We’ve talked a lot about budget concealed-carry firearms. It’s easy to understand why. When you’re on a budget, it’s easy to purchase a bad gun, so knowing which guns are well-made and budget-friendly is valuable. What about expensive guns? What are the best high-priced guns? If you start spending a little extra money, you can get into a decent gun pretty much all the time. However, which high-end guns are actually worth that high price? What do they do to stand out? How do they excel?
There are lots of great, expensive guns out there, but I want to put together a list of the best high-end concealed carry firearms on the market. These firearms are fantastic, innovative, great shooters, and, of course, expensive. One key requirement to make it on this list is that the gun is actually concealable. I could give you a list of single-stack, semi-custom M1911s, but that’d be boring, and they aren’t all that concealable for most people.
Now, let’s dive into this list and see if there’s a high-priced blaster that truly deserves a spot on your hip.
The Best High-End Concealed Carry Guns
The minimum budget for these guns is 1,000 dollars. From there, the price only gets higher and the guns get a little more Gucci. Let’s ease you in with a gun that just barely makes the 1,000 price point but doesn’t hold back on the features.
Bond Arms Bullpup 9 – Price – $1,099
The Bond Arms Bullpup 9 is the only standard configuration bullpup handgun I know of. A bullpup places the action behind the magazine, and this significantly shrinks the gun. The Bond Arms Bullpup 9 has a 3.35-inch barrel but is only 5.1 inches long. It’s an inch shorter than the Glock 26, which has a barrel of similar length.
This layout is novel and helps make the gun smaller without sacrificing velocity. Velocity allows for the proper expansion of JHPs, so it’s best not to sacrifice it. Beyond the neat design idea, the Bond Arms Bullpup 9 delivers a beautiful pistol. You can tell they take their time and produce them with pride. They are gorgeous guns, and their style can help ease the sticker shock.
The trigger is a double-action design that rolls smoothly and gently from front to rear. It has a longer trigger pull than most, but it is still very smooth and capable. Accuracy is excellent, and so is reliability. Oh, and you’ll get a kick out of loading the magazine.
Staccato CS – Price – $2,499
Staccato is the name for producing 2011 platforms. They invented the 2011. The Staccato brand is known for its premium quality and absurd quality assurance. These guns are super accurate, low recoiling, with brilliant triggers and an excellent feature set. The Staccato CS series is the compact version of the 2011 design. It’s explicitly designed for concealed carry.
The Staccato CS sports a 3.5-inch bull barrel and an overall length of 7.1 inches. The little gun doesn’t hold back. It has a rail, it’s optics ready, and it features a massive beavertail and a flat skeletonized trigger. A short four-pound trigger is all that stands between you and throwing accurate lead downrange.
These high-end concealed-carry pistols come with 16-round magazines, so you won’t have a sudden lack of lead. The Staccato CS series handles like a dream. The two-piece frame with a polymer grip module makes the gun very low-recoiling. If guns were cars, this one would designed to go fast.
CZ Shadow 2 Compact
The Shadow and Shadow 2 handguns were designed to be high-end competition pistols. Everything about these guns is tailored to fast and accurate shooting—the latest in the Shadow series in the Shadow 2 Compact. CZ trimmed the Shadow in all the right ways to create a super capable concealed career pistol.
The Shadow 2’s overall size is similar to that of the Glock 19. It’s a compact weapon, but admittedly, it’s heavy. The Shadow 2 doesn’t indulge in the world of polymer. It’s an all-metal gun that weighs 30 ounces unloaded. A heavy metal frame combined with the CZ-style lightweight slide results in a very low recoiling weapon with reduced muzzle rise.
The Shadow 2 Compact uses a DA/SA trigger system that makes others blush. The double action rolls smoothly, and the single action is almost as good as a high-end M1911. I love DA/SA guns, and the Shadow Compact 2 scratches an itch with shooters who still prefer the classics of the metal frame DA/SA guns.
Wilson Combat EDC X9 Subcompact – $3,260
Wilson Combat made their name producing a variety of high-end weapons systems. Their bread and butter are M1911 designs. However, a few years back, they struck out with an original platform that’s a bit more modern. The EDC X9 is a 9mm handgun that uses a double-stack magazines that hold 15 to 18 rounds. For concealed carry the subcompact X9 is the way to go.
Even with a 15-round double-stack magazine, the X9 is still thinner than the majority of modern single-stack M1911s. The 3.25-inch barrel keeps things compact and easy to conceal. The X9 Subcompact gives you a lighter, shorter option that conceals easily enough. If you’re an M1911 fan, then you’ll appreciate the single-action trigger and the gun’s controls. It’s all M1911-inspired and will be a natural for M1911 fans.
The EDC X9 is a gun built for accuracy. Little things like the stainless barrel with its flush-cut reverse crown make it easy to hit your target. Wilson Combat has an accuracy guarantee of 1.5 inches at 25 yards. That’s insane for a subcompact handgun.
Alpha Foxtrot 1911-S15 – Price – $1,430
Remember when I said I could make an entire list with just high-end M1911s? Well, I had to include at least one on the list. This isn’t your everyday average M1911. The Alpha Foxtrot 1911-S15 is a 9mm, subcompact M1911 with the classic M1911 touches. We get the ultra-crisp M1911 single-action trigger, the thin grip, the massive beavertail, and hard-to-beat ergonomics. What sets this gun apart?
The Alpha Foxtrot 1911-S15 uses Shield Arms magazines designed for the Glock 43X and Glock 48. These magazines hold 15 rounds and are superbly thin, giving the 1911-S15 a profile thinner than other single-stack 1911s. It’s impressive to give such a small 1911 that much ammo.
Combine the ergonomics, accuracy, and trigger of a 1911 with the capacity of a modern micro-compact, and you get one helluva nice pistol. It makes me take back all the mean things I said about the 1911’s weight and low capacity.
High Costs and High-End Guns
Does everyone need some high-end firearm for concealed carry? No, guns like the G3C from Taurus provide you with a capable defensive firearm. Do these guns offer you a few extra features, some additional accuracy, better ergonomics, and a high rate of reliability? Yep, and for some concealed carriers, that’s worth a price point that comes north of a thousand dollars. What do you think? Let us know below!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine gunner who served with 2nd Bn 2nd Marines for 5 years. He deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan and again in 2011 with the 22nd MEU(SOC) during a record-setting 11 months at sea. Travis has trained with the Romanian Army, the Spanish Marines, the Emirate Marines, and the Afghan National Army.
He serves as an NRA-certified pistol instructor and pursues a variety of firearms-based hobbies.
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