Picking the Best Guns for Undercover Work

What are the best guns for undercover work? I’ve worked in narcotics units off and on for 30 years. Over those many years, I’ve seen undercover officers use everything from no gun at all (seriously, don’t do that) to two shot derringers to full size autos. First, it’s important to look at the mission of the undercover police officer.

Undercover vs. Plain Clothes

Working undercover is not the same as working in plain clothes. Working in plain clothes, you may still need to act as a police officer and make arrests or you may be surveilling armed and dangerous suspects. You have more options available to you if you are in plain clothes (just think of it as carrying a gun as if you were carrying off duty). However, working in an undercover capacity, you will not be making arrests and you will be talking one on one with bad guys.

Concealment vs. Safety

A lot of officers worry too much about making it so that there is no gun visible whatsoever. Although this is your ultimate goal, bad guys carry guns that we spot all the time. If the main suspect sees an imprint, that isn’t good, but it is not the end of the deal either. You should do everything you can to minimize the visibility of your gun, but not at the expense of not being able to protect yourself. If you end out getting into a gunfight while working undercover, you will wish that you had the biggest gun you can carry. In the class “Red Flags” hosted by the California Narcotics Officers Association, undercover officers are brought in to talk about the shootings that they have been involved in. One of the common themes from the officers involved in shootings is that they wished they had carried a bigger gun.

With that said, you also need to look at how you will carry that gun while working undercover. The most important factor here is that you need to be able to access that gun quickly to defend yourself or others while at the same time keeping the gun invisible to others. You may also be patted down by someone when you are undercover. I have seen this on multiple occasions, most of the time by prostitutes when working stings.

Carrying undercover requires you to either carry the gun somewhere on your belt line (either appendix carry, on the hip, etc), shoulder holster, ankle holster, in a purse for female UC’s, or in your front pocket. Your gun does need to be accessed quickly, so some of these methods may not work. I like to carry mine using appendix carry so that it can quickly be accessed while keeping it low profile.

I have found that these guns work best while working undercover:

The Best Guns for Working Undercover

Glock 19

The Glock 19 is a medium sized handgun that is great for undercover work. Chambered in 9mm with a 4” barrel, it is lightweight, compact and carries enough ammo in a single magazine. This is the same gun most detectives get issued to them when they get into an assignment, so it only makes sense to keep using it for undercover assignments. There is no learning curve or need to switch out weapons if you are already issued this.

Smith and Wesson M&P 9c

The M&P is very comparable to the Glock 19, but comes with a slightly smaller barrel at 3.5 inches. The M&P carries 12 rounds in the magazine, which is very good for an undercover gun. M&P’s are also issued by some departments to detectives and would be a common sense go to gun for undercover work. Usually carried IWB or appendix, it is easily concealable and would hold up well.

Glock 43/Smith & Wesson Shield

The Glock 43 is the new kid on the block for compact 9mm’s while the Shield has been around slightly longer since its introduction to the market in 2012. Another comparable gun to these would be the Sig Sauer P365. These guns are great for either putting in your front pocket or for IWB or appendix carry. The 9mm round is a great round for undercover work, especially with new types of ammo that are available on the market. This is the ultimate concealable gun while maintaining a decent round, however I would not carry it for everyday police work like I would the M&P 9c or the G19.

Smith & Wesson Model 642 Airweight

The tried and true revolver is making its way in here because it is an effective, concealable gun. With a .38 +P round, this can take care of an undercover officer until the rescue team arrives. Although it only carries 6 rounds, it is important to remember that most police shootings involving undercover officers are at extremely close range and few rounds are discharged since the cavalry is just around the corner. One major con, however, is that there aren’t any agencies issuing revolvers anymore, so there is an issue with training and maintenance.

Other Guns

This doesn’t mean you are limited to only these guns for UC work. I have carried a full size Sig Sauer P226 undercover before. You should, however, make sure that the pistol you use is chambered in either 9mm, .40, or .45. I’ve seen some undercover officers use .22 pistols or .380 pistols, but if you are in a shooting, I’ll be that you will have wished for a better gun. With all of this in mind, it just matters that you carry what you are comfortable with in a fight for your life.