Summer is almost here – I think. Even here in South Carolina, it’s hard to tell, as the weather bounces from 40 degrees to 80 degrees and back during any given week. No matter where you live, though, one thing that’s definitely on the short-term horizon is warmer outside temperatures. And with these climbing temps comes shorts, t-shirts, and plenty of outdoor activities. That’s all good and fun, but the summer wardrobe and activity regimen adds some new challenges to one’s concealed carry plan. In the winter, with jackets and coats, it’s easy to conceal an FN FNX 45 Tactical with an optic or two. However, if your cover garment will be a t-shirt, allow this summer concealed carry guide to assist you.
Here are five of my favorite summer carry options; These guns make the list not just because they’re small and easy to conceal – that’s simple to do – but because they manage to combine performance and ease of shooting well into that small package:
Glock 43X and 48
It’s not often that I get excited about a new Glock. After all, they’ve remained largely unchanged since station wagons roamed the earth. Raked grip, squared off grip, you know, that old chestnut. Sure, there have been major innovations along the way, like changing the grip texture or adding and removing finger grooves.
With all that said, I have to abandon my cynicism, swallow my pride, and buy one for the first time in more than a few years. I’ve been working with two related Glocks, the 43X and the 48 for a few weeks now. Wow. These are nice pistols that fit squarely into the summer carry category – and any other carry category for that matter.
We’re listing these two new Glocks together because they share the same frame and magazines. The only difference between the two is the barrel and slide length. The Glock43X features a 3.41-inch barrel which translates to a 6.5-inch overall pistol length. The Glock 48 has a 4.17-inch barrel and 7.28-inch overall length. Both pistols are 5.04 inches tall and 1.1 inches wide.
These two new “medium-ish” Glocks are plenty compact for summer concealment and carry, but that’s not what makes them special. It’s the feel and handling. While hard to describe in words when something just “feels” right, we’ll try. The grip is as near perfect as I’ve yet encountered. The rear is rounded, not squared, as is the front. The sides are all flat “Glock” as you’d expect. As simple as this sounds, it fits ideally, and I mean perfectly, in the hand. While it feels right, the real benefit is in hand to gun grip surface area contact. When I grip the Glock 43x and 48, it feels as if every possible square millimeter of my hand is in contact with the grip surface. That makes it easy to control and goes a long way to mitigate the effects of recoil. As a result, it’s easy to shoot well.
Read the rest: Summer Concealed Carry Guide: Tips for Carrying Concealed During Warmer Months | OutdoorHub
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