Is 2018 the year of the "stock" carry pistol

[JodyH]

*Edit*
Never mind
Smart ass comment didn't add to the discussion.

[tanner]

You can also add in the Dagga Boy effect.
The further you travel down the defensive handgun rabbit hole the more you realize that the "shootability" of a handgun is pretty far down the list of desirable traits.
Not only does the shootability of a gun rapidly hit the point of diminishing returns, it also rapidly hits the point of negative returns.
Most "modifications" are geared around making a gun easier to shoot.
Very few modifications are needed to make a modern service gun more reliable or easier to handle under stress.

Boom.

[Screwball]

Only way I see 2018 being a “stock” gun year is if I’m issued a gun I cannot touch...

Personally, I look at a carry gun as a foundation. I know it likely isn’t going to be the same as it comes out of the box within the next year or so. I’m not a big trigger guy. I’ll clean up the stock trigger as much as possible (dry-fire or adding reliable parts... factory or aftermarket), but most of my changes are for corrosion resistance. I have a few guns in NP3 Plus or CPII, being my sweat is close to battery acid. My next gun to be plated will either be my P938 (NP3 Plus) or my TAC-14 (hoping that CCR can do it).

Trigger work, I prefer something related to carry... from a reputable source. Apex was put in both of my M&Ps... shy of the trigger, itself. I also swapped in their Duty/Carry kit in my 642-1. While I wouldn’t mind having a gunsmith work a gun over, I just never had the desire to send one out. Only gun I have done was an IAC 1897 shotgun, which Johnny Meadows worked on (was done new, and bought the shotgun I believe from him or someone affiliated with him). Me tossing in parts, my only concern is that it works. Glock was just a smooth faced trigger, and a 34/35 connector.

I’m also not a person that disables safety features, which lends more to OCD than civil/legal protection. I never got a S&W with a lock due to that... I may get a TRR8 eventually, but probably won’t pull the lock (you don’t hear of issues anymore). My 1006 isn’t a carry gun, but I didn’t pull out the magazine disconnect because that is how the gun shipped. But I did do the SCD, so I guess no problem adding a feature like that.

I think the gun with the biggest modification I have is my S&W 642-1... which I got a cylinder converted over to 9mm. I did have some worries about the pressure differences, but found a handful of people on S&W Forum that did the conversion on an Airweight... and had no issues. After the first couple hundred rounds, felt more comfortable with it. I just keep +P and hotter loads out of it.

Shy of that, other modifications I feel don’t apply to this thread... lights and grips. I have lights for most of my carry guns, exception being my LCP. Lasers I do include in some guns, but mostly for dry-fire practice. If I have it included for training, I don’t remove it for carry. Don’t train to rely on the laser... but if I use it, great.

All of my carry guns are already modified, and don’t see myself buying anything new until I move out of NJ. So, unless it occurs in the tail end of 2018... I need to look towards 2019.

[PhillySoldier]

Nope, I'm modding the hell out of my carry guns Seriously my carry gun is my primary gun and the one I shoot the most. Im going to make it as top notch as I possibly can. And in reference to that, I just gotta text saying my edc was just delivered back home today (was off getting some trigger work done) so looking forward to going home after work and running to the range.

[StraitR]

I stopped carrying SFA guns late 2015. Since then, I have done very little modding to anything I bought for carry.

Brig Tac (sold) > P30 LEM (sold) > settled on 1911's and carried for the last 14 months.

Brig Tac - changed stock trips to slims, and hex grip screws to slotted.
P30 LEM - Changed rear sight to 10-8.
Wilson CCP - Changed nothing.
Baer TRS - Changed slim grips for standard, rear sight to 10-8, and few new Wilson manual safety because stock was poorly executed (sharp and poorly fit). Baer didn't return my communication attempts, so I did it myself.

[RJ]

i'm usually a little hesitant to join these discussions. Mainly from lack of experience, as compared to most of you, honestly. My handgun experience is limited to the last three years. But what the hell: I'll try and add my noobie perspective.

I would argue it is neither more nor less important to a new shooter now, walking into a LGS, today, to "Buy a gun, you know, for protection" than it was a few years ago.

I saw pretty much the same discussions take place among newer shooters in 2014 that I do now: What the current YouTube Star is featuring at the moment, who has the best "Operator" experience, which company can best leverage "brand" identify to boost sales.

In 2014 I was watching videos of the Yankee Marshall discuss Glocks, and Chris Costa tout his worked over M&P (complete with athletic-taped straight-out forearms). So I bought a S&W automatic with 17 shots in the "clip" and felt good. I purchased and installed:

Trijicon HD Sights.
An Apex Duty / Carry Action Enhancement Kit.
An Apex flat face trigger.
A Costa Extended Mag Release.
10 8 "Performance" rubber base pads.

I think my experience was pretty typical for a newcomer. If I buy a bunch of this crap, surely I will be a better shooter, right?

It seems to me when I lurk on other forums and social media gun sites, I still see the same topics being discussed today, as a few years ago:

What holster should I buy?
Will this brand of WML fit on my gun?
Take a look at this Punisher logo on the slide cover, neat, huh?
How much more stopping power does .45 have than 9mm?
My gun shoots right, how much should I drift the rear sight over?
What is a good color to use to fill the rollmarks on my pistol's slide?
Can you see this nick in the frame of my polymer pistol? Will it affect my shooting?
Here is a picture of a 2 foot sized random pattern in my target shot at a range of 10 feet; that's good enough to be combat accurate, right?

...and of course:

What are the best night sights to use?

Sigh.

Anyway.

I discovered pistol-forum, and realized, it's not the gun.

I began a journey to find a pistol that I could actually carry and use if need be. Following a dip into HK (VP9 and P30SK LEM) I bought a Walther PPS M2.

I put on (and then removed, since they were sharper than Ginsu Knives) a set of Trijicon HDs onto the VP9 but it was otherwise stock. Neither The P30SK nor the Walther were modified. The M&P, Walther, and VP9 have all been traded off (wife glommed onto the P30SK).

This past month, I bought a Glock 19 Gen 5. Aside from installing a set of steel Defoor sights instead of the dovetail protectors, and a Gadget(tm) when available, I don't plan any changes, just ammo and training. I think (hope) I'm done spending money on hardware now and am going to try and get on with getting better with the tool I have. Pretty sure it will work "as is."

Well, Hell, just read all that above. Maybe 2018 is the year of the stock pistol after all lol.

[Holmes375]

....If I were to go back to Glocks then the most drastic mod I would make is adding a gadget followed by chopping the medium beavertail backstrap to make a sort of grip force adapter on the gen4/5.I have considered adding a flat faced trigger to my Glocks but I haven't actually bought one so it's not that important to me.

I made one for my Gen 4 but didn't want the beavertail, just the slight change in grip angle. Chopped the medium beavertail backstrap at both ends to facilitate. Very happy with it.

[Ballistic_RT]

I think its a matter of definition. Im making every attempt to focus on the world of revolver shooting and proficiency for 2018. Simply because it is something I feel I must master. SO that being said my 66-1 is all factory except for grips and paint on the front sight. Now, is that considered a true factory firearm as I have in fact modified it from how it comes out of the box? The same question can be asked about my 509. Apart from the RMR it is 100% factory and will more than likely stay that way. So apart from changing the sight system it is completely factory.

[DASchell]

Hell no. I’ve tinkered with all of the guns that I’ve carried on a regular basis. Same with vehicles. All of mine over the years have been modified to one degree or another...saving up for a bigger turbo now for the truck

I was for most of my life in agreement with MSparks...Everything got tinkered with. Then I bought a BMW 750 at the behest of my wife, (I had always been a Chevy guy). What a beautiful Ultimate Driving Machine.. Now I'm convinced the Germans are on to something well designed & built out of the box. Hence I'm now an HK fanboy. Bone stock works for me

[DASchell]

This is a good discussion to have.
I think that a lot of modifications don’t make much difference overall for a liability sense.
When someone messes with the trigger system (pull maybe a better word???) or deliberately make the gun less safe by jiggering with it- there is a line that is crossed if someone has to go to court.
I sold a G-19 with a ghost connector earlier this year after reading some of the posts on PF.
Keep your carry gun as close to stock as possible. Pointing back to the Wilson Combat enhancements- I don’t think anything makes the gun less safe. A buddy coming over and the two of you messing with the pistol changes things up.
While I’m good with the WC modifications- what about the Taran Tactical John Wick Glock package or those types of upgrades?

Edit- I guess if you need to do a bunch of things to make a carry gun, carryable- maybe you should reassess the gun you are buying

Above is perfectly fine.....IF.....you are an assassin! Otherwise not so much.

I can hear the attorney now "He had the Mods done so he could Double Tap 50 people in 2 minutes