Carry gun, competition gun -- same or different

[JHC]

I shoot a few local matches a year and my principal objective I am chasing is to shoot alphas. I don't much care about placement and I am especially not crazy about shooting C's and placing higher (most of my local outlaw matches score weighted strongly to speed). So much so that recently a pal ran out of ammo on a steel stage and didn't even complete the course of fire and beat me at that stage. I crushed the alphas on that stage. Outrage!
I care a little more about outshooting a couple good friends I may be shooting with.

So based on that, and the fact I'm somewhat stingy about firearms budgets I compete with either my primary carry guns (G26 or G19) or with my seldom carried G17s. I'm just not interested in spooling up to shoot a purely gamer gun.

[olstyn]

The small league I shoot with here in NH is having their next match as a BUG match. Only carry guns of 3" or shorter are allowed. I'll be slinging the G26.

The G26's barrel is 3.46" IIRC, which would make that gun too big to be legal for that match.

Regarding the thread's original question, for me carry gun = competition gun, but mainly because it's the only pistol I own. Living on a tight budget sucks, but there you have it, so my P99c gets to play games when I'd really rather be using a full-size P99 for that purpose. Heck, ideally, I'd be using a 5" P99, if Walther made such a gun, but of course they don't. (5" PPQ only comes in the M2 version, which is a no-go for me due to the fact that I love the paddle mag release of the P99 and the PPQ M1.)

[GJM]

There is a lot of appeal to gaming and carrying the exact same gun.

To answer what I mean by "same platform," it really varies. Some define it as the exact same model down to same sights, holster, and components, and sometimes literally the same gun. Others mean same family, as in Glock. Some mean same system, like striker. Others mean just that it points the same.

As recently as last year, I carried and gamed the same gun for a while, the Glock 17. Lately, I have accepted that my priorities in trigger, caliber and reliability are enough different for a game vs carry gun, that I carry and game different guns, and put in the practice with both to make sure I am comfortable with each.

For example, in my game gun, my priorities in a trigger are that it be easy to shoot other things, and I don't worry too much about shooting things I don't intend to shoot, excepting me. In a carry gun, my priorities are that the trigger make it hard to shoot me, then hard to shoot things I don't intend to, and only then that the trigger work well at shooting things I do want to shoot. So, completely different.

In caliber, I want a large caliber in my carry gun, the USP .45 now, shooting about 260 power factor .45 Super loads. Closer to town, carrying a P2000 .40. For my game gun, I want 9mm loaded to meet power factor with a small margin.

As to reliability, I game a CZ. We all know that you need three or four -- game, practice, back-up and one in the shop. For my carry gun, absolute reliability is paramount, and reliability is the main reason I picked the USP.

For all those reasons, I am shooting different guns for gaming and carrying. That is not a recommendation for others, and my wife, for example, carries just Glock pistols for carry and gaming.

[Mr_White]

For me, the true reason I stick to a virtually identical copy (different ammo and recoil spring weight) between my carry gun and practice/training/competition gun is that I enjoy it. I enjoy the confidence it helps bring, and shooting this way is how I personally get the most fun and satisfaction from competitive shooting.

It's easy for me to understand that someone can learn certain things using one gun, and learn other things using another gun.

It's very understandable that a person can be very, very good with a number of different guns, if they put in the time to get there. I don't know whether they are truly going to be at their best. It's not a knowable thing, whether a gun-switcher would be more skilled if they went back in time and didn't switch.

I remember being a kid with a BB gun, and later a .22, over the summers, shooting them lots and lots. I could hit about whatever I wanted with those. I was just so used to exactly how they worked and where they shot. That's the quality I am attracted to in shooting one gun. Deep, deep familiarity with handling that gun and putting the bullets wherever they need to go.

[98z28]

I think one can develop a much higher level skill set by embracing the pure race gun game; learning to shoot (and more importantly visually process) at a higher level will translate directly to one's carry equipment. Akin to learning to drive track/race cars and having that translate back into having a higher level of understanding when driving your Corolla home from work. Is all the capability going to be there? No. But having learned to work at a more advanced level, a good bit of the processing carries over.

[Runs away...]

Word.

[EricM]

I think one can develop a much higher level skill set by embracing the pure race gun game; learning to shoot (and more importantly visually process) at a higher level will translate directly to one's carry equipment.

Regarding the bolded section...is that just referring to the higher level of performance achievable with a pure race gun because it's easier to shoot faster (light recoil, light trigger, large magwell, better accuracy, etc.), or do you feel training with a race gun actually helps you acquire more skill (that would translate to any gun) as opposed to the same amount of training with a carry gun? No judgement, just curious whether you felt there was something about training with a race gun that specifically led to better or faster learning. Hopefully that makes sense, maybe I was just reading too much into it.

[Mr_White]

Not to speak for taadski, but I think the idea is that by shooting an actual race gun (as an example) you can redefine your sense of how fast aiming and firing can be done, and improve your visual and mental abilities to contend with shooting at that pace. Then, you go back to your normal gun and can bring some of that increased performance sense with you, and hopefully drive the normal gun harder than you were before.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I carry some kind of Glock - 26,19 or 17 depending on vagaries of dress and heat. So I alternate between them in IDPA. My goal is a reasonable level of performance for myself as compared to winning. Once in awhile for grins, I will take my 1911 or a revolver (Model 19 or a snubbie). The latter is to maintain some proficiency with them. But they are not major carry guns - however, I don't want to be surprised and be standing there saying how to work this darn thing.

I don't really have top of the line shaving milliseconds with a tricked out gun mindset. Mine are stock except for sight changes.

[EricM]

Mr_White - thanks...that's how I had interpreted it, but it was not a concept I'd previously considered or heard discussed.

If it wouldn't bring down the wrath of my wife it might be tempting to test that theory...it was hard enough to convince her I need the free Glocks from GSSF.

[taadski]

I'll be honest and tell you that the "race gun" comment was a bit of an inside joke. The rest of that post, though, was fully serious.

The inside info bit relates to a personal friend of mine who happens to be a National top 16 limited shooter. He has coached me a bunch and has been bugging me for several years to give up on my "one pistol for everything" mentality. I carry Sigs for work and train/compete with them in Production class pretty much exclusively.

He believes whole heartedly in the race car/race gun analogy and preaches religiously that faster increases in ability can be made with a "race gun" because it'll no longer be the limiting factor; instead, your vision (the ability to see/call shots, etc…at high speed) with be. And that'll consequently allow you to get to the "meat and potatoes" of the matter much faster.

As noted, I've chosen the slower path to GM for the reasons Gabe so eloquently outlined.

Hope that makes sense,



t


EDIT: I was typing while Gabe was….but yes, exactly that….