3rd Gen PC guns. Carry or Keep in the safe?

[orangehole]

What do other members do? Keep them in the safe as an appreciating asset or use them as the tools they were designed for and keep them on your hip?

It's much easier to replace a Glock or M&P plastic pistol. I would hate to think about trying to replace a PC gun at current values.

 

[Heymatt]

Safe or range only.

 

[Sevens]

I don't begrudge anyone for their choice, but I'm very clear about what I love and what I like and how I use them.

I absolutely love most of my handguns, but to really love them, they must have a soul. Tupperware guns don't have a soul. But they are simply perfect tools for carry and defense.

So I am deeply in love with my PC guns and shoot them regularly (some of them a LOT!) but I carry tupperware every day.

I practice and train with tupperware, but I shoot PC guns for target work and pure enjoyment.

 

[catcus-jack]

I shot mine a good bit in IDPA but it has not been out of the safe much the last few years.
May get it out for next months USPSA Match.

 

[Trooper224]

If I had something along the lines of a .45CQB, I'd carry it.

Since I'm emotionally secure, I don't love my guns. Love isn't for inanimate objects. Ultimately, it's just stuff. If I was purely a collector, I'd probably think differently. However, if I was a hardcore collector it wouldn't be over something as pedestrian as S&W PC guns. They're nice guns, but it's not like they're a double gun from Holland & Holland or something.

I'd get far more enjoyment from carrying a fine weapon like a PC gun than I would from it sitting in the safe. If it was given up post shooting again, it's just stuff.

 

[kraynky]

Well, my 6906 is probably my most carried handgun. But I'm mostly at a desk. If I know I'm going to be walking a lot, the Shield 45 comes along.

During the jacket weather hereabouts, I'll often carry a 3rd gen 45. I just like 'em.

 

[DMcBB]

Since I'm emotionally secure, I don't love my guns…

Boo! I'm emotionally secure and I totally love my guns. I enjoy collecting them, shooting them, tinkering with them, and the sense of security they bring me knowing that I could use them to defend my family if I needed to.

Don't shame people just for having a different opinion than you!

 

[S&W Fan]

If I had something along the lines of a .45CQB, I'd carry it.

Since I'm emotionally secure, I don't love my guns. Love isn't for inanimate objects. Ultimately, it's just stuff. If I was purely a collector, I'd probably think differently. However, if I was a hardcore collector it wouldn't be over something as pedestrian as S&W PC guns. They're nice guns, but it's not like they're a double gun from Holland & Holland or something.

I'd get far more enjoyment from carrying a fine weapon like a PC gun than I would from it sitting in the safe. If it was given up post shooting again, it's just stuff.

This +. My usual carry is a 1911 (either a 9mm lw Commander or my custom 5" steel 45) though during really warm weather it's now the Shield Plus. I wish I could find/afford a CQB 4563 and if I could as soon as the weather cooled off for a covering garment I'd carry it.

 

[Erocksmash]

I carry(Fancy carry) 1 of my S&Ws unfortunately its not a PC...

Some of my PC autos get regular range time, some are vacuum packed away only to be unsealed at the end of every year to be inspected, then sealed back up....

This year one may be left unsealed for carry I have not yet decided...

Your gun your choice sir.

At least, at the very least one of my NIB PC guns is irreplaceable as it's Julian date falls on my son's B-day and will remain in its condition until he decides what to do with it....

What are the chances right !?

 

[squidsix]

I carry the Recon 45 all winter.

 

[hberttmank]

I keep all my 3rd gen and PC guns in the safe at home. For carry I use the plastic fantastic guns that work 100% and I don't care if they get dropped or scratched up. They are just a tool and in any self defense use they will be probably be confiscated and no telling when they will be returned in what condition. To me there are guns to carry and guns to take to the range and keep in the safe. There is no way I am going to carry a high dollar collectable when a $500 gun will do just as good.

 

[18DAI]

Back when I was still working Investigations, I acquired a stainless PC 4566 45CQB that I intended to use as a duty gun. At the time, I was using an Agency issued 4566 with decock only and spurless hammer, as well as Novak Night sights.

I contacted the Performance Center - which still existed, at the time and spoke with Vito. He was close to retiring and agreed to work on my gun as long as I sent it in immediately. I wanted a forged spurless hammer installed and Novak Night Sights. Vito did the work. And a great job!

Prior to qualifying with the 45CQB, I searched out recoil springs. Long story short, I had to track down Paul Liebenberg, one of the Founders of the Performance Center, to find out what recoil spring worked in the 4 inch 45. I found him at Pistol Dynamics, his current shop. He was a very kind and informative gentleman. And one of the topics we discussed was this very issue - using a Performance Center custom built gun as an EDC.

Mr. Liebenberg had asked why I modified a short production run gun and I told him I was not a collector, just a shooter/end user. IIRC he opined that it was good that I was doing that as that was the intent behind the whole concept of the Performance Center. To give Citizens, LE and competitive shooters truly custom guns that were extremely durable, reliable and accurate - and affordable too. He told me they designed and built all those fine pistols to BE USED AND ENJOYED, for what they were. Exquisite examples of the gun makers art.

I didn't wind up using the 45CQB as a duty gun, due to unforeseen circumstances. But it gets carried and used regularly. And you can bet it is enjoyed every time I do so! Regards 18DAI

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Since I'm emotionally secure, I don't love my guns.
However, if I was a hardcore collector it wouldn't be over something as pedestrian as S&W PC guns.

...that was the intent behind the whole concept of the Performance Center. To give Citizens, LE and competitive shooters truly custom guns that were extremely durable, reliable and accurate - and affordable too...
Exquisite examples of the gun makers art.

I don't think I could call (real pre-turn of this century) S&W Performance Center weaponry as either pedestrian or affordable from the disposable income point of view of the work seat I occupied when they first came out.

It's obviously relative to the exact stature of your work seat but for a common working family guy even the production 3rd Gen's MSRP was a bit too large to swallow back then.

In later life, with far less responsibilities & financial obligations, the production 3rd Gens are a better buy (which I've shamelessly bought more of them than I should) and I've been even lucky enough to find locally a few of the (new to me) Performance Center 3rd Gen pistols to my liking & at a palatable price.

Standard production 3rd Gens have proven to be more than reliable, durable & accurate for carry purposes.

Everything I buy I shoot, without reserve, however I'd never carry my prized PC 3rd Gens for SD.

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S&W Handgun Catalog Price List 1989
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And some of them are works of art.
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S&W 3566 Limited, 356TSW
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but I'll carry this...
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before this...
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and this...
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before this...
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[mikerjf]

Let's say you lose the encounter. Which gun will be harder to replace?

If you're talking carry gun, pick the one you shoot best. What does collectability have to do with it?

 

[Trooper224]

Let's say you lose the encounter. Which gun will be harder to replace?

If you're talking carry gun, pick the one you shoot best. What does collectability have to do with it?

For some it has everything to do with it. To many, guns are talismans not tools. Of course, you also have the opposite end of the extreme in which people try very hard to convince everyone how spartan they are by devaluing collectability in its entirety, something equally as unproductive. I agree with BLUEDOT37 in that a box stock 3rd Gen will serve just as well as a defensive weapon as a PC gun, in any way that truly matters. However, for those who live vicariously through their possessions, collectability of same has great importance. In my mind, true collectable firearms are minty Triple Locks, Wild Bill Hickocks pistols and the like not S&W PC guns. The later are service and competition guns taken to the next level buy people who knew their business, for people who know their business and should be treated as such.

 

[Trooper224]

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S&W Handgun Catalog Price List 1989
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Adjusted for inflation, a gun Costing $701.00 in 1988 would today cost $1671.71 Not cheap, but hardly priceless. There are current service weapons carried daily costing two to three times that amount.

 

[BAM-BAM]

I shot my SD-9 for about 4 years in IDPA .... got it used but like new... being stainless it doesn't show holster wear.

A Shorty-9 was carried for years before I got here and learned how few PC guns from the 90s were actually built. It's now semi-retired in favor of a custom built FrankenSmith 6015.

I've got two others that are anib...... a DPA 5906 and a second Shorty-9.

All mine were bought at a rural gun shop well below MSRP or used.

 

[KSDeputy]

I bought all of my guns new. I have carried my CS 45 for over 20 years. One is by the bed, the other in the safe. All are .45acp.

 

[Rock185]

I have a couple of 3rd. Gen. guns that I still carry, a CQB and 3913.

 

[18DAI]

Perhaps "affordable" was a poor choice of words on my part. Yes, compared to the standard factory units being produced, at the time, the PC offerings were quite a bit more expensive. And the enhanced accuracy from the engineering and fit, was likely not noticed by the casual user.

But IIRC, during the late 90s to the mid 2000s, the PC guns were really not "in demand" or appreciated by the masses. And some really good deals could be had. Lots of people didn't know what they had. I recall paying for a Shorty 45 MKII just slightly more than what a standard 4513TSW was bringing. And I scored the one of one 4563 45CQB for what a LNIB 4566 cost, at the time. Deals were out there - THEN. Not any more.

The appeal of some of the Performance Center offerings were features not found on their standard production counterparts. I wanted an all steel, 4 inch barrel, 45. With Novak sights. I don't do 1911s for serious purpose. So, the 4566 45CQB was almost perfect for my needs. Vitos work making it exactly what I needed/desired.

I get the whole collector thing. I'm just not a collector. And I understand that some folks view guns as an investment. I profited nicely from a thinning of the herd in 2015/2016. Way better return on my investment than playing the Market, at that time.

I view guns as tools for a job. BUT - I came up on revolvers. And I came up when gun manufacturers took pride in their work. Yes, relibility is paramount and accuracy is a secondary consideration. But when I was coming up, in addition to the two primary considerations - asthetics and a good trigger were also included in gun making. Manufacturers made guns that in addition to being bet your life reliable, had visual appeal. And great smooth triggers that were the foundation of accurate shooting. No, not all of them came with a good trigger . But back then we had talented gunsmiths that could produce one. For not too much money.

The Performance Center creations of the 90s to early 2000s harkened back to the days when asthetics and a good trigger mattered. They were designed and put together by "gun guys" FOR GUN GUYS.

And when I look around today, there is just nothing comparable being made. By anyone. So, I am glad I got a few when the getting was good. And I encourage anyone so inclined to save up the coin and get what you want before the availability shrinks further and the price climbs out of reach. I know I will continue to stuff a few bucks into the glass jar in my safe every payday. Because I WILL HAVE a 945 this year! AND IT WILL GET SHOT and enjoyed. Based on the few 945s I have gotten to shoot (Thanks Jeppo my friend!) it will probably take a jackhammer to get the smile off my face too. Regards 18DAI