Ruger MAX-9: It's the Cheapest, But is it Good?

@John Shepherd The "Micros" are fundamentally thinner. As a result of only needing to doublestack 9mm, not .40 class, cartridges.

As long as 9 s enough, there's no need to drag around the extra width required to doublestack .40. Nor the robustness, and weight, required to handle its recoil.

@Stuki Moi Nor the thickness of a plastic magazine, or screwed-on external grips (which make many a "compact" single-stack thicker than these doubles).

@Stuki Moi Which does not make them "micro" in any sense of the world Only a few months ago the term was concealed carry pistols but the industry now needs a "new" term to get you to buy something when you already have a pistol that meets your concealed carry requirements. Subcompacts are for backup or personal protection. The niche they fit does not require high capacity. If you need a double stack you don't need to go there or you need something much bigger than a 3" barrel.

If you can't comfortably put it in your pocket there little difference between a 6" pistol with 3" barrel and a 7" pistol with a 4"barrel in terms concealability and weight. If 6 ounces more is too much weight than you are in poor physical condition.

So what do you call an LCP, a submicrocompact?

Addition. Shooting standard pressure 9mm out of an 18 ounce pistol has a higher recoil impulse than shooting Federal HST 45 Auto out of a 1911. That extra 2 ounces in the Shield plus is the primary reason that James called it the best shooter

@John Shepherd ockquote>The niche they fit does not require high capacity.

Is that how it works? So, the fact that I've moved to a warmer climate and started dressing more casually (fewer / lighter cover garments) automatically adjusted the threat and mission requirement proportionally? Maybe I should have gone for somewhere even warmer (and therefore safer) like Medellin or Ramadi.🙄

poor fiscal condition

Not sure what Stuki Moi's finances have to do with this. In my case, since I often carry in gym shorts, six ounces would absolutely make a difference - not to me, but to the waistband.

@PDWSmith Fiscal is an obvious selection by the machine instead of physical. and you know it.

I hear this summer clothes nonsense all the the time. Shorts stands for short pants. They are the same as winter pants from the knees up. Oh, I get It, you want show off your six pack abs to guys on the beach. I have carried a 1911 in shorts and an Hawaiian shirt and conceals just fine But my comparison wasn't with a full sized pistol. It was with a compact.that might weigh 6 ounces more. There are conventional subcompacts like the PPQ that have the same empty weight as a Hellcat.

@John Shepherd Your comparison to a compact included an estimated weight difference of six ounces, which sounds accurate, and that difference is absolutely relevant to me.

"Shorts . . . are same as winter pants from the knees up." That depends. Khaki or denim shorts are very similar to long khakis or jeans and can probably conceal a compact pistol just as well (if you're wearing a Hawaiian shirt). None of this is relevant to gym shorts, which are held up by drawstrings and / or elastic. A very tight drawstring will hold up a P-365, but would be much more likely to bounce and print with another six ounces.

@PDWSmith Adults wear gym shorts at the gym or the beach. They don't walk around town with them. If you carry a gun act like an adult.

@John Shepherd Adults make free individual choices, bounded only by A. Objective moral principles, and B. Practical requirements, but never by

C. The opinions of internet douchetards who can't spell "physical" or "concealability".

@PDWSmith Let me translate your answer into plain English for you: "My gun is my security blanket and I want it to be small enough so it isn't a hassle."

The only people I know who walk around in gym shorts outside of an exercise situation are the homeless, male prostitutes and actual douchebags.

@John Shepherd So you choose your pistols and your clothes on the basis of "What is more of a hassle"?

@PDWSmith That sounds like your argument -- "I carry a P365 because I want to wear gym shorts when I go shopping at Walmart." I choose my pistol based on actual task and requirements. I carry a G42 when I play golf because a full sized pistol interferes with my swing and I am already carrying or pushing a 25 lb golf bag. When I am out in the woods when bear are about I carry a 1911/10mm. But for daily needs I carry something that I shoot the best because, you know, if you really need it you have to be both fast accurate. I guarentee you that a 31 ounces Springfield EMP will out shoot a P365 because of its more benign recoil and longer sight radius even before considering the vastly superior trigger. And it conceals just fine for my normal wardrobe choices.

But this has been diversion from my original point. There is nothing micro about these pistols. Increasing the capacity doesn't put them in a special size category. It is simply a marketing term to replace the inaccurately described concealed carry pistol.

@John Shepherd You seem to have quite a handle on all that pistol knowledge and wisdom you’ve soaked up from a small arms expert working at the local pawn shop, or the kid behind the gun counter at Academy or Cabela’s. Springfield EMP - Too funny!