Birthplace of the Second Amendment 1765: Least Expensive US Made Concealed Carry Pistol?

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Least Expensive US Made Concealed Carry Pistol?

By: Richard L. Johnson - 9/30/2013

Need a concealed carry pistol, but don't want to break the bank? You might want to take a look at the USA-made pistols from SCCY Industries.

I recently headed out to the range with Randall of the Thin Blue Florida. In his range bag was a SCCY CPX-2. Do you want to shoot it, he asked.

Well, I didn't come here to watch, I replied.
SCCY Pistols

If you are not already familiar with the SCCY pistols, they are affordably priced, double action pistols designed for concealed carry. The guns are manufactured in Florida, and carry a lifetime warranty.

How affordable are the SCCY pistols? The model I shot, the CPX-2, carries a suggested retail price of only $314. For that price, the buyer gets two magazines with both flat bases and finger extension bases for each. The magazine is the most frequent point of failure in a pistol, so having a second is a necessity. SCCY including a second magazine, especially at such an inexpensive price, is a nice touch.

The SCCY pistols are available in 9mm, and the magazines hold ten rounds. The barrels are 3.1 long. The frames are polymer, and the guns weigh only 15 ounces (unloaded.)

The CPX-2 is hammer fired, with the hammer being surrounded by the slide. It is double-action-only. Although longer than the pull of a Glock or M&P, the trigger pull is very consistent from start to finish without any perceptible staging toward the end of the pull. SCCY lists the trigger pull weight at nine pounds, which seemed about right when I was shooting it.

There are two pistol models made by SCCY: the CPX-1 and the CPX-2. The primary difference between the two is that the CPX-1 has a frame-mounted safety, while the CPX-2 does not. The currently produced guns are called Gen 2 (second generation) pistols.

Shooting Evaluation

I ran several different loads through the SCCY and found that all of them ran without a problem. As a long-time SWAT cop, Randall takes his firearms seriously. He said he had put hundreds of rounds through the gun without any problems or malfunctions.

Recoil was mild with even the self-defense loads I had on hand: the Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr +P and the Winchester PDX1 147 gr JHP. The backstrap of the SCCY pistol is designed to flex under recoil to cushion the hand. What affect, if any, this had to reduce the felt recoil, I cannot say. But even with +P ammo, the gun was easy to shoot.

While at the range, I shot the two self-defense loads over a chronograph. On five shots, the Hornady load averaged 952 fps (feet per second) for a little more than 270 foot-pounds of energy. The Winchester load averaged 870 fps for 247 foot-pounds of energy.

Accuracy was reasonable, and the three-dot sights are very visible. I don't much care for pistols without decent sights, and fortunately the SCCY handguns are outfitted with useable ones.

Final Thoughts

The SCCY CPX-2 seems to be a competent gun for self-defense, and is aggressively priced. If I did not already have several other concealed carry handguns, I would definitely consider buying the CPX-2 for my own safety. 9mm is solid choice for personal protection, and 10+1 rounds is more ammo than some alternative guns offer.

The lifetime warranty covers the gun even if ownership changes, suggesting the company is solidly standing behind their guns.

If you own a SCCY pistol, let us know what you think in the comments section below. Likewise, if you have dealt with the company for warranty work or in some other capacity, let everyone know how you were treated.

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It All Started Here . . .

Frontier Mercersburg in 1765 was the "birthplace" of the right we now refer to as "the Second Amendment", or, "the right to bear arms". It was here that individuals for the first time, some would say divinely, embraced the link between "Life and Liberty". . . and struck the first blow for Freedom.

Historically the right to bear arms goes back even before our founding as a nation to the Glorious Revolution of 1689 when William III agreed to the English Bill of Rights. If one can look at revolution like a volcanic eruption in nature, you understand that often from the destruction come the seeds of new human values and beliefs. In this case the independence of the human spirit, the right to know God for oneself, and to trust your conscience was hard won in this revolution of the human soul.

One crucible begets the necessity for another and on the frontier in America the right to defend ones religious beliefs was becoming the right to participate in the decisions of government that impact my "self". Freedom of the soul was becoming freedom of the heart and mind. Smith's Rebellion began as an act they justified under the rubric of defending oneself because government had failed in its obligation to protect Life, Liberty and Property. This was the first assertion of this principle aimed directly at British Military Authority as well as the incompetent government of John Penn - anywhere in the colonies.

In the end, Smith's Rebellion was the first armed resistance against British Military Rule leading up to the American Revolution. It was the first American triumph over the best military force in the world. It was the first time upon defending oneself that Americans had proclaimed we can rule ourselves.

It would be ten years before the battles at Lexington and Concord.

...Let Them Take Arms

The "Right to Bear Arms" . . .or 2nd Amendment is one of the most discussed and contentious of all the amendments of the Bill of Rights. It is, in fact, the only amendment that contains not only the seeds but the actual instruments of the revolution itself. Further, it gives real affirmation to Thomas Jefferson's quote . . .
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

It is for this reason, if no other, that the Government and its functionaries vociferously assail and obfuscate the text of this simple assertion. More, it is for this reason, and in the face of the perennial onslaught that its defense and affirmation is essential to the survival of the republic.

Frontier Mercersburg & The Justice William Smith House

The frontier town of Mercersburg, PA. in the 1760's, although typical of many settlements along the Appalachian Mountains played a pivotal role in the creation of what was to become the "Bill of Rights".

Frontiersmen like James Smith and the Black Boys, many of whom were inhabitants of the Mercersburg environs, were early participants in a series of conflicts with the British government that established principles the eventually lead to the inclusion of the "right to bear arms" in the Bill of Rights.

Much of the focus, centers on the domicile (and likely place of business) of Justice William Smith.

Birthplace of the Second Amendment 1765

Pages

Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - Bill of Rights

Preservation and Proposition

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Least Expensive US Made Concealed Carry Pistol?

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