carry

Purse Carry: Best Option for Ladies’ Concealed Carry?

One concealed carry option available to women is carrying in one’s purse (I suppose it’s also an option for those trendy “man purses,” if you’re fashion forward enough to sport one…). For ladies like my mother, who can’t imagine going anywhere without one of their helpful handbags glued to their side, purse carry could be an attractive solution. However, there are drawbacks associated to this style of carry that aren’t an issue for on-the-body carry methods.

Pros:

Ladies' Concealed Carry: Purse Carry - TheArmsGuide.com — If you have a spare $4k, you can [almost] buy this bag (shown with Beretta Nano). Image courtesy of designerconcealedcarry.com

The myriad of different options can comfortably facilitate carrying a range of pistol sizes – even full size double stacks. There are already several companies that produce concealed carry handbags ranging from affordable unassuming shoulder bags to designer genuine exotic animal skin purses (with matching “exotic” price tags). These kinds of purses feature holster pouches that are separate from the rest of the purse, both as an additional measure of concealment, and as a measure of protection from negligent discharge. Concealed carrying with a purse provides an inconspicuous carry option for ladies regardless of style of dress.

Cons:

Thieves with an interest in purloining your [potentially expensive] handbag would not only find themselves with whatever belongings and money you were toting, but also a several hundred dollar bonus item: your gun. However, there are some concealed carry bags that attempt to mitigate that risk by utilizing a strap that fits around the body (instead of just on the shoulder). Although, there is still an argument that drawing from a purse is not as speedy as the draw from an on-body holster, such as an in-the-waistband (IWB) or over-the-waistband (OWB) holster.

Final Thoughts

Personally, although I am a female, I do not prefer the purse concealed carry method. For one thing, I don’t always have a handbag on my person. And, when I do, it’s either a backpack-style purse or a minuscule wallet-sized option (less than ideal choices for CCW). However, I know women who seem to be surgically attached to their purses, and who fit about half their worldly possessions within them. If these ladies don’t feel comfortable carrying in any other fashion, or it isn’t feasible to carry in any other manner (e.g., work wardrobe makes on-person carry unfeasible), perhaps purse carry is a reasonable option. What are your thoughts on the purse carry method?

Check out these deals on holster purses

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This article was written by Destinee

Destinee is also a vlogger. She publishes videos on weapons, gear, and fitness on her YouTube channel

Featured image courtesy of designerconcealedcarry.com

My EDC hot rod: Why I just can’t seem to leave my old Glock 19 alone

I didn’t start my journey into firearms as a Glock guy – in fact, the first pistol I ever purchased was by trusty old 1911. It took time, and the constant badgering of men with tactical experience and proficiency that I respected to convince me that I needed to try one out for myself. So, when the Generation 4 Glocks hit the market, I scooped myself up a nice, cheap Gen 3 Glock 19, and, much to the chagrin of all my 1911 toting buddies, I fell in love.

That isn’t to say that I don’t like my 1911 anymore. While the upvote/downvote culture of the internet might have you convinced that you have to choose between the Glock and the 1911, I’m here to tell you that buying into that kind of polarizing culture is foolish – shoot the stuff you like, and don’t worry about what the forums think. My 1911 feels like a piece of history, and my Glock? Well … it feels a bit like the Ford Mustang I used to work on in high school.

Long before I was a U.S. Marine, I was a punk kid with a Mustang GT and a Sears toolbox. My (salvaged and rebuilt) car was arguably the loudest, quickest, meanest ride in my little Vermont high school, and of course, that also meant I could only drive it a few months a year. Nitrous, bald tires, and snowy Vermont roads just don’t quite mix … but man, did I love that car.

A Marine with a Mustang – is anyone at all surprised?

My Mustang happened to be a ’96, which was the first year Ford switched to modular 4.6 liter V8 instead of the classic pushrod 5.0. It was underpowered but torque-y, and best of all, there was no shortage of aftermarket parts available to me and my grocery-bagging price range. Throttle body, exhaust, headers, lowering springs and eventually even used heads off of a newer, better flowing 99+ Mustang. I told myself it was driving the car that I loved, but in hindsight I think it was tinkering with it that really called to me. Half the stuff I did to that car didn’t really make it any faster (or only offered negligible gains), and I didn’t approach it with a tuning strategy like you have to when actually building a street-car, I just bought stuff online and spent my evenings throwing wrenches at the thing until it went back together, and then congratulating myself on another job well done.

Despite working with race cars for some time in my life, I’ve never been able to do this stuff without the manual shown under these throttle bodies.

That Mustang wasn’t the fastest car in the world, nor was it the coolest or the fanciest, but in every way that mattered, it was mine. I don’t mean mine in the sense that I had the title (which read SALVAGE in large, red letters, of course – I didn’t have the budget to buy an entire Mustang all at once), but mine in the sense that there wasn’t a single part of that car that I hadn’t pulled off, fiddled with, cleaned up, replaced or gotten rid of. The car was a rolling representation of who I was, produced through countless hours of plotting, scheming, saving and tinkering. For many of the people in my little home town, that obnoxiously loud Mustang and I were physical synonyms. This is my Mustang. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

I still had that Mustang when I married my wife, and once tried to break the cross-country record with it using a few thousand dollars worth of fuel and almost as much nitrous oxide, until we found ourselves stranded on the side of the road in New Mexico (we still made it in 43 hours, even after spending hours working on it). But as time went by, I couldn’t afford to devote all my spare cash to tinkering anymore, and my wife was growing impatient with shipping a third car around the country every time I got orders to a new duty station.

This was our view for much of the latter half of the trip.

So I sold it and bought a motorcycle, that I proceeded to yank apart and put back together all the time, just like the Mustang had once been for me. You guys knows the story though — crash that bike one too many times and it starts getting harder to justify it to your wife too. Eventually, you convince yourself that you’ll sell it to help pay the bills (during my very low-paying writing days), but you’ll “buy another one as soon as things get better.” You don’t, and one day you wake up and find yourself driving a Honda CR-V with a car seat in the back, telling stories about the days when you were cool.

But then I bought my Glock.

When I first bought my AR-15, it looked like the rifle my father carried in Vietnam, and I had a blast swapping out components and building it into a platform I’d enjoy shooting, but even that didn’t offer the same combination of easy-to-swap parts and budget friendly upgrades you can get for your Glock. I know what some of you 1911 guys are saying right now, “well my gun was so good, I didn’t have to buy anything!” You’re right – I love my 1911 just the way it was when I took it out of the box … but my Glock? It’s no longer just a pistol to me; it’s so specifically mine that in many ways this hunk of plastic and metal has become every bit that physical synonym for “Alex” that my Mustang once was.

It’s functional, combines cheap parts with pricey ones, it’s constantly changing, and most of all, there isn’t a single component in this pistol that I haven’t swapped out, replaced, or meddled with. I know this pistol like the engine bay of my old Mustang, and just like that car, I find peace when it’s in pieces.

Some shooters will look at the things I’ve done to my Glock and roll their eyes, hell, I lost some of you the moment I said I stowed my 1911 to start carrying a Glock at all, but in all the same ways I’m constantly torn between the dichotomy of fun and function, my trusty Glock 19 is too. Some changes make perfect sense — extended mag release genuinely improved my reload times and the TruGlo sights are worth their weight in gold. The Batman logo makes no damn sense – he doesn’t carry a gun. The Gadsden flag (like my tattoo) makes people think I’m some sort of conservative extremist (rather than a patriotic history buff), and I can assure you that I’m probably not a good enough shooter to really need the aftermarket barrel, extra heavy guide rod, etc. etc. etc.

Although most of the work I’ve done has been swapping out internal components, these are the changes most people notice.

But just like my Mustang – making the pistol function better is only part of why I’m always fiddling with my EDC. I get a lot of satisfaction out of just yanking the thing apart, cleaning it up, and trying out new parts. This is what it looks like today. In three weeks, it’ll probably look different. Three weeks after that? It’ll probably look different again.

This is my Glock. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The EDC PL 2AAA From 5.11 Tactical

With Christmas right around the corner, you might be looking for a couple of great gift ideas for your fellow prepared people. One awesome and affordable gift is one of 5.11’s newest EDC lights. The EDC PL 2AAA is a pen-sized EDC light designed to give you a little powerhouse of a flashlight.

The EDC PL or Every Day Carry Pen Light is an affordable $25 dollar light that performs well outside of its cost. The little light emits 107 lumens in a wide, view filling beam that predictably is powered by two AAAs. The runtime is an impressive 4 hours and 20 minutes. The EDC PL uses a CREE XP-G3 bulb which does give you a very bright white light that’s clean and sharp.

The beam is bright and clear and is made for short range use. It’d not spotlight, but it gives you enough light to navigate a dark building or illuminated what’s right in front of you. The beam goes out to about 25 yards. It’s bright enough in close range to stun someone momentarily if needed.

The EDC PL 2AAA Build Quality

The EDC PL 2AAA is made from machined aerospace grade aluminum, so there is no plastic here. It’s all metal and feels solid as a rock. The light comes in four different colors but I went with a low profile black. The body is also textured with ridges cut to improve grip. With an ice pick style grip the light fits the hand naturally.

The single control is a tail cap switch with only an On/Off mode. The tail cap is where batteries are inserted and is heavily textured. Again this is great if you gotta change batteries in the field when it is cold, wet, or God forbid both.

The light sports a pocket clip that is easily removed. It weighs almost nothing, and according to 5.11 its only 2.14 ounces with batteries. It’s five inches long, and .66 of an inch wide. The device is impact resistant up to 2 meters and that’s 6.5 feet in freedom units. The EDC PL 2AAA is also IPX-4 rated for water resistance.

In Use

This is a dead simple tool to use. Push the button to turn it on, push it again to turn it off. It can’t confuse a crayon-eating grunt like me, so you shouldn’t have issues. It’s a light that shines and I shouldn’t have much to say here. Outside of a flashlight, it would make a good kubaton.

The EDC PL 2AAA is a well made, affordable EDC light that can go anywhere. If you want a good gift for the concealed carry enthusiast here you are, if you need a new EDC light there you go.

How Guns Work: Striker Fired Pistols

Due to their lack of protruding hammer, many striker fired pistol designs have flooded the concealed carry market. Manufacturers such as Glock, Smith & Wesson, Springfield Armory all have popular models of striker fired pistols. But, how does striker fire actually work?

To propel a bullet from its cartridge, the gun powder within the casing must be ignited. Centerfire and rimfire rounds have two slightly different means to accomplish this. Both feature primers on the back end of the casing. Centerfire ammo features primer only in the center of the back of the cartridge, whereas the primer covers the entire base of the casing of rimfire rounds.
With either type of ammunition, the rear of the casing must be struck with enough force to ignite the primer, which catalyzes the gunpowder explosion that ultimately propels the bullet from the cartridge through the gun barrel.

How Guns Work: Striker Fired Pistols - TheArmsGuide.com — Lightning Strike’s titanium [captured] Glock striker. Image courtesy of lspi.com

In striker fired pistols, the striker is the component that strikes the casing, dimpling it and igniting the primer within. Glock calls their striker fired system “safe action.” As the trigger is pulled, the three inline safety mechanisms are disengaged, and the striker is moved rearward within the pistol. This increases the tension on the firing pin spring. When the trigger bar releases the firing pin lug, the striker moves forward as the firing pin spring relaxes. This motion causes the striker to impact the base of the round in the chamber, which fires the round.

Manufacturers such as Kahr Arms, Beretta, and Springfield Armory all utilize similar variations of this function. For example, Springfield’s XD series fully tensions the firing pin spring upon chambering a round, compared to Glock’s partial tension until the trigger pulls and increases the spring tension.

Striker firing seems somewhat complex, but, in fact, it involves fewer parts than the older hammer fired system (which will be the subject of future posts). There are a couple of benefits to striker fired pistols in the area of concealed carry. Firstly, there is no external hammer, allowing for a more snag-free design. It also ensures that each trigger pull, from the first through the final round of the magazine, has the same weight of pull. Some consider the lack of external safety on striker fired guns to be an advantage in self defense situations because it allows the operator to fire upon their assailant(s) with fewer steps (no need to disengage a manual safety before firing). But, there are others who feel that it presents a safety risk to carry a pistol without external safeties. The preference for the more traditional hammer fired or the more efficient striker fired systems is still a subject of much debate. What is your opinion of striker fired guns?

by Destinee

In addition to writing her personal blog, Destinee is also a vlogger. She publishes videos on weapons, gear, and fitness on her YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday.

Photo by Heath Layman

Walther CCP: Seriously Underrated

The Walther CCP hit the market hard and with much anticipation from the shooting community. The marketing on the CCP was fantastic, and it drew interest from all over, even from people who were previously uninterested in Walther pistols. The CCP drew eyes with its “Softcoil” system, which is basically their own gas-delayed blowback design. The design is quite different from the usual browning style lockup design, and it drew a lot of attention and criticism. We will cover the design in more detail later. In order to get a full idea of how the CCP came to be, we need to take a quick look at the history of Walther in general and some of the interesting designs that kept them on the map, even to this day.

As one of the most popular German gun manufacturers in Europe, Walther is known for making some of the most iconic firearms in the world. Most of their designs are very different from the popular and established designs of the time. The PP/PPK is a legend in the Walther lineup. It still receives recognition from its infamous usage in the James Bond films. The P99 has earned quite a reputation for reliability and has continued to serve the German Police with distinction. The famous Turkey-made copy of this pistol, the TP9 series, has been popular with many shooters who don’t realize that it copies the Walther design under license. The P38, used by the Germans in WW2, was the first to use the falling block design, which has proven to be a very durable design. Beretta has incorporated this design in the M9/92FS series of pistols. In fact, if you were to look at the two pistols side by side with their stats, it would appear that the M9 is merely an upgraded P38. Fast forward to today and the last few years when the PPQ (P99Q in Europe) came on the American market. Most people have at least heard of the PPQs incredibly nice trigger and grip. The PPQ in a way has set a standard for future developments of Walther pistols.

When feeling both the PPQ and CCP grip, I feel like the CCP takes advantage of the grip texture and design much better than the thicker PPQ grip. In a nutshell, no one can deny the fact that holding this pistol feels very natural and comfortable for shooters of all hand sizes. This is a big deciding point for a lot of people. Now as for the size, I find the 5.12” height works very well for IWB carry under a t-shirt. I find the width and the inconsistent shape of the pistol to also add in the concealability of the pistol for carrying on the hip. Its shape helps prevent a consistent and blocky pattern, which is the biggest culprit in printing.

The pistol comes with two 8 round mags that have a slight extension on the front part of the magazine to give you just enough room for a full grip on the pistol. The magazines eject quite positively, as most European pistols do, and are very easy to load to full capacity. The big point that adds to the appeal this pistol has to the American shooter is the button magazine release like on the PPQ M2. The button is easy to push, but is also well protected from unintentional ejection of the magazine. That said, this pistol is very easy to do a speed reload with.

The CCP has a slightly long trigger pull. The striker is fully cocked and breaks very clean with little to no wall. At first the trigger pull can feel very gritty when you first get it, but will smooth out quite nicely if you shoot the pistol or dry fire it. There is no need to unnaturally wear the metal with polishing or grinding. A drop of lube in a few strategic locations can make a huge difference in the feel as well. It only took about 500 rounds for the trigger to smooth out, accompanied by a lot of dry fire practice. That being said, you will find that the trigger gets better as you shoot more.

The reset on the trigger is all the way out and really is perfect for shooting fast. Slow fire isn’t actually very bad at all. A lot of people bashed the trigger since the PPQ trigger really is the standard by which other Walther triggers are judged now. Don’t overthink the weight and travel of this pistols trigger. The difference between this trigger and others under rapid firing conditions is marginal at best. You naturally will be going out way further than you think while shooting fast. After my experience with many different triggers, I find it to work very well.

When we talk about the light but long trigger pull, we can’t help but to think about the safety. It is very well positioned, similar to the position of a 1911 safety. I find that it is also good for resting your thumb on as you shoot. The only advice I have is that you use this safety and train with it. It is very positive and very well positioned, so it would be not be very difficult to incorporate into your draw training. It is well rounded to prevent snagging, but wide enough to be actuated with confidence. There is no reason to not use it since it is very well placed and it doesn’t hurt to have that added security when hurrying to draw and fire from close quarters with such a light and smooth trigger pull.

The sights are a sore spot for many shooters, and I understand why. It is customary to use the dots on the sights to quickly acquire your sights while maintaining a majority of your focus on the target in close quarters. The dots on this pistol are not only small, but they are also recessed in the sights themselves. I tend to not really have an issue using the sights as they are, though I don’t quite notice the white dots. The sights seem to be a very solid polymer, similar to the polymer used in the frame. The problem though is that it is not quite that simple to adjust the windage on the rear sight. The sights seem to be hitting to point of aim out of the box at almost all ranges.

Now onto the action that makes this pistol such a hit. This really was the largest reason for the development of the pistol. The action on a blowback pistol is known to generally be easier to rack and manipulate. Walther designed this pistol to be easy to manipulate, even for people with compromised upper body strength. It is a constant complaint for women and older people that they can’t rack the slide on a semi auto pistol, and end up using a revolver with more recoil. Even if you do not have upper body strength issues, this is just a bonus that other pistols of similar size have yet to beat.

This pistol uses a gas pistol which uses the high pressures of the 9mm parabellum to delay the cycling of the action, in turn, reducing the recoil of the pistol. I have found that with this system, the high pressure loads seem to recoil less. Though some target loads, being lower pressure, can have more recoil. This is because the system relies on the gas pressure to delay the cycling of the action. This basically means that the longer the delay, i.e. the higher the pressure, the lower the recoil. The piston is a 3 stage pistol and is housed inside a cylinder right under the barrel. I would recommend that you allow the pistol and cylinder to foul up a while in order to allow for a more efficient and tighter seal of the gasses in the cylinder when firing. This can help reduce recoil even further from my experience. Now while we are on the subject of fouling, this pistol gets quite dirty, given that it is a blowback design. The other factor to the fouling would be the fact that some of the gasses from the cylinder are being blown back into the barrel and action while the pistol cycles. This doesn’t seem to affect the reliability of the pistol, even after hundreds of rounds. I recommend running a box of NATO or high pressure ammo at the end of your range session to clear up a little bit of the buildup.

On an interesting note, if you use a light to peer down the gas cylinder, you will notice two holes in the cylinder. One hole leads to the bore, and the other directly across from it, is the initial hole used to drill the drain hole to the bore. The barrel and the cylinder were made from a single piece of steel, so it would be hard to get away with not drilling through the bottom of the cylinder to reach the bore. This hole in the bottom is plugged though, so don’t worry about that. I just figured that this was worthy of note when looking at the making of the pistol.

The barrel on this pistol is fixed to the frame with a very tight set of roll/clamp pins. The bore is polygonal and very well machined. You will notice that the hole leading to the cylinder is merely a millimeter past the chamber. The barrel and the cylinder don’t take that long to heat up, but in reality, the likelihood of you unloading rounds at a high rate in a firefight and reloading five times is a bit unrealistic and ridiculous. It actually takes a bit of time for the pistol to heat up to an uncomfortable level so don’t worry about that.

The disassembly of this pistol is another sore spot for a lot of people. I have found it to be quite simple and easy. it does not actually require the included “key”, but will also work with a punch or even a house key from my experience. It is so simple, yet people complain about it unnecessarily. All you have to do is push up on the stainless steel sheet holding the striker spring backing on.

Push in 1/4″ and lift the slide up. For reassembly, I just push the striker backing plate in with my finger and it snaps into place. I see no problem with this takedown. It seems that people make a huge deal over this incredibly easy process that even a one handed guy can accomplish with few issues.

I have had only two problems with the pistol since I got it. The first thing was that the mag release spring, similar to the Glock spring was bent, causing the magazine to fall out during firing. The other thing was that I had the trigger spring on the other one go out after I had purchased it used. Both times, Walther fixed the issue with a turnaround time of less than 5 days at no cost to me. They were nice, knowledgeable and extremely courteous. They stand behind their products 100% and that is a very big deal for me when deciding whether a gun is worth the investment. These breakages should not be a factor in your judgment of the pistol, since this happens on all pistols. Instead focus on the fact that Walther wasted no time fixing the problem and getting this pistol back in my holster.

Overall, between the ease of use, the grip, the low recoil of carry loads, and the pistol being easy to shoot well, I see this pistol as probably the best carry option for the money. Don’t discount it just because it isn’t a subcompact PPQ. This is a carry pistol that was designed to be carried and operated with ease and it does just that. Its overall simplicity, light weight, low price, and all the above features on this pistol make it my first pick when I need a gun on my hip.

by David Donchess

David served in the USMC for a few years, deployed twice and got wounded. Retired and moved to Alaska. Has a passion for reviewing and testing guns and gear of all kinds. Enjoys working to dispel myths and show that you can train and practice in a realistic, safe, and practical way.

Enhance your EDC with discrete tools inside the Survival Belt 2.0

In my quest to carry as much useful survival equipment as possible on my body at any given time, the Survival Belt 2.0 is an invaluable piece of gear. It not only offers the convenience of saving space in my pocket and makes sure I don’t leave an item behind, but it also offers comfort wrapped up in a discrete package. So what exactly is it? The Survival Belt from SlideBelts is a rugged belt that hides four different tools within the buckle and enhances your EDC loadout.

While the belt itself often gets overlooked compared to the tools, it is worth noting that the one size fits all belt is pretty special. Its webbed core is incredibly strong (almost 1500 PSI of tensile strength) and is covered by a UV protected, waterproof, abrasion-resistant coating that is even resistant to extremely cold weather and high temperatures up to 214-degrees. It flexes easily and won’t crack, fade, or melt under extreme natural conditions. It is 1.5-inches wide, fits up to a 48” waist, and can be trimmed for the right fit.

The belt strap utilizes a track of continuous notches that span the length of the belt for easy adjustments and the most comfortable fit possible. When carrying a weapon or without, the Survival Belt makes sitting down and making small adjustments to the fit incredibly easy – it only requires the lifting of the buckle’s dual lever release. The buckle is constructed of a very clean looking metal alloy face and a glass-filled nylon base. It provides a secure lock on the belt track and is very comfortable with no sharp edges. In my experience carrying compact and subcompact polymer framed pistols, this belt has been sturdy enough to function as a gun belt — although experiences may vary.

The list of tools includes a ferrocerium fire starter, bottle opener, LED flashlight, and locking knife.

The fire starter is found on the opposite end of the LED flashlight, which provides an excellent grip to utilize the 1-inch ferro rod. By using the sharpening choil portion of the knife, you can achieve the sparks you need to get a flame.

The LED flashlight is powered by four small LR621 batteries and provides a more-than-adequate number of lumens to aid is seeing in low-light conditions. Though the light is small, the knurled grip is easy to hold onto when twisting to activate the light.

The knife features a bottle opener on the spine and features a liner lock. This blade is incredibly sharp. It is made of AUS-8 Stainless Steel and comes with an excellent factory edge. It is coated in a Titanium Nitride finish and has held up to daily wear that I’ve put it through. I must add that it is actually comfortable to wield, so it isn’t just for looks. It works.

Cost for the Survival Belt 2.0 is $150 and can be found on the SlideBelt website, where they offer various strap colors if you want to mix things up. Whether you choose a minimalist approach to your daily loadout or you choose to add this to your extensive list of every day carry items, this is an invaluable piece of gear to make sure you always have a sturdy strap, knife, light, and fire-starting source. Keep in mind, this belt is not TSA approved so if you intend to travel with it keep that in mind and pack accordingly. As an added benefit, I have found that this belt can either be dressed down (casual) or dressed up so you can literally wear it anywhere where the contained items aren’t prohibited.

*Featured image courtesy of Slide Belts, all other photos courtesy of the author