7 Best Tuxedo Guns: Top Guns to Carry in a Suit

Movies, video games, and TV would have you believe carrying in a suit is easy. You can carry a Walther P99 under a suit with no problem, according to James Bond.

These days, a good suit can be challenging to conceal in. With that in mind, what’s the best gun to carry in a suit or tuxedo? 

Well, we never just suggest one. I have seven tuxedo guns ideally suited for men, women, and all the various suits one may find themselves in. 

By all means, read on to see all our picks!

THE QUICK LIST

1. Best Overall

   Walther PPK .32 ACP

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2. Best 2011

   Staccato CS

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3. Best Micro-Compact

   Beretta 30X

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4. Best Factory Upgrades

   Beretta 80X Cheetah

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5. Most Compact

   Seecamp LWS .32 ACP

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6. Best Bullpup

   Bond Arms Bullpup

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7. Most Modern

   Sig Sauer P365 AXG Legion

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Tuxedo Gun Comparison Chart

	Caliber	Barrel Length	Overall Length	Width	Weight	Capacity	Price
Walther PPK	.32 ACP	3.3″	6.1″	1″	19 oz	7+1	$799
Staccato CS	9mm	3.5″	7.1″	1.2″	23 oz	15+1, 17+1	$2,499
Beretta 30X	.32 ACP	2.4″	5″	1.3″	16 oz	8+1	$499
Beretta 80X	.380 ACP	3.9″	6.8″	1.4″	25 oz	13+1	$599
Seecamp LWS	.32 ACP	2.06″	4.25″	0.86″	11.5 oz	6+1	$533
Bond Arms Bullpup 9	9mm	3.35″	5.1″	0.96″	17.5 oz	7+1	$941
Sig Sauer P365-AXG Legion	9mm	3.1″	6.6″	1.4″	26 oz	17+1	$1,199

How We Chose the Best Tuxedo Guns

As with every type of concealed-carry firearm, we need a reliable, accurate, and powerful gun that is useful for self-defense while remaining controllable. Those are the base-level requirements for any concealed-carry firearm. 

In this case, the gun also has to be small. We don’t want lines and lumps while wearing our most dapper clothes. However, this can vary depending on the suit, the shooter, and how they carry it.

We’ve kept the guns on this list compact but did provide a variety of sizes. 

For guns we have reviews on, we’ve linked those so you can read more. Every review handgun undergoes a strict testing protocol that requires a minimum of 500 rounds of both FMJ and JHP ammo through it at 5 and 7 yards.

Best Tuxedo Guns 

1. Walther PPK in .32 ACP – Best Overall

Specs 

• Caliber: .32 ACP
• Barrel Length: 3.3″
• Overall Length: 6.1″
• Width: 1″
• Weight: 19 oz
• Capacity: 7+1

The king of tuxedo guns and suit guns is James Bond. The man defines the concept. With that in mind, the gun I feel inhibits the soul of the tuxedo gun is the Walther PPK chambered for .32 ACP. 

Bond famously adopted the gun after U.K. firearms expert Geoffrey Boothroyd explained to Ian Fleming that the character’s .25 ACP Beretta wasn’t good enough for a spy. He suggested the .32 ACP due to its “delivery like a brick through a plate glass window.” 

The Walther PPK is the compact variant of the Walther PP. This little gun is flat and easy to carry. It’s all metal and uses a double-action/single-action trigger with a blowback-operated action and a single-stack magazine, so it’s not the most modern gun. 

In .32 ACP, it’s one of the softest shooting firearms on the market. It barely moves between shots, and it’s easy to throw a handful of .32 caliber-sized pills accurately. It’s downright pleasant to shoot. 

The .32 ACP can be a suitable defensive cartridge with proper ammo selection. You want a 71- or 73-grain full metal jacket cartridge so it can reach proper penetration. Jacketed hollow points are off the table due to penetration issues and potential rim lock problems. 

The Walther PPK in .32 ACP has recently been reintroduced, and it’s just in time to reliably be tucked under a suit jacket. 

Intrigued? Our Walther PPK/s review is for your eyes only.

2. Staccato CS – Best 2011

Specs

• Caliber: 9mm
• Barrel Length: 3.5 inches
• Overall Length: 7.1 inches
• Width: 1.2 inches
• Weight: 23 ounces
• Capacity: 15+1 (compact frame), 17+1 (full-size frame) 

The 2011 world has exploded, and now everyone wants John Moses Browning’s favorite gun with a double-stack magazine and a two-piece frame. Staccato, formerly STI, created the 2011 and remains one of the premier options. The Staccato CS is their concealed carry option for the discerning shooter. 

The Staccato CS has a 3.5-inch barrel but a reasonably large frame. You can choose between the compact frame, which holds 15 rounds, and the full-sized grip, which holds 17 rounds. Either provides a big enough grip to fill your hand. 

It has all the modern features we expect, including a rail and an optic mount. Modern features are nice, but what makes the Staccato CS stand out is its quality and attention to detail, making it an accurate, easy-to-control monster of a tuxedo gun. 

We love the ultra-light trigger with a fast and crisp reset, a bull barrel for excellent accuracy, a giant beavertail for a high grip, and brilliantly designed controls that are huge and easy to engage. 

Everything about this pistol helps you shoot straight and fast. It’s designed to run like a race gun and it doesn’t disappoint. The Staccato CS is perfect for the suit you wear a bolo tie with. It might be a bit brash for Bond, but it’s undoubtedly an excellent gun.

Staccato makes some fantastic products but be prepared to spend some money. The guns and mags aren’t what I’d describe as thrifty choices.

Check out all the details in our Staccato CS review!

3. Beretta 30X – Best Micro-Compact

Specs 

• Caliber: .32 ACP
• Barrel Length: 2.4″
• Overall Length: 5″
• Width: 1.3″
• Weight: 16 oz
• Capacity: 8+1

I think .32 ACP is on the heels of a comeback tour. Walther and Beretta released .32 ACPs that make excellent tuxedo guns. The Beretta 30X does two things that make it an excellent choice. 

First, it’s super small and easy to conceal. Second, it looks fantastic. You might not even want to conceal it since it looks so damn good! The stainless finish, wood grips, and Beretta’s dedication to producing elegant guns make this the perfect dress-up option. 

The 30X features a tip-up barrel design that allows the barrel to hinge upward to access the chamber. This makes it super easy to load and clear and allows people with reduced hand strength to easily operate the weapon. If you’re a secret agent, it also allows you to chamber a round without the telltale *click-clack* of racking the slide.

The 30X series includes four different configurations. I’d go with the Just in Case variant as my tuxedo gun. It’s the easiest to conceal and still looks fantastic. 

This pistol has hardly any recoil. It’s surprisingly accurate and fun to shoot. Beretta improved the trigger, installed easy-to-see sights, put the magazine release in the right spot, and improved the gun’s durability. 

There is a promise of adding a red dot via an optics plate, but the plate hasn’t been released just yet. Overall, the 30X is a big improvement on the 3032 and retains a Beretta’s elegance and design. 

See everything we learned about Beretta tip-ups in our hands-on testing.

4. Beretta 80X Cheetah – Best Factory Upgrades

Specs 

• Caliber: .380 ACP
• Barrel Length: 3.9 inches
• Overall Length: 6.8 inches
• Width: 1.4 inches 
• Weight: 25 ounces 
• Capacity: 13+1

From one Beretta to another. Beretta’s new thing has been adding X to guns they are revamping and the Beretta 80X Cheetah was a long time coming. 

The Cheetah premiered in 1976 as a compact firearms line. Beretta reworked the series into the 80X in 2023, and it’s easy to see why it’s a tuxedo gun.

Beretta hasn’t done the Sig thing and introduced two dozen SKUs for one gun, but they have released several finish options. 

If you prefer simple tuxedos and suits, you can wear all black. You may want to add a little color with a rose gold and Inox options. Not to mention the beautiful green frame option. They all look fantastic, and we are just missing the classic Ghost model, which is an entirely stainless steel gun. 

The Beretta 80X is a straight blowback gun, but its thick grip makes it surprisingly soft to shoot. It barely moves, and there is little upward muzzle rise. It’s a fun, accurate gun that’s fantastic ergonomically. 

The frame-mounted safety and decocker are brilliant. The magazine and slide releases are also massive. We get a rail and an optics mount to add modern accessories easily. Lights and optics make this gun a very modern tuxedo option. 

Beretta went above and beyond with the Cheetah to create a low-recoiling, ergonomic platform with all the modern features modern shooters want — all that while producing a beautiful handgun.

Still hungry? Dig into our Beretta 80X Cheetah review for more. 

5. Seecamp LWS 32 – Most Compact

Specs

• Caliber: .32 ACP
• Barrel Length: 2.06″
• Overall Length: 4.25″
• Width: 0.86″
• Weight: 11.5 oz
• Capacity: 6+1

Every lump and line stands out in slim-fit attire. Let’s decrease those lines and lumps with an ultra-small tuxedo gun: the Seecamp LWS 32.

While not the lightest semi-auto handgun, the Seecamp series is the absolute smallest. These pistols are thin, short, and so committed to being tiny that they don’t even have sights. The LWS 32 is the .32 ACP variant (with a gun this small, you don’t want to deal with the .380 ACP variant). 

The LWS 32 uses a chamber-ring delayed blowback system that does a fantastic job of making the gun reliable, controllable, and fun to shoot. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the recoil and how easy the weapon is to control. 

LWS 32 magazines only hold six rounds, so make them count. That can be tough to do without sights, and this might be the definition of a belly gun. It’s not going to be much use beyond two arm’s length, and you’ll certainly have to practice shooting the thing. 

It’s a double-action-only design and offers you a fairly smooth trigger (for a DAO gun). The Seecamp has no exterior snags, and they even moved the magazine release to a heel type at the bottom of the grip. It’s slim, small, and it has to be the easiest-toting gun on the market. 

The little Seecamp series are solid performers but aren’t for everyone. 

If you like this kind of thing, check out our guide to the Best Mouse Guns.

6. Bond Arms Bullpup 9 – Best Bullpup

Specs 

• Caliber: 9mm
• Barrel Length: 3.35″
• Overall Length: 5.1″
• Width: 0.96″
• Weight: 17.5 oz
• Capacity: 7+1

A Bullpup handgun is an oddity, and the Bond Arms Bullpup 9 just barely qualifies as a bullpup. It still benefits from the bullpup design, with a fairly long 3.35-inch barrel squeezed into a 5.1-inch overall length. 

It uses a short recoil system with a rotating barrel, which reduces recoil. The gun is very comfortable to fire. Shooters with poor hand strength can easily manipulate the slide and when paired with the light recoil — it’s a match made in heaven. 

Other weird features of the gun include the follower-free magazine. It’s unnecessary since the rounds are pulled rearward and inserted forward. However, this does create potential issues with certain ammunition because round can pull itself apart. It’s rare, and Bond Arms keeps a list of good-to-go ammo on its website. 

The Bond Arms Bullpup 9 takes some cues from their derringer series, which means the gun looks fantastic. It’s well made, with a stainless finish option and rosewood grips. 

They went out of their way to make the odd little pistol a good-looking option worthy of your favorite suit or tuxedo. It’s accurate, has low recoil, and features a unique, conversation-starting appearance and design. 

7. SIG P365-AXG Legion – Most Modern

Specs 

• Caliber: 9mm
• Barrel Length: 3.1″
• Overall Length: 6.6″
• Width: 1.4″
• Weight: 26 oz
• Capacity: 17+1

The Sig Sauer P365-AXG Legion might be the best version of the best carry gun of the decade. Every manufacturer is trying to imitate Sig’s ability to stuff more rounds into a compact pistol.

It’s fairly tactical for a Tuxedo gun, but the top-shelf P365-AXG Legion cleans up nicely. The AXG-Legion ditches the polymer grip frame for a metal grip frame, which is fit with some heavily scalloped G10 grips. 

This isn’t the smaller P365; it’s essentially an XMACRO (and don’t worry, we have a guide to all the Sig P365 models). It has 17 round magazines and grips, a built-in compensator, and a Picatinny rail. The P365-AXG Legion is not very small, but it would fit easily behind a tuxedo or suit jacket.

It’s quite accurate, and while it has the same capacity as a Glock 17, it remains thin and easy to carry. Like the original P365, the gun strikes a crazy balance between size and capacity. There is no wasted space, and we end up with a fantastic pistol for concealed carry.

How to Choose the Best Tuxedo Gun

When and why do you wear a suit or tuxedo? It’s formal attire, and you are trying to look your best. You’re trying to look fancy and refined and, dare I say, demure? 

Your gun should match your style. Sure, you could toss on a Glock 43 and call it a day, but why would you? That’s not fancy, refined, or demure. It’s boring, which is fine, but we wanted to gather guns refined enough to match your dress style.

Since the occasion dictates that we prioritize attire over function, you might as well pick something that compliments your personality. If you’re a big 007 fan, rock that PPK, old chap. If you like being unique, let your freak flag fly with the Bond Arms Bullpup 9. This is as much about matching your pistol to your tux and your watch as anything else.

Why Trust Pew Pew Tactical

Pew Pew Tactical author Travis Pike authored this article. Travis spent a lifetime shooting as a kid and later joined the United States Marine Corps, where he spent five years as an infantryman. In the middle of his Marine Corps career, he began writing and never stopped. Travis is an NRA-certified instructor and Concealed Carry Instructor for the state of Florida. He has thousands of articles to his name with a variety of publications, including Pew Pew Tactical.

Editing this article is Scott Murdock. Scott is a Marine Corps veteran who competed and qualified as a rifle and pistol expert while in service. In addition to shooting, Scott has written for a variety of publications, testing, researching, and evaluating guns and gear. He brings that knowledge and skillset to this article, editing and fact-checking for accuracy.

Editor-in-Chief Jacki Billings runs our experienced team of reviewers. She is a National Rifle Association Basic Pistol Instructor as well as a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, ACES: Society for Editing, and the Professional Outdoor Media Association. Jacki has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has worked as a media professional for close to 20 years, specializing in gun media for almost 10 years. With 2,000+ articles to her name, she uses her professional journalism and editing experience to set testing protocols and editorial standards for Pew Pew Tactical.

Staying Classy 

Keeping that refined look is always the goal when accessorizing your formal clothes. Hopefully, we’ve provided you with the ultimate defensive accessory to pack when it’s time to get fancied up. If you have a better option, hit us up below and let us know! 

What’s your favorite gun for formal occasions? Let us know in the comments. Looking for more teeny tiny pistols? Check out our guide to the Best Pocket Pistols!