The quest for the perfect balance between portability and performance has given rise to the popularity of lightweight guns. Concealed carriers are increasingly drawn to these firearms for their ease of carry and everyday practicality.
Lighter-weighing handguns reflect advancements in materials and technology. The shift from all-steel constructions to the use of modern lightweight materials has been pivotal in the firearms industry. Early firearms, resembling little more than iron tubes with lockwork, have morphed into sophisticated pieces that prioritize convenience without compromising firepower.
Pros of Lightweight Handguns
- Portability and Ease of Carry: The primary allure of lightweight guns lies in their portability. Whether for concealed carry or everyday use, the reduced weight ensures comfort and convenience.
- Enhanced Concealability: For those seeking a discreet self-defense gun, lightweight options offer improved concealability, making them ideal for everyday carry.
Cons to Lighter Pistols
- Recoil Issues and Impact on Accuracy: A significant drawback of lightweight guns is their tendency to produce more noticeable recoil. This can affect accuracy and may deter users from regular training.
- Wear Characteristics: Lightweight materials, while advantageous for carrying, may not exhibit the same durability as traditional steel. This can lead to wear issues, particularly on high-stress areas of the firearm.
- Trade-offs Between Comfort and Effectiveness: Users must grapple with the trade-off between a gun that is easy to carry and one that is comfortable to shoot. Striking the right balance becomes crucial in selecting the ideal firearm for individual needs.
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Choosing the Right Lightweight Firearm
When exploring how to buy a gun, consider the trade-offs between easy carry and shooting comfort. The firearm industry has witnessed a surge in the use of super alloy frames, particularly in revolvers. Materials like scandium and titanium offer a compromise between weight reduction and structural integrity. The best concealed carry gun will vary based on individual preferences and needs. Assess your comfort thresholds and commit to regular training.
The rise of lightweight guns presents both challenges and opportunities. Striking a balance between portability and effectiveness requires users to navigate the diverse landscape of materials and design choices. Share your experiences and opinions in the comments, and let’s continue the conversation about the ever-evolving landscape of lightweight guns.
Transcript
Should you carry the lightest gun possible? It’s a question people have been asking for ages when it comes to concealed carry and everyday carry. I’ll talk about that in just a minute, but first, I’ll let you know that we have a gun giveaway going on. It is happening right now, and it’s absolutely free to enter. But it ends really soon, so just click the link in the description to find out which brand-new gun you could win. Maybe it’s really lightweight; who knows?
So, over the decades, firearms have been made lighter and lighter. That’s because carrying a big steel-frame gun is kind of uncomfortable. We didn’t like it. Think about the original 1911, made in 1911 (actually first released in 1912 because of all the timing it takes to do that). It’s a steel-frame gun with a steel barrel and a steel slide. It’s a big heavy piece of metal hanging on your hip. People are carrying guns for self-defense and convenience. So, we had this evolution of lighter and lighter guns.
We started with all steel, some walnut side plates and things like that. If you go way back to the earliest guns, we started with just a big iron tube, a lockwork, flintlock on the side and a wood stock. They have progressed over the years from all-steel frames to people loving aluminum, wanting a nice aluminum lightweight gun. There were some drawbacks with that, notably some of the early aircrew models. Most of them have been cut up, but they were aluminum guns made for downed pilots to use in emergencies. Some even had aluminum cylinders … and you can imagine how well that held up. As you got lighter in weight, you got less performance, less strength. Aluminum frames don’t have the same wear characteristics as steel does.
But it was lighter and easier to carry, so people began working on making that better. We’ve gotten to the point now where there are some aluminum and other alloy frames that are chemically and explosively bonded together with steel rails. This ensures that the wear surfaces are as strong as steel, and the non-load-bearing surfaces — the frame of the gun — is lightweight. It’s more convenient and easier for you to carry.
Then we moved on to some of these revolvers out there now, the scandium and titanium, and things like that. The craze of these new alloy metals in guns has made them incredibly lightweight. We can make some really lightweight guns, especially including polymer frame pistols. But in this case, we’ll talk about some of these revolvers that got to be super lightweight. They’re still throwing .357 Magnum rounds into the cylinder. And I’ll tell you, some of the least pleasant shooting experiences I’ve had have been with those scandium or titanium, those new super alloy frames in an ultra-lightweight, short-barreled, round-butt revolver with full-boat .357 Magnum rounds going off. Those things tend to jump in your hand quite a bit. That’s because of this old saying from the physics world: You can’t get something for nothing. You’ve got to give up something to get something else. The rule of physics is that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
So, the lighter your gun, the more you’re going to feel the recoil because the round is going off and producing enough power to launch your bullet forward at incredible velocity, like 1,100 feet per second. That’s also pushing backward into your hand. Certainly, it’s not pushing backward at the exact same speed. That would be horrific. But it is pushing backward with enough force to let you know that it’s pushing backward. The lighter the gun, the faster it’s coming backward, the more recoil impulse you’re picking up in your hand. This happens with a lot of people who are buying these really lightweight .380s that they want as everyday carry guns. Suddenly, they take them to the range, and they don’t really enjoy shooting them. So, they don’t train with them. If you don’t train with the gun that you plan to fight with, you’re not going to shoot that gun effectively when you really need to.
So, it is this balancing act of lightweight materials. This evolution of lightweight materials going from all-steel guns to aluminum to polymer to special alloys to everything else that is out there. People are trying to find that perfect balance of making the gun lightweight so you will carry it every day but then also keeping it comfortable to shoot so you will train with it enough to be proficient. Because truthfully, you’re responsible for every round that goes downrange. If you’re not accurate with your defensive handgun because it is uncomfortable to shoot, and therefore, you don’t shoot it often, you are opening yourself up to tons and tons of legal trouble if you launch a bullet and it ends up someplace where it was not supposed to go, if you hit someone you were not supposed to hit when you fired your gun in self-defense.
As you’re looking around for a lightweight gun, understand again, there are pros and cons of how guns are put together. If you’re going for an aluminum-framed gun and you want a lightweight but still want a metal gun, understand that there might be some issues with the way the finish is applied to that gun. It’s going to be a little bit different than blued steel or something like that, certainly way different than polymer. The load-bearing surfaces, where things move back and forth, those are almost always going to be steel or steel inserts because, quite frankly, steel holds up way better than all the rest of these materials that people have been using to create guns. They’re trying to shave off a few ounces here and there, in some cases fractions of an ounce here and there, just to make that gun lighter and easier for you to carry every day.
Well, Clint Smith has said it best: Carrying a gun is not supposed to be comfortable; it’s supposed to be comforting. So you have to make those trade-offs. If the gun is a little bit heavier than you would like, get a better holster, get a better belt, carry it in a different way so that it is more comfortable. It’s never going to be perfectly comfortable, but you want to make it more comfortable for you to carry every day. But you also want it to be comfortable enough that you should shoot regularly and train regularly with this firearm. If you don’t, when the time comes, you might just end up dead because you’re not effective enough with your gun to stop the bad guy as quickly as it needs to happen.
Yeah, as we talk about lighter-weight guns, you’re going to have to decide and make this trade-off. What do you want: a lightweight gun that’s super easy to carry? You know, when you make that choice, it’s going to be less comfortable for you to shoot, and you’re just going to have to suck it up when you’re out on the training range and deal with that pain in your hand. Go home and ice it down when you’re done. Your choice: a light gun, heavy gun, easy to carry, difficult to shoot. It’s out there. So, this is all your choice. There are pros and cons: light gun, heavy gun, comfortable to shoot, comfortable to carry, you name it. What do you want in your concealed carry gun? Tell us down below in the comments.
