While I own a few different makers I stick with the P series as shooters & carry. My P-220 45ACP kills the bowling pins, the P-226 9mm is great at matches, and P-228 is the carry/course gun. Since all three are same field stripping, one can do it with or without lights, reassembly is just as easy. The P series while may not be fancy like some other makers, they work. All three of my go to guns are WG folded slides. Added E-2 grips to them and off to races I went. Chris

I also adhere to the idea that the fewer pistols you have, the better you know each of them. For me it’s:

CCW – SIG P238
HD – 9mm SIG X5 Competition
CF target – same X5 Comp
RF target – Beretta 87 Target

So three pistols total, all SAO. And a couple of safe queens that I haven’t shot in years.

I understand with what Gambit proffers, and would Agee if I were a competition shooter. I visit the range with frequency and joy. I get intimate with the many pieces I own, but the joy I derive from my collection is the act of ownership, cleaning, taking apart, smithing, all the while Cleaning my mind so to be more effective in what I otherwise do.

For many reasons,

Glock 19/26
S&W J-Frame .38+P

I understand the premise and might agree if I were a soldier or LEO. In reality, firearms are a hobby for most of us. We'll never come close to firing a handgun in self defense. By concentrating on just one or two, we may gain a bit of additional proficiency for that extremely unlikely event, but give up a whole lot of fun in the meantime.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarms229:
As far as carry and self defense usage, I've narrowed it down to 2 models .

1st: The P365 is my daily carry gun. I have an early production gun that went back for the RTB issue and since then I have 1900+ rds through it with zero issues. Over 1K of those rds have been self defense loads with me favoring the Hornady 115gr XTP as a carry load. Normal carry is pocket but I do occasionally switch up to strong side IWB depending on my clothing.

2nd: P320 series in 9mm. My 2nd most carried pistol is a P320 X-Carry (all stock) but I also have a P320 X-Five setup as a home defense gun (sports Fixed night sights and a TLR-1 HL light on it). Both pistols are loaded with Federal 124gr HST.

You and I think alike, sir. Currently I carry one of 3 pistols, clothing dependent:

P320 Compact .357 or 9mm. (20% of the time, generally coat weather where I'll be outside most of the time.

PPS M2, 9mm. 78% of the time. I shoot this gun extremely well at speed, better than the 320 in fact. So I'm comfortable carrying it all the time, and just change out to the 320 when I want the greater firepower of 13 rds of .357SIG.

Ruger LCP with CT laser. I can't hit squat with this gun except with the laser, and then I'm fast and accurate. I only carry it maybe 2% of the time, when clothing or activities dictate I stick something in a pocket.

Manual of arms is pretty much the same for all these pistols.

I have a 365 on order and may replace the PPS with that if it proves reliable and I prove to be as good a handler of it as I am the PPS.

If I switch, to try something different at a SC match, it takes me a couple stages until I'm up to speed.

So, I don't think it matters too much, except for a few exceptions:

If I've been shooting my Open Gun/custom 2011s a fair bit, when I switch to a GLOCK, I may not put enough finger on the trigger, to deactivate the safety.

Likewise, if I switch to a 1911 w. an active grip safety, I may not grip it in such a way to depress it.

I have also, at times, felt for the safety, on a gun which did not have it.

Similarly, the first time I ran 45+P ammo, I froze, and started checking the gun, thinking I had an over-charge. After that, I realized there's no point in using hot 45 ammo for self-defense, and just carry regular 45 ACP. I've never notice much of a difference between 9MM loads.

Are you shooting because you enjoy it? In which case, which will you enjoy more? One gun or several?



When I still cared a little about USPSA and the like, my routine was to switch guns and divisions about every other match. I really enjoyed that.

Popular opinion is that's counterproductive and you'll never get any better. So I stuck with one gun all year. I didn't do any better. Probably did worse. More importantly I enjoyed the sport a LOT less. Basically lost interest for the most part. Went from shooting a couple matches a month to a couple matches a year.

Shooting by itself doesn't give me a whole lot of pleasure. Shooting well does. I do not get less than one year commitment, usually 3-5, to shooting something at 85-90% of my annual volume, with 10-15% spent on other guns for various reasons.

Always done the same. For about 20 years, just a single platform. Then went through Pepsi challenges for 5 years or so once I left Sigs as I wanted to utilize polymers for lighter weight carry and less bulk. Finally settled on two platforms for semis, and a revolver. That’s all I own, and like to keep things simple.

Even though I regularly dry fire, there are just times thst life takes over, cuts off range time, and I just prefer to keep things simpler. When I own more my proficiency goes down. I tried most platforms out there, tried to take to strikers, twice, and it didn’t take. And instead of trying to make a single platform work for all the different ways, times, uses, and temps I carry, I figured out two covers everything I need. And I never get bored. No interest in safe queens, collecting, etc.

And I look at semi platforms, in various sizes, as one pistol since controls and triggers are the same, and I only use one caliber. With the revolver included that’s 3 I work on and don’t want any more or less. It’s enough variety for me and skimmed down enough to not be complicated. If I buy anything in the future it will just be a larger/longer variant of what I already own. I do wish I would have figured this out 8 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of time and money. First time in my life where I don’t want to really add or remove anything from the safe, just no interest anymore. Stocked up on mags and just buy ammo. The key for me was to own what I shoot best, and sell the fluff off.

Yes, came to this conclusion some time ago when I decided to get decent at the games... if it's not a 19/2011, I do not have any desire to shoot it.

I am fortunate enough to own two homes, a winter residence down south and a summer residence up north. I keep seven handguns at each home (for a total of 14 pistols), three SAO semi-autos and four DA/SA semi-autos. The SAO guns are for target practice only (a P210A, a P226 X5, and a P226 Legion); the DA/SA guns are designated solely for self-defense (a P226 Legion, a P229 Legion, a P229 SAS, and a P239 for concealed carry). Even though I can’t carry in the north (it’s a nanny state), I keep a P239 there also, just for practice. So with the exception of the target pistols, the self-defense firearms all have the same manual of arms.

The thought of one platform with mag/holster/parts compatibility is very appealing and in part what I'm striving for with my wife and I's carry and nightstand pistols.
My problem after that is there are a lot of other platforms that I enjoy shooting in different contexts like competition or bullseye shooting so I'll never really be able to hitch my horse to a single wagon in that respect. I have noticed I shoot poorer overall when I bring more than one type of platform to the range and split my time rather than focus on a single style of action or trigger.
There is merit to a single platform but as a hobbyist I'll take the penalty to enjoy my whole collection.

I have RO'd a lot of people that shoot in our local Steel Challenge match over the years, who are always trying something new or different. They tend to get frustrated at lack of improvement after a certain time. On to the next one. Rinse, repeat.

This caused me to look at my own approach, and narrow it down to getting good with one specific gun by consistently practicing/competing/shooting with just that one. It worked. Consistency is the key.

I will add a revolver to the mix next year, as shooting a revolver does wonders for my semi-auto shooting. And, I'll shoot it every week/match, as consistently as I can, so that I can improve.

I have carried the same P220 Carry Elite everyday for the past 8 years, because it was similar in operation to the P228 that I carried for 20 years prior to that. I shoot the P220 quite a bit, but I shoot 9mm in instructor courses because of the cost of ammo. I am working with a Legion P226 SAO 9mm and think I will move to that platform for daily carry but have not made the leap yet.

quote:

Originally posted by VictimNoMore:
I have RO'd a lot of people that shoot in our local Steel Challenge match over the years, who are always trying something new or different. They tend to get frustrated at lack of improvement after a certain time. On to the next one. Rinse, repeat.

I agree with what you are saying, but think it may be a chicken/egg discussion. Some shooters just suck and are constantly trying to find the magic solution with a new pistol. They would never be any good no matter if they owned/shot one or 100 pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
I agree with what you are saying, but think it may be a chicken/egg discussion. Some shooters just suck and are constantly trying to find the magic solution with a new pistol. They would never be any good no matter if they owned/shot one or 100 pistols.

Now that's just rude! Talking about me that way ...

I generally stick to a couple during any one time frame (years, usually).

But it's not a hard and fast rule.

I can understand the thinking behind this idea [2 pistols to focus on, or less]. If I were able to carry on a daily basis, that might be an option/concern for me.

I can carry- in my home. Or, in a tent. Or, when I go to a 'free state'.

However, I can't carry without a CCW here- even in the woods.

My career, and the state I live in, make CCW hard to obtain.



I see the logic of the plan, but prefer to develop my skills to the point that I feel I could save my life with almost any handgun I can find to pick up.

This gives me an excuse to find and use collectible firearms- like a CZ24 or Femaru 37M. Neither are what I'd want to use to save my life, but both can be fun.



What I use the absolute most- and has improved my shooting the most by letting me work on technique- are .22lr handguns, or conversion kits.

I probably shoot 200 rounds of .22lr for every 50 rounds of anything else I shoot.

And I like variety:
.22s/l/lr
.32acp
7.62x25 tok
.380 acp
9mm
.38Super
.357sig
.38special
.357mag
.40S&W
.41AE [BHP conversion barrel]
.44mag
.45LC
.45acp

With so many options, it is hard for me to just pick one- no matter what Connor or Duncan McCloud said in Highlander.

glock 19 and 365 for carry the nice thing about a 19 is the 32 23 and 30s are all the same as far as size go, I did just get the glock 45 but the 19 RTF2 is tack driver.