How often, and why, do you change up your primary pistol generally

[Jared]

I'm thinking about this a lot right now, mostly because I'm contemplating a switch. I've mostly been using the same thing since spring of 2011, but lately I've just been stuck on this shooting plateau that I can't seem to bust through. The frustration of banging my head against the same wall over and over again has really been sucking the fun out of shooting.

So yesterday I tried a different gun and experienced almost instant performance gains. I've read enough threads where this has happened to believe that the "honeymoon period" with a new gun is a very real phenomenon, but the big thing that I noticed is that I really wanted to practice more again. I'm seriously considering doing a full on switch, even if it's just for a couple months, in order to see how this all shakes out.

I figure if I get tired of my new fling, my old gun will still be right there waiting for me, and I may get over this hump for good.

FWIW, old guns are Beretta 92's, new fling is a G34 with a set of Dawson sights and KKM barrel that I bought lightly used from a friend.

[Kyle Reese]

I generally swap platforms when I've hit a performance plateau. This was very evident in November 2013 when I put my Glock 17 back in the safe and shot a stable of SIGs (226 and 2022s) for six months. Shooting a DA/SA gun has paid dividends for me in terms of trigger control, and I'm a better Glock shooter as a result.

I'll admit that I've been toying about with a CGW CZ P-09 as well, and it's simply a guilty pleasure. Probably not the "right" answer, but life is short, and if shooting sessions become tedious and joyless experiences, what's the point?

[JHC]

I moved to the Glocks in the mid to late '90's and apart from a 2400 round test drive of an M&P Pro in 2010, I haven't seriously considered changing platforms. I've put a few hundreds rounds through Sigs and a 92FS in that period. Keep up familiarity with a 1911. But no serious work. What plateaus I've noticed I addressed with a change in types of skills practiced or a change in mentality.

Cases in point - a few years ago, the discovery of PF (with it's drills) and the magical 3x5 card changed my ability to make low prob shots faster. This year, greater emphasis on SHO, 15 and 25 yard low prob targets and the mental change to trust my trigger finger and let shots rip before my focus settles on my front sight perfectly seems to have improved my shooting quickly.

With multiple copies of various Glock models with associated magazines and holsters etc, I'm loathe to changing platforms.

[Chuck Haggard]

Well, I carried a 3rg gen S&W 9mm for about 20 years before going to Glocks, so about every 20 years it would seem.

[1slow]

I do not change often. There has to be some perceived benefit.

1970s-late 1980s 1911 .45.
1 year in the late 1980s Sig 220 .45.
Back to 1911 .45.
1990-1998 GL 21. Based on the timer and targets GL21 matched my 1911 work.
1998-2008 roughly GL30.
2008-2013 GL17,19. Paul Gomez made me look at the ammo improvements in 9mm.
2013-now HK P30 9mm, LEM and occasional HK45 LEM. I shoot HK with better accuracy at 25 yards than GL17/19. 7 yard head shots are as fast as GL17/19.
I shoot the HK45 LEM very slightly better than the P30/P30L 9mm LEM but like the 5 more rounds in the P30.

[Blayglock]

When they design a gun with the concealability and capacity of a G19 with a better trigger and ergonomics I will switch. Not until then.


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[Malamute]

It varies with the day. Up in the mountains, a heavy caliber and heavy loaded revolver, off the mountain and out of town, the same or lighter loads in same guns. In a town, (maybe one or two days/wk) a J, g-19 or 1911 depending on the clothes I'm wearing and the weather.

[Trooper224]

On duty I change weapons whenever my agency tells me to. Off duty, for the last twenty years I carried a five-inch 1911 until recently switching to a Beretta 92FS primarily for health reasons. I don't subscribe to the flavor of the month mindset for carry weapons.

[RevolverRob]

For about 8 years, double action revolvers with 2-4" barrels in .38 special or .357 magnum have been my choice. Any day it could be a Smith and Wesson, Colt, or Ruger as the brand. They are all so close in size that I can run essentially the same holster for all of them and I carry reloads in the same type of speedloader (HKS) in the exact same spot all the time. Just some days...I feel like a 3" K-Frame or L-Frame, instead a D-Frame or GP100. I view them all as essentially the exact same gun, all of them have ramped front sights with white and orange nail polish on them, all of them slide into my hands the exact same way.

Over the years I have maintained a love for TDA guns and I did spend about 6 months carrying a Smith 3913 and when I first started carrying all I had was a Ruger P95, so I carried that for about 3 months until I bought a Smith M64, I have been playing with a platform change to the Beretta 92FS. I bought one and have been shooting it and I am planning to send it to Wilson. I feel like I should have a quality double-stack 9mm gun around, but I'm not sure it's going to supplant DA revolvers as my carry platform, at least not yet. I'm still considerably faster with the wheel guns and haven't quite gotten to the point where I feel comfortable with the Beretta nor have I quite gotten to the "zen" with it yet.

-Rob

[JAD]

I flirt with other stuff and will carry it occasionally, but I switched from Glock to 1911 in 1997. The occasional dalliances always bring me back.