I value the opinions on this site more than any forum I frequent. I have another year on my carry permit before I can renew it which means I can switch up my carry guns. I can only put 3 on it as well. Makes for interesting conversations with the wife who also carries a pm9 most of the time.
Yes I live California, yes im a moron for living here... but its home for now.
Currently on my permit are all gen 3 glocks 19,26,20sf
Ive carried the 19 maybe one or twice it can go there are too many issues involving grand fathered mags and the 10rders cant be trusted, the 20 a handful of times in cold weather, hiking or long drives, and 99.9% of the time its the trusty g26 with trijicon hd's providing security detail.
I do go hiking and fishing in very remote potenntially very dangerous country in the sierra Nevada mountains. Dangerous more because of the druggies and drug growing/making going on than animals but we do have big cats and large black bears.
I would like smaller and thinner for one of the guns. I think the smallest id need is an xds. Im 6'3 200lbs where the heck would I be going that I cant hide at least an xds on me?? Even in a tuxedo I could conceal that in a remora behind my cummerbund or in a shoulder holster.
But the xds is shy on capacity and most of the time I dont have a prob concealing the 26. Its the grip length of the 19 that makes things difficult. Its hot here in summer so im typically in a t shirt or light short sleeve button up. So something like a g19 chopped to a 26 length would be great unless there are some real nice short grip 40 cals out there. The m&p 40c comes to mind along with the p2000sk hk but they are short barrels.
Then there is the wild card. The woods gun.
With doubletap loading a 255gr keith in 450smc im thinking that is a better option than the 200gr WFNGC or underwood 220gr hardcast.
G29 with extended 4.6" lone wolf barrel? Im not hunting so I dont need the sight radius.
Keep the g20?
G30 w/ 4.6" lone wolf barrel and carry the 450smc doubletap?
It is amazing how versatile the 30 and 29 are. I could get by only having two guns with them by running extended barrels and mag extension when I need to.
So if I did that do I put a pocket .380 on just to do it? Or is xds, g26 and g29 or 30 sound like a good setup. They can be different guns too this is just things I own or can get like the 29.
I left California several years ago. But, while there had a CCW permit for fifteen years.
The "three gun limit" is the policy of some California counties, not a state limit written as law. I've had as many as six guns on my permit, including a Ruger Redhawk .44Mag for the north woods.
If your county is one that limits you to three, I'd chose based on your lifestyle.
e.g. 1) a primary; 2) something that's highly concealable; 3) special situations like hiking or travel.
The versatility of the 10mm helps in that a single gun could handle urban and rural situations. I bought a Glock 29 for traveling and light woods carry. If flying or driving out of state, I brought the G29 and several magazines holding hollow point or hard cast rounds.
mag360, In California would there be a stipulation to listing & carrying your Glock 20 or 29 and switching the barrels for other cartridges. It is still a Glock 20 or 29 but you could have a 40S&W barrel and 357Sig barrel. Sort of the same thing when you do the Glock 21 or Glock 30 with options for 45ACP, 40Super, 45Super and 460Rowland.
I not familiar with how the law is written for your area, just thinking out loud here. ???
In California, "for the sake of the children", if one installs a barrel of a different caliber, that configuration must be listed as a "separate" gun.
Beyond paperwork and de facto registration of guns, the only cost comes from needing to pass a shooting test for each configuration on the permit. Some trainers charge per configuration.
I found a LEO that cared about the important things, like safe handling and ability to shoot. He charged a flat fee, independent of the number of configurations and threw in a lot of training to boot.
I did not change barrel length for the same caliber and don't recall if that's a new configuration. I do recall serial number, make/model and caliber being listed on the permit. The CCW trainer should answer that one.
While i have no experience at all with California or being g able to carry (live in NJ) for now. But a G29 sounds about perfect. Just change the ammo dependant upon your location and possible encounters.
Best of luck
Brian
Glock 29 +2, FNH SLP 12 ga. and AR15 supressed SBR .223 , That was easy :)) .........Oh I've got those, convenient.
Kel-Tec in 380
Glock 19
Start PD in 45 ACP
The magazine restriction thing is a real fly in the ointment. Despite that issue, I still consider the 19/23 to be the very best carry gun available. Magazine capacity isn't the only thing limited by size and the 19 has a longer sight radius and larger grip than the 26, making it easier to shoot quickly and accurately. If I could carry only ONE gun, it would be my G23. In fact, I pretty much do carry just one gun. Sure, I might carry a different one on the way to and from the range just because I'll be shooting that gun for fun that day or I might carry my 10mm, .357, or .44 when we're in the sticks but 99.5% of the time, I'm carrying my G23. Remember that shot placement is the single most important factor in defense so the gun with which YOU are most proficient is the gun that's best for you.
That said, if I were in your position, I'd choose the G26, G19, and a .357 revolver or G20 for the third spot. The G26 because some times you really need something very small for concealment and the G19 for the above reasons. A deeply penetrating, flat shooting handgun is a solid choice for woods defense. But handguns are still very limited. A long gun is several orders of magnitude better than a handgun for everything except being small. I don't know what the legality is of carrying a long arm in Kalifornistan when not hunting, but here's what I would pick if it was legal to carry a long gun and I was restricted by stupid laws regarding what I could buy:
A Rossi M92 or other .357 mag lever action. This would pair well with a .357 revolver. It's light weight, handy, accurate enough for any realistic defense needs, and if you have any doubt as to the efficacy of a .357 cartridge from a 16" barrel, take a look at the gelatin tests I posted over in the "other calibers" ammo forum.
Kel-Tec SU-16CA or (new model) Mini-14. The 5.56mm cartridge is extremely effective at any reasonable distance and a true rifle brings a lot more power and accuracy to the table while staying very light weight. If you ever do mix it up with meth cooks or other baddies out in the boonies, you may very well be screwed no matter what you do. But having a semi-automatic rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge with a ready stash of several standard (20 or 30 round) capacity magazines, the will to win, and the training to effectively fight with the rifle gives you the very best chance that you could have in the situation. Given the choice, you would avoid the encounter. Barring that, you would bring A LOT of well trained friends, body armor, radios, support weapons, and a boat load of ammo. Barring that, you just might be able to survive with a good rifle and several magazines. The good news is that if you grease one or two of them, you might set them off balance enough for you to break contact.
A pump action 20" 12ga. Versatile and powerful. 12ga slugs are widely regarded to be the very best at stopping large, dangerous animals and will let you get out a little farther than shot. Nothing puts people down at close range like #1 buck.
If you don't already have an amateur radio license, I strongly recommend you get one. The test is extremely easy and costs $15. This link takes you to a practice test: http://qrz.com/hamtest/ (http://qrz.com/hamtest/) All the questions in the question pool are published by the FCC so you can study the actual questions on the test. Much of the test is common sense and most people score around 60% without even studying (80% required to pass). This study guide can help fill in any gaps that you don't already know: http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v1.0.pdf There are also several good study guides/practice test apps available for Android (and presumably IOS) so you can study when you're pooping riding the bus. I used this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tango11.hamstudy&hl=en
A handheld dual band UHF/VHF radio can literally be a lifesaver in the back country. There are many areas that cellphones have no signal but you can easily reach ham radio repeaters. In addition to giving you the ability to call on other hams for assistance, many repeaters have what's called an "autopatch" function. This feature allows you to call any regular (cell or landline) telephone from the repeater, so long as it is a local call from wherever the repeater is located. These radios range from $40 Chinese Baofeng (I have several and they actually work very well) to $300 fully submersible Yaesu.
I don't mean to be repetitive but I just can't understate the importance of having good communications while you're out there.
Shadow my sheriffs department said they did not care if I used 40 cal in the 10mm ad the caliber is the same but I cant list my g21 and carry with a g20 10mm slide. There are so many dumb rules/tradition going on with California. Nobody is going to blink an eye about carrying .38 special in a .357 or .44 special in a 44mag.
Im trying to get at least one small/thin gun on the permit. You know like a pm9, xds, or shield type so to le that kind of takes the place of the glock 26. Then I need my main carry gun say glock 26 and the hiking gun, g29 w/ extended barrel. Ive even thpught of going really small like pm9 or even sig p238 as a backup gun I carry in my pocket and then also wear the XDS 4.0 iwb appendix and have the g29 as my mountain gun.
G20 Gen3
CZ97BD .45
SCCY 9mm
I forgot to ask what holster and belt you are using. Almost every time someone says that they NEED a smaller gun, the real problem is that they need a better belt and/or holster. I strongly recommend the Crossbreed Supertuck and Wilderness belts.
I carry my g26 and g19 in a bravo concealment DOS appendix holster. I also have a comp tac minotaur I can use for steong side 4 o clock carry this one is similar to a supertuck.