handgun jaded?

C

Crankgrinder

New member
Have any of you, after experience with the ownership/operation of many brands,styles of handguns over a long period of time found that one shoots just as good as another for you or close to it regardless of brand or cost? Is it due to a lack of enthusiasm? Is it burn out? Or is it a sickness? Ive tried sigs,hk's, berettas,clocks,rugers,colts. Safeties/no safeties, triggers that all break different. I still love my pistols but the more I shoot the more it seems all the different features available these days just don't make any difference. Maybe my shooting isn't good enough to tell any difference. It seems now the most utilitarian guns are almost more attractive than the latest/greatest and shiniest. Anybody else have this problem?
 
I find it requires more and more unusual firearms to keep me interested.
Unfortunately these firearms tend to be more expensive.
Firearms that used to be just a wishful dream have become my frequent purchases.
I'm afraid I have become jaded.
 
Yep! To add to it, even though I love my CZ's, Steyr's, and Beretta (though I currently have none in the stable), I pretty much just love shooting to the point that it wouldn't matter what brand it is. Just let me shoot and I'm a happy camper!

On any given day, I can walk into a gun store and pick up whatever and depending on my mood, could want that pistol right there and then, with the exception of Sigs. They just never feel or point right for me, though I enjoy shooting them.

Anyway, you bring up a very valid point Crankgrinder, and there's nothing wrong with having simple and utilitarian!
 
I think my biggest revelations happened when I started carrying a pistol. What seemed like small differences at the range became much larger in the real world. Size, weight, and even trigger type became very important, depending on how it's used/carried. Anyway, nowadays, I know what I like, so I tend to buy less and shoot more.
 
Skill Set

I think that once one develops a certain skill set which gun you choose to shoot from your collection you are just as deadly and once you get to that plateau you realize that all that flash does not help you hit the bullseye any better.

I learned that along time ago when I was turning wrenches and some fool thought that their brand X was better or faster then the Studebaker that I happened to be driving that day. There was a reason that the Bonnieville Salt Flats used to have a Studebaker body class only......
 
I've owned over 60 handguns. Of those I can count on one hand the ones that were truly unreliable due to defects in manufacturing. I can also count on one hand the pistols I felt were truly more mechanically accurate than the others (due to barrel lockup) and maybe just as many that had such nice triggers and ergonomics that allowed the shooter to access that accuracy. The vast majority of modern production pistols are boring reliable and more accurate than the technique of many shooters will allow. There have of course been exceptions, but I have yet to own any pistol where I honestly thought, "Wow this design is terrible." Now in part I don't make an effort to own such pistols, but I've come to believe just about anything will honestly do. The brand loyalty, the internet posturing, all to convince others (and more often yourself) that yours was the "best" choice honestly just wastes time. There is no problem with favorites, but a good shooter should be able, in my opinion, to pick up pretty much any pistol and perform reasonably with it.

I'm a big fan of Jerry Miculek, and one of his more repeated sayings is that the "secret" to getting good is to be the first guy on the range and the last guy off. The machinery is rarely the limiting factor.
 
TunnelRat said:
There is no problem with favorites, but a good shooter should be able, in my opinion, to pick up pretty much any pistol and perform reasonably with it.
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This point exactly! It shouldn't matter whether it is a SA, DA/SA, DAO, Striker-fire constant trigger, revolver, etc.

The attitude that really ticks me off with some of my fellow shooters is when they feel that everyone else around them has the same style pistol as they do, and they don't need to ever shoot anything else other than that particular style (E.G. striker-fire platforms).

And on the flip side of the coin, I have friends who carry a traditional hammer-fire DA/SA but, every time they go to the range they only shoot in SA and never practice their double action skills. Shaking my head....
 
Have any of you, after experience with the ownership/operation of many brands,styles of handguns over a long period of time found that one shoots just as good as another for you or close to it regardless of brand or cost? Is it due to a lack of enthusiasm? Is it burn out? Or is it a sickness?
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Humans seem wired to get a bigger charge out of seeking something, than actually acquiring it.

AKA, covetousness. The Bible calls that idolatry, and a sin.

Ive tried sigs,hk's, berettas,clocks,rugers,colts. Safeties/no safeties, triggers that all break different. I still love my pistols but the more I shoot the more it seems all the different features available these days just don't make any difference. Maybe my shooting isn't good enough to tell any difference. It seems now the most utilitarian guns are almost more attractive than the latest/greatest and shiniest. Anybody else have this problem?
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Ideally, after a while you figure out what works for you, clear out everything else, and move on.

No "one size fits all". "One size fits some" -- people's hands differ widely, and the brains that control them.

And of course, some people are just whiny Internet drama queens, micturating on someone else's ideal ergonomics and choice of equipment.
 
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I think my biggest revelations happened when I started carrying a pistol. What seemed like small differences at the range became much larger in the real world. Size, weight, and even trigger type became very important, depending on how it's used/carried. Anyway, nowadays, I know what I like, so I tend to buy less and shoot more.
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I'm pretty much at this point. I like SAO or Glock-style striker triggers. Pretty much everything else I have dumped over the years.

Can I adapt and shoot DA/SA well? Yep, shot SIG's for years just fine, just realized when I grabbed guns to carry/shoot at the range, it was always a striker or SAO, so I figured "might as well sell these other ones to someone who'll use em".
 
Cyanide971 said:
And on the flip side of the coin, I have friends who carry a traditional hammer-fire DA/SA but, every time they go to the range they only shoot in SA and never practice their double action skills. Shaking my head....
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I've found that my shooting gets worse if I don't shoot DA regularly. Not that I'm a great shot to begin with, but SA is so easy that I think I get lazy about sight picture and trigger control because it doesn't make much difference. But when I spend a lot of time in DA, I find that the motor control extends into my SA shooting.
 
No. I don't have that problem. My Sig X-Five cannot be compared with my Glock 17. I am far more accurate with the X-Five than I am with any other handgun I own, including a custom STI 2011 45acp. Other than guns I carry for self defense, the X-Five is my favorite gun to shoot because I am that much more accurate with it than with anything else.
 
Aha,
Once again, "The gun is the least of it."
Any shootist worthy of the name should be able to pick up any old firearm and quickly be able to do it justice.
About like driving different types of cars.
No big deal.
One of the matches in our area has occasional Pick Up Gun stages; everyone has to use the same strange gun.
And, of course, it varies from match to match.
The guys who score the highest in the other stages always win this one, too.
It ain't the gun.
 
Yeah. I have been shooting regularly for about 35 years. I have tried just about every kind of handgun I've ever heard of. I used to get all excited about shooting something new. Now nothing seems that new anymore.

It's all still pleasant, but I know that I am a bit jaded and it's not as exciting as it used to be.
 
After 10+ years of shooting, I am no longer jaded with new firearms/new purchases. My main concern is to be able to hit my intended target.

Yg
 
I have preferences for sure, but the more I shoot, the smaller they are.

I'd much rather have a pistol that shoots 5" at 25 yards 100% of the time than one that shoots 1" at 25 99% of the time. Will not suffer an unreliable pistol, or one that has to be babied or cleaned frequently.

If I had it to do over again, I would have a few less 1911s, a few less .40s and a few less "high end" pistols altogether.
 
Cyanide971 said:
And on the flip side of the coin, I have friends who carry a traditional hammer-fire DA/SA but, every time they go to the range they only shoot in SA and never practice their double action skills. Shaking my head....
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Good point. I always make a point to practice DA to SA transition. Often times I fire a box or two 3 rounds at a time doing failure to stop drill DA to SA. very important IMO to practice how it will be used.
 
I'd much rather have a pistol that shoots 5" at 25 yards 100% of the time than one that shoots 1" at 25 99% of the time. Will not suffer an unreliable pistol, or one that has to be babied or cleaned frequently.
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I like having reliable guns around for SD and such but I get dang little pleasure shooting inaccurate guns.

Any shootist worthy of the name should be able to pick up any old firearm and quickly be able to do it justice.
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This, I can't shoot my PM9 as well as my CZ Tac Sport, but I shoot similarly capable guns about the same.
 
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I personally have not.
I do not shoot M&Ps well because of the triggers.
I do shoot glocks well despite the grips.
I shoot XDs and XDMs well, good guns in my opinion.
I shoot berettas well, though I hate the safety mechanisms on them.
I do not shoot hi-points well despite the reputation for accuracy which some people have attempted to attribute to the brand.
I do not shoot kahrs well.
I shot my arcus decently
jury's still out on my canik.
I shoot sigs well.
 
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