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I have carried a 5 shot .357 Taurus 651 Snubbie with stout .38+P+ loads as a backup gun for a while, usually on my ankle. I am considering switiching to a small auto in 9mm--mostly because I want something different. My duty gun is a Glock 21 SF (.45)-so I am leaning toward another Glock or similar DAO pistol. Any thoughts out there--should I stick with the wheel gun or go auto?? The age old question, right! 9mm is the smallest caliber I want to carry--also because since it is a NATO round, ammo is easy to find all over the world.

Opinions from fellow Texans......

Stay Safe and always load one up the Snout.

I personally dont see anything wrong with using a snubby for an ankle(bug) gun. One thing you know for sure is...It will go bang.

I will also say that I see (and agree) the importants of carrying 2 guns of the same make/cal. Like the G17 and G26.

I am not fond of ankle carry for myself but due to that carry style and the fact that 9mm is your smallest desire, I would say go with the snubby.

Ranger+P+ wrote:I have carried a 5 shot .357 Taurus 651 Snubbie with stout .38+P+ loads as a backup gun for a while, usually on my ankle. I am considering switiching to a small auto in 9mm--mostly because I want something different. My duty gun is a Glock 21 SF (.45)-so I am leaning toward another Glock or similar DAO pistol. Any thoughts out there--should I stick with the wheel gun or go auto?? The age old question, right! 9mm is the smallest caliber I want to carry--also because since it is a NATO round, ammo is easy to find all over the world.

Opinions from fellow Texans......

Stay Safe and always load one up the Snout.

I don't think you could go wrong either way....A good snubby or a reliable 9mm are both good backup choices, so if you want to switch to a 9mm for a change of pace, go for it! Personally, I pocket carry a S&W 340PD 5-shot J-Frame with Speer's 135gr Gold Dot Short-Barreled .357 Magnum load for my BUG, and you couldn't pay me to change it.

As to the choices in 9mm, the G26 is pretty fat. It might work on an ankle for you, but you might also want to look at the Walther PPS (essentially the same as a single-stack Glock, but with better construction IMO) and the offerings from Kahr.

I occasionally carry my Glock 27 on my ankle. It is very difficult to see even a bulge when I am wearing jeans. Haven't really carried this way when wearing slacks, but I figure it may be very much the same, just less pant leg to bunch and keep it covered when sitting. I do notice that my left leg moves just a bit slower, but hopefully it's something that only I notice. I've also noticed that after a couple of hours, my ankle holster rides down a bit and sits right on my ankle bone. I need to locate/order a support strap for it to keep it in place.

I definately like the idea of carrying the same make and caliber, especially Glocks and XDs (and others) since the magazines from the larger pistols fit the smaller pistols of the same caliber. My extra mag for the G27 is a 15 round G22 mag.

You could pickup a Glock 36 (sub-compact .45 ACP) and use the same mags from your 21 should you need more than 6+1 rounds from the 36.

You could pickup a Glock 36 (sub-compact .45 ACP) and use the same mags from your 21 should you need more than 6+1 rounds from the 36.

Just a note that it's the G30 that has interchangeable mags with the G21. The G36 is a single-stack.

And after spending another weekend with John Farnam, I'm also rethinking my BUG situation. We did primary/BUG drills, primary/BUG/blade drills, and with red guns, both primary and BUG retention drills. I'm not sure which way I'm gonna go yet, but I've pretty much decided I need to get my BUG in my off-hand-side waistband.

Ranger I carry a 1911 for duty and a Officer ACP for a bug and agree with carrying alike guns that use the same type of ammo. I also carried a Chiefs Special in a vest holster as a second BUG.

I started this practice after a gun fight where a partner on a Drug raid had a failure in his main weapon and was unable to get to his patrol car to get his other weapon in the trunk.

So you idea has sound reason and is a good choice for your line of work.

Kahr PM9. Small, light , easy to conceal. Or if it is to much $...try the Kahr CW, not much larger but a little cheaper.

Another good option would be the Steyr S9A1. Steyrs are great pistols. I can attest. They are worth way more than what you can pick one up for.

maverick2076 wrote:Another good option would be the Steyr S9A1. Steyrs are great pistols. I can attest. They are worth way more than what you can pick one up for.

Who makes your ankle holster for that?

Hey Ranger. Welcome back! I've got a Kel-Tec P3AT, but like you, I really don't want to carrry less than a 9mm, so I'm not really satisfied with it, so I wouldn't suggest it. I'm saving up for a Rohrbaugh. It might be just what you're looking for. If you've never looked at them, they're worth checking out. I have a 21SF also, GREAT gun! A little big for the ankle though! I'll put a link to the Rohrbaugh site. They've been out for a few years now, but they're fairly low volume, and very expensive. I've handled one many times at our local gun store though, and I'm impressed with their craftsmanship. If anyone has any shooting experience with one, I'd love to hear it. There's also a Rohrbaugh forum that I've been checking out. There's some pretty good info on there as well.

http://www.rohrbaughfirearms.com/
http://www.rohrbaughforum.com/

FWIW, some chrono results from 2 of my favorites:

S&W 340

125g .357 Gold Dots: 1,124 fps (with semi-vicious recoil)

135g 38+P Gold Dots: 824 fps

And, despite looking at various stores and gun shows in DFW, I've yet to locate any that have the specific "Short Barrel" designation ... Ditto for the 9s ...

Kahr PM-9

124g Gold Dots: 1,041 fps

And, Ranger +P+, yeah, I've got some of those "namesake" loads by Winchester that I run through the Glock, but just can't bring myself to feed 'em to the Baby Kahr. It runs just fine with everything so far and I don't want to risk beating it up ...

I'm not sure who makes an ankle holster for the Steyr, but if you head over to http://www.steyrclub.com they have a sticky topic in the forums section with a link to a ton of manufacturers that make Steyr holsters. That would be your best bet.

I personally don't own an S-model. I have an M40A1. I'm looking at getting an S9 sometime in the next year though. They are just a smaller model of the M series. Great pistols.

Greybeard wrote: And, despite looking at various stores and gun shows in DFW, I've yet to locate any that have the specific "Short Barrel" designation ... Ditto for the 9s ...

I've found it at Bullet Trap before, but I usually buy mine from http://ammunitiontogo.com.

The have the 9mm
http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/inde ... ter_id=119

But it doesn't look like they have .357 in stock at the moment.
http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/inde ... ter_id=109

They seem to carry it off and on, so I try to check back fairly regularly, and eventually it comes back in stock.

Thanks for all the input..will marinate on it for a while. It might be hard to part with my 651 snubbie, she has been riding as my BUG since 03---she has been with me three times to Iraq and never failed me--she meets the 3 requirements for me--BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!! Not only is she my BUG, I often find her riding in a pocket holster as a primary when I run to the store for milk, etc. She is small, light and easy to conceal. I will drill with some friends of mines small 9mm's this weekend and make a decision.

Hope my post on drills helped out--will post a few more later.

Stay Safe.