I have them all. My answer would change depending on what criteria is most important.

If you don't plan to do any mods then the 43 is the one the go with followed by the 938. I didn't like my Shield9 until I installed Apex parts - now it's my favorite. The Glock and Sig work fine with stock parts.

If you don't mind the manual of arms, the Sig may be best. Particularly if size is important.

All are excellent pistols and will serve you well.

Thanks all for the continued input. One thing I have noticed ( this varies greatly from person to person) but for me carry comfort and ability to conceal seems to improve a lot with even small size differences in guns. For instance I find a big difference in concealability with my 26 over my 19, where many other people claim there is so little difference in size that you don't gain anything by going to the 26. Or in another vein there seems to be a huge difference between a 2" j frame or 2" k in revolvers

Current carry guns I do have are a j frame ( mine is old school all steel) a glock 26 &19 and even a glock 42. If my 42 was reliable we probably would not be having this discussion, but it simply is one that doesn't want to run reliably enough for my taste.with high performance carry ammo I have had only one malfunction, but that is with only a small perhaps 40-60 rounds of firing due to the cost of factory defense loads in this caliber. Hardball has given me even more issues which I was hoping would improve with time but with several hundred rounds down still is giving a bobble here and there. My reloads even at a max powder charge don't even fully cycle the gun.
Thankfully the 42 was a prize gun from a shooting match so except for things like holsters ammo mags and reloading dies I don't have much into it.
It seems considering how much cheaper 9mm is compared to 380 that moving to a 9 for more ammo options and much lower cost practice is the way to go.

My Glock 43 in a Sticky holster is basically what I use for what you describe. Lives in my coffee table and if I'm heading out I throw it in my waist band small of the back with a spare magazine.

Not what I'd take if I was going to Indian country or had a target on my back but better than nothing when I'm taking out the trash or running to Publix. I can carry it comfortably in a T-Shirt.

Your experience with your G42 sounds like you should send it to Glock. I bought a NYPD G19 with that god awful trigger. Sent it to Glock had it back with factory trigger in two weeks no charge to me. There is no reason your G42 should be as fussy as you describe.

I now carry the Walther PPS M2. If you look at the specs, the Walther is at 1" width and Glock 26 at 1.18" - not much difference. But in reality the Walther 1" is measured at its thickest point - the slide lock, which does protrude more than the Glock's. The rest of the gun is actually much thinner than the G26 and I can tell as much carrying it. It feels significantly thinner than the G26 and more comfortable and easier to carry all day.

I have become a Glock guy and usually carry a 19 or 17 (winter), and for me i hung up the Shield for the 26, but of what you listed, i think the Shield shoots best.

After carrying full size guns both open and concealed for 37 years,I continue to carry a big gun and prefer the Sig P220 compact sas for concealed carry. I carry in a iwb Alien Gear holster and have no problem even when wearing a t-shirt. I carry an extra magazine in the pocket just in case. The shorter grip on the compact makes it extremely easy to conceal and carry without printing. I just feel more secure with a larger more capable(in my opinion) gun.

However, if I could not conceal this SigP220, I would not have a problem going smaller if necessary,

quote:

I know most of these tip into the too big for a pocket category, but basically if I could get into a larger caliber while still maintaining a small size and perhaps an easy slip in the waistband holster with relative ease of concealment it would be a good step
...

Here is another alternative:

When I pocket carry, I like to carry the Ruger LC9.
It is slim enough that it disappears when in a sticky holster.
IWB/OWB works too but it is so easy to just slide it into my pocket.
DeSantis and Blackhawk, among others make sticky holsters for it.
The sights are decent (compared to most handguns of its size) and the trigger is not bad.
With a little practice, hitting targets with the Lasermax on it becomes relatively easy. Up to about 10/15 yards, I can see the laser's dot on the target even in bright daylight.

I have a Walther PPS in a sticky holster in the pocket of my 5.11 shorts as I type this. Really nice setup for me. I owned a G43 as well, sold it and bought the Walther. Different strokes, different folks.

G43 for me, though the Shield--at least one with a somewhat decent, so-so quality trigger--shoots slightly better for me. Better on recoil, better with speed on follow-ups. Most of them however come with crappy triggers, and combined that they feel a bit skimpy on the grip purchase even with my small hands they can be frustrating to be accurate with. If I were left to choosing between these two, I'd favor the Glock mostly because of my Glock bias, but I'd feel fine with the 9mm Shield ('ok' trigger mandatory) as well, at least until the frame cracks (not sure how substantial a problem this really is, but it's been reported with both 9mm and 40S&W guns over recent years).

The SIG I liked shooting well enough every time I've tried one, but I'm not certain that I would trust the durability of the guns. Another customer griped about his 938 the other day and complained about it breaking something or other to a coworker. Not certain what it actually was that broke on the gun, but apparently it was the second time that it's happened. I'm just happy that we didn't sell him that one. But combining that with other customers who've also complained and reported about breakages with the mainspring housing, thumb safety, extractors...and similar such griping on the dastardly internet, I'm definitely not sold on the design and/or its manufacture, at least when taking and morphing the Colt Pocketlite into 9x19 form. So far I've heard and read fewer such complaints about the Kimber Micro 9, but they're still floating around out there as well plus there's not as many of those yet out in the wild.

I love my tiny, light and flat Kel-Tec P-32

10 whole ounces fully loaded!

Softer shooting than the KT P3AT and slide locks open when empty. I put the hot Sellier & Bellot FMJ .32 ACP in it with a +1 magazine extension for a total of 9 rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by MPB:
I have carried a Kahr PM9 in my right front pocket for eight years now.
I shoot it frequently and find it to be accurate and reliable.

I also pocket carry a PM9. Mine is also very reliable and accurate. I like the PM9 size for pocket carry, the S&W shield and Glock 43 are a little too large to carry that way for me.

I am retired,and work part time for my lgs.

I Do all the internet listings on gun sights,shipping,recieving,sales when i am caught up.

This winter
We did a running count of ccw guns sold,and the shield was the number one gun sold by a wide margin.Glock was next.

The store sells about 4000 guns total a year,so it was a large amount of ccw guns sold.The # 1 gun by A large margin was the sw shield.And just about every shield buyer put a ct light on the gun.,We had a lot of taurus,ruger,colt,owners trade there guns in on shields.Very very few buyers went with a revolver.5 or 6 shot revolvers were hardly looked at.

The owner thought the the ruger lcr would be a good seller for woman,or folks with weak arms strength,but even older folks liked the shield.The number 1 caliber ,was 9 mm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tuumunz,

I like my Kahr MK9. The Kahr PM9 is good too. There is a good case also for my reliable and very accurate H&K P30SK.

I've had about every small single stack 9mm there is and the Shield and Springfield XDS have been my favorites. The Shield is lighter, maybe easier to carry but the XDS shoots like a very accurate full size pistol.

Currently carry one of the following: S&W 442 - for pocket, Glock 43 - IWB, P30SK - OWB. The Glock 43 is a really good balance between convenience and potency for me.

I've had quite a few including the PM9, MK9, Shield, Glock 43, Walther PPS. Out of the Shield, G43., I choose the XDs 9mm. Comes with 7 and 8 round mag and handles recoil better than both. 1300 rounds and totally reliable. I didn't really think I would like it more than the G43, but I ended up shooting it better and faster, albeit it is heavier.

For pocket, I use the G42. No better .380.

quote:

Originally posted by dc54:
Try the WALTHER PPS next to the shield and G43. Even though I have more than a dozen Glocks, the WALTHER for it's size shoots like a full size gun.

I'd go with a Ruger LC9S or S&W M&P Shield PC before I'd go with a current-production "Walther" PPS:

PPS M2 Barrel Peened near feed ramp?
PPQ M2 45 with Pitted Barrel - Walthers Response: It shouldn't cause issues (this has happened to PPS M2 owners, too)

and other quality issues reported less frequently. It isn't that they're having issues, but, that Umarex is blowing customers off with "that's normal and shouldn't cause problems."

I've got a PPS M2 9mm and love it, but, I would not buy another.

I sold my G42 and picked up a Walther PPS M2 a few months ago. I shoot the PPS better and I like the ergos better.

ensigmatic - thanks for the links. Sounds concerning, especially the denials from Ft. Smith until a BBB case was opened.