If you started over carrying a firearm

[cmgee67]

I am just curious as to what you would carry if you were new and starting over. I don’t know about you but the world of polymer handguns has kind of made the market a little dull in a way. I have tried many and got to thinking if I had started over and stuck with one gun I’m not sure what id go with. A part of me wants to get away from polymer and go to metal. A part of me doesn’t. Of course In 2020 your almost stuck with what you got.

[mrvmax]

I’d like to carry the Wilson Combat EDC9. If I stuck with one pistol and didn’t buy the numerous guns (and holster and mag pouches) I’ve carried over the years I’m sure I would have spent the same amount. The Nighthawk Counselor with RDS would be another option.

[crazy2medic]

I learned to shoot with my father's 1911, I have shot a beretta 92 and a couple of glocks, i'll stick with the 1911!

[74novaman]

I’ve done it all since I started. 1911s, Glocks, wheel guns, most every thing in between.

So much focus is spent by so many people on equipment instead of the important Stuff. I did it wrong too, so if I was starting over I’d want to do it right this time.

I’d pick a reliable gun. Insert whatever your favorite brand loyalty is here, I couldn’t care less.

I’d buy two of them, set up identically.

One would be my carry gun after reliability testing and confirming POA=POI for my carry ammo.

The other would be my training/competition gun, and I’d try to take 2-3 training classes a year and compete in USPSA/IDPA/something at least once a month, in addition to weekly dry fire and trying to make it to the range once a week if possible.

If I had done that when I started instead of playing the “what flavor of gun do I want to carry this month” game, I’d be lightyears ahead of where I am today in terms of ability to actually shoot what I carry well.

[flechero]

If I started over, I'd be shooting what I carry and shoot now... it's been an evolution of 20 + years of my own journey of shooting & carry. The guns I do carry are ones I shoot well, train with and enjoy. They also fit my dress code requirements for work, and social time. (and I have invested in holster options that work well with each of my chosen attires)

The biggest difference is that I would save thousands of dollars if I started over, knowing what I know now.

[striker55]

I remember when Glock first made a plastic component gun I said I would never own one. I have a couple now, love the S&W Shield, 45acp, great trigger out of the box. Although it had some feeding issues and very stiff springs it shoots great now.

[parabelum]

Well I don’t think that you can just have one gun. So long as the wallet allows there will always be the summer carry, winter carry, special occasions carry, in the backwoods carry etc.
So for me that’ll be P365 or G26, P320 M17 or G17, STI Staccato, S&W 29-2 etc.

[The Annoyed Man]

If I started over, I'd be shooting what I carry and shoot now... it's been an evolution of 20 + years of my own journey of shooting & carry. The guns I do carry are ones I shoot well, train with and enjoy. They also fit my dress code requirements for work, and social time. (and I have invested in holster options that work well with each of my chosen attires)

The biggest difference is that I would save thousands of dollars if I started over, knowing what I know now.

Pretty much this. ^^^^

I still own and enjoy shooting my other guns, in their respective calibers, but I've defaulted over the years to my mostly stock gen4 Glock 19. The only upgrade I’ve made to it is a set of night sights. Every time I’ve tried carrying one of my other guns, I end up putting it away and reverting to the Glock. I’m not saying it’s the best gun in the world. I’m not even saying that it’s my favorite range gun. I’m just saying that it seems to be the one that works best (FOR ME) as a daily carry gun.

I know. It’s kind of ugly. But it just plain works, and it doesn’t require a lot of fiddling or tuning to keep it that way. One of the signs of a great carry gun, in my view, is that you don’t have to either (1) spend a lot of money to adapt it to your needs, or (2) change the way you do things to adapt yourself to its capabilities. If a gun fits, or very closely fits your needs right out of the box, that’s a great gun. That describes my G19. I bought it used from another forum member. It came to me with night sights already installed, but I swapped them out for a type that I prefer, and changed the back strap to one I prefer. Since the back straps come with the gun, and you can get G19s with factory-installed night sights, these aren’t really radical upgrades.

My advice to anyone looking to start over would be to consider how much you’d have to do to the gun OR your shooting technique to make it work for you, and pick the one that comes closest to perfect (NO gun is 100% perfect) for you right out of the box, and carry that one. That’s the one you’ll have the least amount of trouble adapting your training to, and from which you’ll get the best results.

For me, it was a plain Jane G19. For someone else, it might be some other gun. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is how easily that gun fits into your carry paradigm with the least amount of fuss. I’m not a big Nut 'N Fancy Project fan, but I do like his term "philosophy of use", and that’s mine.

And by the way, I have extended this philosophy over the years to long guns too. If I had a do over, I’d probably only own 1 or 2 fairly basic but high-end manufactured "black rifles", instead of spending what I’ve spent to date. The same would go for lever/bolt actions (and their optics), and shotguns.

[Liberty]

It took me a while to figure out what I carry now. If I would were to start all over again I would pick the same gun. When I first started to carry there weren't as many options for a good light smallish hand gun. Today there are a lot more choices.

My carry handgun of choice today is a 9mm Beretta storm PX4 subcompact. It has all the qualities I that I want in a handgun.

9mm.
Full capacity 13 +1
small enough to fit in a pocket or carry comfortably on the hip
DA/SA with a safety.
Accurate enoufg to shoot in the black consistantl at 25 Yards.
Softer recoil.
Reliable. Quality Manufacturer Made in USA.

I have other handguns, I love to shoot and have carried with them at one time or other. But the little PX4 is my every day carry. It might not be everyone's choice but for me I can't know of a better EDC handgun.

[flechero]

I’m just saying that it seems to be the one that works best (FOR ME) as a daily carry gun.

That's all that matters, no further explanation required.

We all have different preferences and needs... What is truly right for one man, may be completely wrong for another.

[C-dub]

I haven't changed much from the beginning. I started off with a Glock 22 & 27 in kydex for a while before switching over to a 21SF & 30SF. I carried the 30SF for a year or two until doing a couple of night matches and discovering how horrible I was with a flashlight in one hand and the gun in the other.

Then I found Safariland 7TS holsters thanks to some here and Safariland did not have one for the 30SF & a mounted light at that time, so I carried the 21SF & TLR1 light and still do in the same holster for several years now. Safariland does make a holster for the 30SF & mounted TLR1 now, so the only thing I might change if starting out today is that I would probably get that holster and carry the 30SF primarily instead of the full size 21SF.

I do have a couple full size 1911's now, but only primarily carry them when riding because the only holster I have so far is a shoulder rig. I have a belt holster in mind, but don't when that will happen yet.

It makes me reflect back on why I got a handgun in the first place. It was because of crazy stuff going on with child abductions shortly before and after our daughter was born. If I didn't then despite all that it makes me wonder if I would now. Having gone through almost 19 years of raising her and not having one, but somehow deciding to get one after she moves out seems like an odd decision to me. My wife was against them before and if we didn't get one then I wonder if she'd be in favor of me getting one now. She's very comfortable with me having them now, but if I hadn't until now I don't know.

[thatguyoverthere]

Interesting topic...

What would you say about a guy who was perfectly happy with his carry rig now, but who says he might very well have done something different if he started over?

I've carried several different guns over the years. Mostly just sort of what I had on-hand at the time. I will admit here in public now, that, yes, I started off with a .45 ACP Hi-Point! (Actually a good gun for what it is in my opinion.) But it didn't take me very long at all to figure out THAT wasn't gonna work! (Tie a brick to your belt - or maybe a couple of bricks - and you get the idea.)

I then went to pretty much the other extreme caliber-wise and weight-wise and started carrying a Beretta Jetfire in .25 ACP in my pocket (and yes, in an Uncle Mike's nylon pocket holster - again with the ). I inherited that from my grandmother, and between the arguably insufficient caliber and the sentimental value that the gun had to me, I decided that wasn't going to work, either.

Next, I switched over and started carrying a wheel gun, a S&W Model 10 .38 Special that I had inherited, also. I think it would make a pretty good carry gun, actually. I bought a speedloader for it and practiced and got fairly decent at reloads. But again, it was sentimental to me because of who owned it before, and I didn't want to take a chance on losing that one, either.

After that, I carried a Ruger LC9 that my daughter-in-law bought right after they came out. After she bought it, she decided she didn't like it because it had a pretty stiff recoil spring, and it was pretty "snappy" to shoot. So I got that from her and carried it for a while. A decent little gun, but it just didn't scratch my itch.

Now, you're probably getting a good chuckle out of my various carry "choices" here. But that's ok. None of my family or friends at the time were "gun" people, so I was pretty much on my own, learning as I went.

After several years, I finally settled on the gun that I carry now, and have for a number of years. That is, a light-weight officer-frame STI 1911. And yes, some folks would say that also was a questionable choice as well.

Honestly, the reason I settled on that is another whole story that I won't get into now. But the fact is, after some initial issues (mostly me), it has worked very well for me. It works well, I shoot it (fairly) well, I like the short grip and short barrel and the slender single-stack, all for concealment. It's metal, it's a good looking gun, and it's the best caliber ever invented for a handgun. In fact, I like it so much, that several years ago I bought a Colt Defender that is an exact copy of the STI, except that the STI has a blued slide and the Colt has a SS slide.

I really like them both. And since they are identical, I swap out carrying each one every six months or so, and I don't have to worry about changing the "manual of arms" on my carry guns, and I don't put as much wear and tear on either one of them.

So yes, while I really love my little 1911's, if I had it to do all over again, I probably would be like most everybody else and would have ended up with one of the super-duper wonder-plastic Glocks or Glock-clone. I don't have anything against them. I'm not a Glock-hater like some. I just never got into them. But it's hard to argue against them. They do have a lot going for them. Reliability, light weight, capacity, price, etc.

So yeah, happy with what I got, but would probably go a totally different direction if I had it to do over again. Weird, huh?

[oljames3]

Same pistol, different model. S&W M&P9 M2.0 5", but in the Competition Optic Ready Equipment, no thumb safety, and black. This model was not available when my bought my S&W M&P9 M2.0 5", which was only available in FDE, no optic cut, and with a thumb safety.

[Aggie_engr]

I started out with a Kimber pro carry .45 from 2006 to around 2016. I gained some wisdom (I think?) and traded weight for capacity and started carrying a G19 while the kimber went to truck duty. Then the Sig P365 with 12+1 capacity hit the market shortly thereafter and I’ve carried it ever since. I have G19’s w/TLR1’s stashed in the house & cars so it still fits my needs in all areas besides carry.

If the P365 had come out back when I first started carrying I would have likely been drawn to it but in hindsight I wish I had gotten the G19 just for the benefit of additional capacity. I’ve always shot my carry guns in IDPA matches and shoot the G19 about equal to the 1911 so my vote goes to the G19 if I could start over.