evolution of gun preferences

[m&p2.0fdethumbsafety]

it's interesting how we prioritize and de prioritize different features on a gun and develop different preferences as we gain more knowledge and understanding of weaponry.


i started off buying full size 5 inch pistols. the mindset was that if something went down like a break down of the law or a riot or something, i will open carry this pistol as a side arm with my ar 15.


i then realized i needed something to have with me at all times during normal peaceful times, this was when i switched over to 4 inch full size pistols. basically the same gun as above but with a compact pistol's slide in an iwb holster



these still printed atrociously for me so i overcorrected and went with tiny micro compacts like the shield and sig p238. problem is i wanted a gun that could have greater versatility. a micro compact isn't going to be useful beyond a certain range.


now i've sold everything and gotten a compact 3.6 inch m&p 2.0 and this one is probably going to be what i stick with. it has the functionality and shootability of a duty pistol while having the form factor of micro compacts, albeit a bit thicker requiring me to wear slightly heavier clothes. this is a trade off i was willing to put up with.


as for revolvers, i did play around with an lcr 22, but the double action was killing my finger on that. i also didn't see much utility in revolvers in general outside of a range toy context so i sold my revolvers too.


i now believe pistols in the 3 to 3.6 inch range with doublestack and a compact but full 3 finger grip is ideal. when california drops its roster requirement, i will sell my m&p compact 3.6 for an m&p shield plus in fde with thumb safety.


tldr: i went from coveting an m&p 2.0 fde 5" with thumb safety to now coveting an m&p shield plus fde with thumb safety. my aesthetic taste also changed drastically. i now find 5 inch guns to be ugly and overly long. while 4 inch guns have a good balance if it has a duty size grip like the glock 45 or 19x, i still prefer compact size grip with a 3.5 inch barrel and slide as it's just more portable and easy to use


thank you

 

[BB57]

I had to carry a 4" revolver for duty use and carried a 5" 1911 off duty.

Over the next 25 years or so I migrated to a Hi Power, then to a 3" 1911, followed by a CZ -75 Compact and eventually a CZ-75 PCR, interspersed with a 4" 1911 and a 3" Model 686+.

They are all more or less in the same size/weight range and offer a good compromise between weight, recoil/speed/accuracy, and conceal-ability.

However my summer T-shirt and beach gun is a Kimber Micro 9 and I'll carry a Kimber Micro as a backup in a pocket holster or in an ankle holster.

——

In short it has to be small enough and light enough for all day concealed carry so you'll carry it at all times, but it also has to be large enough and comfortable enough to shoot, so that you'll be proficient and effective with it, and shoot it well at speed.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

In short it has to be small enough and light enough for all day concealed carry so you'll carry it at all times, but it also has to be large enough and comfortable enough to shoot, so that you'll be proficient and effective with it, and shoot it well at speed.

Totally true. Except for people in uniform who have no need for concealed carry that's really the bottom line - if you do your job will it do its job - it's that simple.

 

[Golddollar]

I have a somewhat exotic route for firearm acquisition. In 1960, my family moved to Lake County, Ohio, an area that had a substantial community of people of Finnish heritage. After I grew up, I started studying Finnish history and developed an admiration for the Finnish people for their standing up to the Soviets in the Winter War. So when a Finnish Lahti pistol showed up in the sales flyer from Cherry's in Greensboro, NC, I practically broke my wrist writing the check. Then a few years ago a Russian Mosin-Nagant long rifle with Finnish capture marks (the letters "SA" in a rectangle) turned up on Gunbroker and I got it. Then to top it off, I found a Suomi KP31 semiautomatic carbine in 9mm that was probably made with the old parts put on a new receiver. It was so much fun I bought another one. My tribute to the Finnish people.

 

[bigwheelzip]

it's interesting how we prioritize and de prioritize different features on a gun and develop different preferences as we gain more knowledge and understanding of weaponry.

So true. Beginning this hobby in retirement and without a mentor, I never imagined the extensive scope of modern defensive small arms and ammo.




Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

 

[Kentucky Dave]

Interesting topic!

When I turned 21 back in Kentucky in 1972, I bought myself a spanking new Colt Commander .45 ACP. Well, I was about 130 pounds dripping wet then, had little handgun experience, and that aluminum frame .45 beat the heck out of me. No fun! So I traded it in on a new S&W blued 4" Model 19 .357, which I could shoot .38s in when I didn't want to beat myself with .357s. That was stolen from my apartment and with the insurance proceeds, I found an old WWII era Browning Hi Power. "Serpico" came out in 1973, about the time my .357 got stolen & the HP sounded like a great gun!

Years pass, I move from KY to California, taking the Hi Power with me. I was a working musician in those days and couldn't afford much more in the way of guns for a while, although I did buy the obligatory 10/22 which every shooter should own. I also bought a DA .22 revolver for plinking. Come the late '80s and I got a straight job to go along with playing music, giving me a bit more money. Picked up a CZ 9mm and a Star .45, but then in '91 bought my Glock 19. Early Gen 2 which fit my hand like a glove and shot every time I pulled the trigger and generally hit what I meant to hit.

I actually began my USPSA membership shooting that Glock as a production gun, minor caliber in the mid -90s. Quickly I discovered (in those days) that the 1911 was the thing to shoot in that sport for a stock gun. Got a Colt Combat Target Series 80 in .45ACP (funny how things come full circle...).

Late '90s moved out of Northern CA to the Bay Area, more than a few guns coming & going along the way. Shooting was a lot less often and less fun... no run & gun from the holster down there. But my economic situation vastly improved and way too many guns came and went from the late '90s until I retired and moved back up North. The Glock stayed with me all this time, along with a 2" Model 19 which was/is an ugly, bluing gone, but incredibly accurate hand cannon.

Went through compact Glocks in .40 (Model 23) and .45 (Model 30), neither of which stuck for more than a few years. Got another 1911 (Armscor this time) and a Kahr bought in the Bay Area with a thought toward being able to carry again one day. After looking high & low, I found a beauty of a S&W Model 49, the old humpback Bodyguard .38, along with another 4" Model 19 (see that full circle thing again...).

However, when reacquiring CCW after retirement earlier this year, the Sheriff had only been allowing 3 guns on your permit, mine being the old Glock 19, the Bodyguard .38 and the Kahr P45. As fate would have it, the Sheriff's office decided to up the limit to 6 guns per permit, but I was already committed on paper and halfway through qualification for 3 guns & that's what ended up on my permit.

Shooting steel made me realize I should get a backup G19 (I thought I was going send my old one to Glock for some work, which I turned out not to need). So in the near future, I'm gonna add the new G19, the 4" Model 19, and the 1911 to the permit, just because. But those are all handguns I anticipate keeping for rest of my shooting days, which at my age now, seems like it does have a shelf life, sad to say.

Anyway, that's my story for this thread.