For Concealed Carry, Consider a Melted Pistol
Dr. John Woods 12.27.16
Now hang on. No, this is not a statement of what Hillary would’ve done to our handguns if she had taken over the White House. That may be an issue worth a prepper’s concern, but it is not this discussion.
Concealed carry is more popular than ever. People who never even owned a gun years ago much less ever shot one are now getting professional advice on outfitting themselves with the proper sized and fitted weapons. They are signing up for training classes in firearms orientation, safety, and practical range shooting.
Additionally many are taking advanced courses in concealed carry, holster wear, situational awareness, and assorted other training opportunities in preparation for various levels of self-defense, property protection, security, and just individual well-being.
Obviously during this process, people are looking at a variety of handguns for self-defense. Most often the choice comes down to a semi-auto pistol for a huge variety of reasons. There really are a ton of viable choices, so be sure to check out as many models and types as you can. Try to handle and shoot as many as you can.
Examine the features, safety mechanisms, overall size, weight, magazine capacity and insertion, slide cocking tension, and sights. Examine one other aspect of any pistol you are considering to buy. Are the manufacturing edges of the corners of the slide and frame sharp and square or machine rounded off smooth or “melted?”
Before buying try the gun in a variety of holsters. What you are testing is any kind of a “hang up” of the square edges of the gun. Most often this is not an issue with everyone carrying a handgun on a daily basis, but it could be.
A “melted” pistol is one that has had all the sharp edges of the gun rounded off and smoothened out. This reduces any kind of drag issues or helps keep the gun from catching on pockets, pants, jackets, and other potential restrictions to effectively drawing the weapon.
Factory examples of a melted gun are several models produced by Kimber such as their Micro CDP in both .380 ACP and the 9mm version. All the edges have been rounded off. Just know that such models exist as this may be an option you wish to examine further.
When you finally do purchase a gun, read the owner’s manual and learn every aspect of the weapon including loading, unloading, and all the maintenance issues.
(Editor: I recently picked up a Sig Sauer P239 SAS Gen 2, which has the “melt” treatment, and it’s fantastic. Look for a review, soon.)
