The flawed search for "the" gun

[iakdrago]

I keep catching myself going into the "search" mode. By that i mean, i keep thinking that i have to get gun X, because it does something better than my gun Y, and is thus closer to being the perfect gun.

A brief history:
My entry into pistol shooting was a literal bag of mixed soviet pistols: the makarov, the tokarev, and the Naghant. When it was my turn to buy my own pistol, i bought a glock19, and was happy with it. It always went bang, BUT--it was a late model Gen3 so something had to be wrong with it... (to this day with 5k rounds through it, it has not hiccuped). Thus, i tried the M&P 9 at the range. I shot it better at speed, which i attributed to the better ergonomics. Without hesitation, i purchased one. With many more rounds fired under my belt--i now notice that i shoot the M&P and the glock as well as the other. The initially perceived difference has all but vanished. The extra rounds fired from "a" pistol have made me a better shooter overall. **note that i'm still a grasshopper with a LONG journey ahead of me.

Lessons learned:
Instead of trying to find that pistol that would take me to the next level, i should have bought a few more cases of ammo and practiced more.

Lessons still being learned:

The internet can be a cruel beast that will make you doubt your gun. As no gun is perfect and each has flaws, a perpetual game of musical chairs is all but unavoidable. This lesson is harder to swallow as all the talk of accuracy issues with m&p's are making me doubt the gun that i carry everyday. I've recently had the itch to purchase a Sig2022 as learning the DA/SA gun is very appealing to me, and at the price range it's hard to beat. But once again, i remind myself of where i was when going from glock to m&p, and have to consciously tell myself to not do so.

Does anyone else find themselves in a similar loop?

[Nephrology]

Yes. I shoot Glocks, but sometimes lust after M&Ps. Certain things about them (ergos, grip angle, mostly) make me feel like I might shoot them better if I standardized on them.

Then I think about the expense and hassle associated with selling my 3 glocks and all the peripheral gear to move over to m&ps and it just isn't worth it. My guns run fine. any error on their behalf is going to be my fault. May as well learn to run them.

[Al T.]

Well, perhaps if you define the mission you can determine the gear needed. For me, when I started carrying Glocks for a living, I decided to focus on Glocks for training. If I get back to handgun hunting, I'll focus more on shooting my N frames.

[Pistolero]

When I was a younger man I played that game all of the time. My military uncles, however, were of the persuasion that you had to adjust to the gun rather than trying to find a gun that, 'adjusted to you'. Their mentality was to just pick it up and shoot it well. That's an attitude that I don't see a lot of in today's, 'option rich' marketplace. Buyers of everything - including guns - want personalize features. Individual skill sets and personal versatility always seem to come second.

All of which is not to say that I didn't have a really hard time learning how to become genuinely decent with a Glock pistol. I did! It took me many months to even begin to approach the same skill level I had achieved from 25 years of using 1911 pattern pistols. Finally, however, I began to catch onto Glock's unusual ergonomics; and, after lots and lots of practice, I did become, 'dangerous' with this plastic Austrian, 'wunder pistol'.

While I can carry anything I want to, today, I stay with the Glocks. They're easy to maintain; I don't need a gunsmith; and the parts are as common as dirt. Once in awhile I miss the 1911's grip angle; I miss the much better triggers, and a directly-applied user safety, too; but, still, Glock's other advantages continue to be more desirable. If I were going to replace my Glocks (or if I happened to own one of the glut of late model 3rd or current 4th generation, 'factory screw-up pistols' that seem to be all over the place today) I'd undoubtedly select FNH/USA's FNP pistols; but, I'm not so sure I could, also, find all of those extra (many of them custom) Glock parts I'm, both, already heavily invested in and have become so accustomed to using.

My suggestion? Stay with what you've got, what's easiest and most affordable to keep, 'up and running', and learn to shoot decently with whatever's presently in your hand. Look at things this way: Someday you might need to use a, 'battlefield pickup'. It ain't going to be exactly what you want; it's not going to feel right; and you're still going to need to quickly adjust and shoot it well. Forget the new gun and concentrate on yourself and your own shooting skills.

[HeadHunter]

When I was being considered for the lead instructor position at Rogers, Bill mentioned three conditions I had to meet. One of which was: "You have to teach the class with whatever gun the students are using." To which I replied: "A true gunman should have no favorite gun."

In one four month period, I taught classes with a Sig 226, Beretta M9, 1911 .45, 3 inch K frame revolver, 2 inch J frame revolver, and several with Glock 17. I will always be grateful for that experience. Something to be said for having to step up and demonstrate my skills, in front of a discriminating audience, at a high level, on demand, with any handgun in the armory.

[GOP]

Excellent post and very true.

My philosophy is pretty simple: I compete with a CZ and carry a Glock. I usually have a 3rd gun I'm testing out to see if it can beat the G19 for EDC, but nothing has been able to stay as reliable and consistent as my G19. I am now trying out a Walther PPQ for fun (I bought it yesterday), and I REALLY like the controls and the trigger. I train primarily with my CZ, then my Glock gets a good number of rounds, then the test gun gets whatever is left. This has allowed me to stay consistent with my CZ and Glock, yet build up some skills with other guns (M&P's, Sigs, etc).

[CMG]

I ran across a video a couple of years back titled "The Paradox of Choice". It basic premise is that we now have so many choices for things around us that even if we get the perfect fit we still doubt our selves because we aren't 100% sure there is not a better choice out there. Here is a link to shorter version of the talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwa...of_choice.html

[CCK]

I ran across a video a couple of years back titled "The Paradox of Choice". It basic premise is that we now have so many choices for things around us that even if we get the perfect fit we still doubt our selves because we aren't 100% sure there is not a better choice out there. Here is a link to shorter version of the talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwa...of_choice.html

Liberals love this concept. In their thinking too many choices means sometimes people will make the wrong one, and therefore they are "helping" by eliminating choice. Be careful with this idea.

[MDS]

Great thread!

When I was being considered for the lead instructor position at Rogers, Bill mentioned three conditions I had to meet. One of which was: "You have to teach the class with whatever gun the students are using." To which I replied: "A true gunman should have no favorite gun."

In one four month period, I taught classes with a Sig 226, Beretta M9, 1911 .45, 3 inch K frame revolver, 2 inch J frame revolver, and several with Glock 17. I will always be grateful for that experience. Something to be said for having to step up and demonstrate my skills, in front of a discriminating audience, at a high level, on demand, with any handgun in the armory.

As a n00b, this post is downright inspiring. I'm focusing on the G19 until I achieve a certain baseline ability with that gun. I'm not sure where I want to go with my handgun training after that. I expect a period of time where I'm just maintaining that baseline skill level and just getting in lots of reps, while I work on getting to a baseline level of skill with my long guns. But eventually I'm going to want to push my skills with pistol again, and having "no favorite gun" is definitely a goal of mine along those lines.

So, my question is: do I need to spend a lot of time with a lot of different guns in order to be competent with whatever I might pick up, or would it be enough to just do some fam fire with many different guns to kind of understand how I need to adapt to different platforms?

[HeadHunter]

So, my question is: do I need to spend a lot of time with a lot of different guns in order to be competent with whatever I might pick up, or would it be enough to just do some fam fire with many different guns to kind of understand how I need to adapt to different platforms?

Become very proficient with one gun first. The others will be much easier after that.