ERGONOMICS

Ergonomics are very important when we are discussing the best concealed carry pistols.

First of all, whatever pistol you choose needs to fit comfortably in your hand. Your fingers should fill out the finger grips fully, and the handle shouldn’t make you try to contort your hands in an unnatural position.

It shouldn’t extend too far from the bottom of your palm when holding it in a shooting stance. The longer the handle, the more awkward the handling and even concealment may become. The recoil may be lessened with a longer handle but the control your hand has over the pistol is too.

This is a big one for most gun owners I know. Having a comfortable, fitting grip on your gun can easily be a game changer.

CAPACITY

The ability to hold several rounds while remaining compact is a feat that any concealed carry pistol should be able to pull off easily. There is nothing worse than being pinned down or otherwise caught in a situation and you run out of ammunition.

Remember, as we mentioned above, the more ammo your pistol is able to hold, the more weight you will be adding to your load. And if your pistol only accepts a single stack magazine, it will more than likely come at the expense of a longer profile.

Alternatively, if you want to keep your handle length short, check into double stack magazines if your pistol will accept one. Double stack magazines are great for packing in more ammo, but all those extra bullets require more room so this type of magazine does come at the expense of a wider profile.

In general, you probably want to be able to hold at least 12 rounds in a compact magazine and one chambered.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In this review of our top picks for best compact 9mm pistols, we looked at some of the most popular handguns on the market. While it was a tough decision for us to settle on only one of them as our top pick for best compact 9mm, we had to go with the Glock 19. This is a solid sidearm that is great for the novice shooter, packs a major punch and is what you may call “just right”.

When it comes time for you to make a decision on which firearm to invest in, it all really just comes down to personal preference. With the help of our guidelines for what to look for, you should be more than well-prepared when you are ready to scoop up your next concealed sidearm.

We hope that we have been able to help you narrow down your choices and have given you enough to think about to pick between them. If there is a compact 9mm pistol that you believe deserves a place on this list, please feel free to let us know in the comments section below.

This article by Alex Joseph originally appeared at Gun News Daily in 2018.