Another point: when I first started carrying I was annoyed by the weight of the full size gun, so I bought a compact .380. After a lot of practice, I realized it was much more difficult to hit a target with the compact. I know most encounters happen at short ranges, but I do not want to be overthinking my grip and point of aim in an actual hostile situation. THe full size was more natural and eventually I realized a better gun because of it. This may not be true for everyone, but it is eventually what I landed on.