carry saves your butt, it was well worth the price you paid for it.

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John

All my carry guns are nice.

But they're not my best!

All my hand guns are my carry guns.

None are disposable!

The very idea is silly.

Everybody has some predetermined doomsday SHTF TEOTWAWKI zombie apocalypse riot gunfight scenario.

I have and carry just one handgun. I would hate to lose it as it was a gift from my dad, but can't afford to buy another one right now. Those of you with safes full of guns must be wealthy, retired, or a bit of both. I have a young family, own a nice home, and earn a good salary that allows me to save what we will need in the future. I am currently trying to squeeze a few hundred out of the budget to buy a more easily carried snubby, and I just can't manage it anytime soon.

So for me it is purely a matter of money. I simply cannot afford to have different guns for different occasions.

It it saves you or one one of the family.... you Dad will be happy he was there to help......and won't care if it's lost.

as to only one gun issue.......I only had one gun..... at a time...... for about the first 3-4 years after buying my first.... and I was a young, single Lawyer ......with no student debt..LOL..........don't worry more will come!!!

I carry the highest quality guns I own to protect myself and family; my family's safety is worth at least the 1,400 dollar pistol I might rely on.

Honestly, I never really understood the 'carry the beater gun for protection and keep the nice ones in the safe'. We aren't talking 100k cars here; a 1,400 dollar gun, in the overall scheme of things, is not something I'm going to worry about getting holster wear on. And if that dark day ever comes and I need to drop the hammer to protect my life and the ones under the mantel of my protection, I'll be glad that I have the best gun I could buy to rely on. And if it gets taken into evidence, the pistol will be the last thing i think about. It just saved my family from 'immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm'. I'll be thanking the heavens that I only lost a nice gun, and not the life of my family members. I'll get another nice gun when all said and done; but I can't get another life.

Carry what you're willing to be your life on

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Retired Career Security Guard

Yep. Blow the dust bunnies off of that J-frame and take it out for some quality time. It stops hurting when you stop shooting....

I carry what I have the most trigger time with. A .40 Glock of some sort. Have my old beat up Gen 3 G22 on as I type this. None of my pistols are collectables. They are tools first and foremost.

I carry dependable rather than pretty, and it can always be replaced.

I used to carry a Wilson Combat CQB Compact. It was very expensive, it was very nice. It was purchased to be carried because it was very dependable. Sold it and bought several other nice guns. Some of those are very dependable and get carried regularly.

......."or a piece of dependable kit that I can afford to write off? I'd like to hear your".......... I think you answered your own question....dependable carry, afford to write off, replace it..press on not looking back.

As I checked in on this thread...... a thought popped into my head.........




Are some of you guys that "leave your nicer more expensive carry guns at home" expecting to be buried with them....?????

Please note: I said "carry guns".... guns designed for and meant to be carried concealed (or open carry)...... not heirloom, target or hunting guns...

cus if not....you do understand you will eventfully will be separated from them......... LOL

these are the kinda questions that puzzle me... i stopped carrying g-locks a while ago and carry 1911's again (like an old friend!). i routinely carry a springfield trp, not a cheap gun. i also carry a series 70 combat commander 9mm, barsto bbl, novacs on it. not sure what its worth, but i shoot the heck out of it. the only one i would NOT carry is a hi-power left to me by an old, dear friend. i shoot the trp and commander better than any g-lock. would i be sad to see either of them go for evidence? darn right... but it would mean i was still alive. much more important. carry what you can shoot, regardless of cost, it just may save your life and family members too.

I always carry my shield 9 or my lcp when going out. I was involved in a shooting fatality in my home, I was sitting in my lounge chair when incident occurred and the nearest gun was my Ruger 357 speed six snubby. I owned it since it was new andnever cc it. The sheriffs office confiscated it and left my other guns as they were not involved. After the investigation was deemed a justified shooting I requested my gun back. I was informed that the law was a gun involved in a shooting was confiscated. About a month later I received a call from the sheriff's office saying I could come pick up my gun if I wanted it. The gun was pristine when they took it, it had a few scratches on it when I picked it up. It sits in the safe now, have never fired it
again. I was glad to get it back but if they kept it I would have been ok with it. It still have mixed feelings about that gun.

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Semper Fi until I die

I used to carry a Colt LW Commander. EVERYWHERE. But for the reasons listed above (both this quote and this thread) I transitioned to a Glock a few years ago. A tool, a Craftsman tool. Nothing fancy, but does the job...each and every time. Oh yeah, I still buy a cool gun every now and again, and I tell myself I am going to carry it...but most days I leave the house with the Glock.

Now of course, I don't always leave with ONLY the Glock...

Carry nice...carry disposable...carry what you're efficient with. I carry Glock. I've ccw'd a Glock 19 or 23 for nearly 15 years. On the occasion that I'm not carrying my G-19 I'm carrying a S&W 442.

Get a utilitarian model that you do not mind losing, such as a M&P, Glock, 1911, K frame or J frame, High Power, CZ75, etc. That way you don't lose your Registered Mag or your Class A engraved Model 29-2 to the "evidence locker."

I have seen photos of guns that were taken as evidence that had the case # or some other form of ID number engraved on them. You would think a manufacturer's serial number would be enough...

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"Shall not be infringed"

You are now under investigation for something or other and I need you to surrender your fine weapon as evidence. PM me for my address and please be sure to insure the package when you pay for shipping. Thank you for your cooperation. You will be notified when the investigation is terminated.

PS. The holster is also under suspicion.

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Endeavor to persevere. <><

Reading threads like this always make me ponder...what is an expensive gun? To some expensive is 700.00 others maybe 1500.00.
If you take away the "heirloom" guns, the one of a kind guns handed down through generations, guns that mean something to you personally because of their history, the rest of them are tools. Common sense would tell you not to carry a new in box, unfired collectable piece bought for an investment.
But the rest are just tools. I say tools, but lets change the word "tools" to "insurance".
I buy the best insurance I can. The premiums paid are worth nothing at all, unless I need it. Should I need it, I never complain about the thousands of dollars I have spent in the past just to be insured.
A few months of health insurance premiums will buy a really nice, reliable carry gun. Which is really just life insurance for you or your family should you need it.
So, my somewhat complicated answer to the question of "carry nice, or carry cheap?"
is this. I spend the most I can afford on good insurance. The money is gone once the month is up. Think of all that money you spent on insurance of one type or another, just wasted money month after month, year after year.But if you need it, as I have several times, you will never once wish you hadn't spent that money every month.
So spend the most you possibly can afford for the insurance you carry on your hip everyday. You'll never regret it if you ever need it.

And while you're spending, make sure to spend the most you can afford for leather and ammo for your life insurance...

I carry a used Glock 22.

Awesome weapon for close confrontation.

If something happens to it, I'll fetch another one from the zombie apocalypse footlocker. By the time I run out of used Glocks, I've got bigger problems than loss of my favorite handgun.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

...but sometimes when I'm feeling frisky, I do carry a 32-20 Hand Ejector.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

Back when I was on the PD, my rookie class was advised by the training sergeant to use the point of our badge pin to scratch our badge number onto seized handguns, as it was understood that NOBODY would ever get that gun back.

Crazy days.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

I think it depends on the situation and the law enforcement department. A friend of mine had two rifles stolen from his truck in 2010. He was notified in 2012 that the Marlin 336 had been recovered. The other, a Remington .30-06, is still missing. As of this week, the local PD has not returned the Marlin because it is "evidence in a pending case." So I vote no on urban myth. Well, "not return ever" is a long time.

I learned a lesson several years ago when I shot a couple of matches with an older gentleman. He was a very interesting, very distinguished fella - Special Forces vet, foreign service, etc., - very much the cloak and dagger spy type when he was a younger man, incredibly interesting to talk to, sorry to say he has since passed. Anyway, the times I shot with him he was shooting his EDC, a beautiful, fully engraved, custom 1927 Colt 1911, ivory grips and all. I was amazed that he was shooting such an incredible pistol and when I asked him about it he told me that's what it was for and that he had a matching 1923 Colt at home. He'd had Dane Burns build them for him to replace another pair of Colts that Armand Swenson had built him in 1967 that he had carried for almost 40 years and had finally retired to the safe. My discussions with him taught me that no matter what the cost, if a gun is built to be shot, shoot it, if it is built to be carried, carry it, otherwise, and I quote that gentleman, "What's the point of spending all that money, son?".


Even before I met him, I had never subscribed to the idea that you carry cheap for fear of losing your gun to the cops. I carried nice guns, ones I liked, that I trusted, but not my 'best' guns. But, after my conversations with this gentleman I realized that made no sense. He was right, why spend a bunch of money for 'carry' guns that don't get carried because they're too nice? I changed my carry habits and started carrying my best guns, my most accurate, the ones I shoot best. My primary carry gun is a custom Colt 1991A1 that I had built specifically to be my 'do everything' carry piece. I've got a lot of money into it but the point of the build was to use it, it is my CC gun, and my action pistol, IDPA, and 3 gun pistol as well. If I'm involved in a shooting and survive to lose that Colt or any other gun to evidence, so be it, I have others I can carry. It will have done it's job, the money will have been well spent. When I get it back, if there are any scratches, case numbers, or other blemishes on it, that's okay. I probably won't be the same either.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

WC145....... we need a " hands clapping" button...... well said.

My Dad as a new Patrolman ridding a Indian Motorcycle in the rain, snow and whatever else nature would throw at him........ bought a 6" Colt New Service .357 Magnum....... in 1938/39.

That gun was sent off to King Gun Works in Calf... for adjustable sights and an action job.......except for a period from 1942 to 45/46 when he was seeing the sights in the South Pacific......... this was his primary duty gun until the mid 60s when he made Capt. and he started carrying his 1950s Dect. Special all the time........

That big Colt was also his target pistol in the Pittsburgh Police Pistol League ............and was drawn on the job on more than one occasion.

After the S&W Registered Magnum ($62 IIRC)....... that gun after it's trip to King's was one of the most expensive Revolvers you could buy or build in 1938/39 ($55).... but it was bought and modified to carry ....... and it was daily....... rain or shine....... or dark of night!


It's now a family heirloom enjoying it's life as my Safe King!!!!!!

Let's think about it another way...

Just remember you're far more likely to get killed/maimed driving your nice car than lose your gun in a self defense incident. I don't see anyone driving junk cars for that reason and they're vastly more expensive than a handgun.

Carry what you want and what you like. A quality sidearm is a waste to sit in a safe "protected" when it could be serving you best at your side - the very essence of it's purpose.

Life is too short to worry about these things. Enjoy it cuz NONE of it goes with you in the end. And those who follow are highly unlikely to treasure that sidearm half as much as you did - they'll sell it and it's gone.

Well said. It's a fine tool, enjoy it!

Considering there are guns out there such as the: sig p365, the s&w shield/csx, the compact caniks, etc. There really is no need to compromise one way or the other. All of the guns I listed are between 400-600 no matter where you go. You can even get performance center models or special edition p365 for relatively cheap. They all shoot fantastic, especially for how small they are. Add that to the fact that 9mm, 40, and 45acp are getting cheaper(still not cheap, but...) so it won't cost an arm and a leg to become proficient with any of them now either. If none of those float your boat because they arent a glock, there are enough variations of glock handguns to suit anyones needs as well.

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Please no more EZs...

This post disturbs me. Thrown carelessly in a glove box or rattling around under the seat in no way to handle a deadly weapon. A pistol should be handled at least as carefully as a straight razor. Getting rained on? Yeah, that is part of carrying in the real world . Getting kicked, dropped, scraped, skidded: these are not to be "expected". Errors in handling like that are more likely to injure someone important to you than what you are trying to avoid by carrying

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Kind regards, Heinz

Note!
This thread is from 2015 and there has been no activity siince then, until today.

Duh! Thank you Jimbo-indy. I try to watch that but I need to work on it.

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Kind regards, Heinz