E-Mail 'My Continued Handgun Search - Part 1, by The Novice' To A Friend

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1. This is a strange article in a interesting way. You dont have flaws, you have natural instincts. Rather than shooting 90 rounds for only marksmanship, try including some drills. Below is a useful drill for you to consider that will work on your flinching, marksmanship, and speed.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyTFzgWjhk

   1. Perhaps my tongue was a little too subtly in my cheek when I mentioned “flaws”. Thanks for the link to the drill. It looks very helpful. I will have to give that a try.

2. Don’t know yet what part 2 of the story holds, but at first glance I would encourage you to spend more time and money on quality training rather than obsessing over the perfect handgun.

3. Guns are like shoes. Or Tools. Different roles and needs dictate different firearms. If you try to run, dress shoes are not the best choice. Nor should you try to hammer a nail with a wrench. Workable, but not optimum.

   First decide what you want/need that particular firearm to do. Then fill that need.

   And like the previous two comments: $800 of training will make you a better shooter with a $400 gun than $0 training and a $1,200 gun.

4. You equate biology with some sort of character flaw.

   1. Yes, I guess my attempt at subtle irony failed.

      1. You were so persistent I took you seriously, my apologies. At least I wasn’t the only one.

         1. No apology necessary. I should probably just stick with the facts, since my attempts at humor are not always successful.

5. The most important part of a pistol is having good sights that have both elevation and azimuth adjustment…regardless of which firearm or ammo you choose. Once you are adjusted properly, use the same ammo consistently and your shooting will improve.

6. “Doing what I can with what I got.”

   “Adapt, overcome, improvise.”

   “A man’s gotta know his limitations.”

   Shooting paper is seldom a good indicator of one’s ability to use the tool well to defend themselves. Using real world simulation to train the mind (and body) to respond to a threat in a practical and effective manner will be the tell of a warrior. No one has ever been an effective warrior straight out of the box. It takes a lot of time and effort to get good, and even then, there’s no guarantees.

   If you know you can hit what you are aiming at, then you need two things to become a warrior: Effective training, and practice. You don’t get results without a generous amount of both. That takes commitment. The pay-off is proficiency regardless of platform. Essential skills and knowledge will provide the foundation you need to be able to pick up any firearm with a familiar function and do what needs to be done with it. How it feels in your hand will matter less and less as your general proficiency improves. I’ve been shooting for 40 years, at least 20 of which have been competitively, and I still have to manage flinch control and proper form and hold. Shooting well requires skills that fade with time if not constantly maintained.

   If you are shooting 2″ at 15 yards with a pistol, any pistol, then you have the requisite talent. To develop the skill to do so consistently will only come with the mandatory training and practice that EVERY shooter worth a damn must go through. Whether or not you can perform under fire is a whole other matter. YMMV.

7. Although Taurus has had quality issues, and deserves the criticism, heck even Sig as had an issue or 2, their CG2 is an upgrade of the faulty Taurus PT111 G2, is enjoying good reviews, and proving to be a bargain for under $200. Although I have not personally tried this yet, but will, according to many YouTube videos, the CG2 can use Glock magazines, and Pmag makes a 32 round mag that works in the CG2. I personally prefer the CG2 over any of the Glocks for many reasons, such as it fit me well, the mag release is superior, it is concealable, and one third the price. And there is more, more better things about the CG2. What is better than a Glock? Three CG2’s. The CG2 is not perfect, but the price is. And it does the job better for me than does any of the Glocks, even if the Glock was the same price.

   If we seek to arm our selves, wouldn’t it be better to have 3, instead of 1? Wouldn’t it be nice for the whole family to have something? Think of the cashe and stashing possibilities as well. As the Walther P38 is still copied, and now everything is a knock off and comparison to the Glock, how much better is the Glock? Glocks are good, but are over priced. Glocks are only guns, they do fail, just like any other gun. Had to fix a new Glock the other day with a FTF problem. The owner had not lubricated it in years. It was clean, but dry. That could happen to any gun, but if it was a Glock, they would be ashamed to complain about it. If was a Taurus they might just complain.

   For the price, I would review the many You Tube video that perform exhaustive reviews. At sub $200.00, the price, the risk to try, is low, and it would be easy to sell it off, if the gun did not please you. I suspect however, the you would hand on to it. The price for the performance is impressive.

8. Attend the MAG40 training by Massad Ayoob. He and his instructor colleagues will get you to the point where some of your concerns go away. That will let you focus on other matters such as better situational awareness. Good luck.

   Thanks for being humble and admitting your learning curve. That’s always key to continual improvement.

   1. Thanks for the referral, and for the encouraging words, Squirrel 44.

9. As I return to whence I started 45 years ago to the .45ACP, (after wandering amongst various calibers such as .22 mag, .38, 9 MM, .40, .41, .44 Mag, and wheels and slides through the decades), the best thing I did was to go to an indoor rental range 3 hours away and do a shooting comparison.

   Using their same range-approved ammo for all guns, I tested myself on 8 different models and makes of the (non-1911) .45 ACP semi-autos there for concealed carry.

   Yes, different ammo makes a difference in accuracy on a selected pistol, but testing all 8 models using the same cheap target ammo gave me some startling comparisons using out-of-the-box pistols.

   Both the Glock 21 and 30 were good in accuracy but the Glock 21 (the one I own) has such poor trigger pull, it contributes to huge shooter error, as did the P365 which has the worst error-inducing pull of all eight pistols I used that day.

   The most accurate by far is the XD Full Size with 4″ bbl. The red fiber optic front sight played a significant accuracy role in the low-light indoor range. The groups fired with the XD were more than twice as tight. Groups at 20 feet had a 1.5 inch grouping consistently, shooting 5 rounds per target, and repeated on four additional targets, standing unsupported with regular 2-handed combat stance.

   For you 1911 lovers, I first started on the 1911 and carried it as an officer. I shot expert with it on the US Army standard combat pop-up range, and I do own a 1911 that I like. But I cannot count it a good EDC concealed carry for me personally, which is IWB.

   Based upon my experience and ability and needs, I have the Glock 21 for EDC and the XD Full Size for my alternate. If I had the funds, I would get the Glock 30 for backup. The recoil is not anywhere near the problem I had feared, and is similar to the G21.

   I pick the G21 for my future EDC due to it’s quicker realignment onto the target and dependability, but after trying all eight .45s, realize it’s trigger pull is pretty dismal and I am looking to get it modified. Until that happens, I am carrying my Canik TP9SF which is amazingly dependable and accurate for a $300 EDC.

   As others state above, it ain’t about how good the gun shoots, it’s about how good you shoot the gun. IRL.

   God Bless

10. Thanks for taking the time to write this article. I enjoyed it very much and it is an excellent job of demonstrating good writing on an interesting topic for the preparedness community.

    1. Thank you, John, for the encouraging word.

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