I’m frustrated and I want to see if this resonates.
Guns are tools that make holes.
As a pure civilian, I either use them for entertainment making holes in targets, for self defense making holes in attackers until they stop, or hunting, making holes in yummy animals.
In all three of those contexts the predominant factor in success is holes accurately placed enough. All three have time constraints on them in most cases. Self defense and hunting can have legal constraints on them in the case of misses, in worst case scenarios. Self defense can have lethal consequences for slowness or too many misses.
There’s legal liability for the simple act of carrying a concealed pistol so anything less than 100% reliability of the pistol and chosen ammunition is unacceptable. Otherwise just forego the license and go hide a 2lb steel hammer in your pants.
In the context of self defense and hunting the ammunition penetration depth and behavior around barriers/bone should match the projected situation. The bullet needs to go far enough into the animal that needs stopping while hopefully not exiting the other side, or at least with such little energy that it can’t risk the health of any other nearby animals.
Self defense - 9mm. Glock, M&P, Beretta, HK, Sig. 500-2000rds through, vetting it and the mags. 124+P or 147 HST, Gold Dot, G2, Ranger T, 135+P Critical Duty. Holster and belt so you’ll ACTUALLY carry it all the time you’re off your property.
DONE.
Hunting - 308 or 6.5CM Tikka with bonded ammo of suitable grain/velocity for the size of animal and distance of shots. Season with your optic and sling of choice and learn its bullet drops at range.
DONE.
Anything past that, for hardware, is completely frivolous IN THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING FASTER ACCURACY.
Big boys like big boy toys I get that. 10mm hand cannons sure - why didn’t you bring a rifle?
Hating on a 22 Glock trainer? Are you telling me you can’t get faster or more accurate with your index finger and grip? Are you telling me that the practice cost falling by 2-4x won’t get you more practice for that index finger and grip?
If you wanna run a $2-3k concealed 45, would you shoot better if you trained with 4x more 9mm from a Glock or 16x more 22?
Same for a 2-3k carbon fiber stocked hunting rifle and cartridges that aren’t 308, 30-06, 6.5CM, 270 etc.
At the end of the day, there’s enough of a body of evidence in firearms design and ammunition capabilities that we know what selections make holes with near 100% reliability and accuracy which surpass the shooter operating them. Meaning the restriction on the system is now the trigger puller. Hence the focus should be on improving the trigger puller. More expensive pistols and rifles and calibers don’t cause improvement.
Hating on the most budget guns and ammo to properly train the trigger puller, because it’s not sexy, is fucking stupid. If we were purely pragmatic we’d hate on the expensive gear and those who tout its advantages while training less than they could.
Tell me if I’m full of shit.