Chosing Your Preferred Carry Firearm

[abock33]

How do you choose a preferred firearm for carry? Currently I have the exact set up for my carry guns. I am using the Galco Summer comfort IWB with a Fobus paddle double mag holder for both my glock 23 and my GI 1911. On occasion will I sub my Kydex OWB on my glock. I have been carrying my glock since I bought it at the beginning of this year. I want to carry my 1911 more but continue to grab the glock. I think that it's because like I said in another post My 1911 will only shoot FMJ. I don't know why but any self defense round I try mis feeds. Am I crazy for thinking that My 45 FMJ is less effective than my 40 with hollow points. What are your thoughts?

 

[Glock Fan]

DO NOT use FMJ for anything other than target practice. If you check out any "tactical" or "defense" round, you will notice that they're all "hollow point" or "expanding". The FMJ rounds will probably pass through the target in a personal defense situation. This can cause serious injury and/or death to innocent bystanders, over penetration of walls, doors, etc. In some cases, the rounds may only aggravate the aggressor. Ammunition choice is a personal decision, but be sure you choose the correct ammo for the job!

Once you decide on the kind of ammo you want to carry, be sure to practice with the same ammunition that you carry. Different bullet weights will get different results.

Hope I answered your question.



gf

 

[MufDady]

Ditto agian what Glock Fan said, I find myself doing that alot lately, very well said Glock :=)

 

[hwhite1725]

I want to carry my 1911 more but continue to grab the glock. I think that it's because like I said in another post My 1911 will only shoot FMJ. I don't know why but any self defense round I try mis feeds.

What kind of 1911 do you have? Is the typical feed a nose-down (or nose-dive as I call it:icon_cheesygrin? A few years ago I bought a brand new Rock Island Armory GI 1911 for $300 at a gun show so I could try my hand at home gunsmithing. One of the first things I needed to fix was that very same problem, the rounds would all nose down into the feed ramp and all hollow points would stay put. Well, a little time with the dremel polisher on the feed ramp and bore and now it feeds perfect no matter what ammo I use. Also, good magazines with no-tilt followers will help (Wilson Combat, Kimber TAC-Mags, etc.). They are a few dollars more but it's something that you will be better off with in the end.

 

[kwo51]

There are some hollow points that have a well rounded projectilles. Rem silver tips Glasser safty rounds. Gun needs a trip to a smith unless its not broken good or you can polish the feed ramp. Remember you can always take off more metal,but you CAN NOT PUT ANY BACK ON.

 

[abock33]

I own a Rock Island Armory GI 1911. I sorta pollished the ramp and throat but I was afraid I was going to screw it up. I really haven't looked for a good gunsmith in the area. If anyone knows a reputable smith in the NKY area let me know. And I do know about over penetration with FMJ that's why I am Currently carying tha glock. I just want to start switching them out.

 

[oidsailor]

there is a smith over in newport don,t know alot other than he has been there a long while his shop is on Monmouth st.

 

[abock33]

Well I will try him when I get a chance. There's two reasons he's been there a long time. He's either 1. Good at what he does or 2. Good at faking it. Thanks for that help but what about the Choice? How do you choose which to carry? I wanna carry the 1911 but I keep going for the glock. I think it's because it holds more rounds.

 

[tarbe]

I think confidence counts for a lot. There are reasons you keep grabbing the Glock and based on what you said in your posts, I figure you don't trust the 1911, at least not yet.

Tim

 

[DarrellM5]

I have quite a few handguns. 90% of the time I carry my Sig 229 in 40 S&W. It's my first choice for carry based on several factors. 1st, it's the handgun that I enjoy shooting the most. 2nd, I shoot it very well. I just used it to score high enough for Distinguished Graduate at Front Sight's 4 day defensive handgun class. 3rd, it's very reliable. I've fired several thousand rounds through it and dry fired it over 15,000 times (using a snap cap). I've only had one failure to fire and that was a bad primer; not the guns fault.

 

[BikerRN]

How do you choose a preferred firearm for carry? Currently I have the exact set up for my carry guns. I am using the Galco Summer comfort IWB with a Fobus paddle double mag holder for both my glock 23 and my GI 1911. On occasion will I sub my Kydex OWB on my glock. I have been carrying my glock since I bought it at the beginning of this year. I want to carry my 1911 more but continue to grab the glock. I think that it's because like I said in another post My 1911 will only shoot FMJ. I don't know why but any self defense round I try mis feeds. Am I crazy for thinking that My 45 FMJ is less effective than my 40 with hollow points. What are your thoughts?

The first thing I ask myself, when selecting a "Primary" handgun is, "What gun would I want to use if I had to have a handgun in a gunfight?"
I tend to select the larger firearms because of that. 5" 1911's, S&W N-Frames, Glock 19/23's and Ruger GP100's because I can shoot them well. I then look at reliability. If the gun isn't 100% reliable it goes in the "Junk Pile". Sorry, but there is no debating that. 100% reliability is a must!

I only use FMJ's at the Range. For "Carry Duty" I select an appropriate Hollow Point round. If your 1911 isn't 100% reliable either find an appropriate round it likes and can fire 200 rounds of your "Carry Ammo" through it without a malfunction or take it to a "Reputable" Gunsmith and have it worked on. Reputable Gunsmiths tend to have a name and a waiting list. You also will pay for that.

After the gun is worked on you will still need to fire 200 rounds of your "Carry Ammo" through the gun to determine reliability. If it malfunctions at any time during the 200 round test, fix the problem and start at round 1 again with your "Carry Ammo".

When I say fix the problem, I don't mean clear the malfunction. I mean solve the problem. I've had to have magazine followers changed, buy different magazines, throat and polish jobs done, etc, etc, to make a gun reliable. That is the cost of carrying a "bottomfeeder" to me, and it's non-negotiable.

With Revolvers it's easier. I shoot 200 rounds of any ol' ammo through the gun and then a box of fifty of my carry ammo without a proper cleaning. I then clean it and shoot another box of fifty for "qual" and then load from another box of the same ammo, keeping enough for reloads and forensic test if I'm ever forced to use the gun.

It ain't cheap, but it's cheap insurance in the "Grand Scheme Of Things".

Biker