As it has gotten hotter and hotter I am finding it less and less easy to carry my Glock 19 concealed. I am looking for a smaller easier to carry summer pistol. Right now I am torn between the Glock 26 and S&W 642 “moon clip”.
I know there are disputes as far as caliber effectiveness especially with the .38 Special but I need something more convenient to carry in the summer.
For those of you with experience carrying either or both please help with advice? If there is something else that you would recommend in the $400-$500 range please feel free and explain why.
If it were me I’d take the 26 over a revolver in a heart beat. But the 26 feels almost identical to the 19 when you carry IWB, so downgrading probably wouldn’t do you much good IMO.
JP, how did you want to carry the gun? What F-Trooper05 said about IWB makes sense.
For pocket carry the G26 is heavy ~ 27oz but it’s doable for some folks with a good belt. You may have to shop for new pants/shorts though for bigger pockets. Not so much caliber, but for accuracy and shootability I think it has an advantage over the 642. But the 642 fits into more pants pockets I think.
Well I am a lil partial because I do carry a 26 everyday all seasons. For me it is the best when you consider weight, compactness, and round count. I use a Comptac Mtac IWB holster. I carry it that way every day and find that for me it works well.
Ha, sixth post in and so far no one has voted for the S&W over the Glock. It’ll be interesting to see how that changes, or doesn’t, as the thread goes on.
That said I voted for, and have carried, the 26 over the J frame since I got my 26 in the first year or two of it’s production.
IMO we have to know how you’re going to carry this gun to make a meaningful recommendation.
If you intend to pocket carry, I’d advise an airweight j-frame, especially the centennial models (442, 642).
If you’re going to carry IWB, I’d recommend a Kahr CW9. It’s slimmer than a G26/G19, weighs about 15 oz. without a mag, holds 7-8 (+1) of 9mm, has good sights, and can be had for about $435 + tax. IME it takes a pocket of unusual size and shape to allow a smooth draw with the small 9mms (Kahrs, Walther PPS, etc), whereas my 642s draw smoothly and quickly from just about any of my pockets.
My carry method will not be one method. Pocket or belly band most likely depending on attire. If it is possible to carry the Glock 19 I do. In a Comptac IWB rig by Minotaur with a polo over it. It usually works fairly well. But Polos are the limit of what I will wear over it. I don’t feel comfortable down grading to a tee shirt which is why I am looking for something smaller. I am leaning toward the S&W 642 but I’m open to others like the glock.
My vote goes to an automatic. M&Pc compact has become by heat of choice, even for quick trips to the stop and rob. I only carry my 380 when I am wearing gym shorts and want to carry something only slightly better than a Spyderco.
Just sold my Smith 342 to a buddy of mine this week. I carry a 26 as a back up on patrol and a 19 while off duty. If for some reason I couldn’t carry a 19 off duty I always had the 26 on me. In the last three years I never carried that 342 so I thought I would turn it into some coin.
YMMV but for me, I was always more accurate with the 26 when compared to the 342, the 26 held twice as many rounds and they were 9mm which for me was more comforting, the trigger was way better on the 26 compared to the 342.
I vote for the 26 because of the added ammo and the size isn’t that different. It is also a lot easier to load in a hurry. I think you will find most of these points were already talked about in this thread:
I can see that the 26 might not be great for pocket carry. On the belt I think even though it it as thick as the 19 its grip is shorter so it might conceal easier. I fully believe that the 26 would be easier to shoot well than a J frame as I have shot my wife’s 642 and group that horribly compared to my 19. I know the 26 has an edge in capacity, and 9mm has an edge in performance. I’m just worried I’d get the 26 and it wouldn’t be as convenient to carry as a J frame and I’d end up going without anything as I sometimes do with my 19. Since either way it will be a primarily summer gun I’ll be carrying in pockets, belly band, and maybe the occasional IWB does that play into the choice or would you guys still advocate the 26?
Based on the above info, the 26 would be out for me.
It is just too big in all the wrong places to work as a pocket gun for me. Heck even a snub is pushing it to be honest, my “true” pocket gun is a Ruger LCP. Now THAT lil bastard is disappears in the pocket and is very light…
I know, its a .380, but at least its still a 92gr fmj .380 moving at about 950 fps as opposed to my fist moving much slower towards some aggressors face…
Caveat: I am 6’-1" and 175-180 lbs. This matters in these cases more than some people let on.
I can’t carry a G26 in a pocket or on an ankle with my body type and the type of clothes that I wear. If either of those are options you may consider, you might take that into account.
I also CAN conceal the G26 at times when the G19 would be difficult. Again, likely goes to body type and mode of dress, but also to consequences of the bulge. If you are in environments where you are known to be a gunowner but may not be allowed to carry or would prefer not to, even the slightest bulge could be indicative to someone that you are carrying. Again, unique combination FOR ME of body type, attire, and situation.
Those things said, I can only just barely conceal the j-frame in a pocket and I find that it drags at my britches just enough to necessitate a belt, which negates the purpose for me. So I wind up with a Keltec .32 in the pocket in those cases under the “a gun is better than no gun” concept. I am generally not happy about it but it’s also generally not like I’m wandering into occupied territory armed that way. A friend works in Little Haiti and I do not go there with a .32 in the pocket, FWIW.
Which brings me to a concept that I apply, and which may or may not work for others. There is much hay made about “you can’t pick when you are going to get in a gunfight”, and that is clearly, absolutely, true. However, for a typical suburban middle-class, middle-aged, male there is frankly very, very little chance of you getting into a raging gun battle. Situational awareness, not putting yourself in bad spots, etc. are all FAR more important than the gun you are carrying. So when I am out walking my dog in my upper-middle-class neighborhood, surrounded by other upper-middle-class neighborhoods, I may only have a .32 in the pocket. Yes, I may very well regret that one day but it is a choice I make after consideration and it is the choice that works for me. Bad actors stand out like a sore thumb here and if I need that .32 it’s either for a mad dog or I have totally failed myself in maintaining situational awareness.
If that is a real concern for you (you can’t force yourself to carry the bigger gun) then the lighter revolver may be the better choice than the G26. A G19 and a 5 shot snubbie can cover all the concealment bases.
I’ve had a 642, have a 340M&P and LCR 38. The LCR was much easier for me to shoot accurately, I was able to get a 3.5" 5 shot offhand group in slow fire at 25yds and I never could do that with a J frame. It’s not so much the lighter trigger but the grip geometry that allows me to shoot the LCR like a K or L frame, not with my trigger finger cocked out like I have to with a J frame. You can also get the LCR with a tritium big dot front sight which I have. It was ~$450 at the local gunshow with non-tritium models ~$400. I carry it with the Hogue boot grip which is smaller but still more comfortable to shoot than the boot grips on the J frame.
I may have to look at the LCR, it is BUTT UGLY but if it shoots that well?? If I did get a J frame I would drop in the Apex trigger kit for sure. Guys, I am not I repeat not a fan of the J frame over my 19 for any other reason than the hottest times when I need something that doesnt require a IWB and gun belt I have been able to successfully carry with my Comptac CTAC holster and belt with only a polo covering it. I tried in a t-shirt and some of them printed pretty bad which is why I am looking for something smaller. Most of you seem to prefer the 26 over the J frame but then a) don’t think the 26 is a good pocket gun due to it’s weight and bulk, and b) think that if you can conceal a 26 you can conceal a 19? Is there another choice I should look at, rather than these two? I have seen Ruger LCR, and Khar PM9 mentioned?
Good info. The 642 will work very well in a pocket or belly band. The single stack 9mm guns I mentioned before will work well from a belly band, but not as well from a pocket.
My experience with a belly band is that the guns that work best from a belly band are lightweight and flat in profile, but that offer enough grip to access the gun smoothly and quickly. Overall length of the gun doesn’t seem to be such a critical factor until one gets up to the size of a gun that pokes into one’s lower regions; that varies with how high/low the band is worn and the person’s build. A 642 with narrow grips would do quite well there for almost any adult male. For most folks most of the single stack 9mms would work as well.
Can’t speak to how well a G26 works in a belly band, because I’ve no experience with that gun in a belly band. My guess is the belly band would have to be very tight to support the weight of a 26 and the cover garment would have to be very loose to conceal the G26’s width.