Need your input, please...

[BJJ]

For a variety of reasons, I have pretty much decided that I prefer pistols that have a manual safety. My job requires that I carry an issued Glock 22. I have handled and and dry fired an FNS pistol and I am impressed with it. I am considering picking up an FNS with a safety for off duty carry and competition. Almost all of my experience shooting is with Glocks and I am very used to them. I am interested in the FNS because it has a manual safety; it is not totally dissimilar to a Glock; and the ergonomics feel much better than a Glock. Would it be problematic to practice, shoot and carry 2 different styles of pistols? I am figuring that practicing with an FNS with a safety would not be a problem because at worst I would swipe my thumb to remove the non-existent safety on the Glock. I would like to get some input from all the people here who are much wiser and more experienced than I am. My question is about the wisdom or lack thereof of carrying 2 different guns rather than whether or not the other gun should be an FNS or M&P, etc.

My gut instinct is that my shooting is at a point where it might actually benefit from exposure to a different platform.

[ScotchMan]

I think its fine. In general, I think the advice of training and carrying with the same style gun is somewhat personal. For example, I shoot exclusively guns with the paddle mag release (HK, Walther), but if I pick up a 1911 at the range, or a friend's Sig, I have never once tried to swipe the paddle, even when not consciously thinking about it. So I think you need to do an evaluation of yourself to decide whether you are the type of shooter who may do better with some consistency or not. All things equal, it is always better to maintain that consistency, but I think it affects some people more than others.

But at any rate, the two guns you've selected are very similar. I wouldn't worry about the safety as much as the grip angle; you may mess yourself up going between the two. There isn't really a solution to that though, as the Glock is the only gun I'm aware of that uses the non-1911-derived angle.

It sounds like you've thought this out well, and I don't see any fault in your logic. I say go for it, and pay attention for any signs that there may be a problem (ie, bringing up the FNS and pulling the trigger only to find the safety is still on).

[Tuesday]

Glock 22 with a Cominolli thumb safety?

[BJJ]

Thanks for the replies.

Tuesday, I looked into the Glock safety after I saw DocGKR's post about it. I decided against it. I think I prefer for a carry gun to be pretty much stock except for the sights.

Anybody else have experience with switching between two platforms?

It occurred to me today that Pat MacNamara does it quite nicely with a 1911 and Glock 17.

[BigT]

I think its fine. In general, I think the advice of training and carrying with the same style gun is somewhat personal. For example, I shoot exclusively guns with the paddle mag release (HK, Walther), but if I pick up a 1911 at the range, or a friend's Sig, I have never once tried to swipe the paddle, even when not consciously thinking about it. So I think you need to do an evaluation of yourself to decide whether you are the type of shooter who may do better with some consistency or not. All things equal, it is always better to maintain that consistency, but I think it affects some people more than others.

Agreed I think this fetish for "systems" is totally overblown.

[Tamara]

I think its fine. In general, I think the advice of training and carrying with the same style gun is somewhat personal. For example, I shoot exclusively guns with the paddle mag release (HK, Walther), but if I pick up a 1911 at the range, or a friend's Sig, I have never once tried to swipe the paddle, even when not consciously thinking about it.

That's one of those things that doesn't necessarily show up when just borrowing a friend's gun at the range, though.

I'm thinking here of the time when I needed to top up my shotgun on the clock and was, by habit, fishing rounds from my pocket instead of the ones on the newly-installed sidesaddle that was right in front of my face, but hadn't been practiced with all that much. Just standing there at the range, I'd had no problem, but under just a little bit of *BEEEP!* gogogogogo! pressure, I defaulted to habit.

[gringop]

From a function standpoint, I have no problems switching from a Glock to a 1911 to a revolver. I have enough reps on all of them to make them work.

From a high-level subconscious performance aspect, I am not going to shoot the 1911 as well at the speed that I do with the normal Glock. It takes me about 200 reps of draws, splits and transitions to get to the previous level with a new and different platform. My index will be off, I'll have to hunt for the sights a bit, reloads will kinda suck.

So it's not a question of will I be able to make the gun run, it' s a matter of I AM going to drop my top performance 10-15% for a while.

Gringop

[BJJ]

Gringop,

Do you think it would be any different if you were switching between more similar platforms than what you mentioned? For example, if you were switching between 2 striker fired platforms.

[gringop]

If the sights and grips are similar, I would think that it would be much easier to swap guns and still perform well right away. As long as the index is pretty much the same and my sights appear where I expect them during the draw, I am going to be able to perform as well with the new gun. If the index is different and I need to make constant corrections, then I need to train into that gun.

The same would apply to managing the recoil for splits and transitions. If, because of recoil impulse, weight, grip, etc., the sights are not coming right back on target after the shot, then I have to figure out how to make that happen, I need to train into the gun.

Please understand that I am talking about performing at my top competition speed, pushing my performance limits. For Duty use or in my case concealed carry, I have no qualms about swapping to a different gun if need be.

You mentioned that you might be at a point where your shooting might benefit from shooting a different gun. I say go for it. I know it improved my shooting to learn different triggers, grips, sights, etc. and how they affected my shooting.

Gringop

[BoppaBear]

Gringop,

Do you think it would be any different if you were switching between more similar platforms than what you mentioned? For example, if you were switching between 2 striker fired platforms.

If the pistols are from the same manufacturer, then generally speaking there should be some similarities. I say same manufacturer because Glocks differ from M&Ps, and HKs differ from Sigs. Striker-fired and hammer-fired doesn't guaranty any cross-mfg continuity.