A New Purchase Mindset.

[Chuck Haggard]

I have been mandated for most of my career on what to carry, so I make the most of it.

I was used to 1911s and M16s from the Army training and being around my dad, but when I got hired into LE I had to carry a wheelgun, period. I coulda carried whatever I wanted off-duty, but I stuck to revolvers big time for a bit to get good with them. I also bought an 870 since that was what I had to use at work.

Transition to pistols happened and the job decided on S&W 3rd gen 9mms, didn't buy the Sigs due to cost (thankfully) and didn't buy those stupid plastic Austrian pistols because everybody knows real guns are made of metal and that fly-by-night place ain't gonna stay in business anyway.
So, I bought a 5906 and a 6906, and eventually a 3913 and a 5903 when those came out, and stuck with that platform for everything, shooting USPSA, off-duty carry, classes, everything.

We also switched to Mossbergs so I sold the 870 and started to use the 500 or 590 for everything shotgun related, two gun at our gun club, bird hunting, etc.

We went to Glocks in 2006, with a very short run with the .40 and then back to 9mm. I sold off all of the S&Ws and went with Glock 9mms, with the exception of going back to S&W J frames as BUGs.

Unless something really radical changes between now and then, I'm pretty sure I will be in these two platforms for the rest of my life.

I recall at one point thinking I was a collector when I was actually a gun accumulator. Looked at my safe one day and wondered "WTF am I doing with a VP70Z?", etc. Sold off a bunch of guns after that.

[fixer]

I think we have three different dynamics at work when evaluating this topic.

First,all of us have different limitations on our practice time and ammunition.

That brings me to the second dynamic;for those of us who have to pay our own way,the minute differences matter more then for the super pro shooters.At my current budget level I can shoot ,at a maximum,300 rounds per month of 9mm.

So I commit to one gun,which is the 92FS-and yes I can ably conceal it.That's my path and insist that only I follow it.Your journey to ballistic enlightenment may be on a different path.

Some good points here. I have a job that doesn't remotely involve firearms. It keeps me busy 50+ hrs a week. So the hardware search is more critical for me.

I've been trying to transition out of gun collection into a focus more around software and skill. I come here to this site to learn as much as I can; I take the best practice suggestions to the range when I can.

So my dilemma is: I shoot berettas (Px4 and 92) much better than glocks (19 and 23). However, carrying the 19 is much more comfortable and practical than a 92. So as you could imagine, I've got a bunch of 92, Px4, and mid size glocks.

My shot timer indicates the performance difference between the two platforms is similar in terms of time. However the accuracy difference is substantially different.

I have about the same number of rounds through glocks and berettas. I've tried every trick in the book to manage my handling of the glock to improve accuracy. I don't have to do this with berettas.

So yeah...the problem continues...

[CCT125US]

Boiled down to its simplest form. Align the bumpy things on the gun over the target, and pull the trigger straight to the rear until the gun goes boom. Some do this well with one or two guns, while others manage these actions over a broad range of guns. To each his own.

[GardoneVT]

Some good points here. I have a job that doesn't remotely involve firearms. It keeps me busy 50+ hrs a week. So the hardware search is more critical for me.

I've been trying to transition out of gun collection into a focus more around software and skill. I come here to this site to learn as much as I can; I take the best practice suggestions to the range when I can.

So my dilemma is: I shoot berettas (Px4 and 92) much better than glocks (19 and 23). However, carrying the 19 is much more comfortable and practical than a 92. So as you could imagine, I've got a bunch of 92, Px4, and mid size glocks.

My shot timer indicates the performance difference between the two platforms is similar in terms of time. However the accuracy difference is substantially different.

I have about the same number of rounds through glocks and berettas. I've tried every trick in the book to manage my handling of the glock to improve accuracy. I don't have to do this with berettas.

So yeah...the problem continues...

I understand your position.

Perhaps this will help. While swapping wardrobes isn't an easy task, I find that changing my clothing labels and holsters is less obtrusive then changing firearms.
While I can carry a 92FS, I do realize also that its an ability partly due to my genetic luck and body composition. A PX4 is analogous roughly to the Glock in size , and its much lighter then the 92FS.

[fixer]

I understand your position.

Perhaps this will help. While swapping wardrobes isn't an easy task, I find that changing my clothing labels and holsters is less obtrusive then changing firearms.
While I can carry a 92FS, I do realize also that its an ability partly due to my genetic luck and body composition. A PX4 is analogous roughly to the Glock in size , and its much lighter then the 92FS.

I've been able to dress around the 92. I think I have hit holster nirvana with the com-tac infidel.

Other complications aside from dress & concealment:

In double action, I am slightly more accurate with the 92 than a glock. When I say I shoot the 92 much better than the glock it is in reference to single action on the 92.

So based on trigger pull in this scenario, it is a toss up in terms of accuracy. So I end up tending towards the glock because of the convenience.

[BLR]

Some of you guys are no fun at all.

:|

[Chuck Haggard]

Some of you guys are no fun at all.

:|

That's not true, I am loads of fun.

[pangloss]

GardoneVT, the only thing I have to add is that you might think about picking up a Beretta 96. I added a Glock 22 to my collection of 9mm Glocks this year so that I could shoot .40 if I needed too. Fortunately I haven't needed too, but if I can't find 9mm practice ammo, I have an alternative.

[JHC]

"Production" pistol is about 98% of my shooting. Target/Rec rifle shooting 1.5% and fighting carbine 0.5%. After the two days of carbine/pistol my son and I took with Frank Proctor before the lad shipped out; I don't have any plans to ever take another carbine course. Friends hit me up for more of those courses and it's fun and all but I can't justify the cost for the relevance factor. I have ZERO, nada, criticism for civ peers who like to jock up and train the carbine though. Its a past time.

[Tamara]

(t)he only thing I have to add is that you might think about picking up a Beretta 96.

Bear in mind that Beretta 96s seem to have the lifespan of a fruit fly.