Originally Posted by
GJM
For literally three decades, I have been interested in new handgun platforms, and thought I would share some of my experience with this.
1) Switching platforms almost never results in measurable performance gains, and may even result in performance loss if you get too distracted with the process. While there is the apocryphal example of the shooter that struggles with brand X, switches to brand Y and becomes awesome, I have yet to meet that person. What does happen, and may confuse people, is certain guns do certain things better than other guns. One gun may be more accurate, another easier to draw, another easier to reload, another easier to transition with, and it is easy to latch onto "that thing" the new gun does better, and proclaim the whole new gun awesome. However, over a wide range of shooting tasks, the pros and cons almost inevitably equalize.
So why do I mess around with different platforms, as illustrated with the time I have spent with the P10-C, VP9SK and APX in the last month or so? The answer is I just love shooting different guns, and during the Alaska months I am not competing, it really floats my boat to get some new pistol, ring it out, and see how well I can shoot it against standard tests. I have also convinced myself that being able to shoot a bunch of things is valuable, and that process makes me ultimately a better shooter. Can I prove it -- nope, and I don't think I would change anyways.
Now, an exception would be if your current gun is inaccurate, unreliable, or unsafe, as that would be a good reason to change to something else.
2) Should the new platform conform to you or should you conform to the new platform? I see many people try a different platform, and proclaim the reason they do not like it, is because "it doesn't feel like my Glock (or whatever)," my thumb interferes with the slide stop, or another similar reason.
Robbie Leatham taught me that good shooters learn to conform to the gun instead of expecting every gun to conform to you. This came up when I mentioned pinning the grip safety on a 1911, and he explained that was a technique defect. He explained me how to get my grip first, reliably activating the grip safety, and how there was plenty of time after that to disengage the thumb safety. He went on to say that he is expected to shoot everything stock and at a high level. Bill Rogers told me the same thing, and will demo at the Rogers School with any platform his students bring that week.
Conversely, if you are unwilling to change how you hold your thumbs, press the trigger, or manipulate the mag release or slide stop, you are not a good candidate for shooting different platforms. If you can't shoot a Glock without a grip reduction, for example, maybe stick with something you can shoot without trying to make it into a different platform.
3) early adopters get the arrows. Over the years, I learned this from aviation, don't fly the first 50 serial numbers of a new fixed wing aircraft, or the first 100 serial numbers of a new helicopter. In handguns, manufacturers are by necessity balancing testing of a new model with getting it to market. With a gen 1 of anything, you are an unpaid tester for the manufacturer. The 320 situation now, being a perfect example. I was glad to see Omaha Outdoors test the Glock as drop safe, but with 10 million pistols out there, over three decades or so, we can be assured that some bubba has tried everything possible with the Glock and if there were problems, they would have bubbled up. That said, look at the M Glock, and you can see even new generations of something old, bring risk with them. Now, I am not suggesting that you wait thirty years before declaring a design stable, but if you want to carry something today like the Beretta APX, CZ P10-C, or FN 509, I would ask you what is it about these particular platforms that is so superior, that you want to be a beta tester for a potentially life saving piece of equipment.
In summary, switch not because it will make you into the shooter you currently are not. Switch because you love the process, or you currently have something that is "broken."