do you think its wise to change EDC guns?
- Thread starter Glockstar .40
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SauerGrapes
New member
I agree with you Jim. In a pressure situation, it could very well happen.
Chet
In a pressure situation, anything can happen. The gun you carry all the time, in the same location, can get snagged on clothing,dropped, squeeze the trigger before clearing the holster. You train to minimize the probability of these things happening. Same way you train with different weapons. Am I increasing the probability of something going wrong by carrying a different weapon occasionally? Maybe. I can't say but I think not. The flip side of that coin is someone can't tell me I am.
IMO carrying different guns is fun for the people who do it. In some cases there are good tactical reasons to do it, but probably in most cases if the person put enough effort into it they could find 3 or 4 handguns that had identical or very similar MOA - like different models within the same family of guns - Glocks. Kahrs, Springfields, revolvers in general... But they have a bunch of different guns and they want to carry them and its fun for them.
Odds are they will never encounter a situation that will prove the practice to be either folly or moot. Even when this scheme blows up in their face, or puts a bullet in their leg, they refuse to acknowledge it. Tex Grebner never acknowledged that switching between different guns and holsters was a bad idea. He just said "Negligent Discharges happen..."
Odds are they will never encounter a situation that will prove the practice to be either folly or moot. Even when this scheme blows up in their face, or puts a bullet in their leg, they refuse to acknowledge it. Tex Grebner never acknowledged that switching between different guns and holsters was a bad idea. He just said "Negligent Discharges happen..."
10Ringmagic
New member
I switch out from time to time. Depending on the weather, my attire that day, where I am going.
Do I think it wise? Realistically...for me it's not. It's my thumb. It automatically seats on the safety. When I disengage the safety, my thumb remains there, riding it. At this point, it is like blinking or breathing, I just do it. This is why I do not own and will not own a decocker. This is also why I do not and will not own a slide mount thumb safety or upswept safety. And this is why I do not and will not own a handgun with a flimsy safety lever.
It must be a rock-solid 1911 style safety for me OR no thumb safety at all such as a Glock (or others but this is the platform I chose). I'm sure I could practice till I have retrained myself but I see no gain in doing such.
It must be a rock-solid 1911 style safety for me OR no thumb safety at all such as a Glock (or others but this is the platform I chose). I'm sure I could practice till I have retrained myself but I see no gain in doing such.
And the cases where people who only carry one and have ND/ADs? Where are those?
Point is those that can, do. Those that can't, carry one style or shoot themselves in the leg.
At the end of the time we choose to carry different guns, is the only time one can judge whether or not it was prudent. Or if we get killed.
Master Blaster 2
Moderator
Yes. I change all the time. In the 39 years i have had my Concealed Licence i have never had to use it. i am in a low crime area and don't need the skill lever of a COP. Not my job and I don't have the money to spend on a lawyer if i use it for the wrong situatuation.
Theer will be no SHTF, zombies, or end of the world.
Theer will be no SHTF, zombies, or end of the world.
shooter1911
New member
I am an old time who can comment on this subject with some authority. The good news about being old is I have many years of experience carrying, and shooting several platforms. The bad news about being an old timer is I'm getting old.
My daily carry is one of these three. Colt Series 70 1911, S&W M&P 45C(with thumb safety), and S&W 340PD. I shoot all of them well because I try to practice as much as possible, and I haven't had any issues switching platforms. Then again I haven't had to use my guns under a real world deadly force situation thank God.
As you can tell from my name I love 1911s. So you are probably wondering why I don't carry a 1911 all the time. The reason is 38 ozs. plus ammo is a lot to tote all day long. I personally have not had good luck with compact 1911s which is why I bought my 45C and it has turned out to be 100% reliable, and a light weight alternative. And my 11.6 0z 340PD can always find a discreet place on my body no matter where I am.
To net out your question, I believe it is all a matter of experience and practice. There is no chance of forgetting to swipe off my thumb safety on my autos as they both have them. As far as my J Frame, I have been shooting one since 1969 so I am pretty confident out to 15 yards with this good friend. By the way, I still to this day hunt with a revolver and have for many years so I kind of grew up with them.
I hope this rambling answered your question. Experience and practice is the key. As far as for LE you might want to ask them. My needs are very different than theirs.
My daily carry is one of these three. Colt Series 70 1911, S&W M&P 45C(with thumb safety), and S&W 340PD. I shoot all of them well because I try to practice as much as possible, and I haven't had any issues switching platforms. Then again I haven't had to use my guns under a real world deadly force situation thank God.
As you can tell from my name I love 1911s. So you are probably wondering why I don't carry a 1911 all the time. The reason is 38 ozs. plus ammo is a lot to tote all day long. I personally have not had good luck with compact 1911s which is why I bought my 45C and it has turned out to be 100% reliable, and a light weight alternative. And my 11.6 0z 340PD can always find a discreet place on my body no matter where I am.
To net out your question, I believe it is all a matter of experience and practice. There is no chance of forgetting to swipe off my thumb safety on my autos as they both have them. As far as my J Frame, I have been shooting one since 1969 so I am pretty confident out to 15 yards with this good friend. By the way, I still to this day hunt with a revolver and have for many years so I kind of grew up with them.
I hope this rambling answered your question. Experience and practice is the key. As far as for LE you might want to ask them. My needs are very different than theirs.
Yes, some folks carry only one type of gun and still have problems making it work properly and/or using it safely. That's really not a good argument for the position that complicating the situation by adding another manual of arms (or two) won't cause any problems.
I think there are a good number of cops and a huge number of concealed license holders who could say the same thing. It's not really likely any of us will have to use our concealed carry weapons, but that's not a good argument for the position that needless complications aren't an issue.
One might only need a handgun for self-defense once in a lifetime, but that doesn't make that one incident any less important to the person whose life is on the line for those few minutes or seconds. What will be important, should one need to use a handgun in self-defense, is the ability to quickly, effectively and safely bring it into play.
No one can prove that it WILL be a problem in any particular incident, but it's certainly not difficult to grasp the concept that if a person has only practiced with one manual of arms that person, under stress, won't get confused and accidentally try to use the manual of arms of a second type of pistol he's never practiced with.
In other words, if a person has only one choice, there's clearly less chance for making the wrong choice than there would be if there were two choices.
Which is why you practice to begin with. I don't think anyone is advocating carrying guns that they aren't familiar with. Certainly, that by itself would be dangerous. Even someone new to carrying with one style would have problems if they didn't practice with it.
It is only a complication if you don't train. the way I see it:
One person new to carrying. Carries one style
One person owns two styles and changes but trains regularly on both platforms.
Who has the greater potential to screw up? I understand the argument of the more variables, the more potential for things to go awry. But if someone fumbles in a high stress situation, carrying his/her second platform, do we know that was the cause or was it the situation itself? Would that person have done better if they only used one platform? I don't think the answer is so clear cut and packaged so neatly into "must be the second platform" argument.
In the case of carrying guns with different safety styles (up vs. down), it's more about muscle memory under stress rather than training. It seems that if you train equally with guns with opposite safety systems, you would lose the advantage of muscle memory.
I posted to this thread only that those relatively new to carrying consider the pros and cons. After that, it's his or her decision. I'm not necessarily trying to persuade anybody on this.
I posted to this thread only that those relatively new to carrying consider the pros and cons. After that, it's his or her decision. I'm not necessarily trying to persuade anybody on this.
If you have trained for only one option then your chances of choosing the right option is pretty high because you just do the only thing you've trained to do.
If you train for two options then, in a stressful situation you have to choose the proper option from amongst the things you've trained to do.
It's not a matter of how anyone sees it, it's simply that picking the right option when there is only one option to choose from is simpler than choosing the right option when there are multiple options to choose from.
This is defocusing the discussion. The question isn't whether or not training is better than no training. Generally speaking training is better than no training, as long as the training is good training. But that's really not the point.
The question is whether carrying different kinds of guns is better than carrying one kind of gun.
And that's the answer to the question.
It doesn't matter what the cause was because we're not doing a post mortem, we're trying to figure out a course of action that will help us avoid the fumble in the first place.
The point is that needlessly introducing additional variables needlessly increases the potential for things to go awry.
I agree. It could have been anything that caused the fumble. But the fact that there's already quite a lot of potential to screw something up is a very poor rationale for adding MORE potential to screw up/fumble.
Is it WISE to carry guns with different manuals of arms? I don't believe it is. Will it automatically cause a problem? No, of course not. But it DOES increase the potential for a negative outcome and in a self-defense scenario there's already plenty of negative outcome potential without voluntarily adding more.
shooter1911
New member
The reason the M&P line of pistols is so popular with 1911 shooters is because even though one is a single action and one is a striker fired system, they both can be carried cocked and locked with a thumb safety. Therefore if you get the TS option, operationally they are exactly the same. Draw, safety off, shoot, shoot, shoot. Although I'm not so sure the safety is really needed on a striker fired weapon, for me it keeps the platform, and muscle memory consistent.