Let me start out by saying I am not the normal Glock "fan-boy". I find the firearm to be ultimately soulless, have very little aesthetically redeeming properties, and am less than enamored with the idea of not having an external safety or hammer. To me whatever Glock does, with the exception of the 10MM G20 and G29, is available from a myriad of other manufacturers. With that out of the way I had also decided that if I bought a striker fired pistol it would be a Glock.
I had set out to replace my P938 as my primary carry gun and the benchmark I had chosen to base my other thoughts on was the G19. Surely with this is a benchmark I could find something I liked. Now in fairness to a good number of companies out there I had determined that if I was going to go with a striker fired pistol it was going to be a Glock.
My first and closest choice based on reading on the internet was the CZP07. effectively a hammer fired G19. Very similar dimensions though slightly heavier. My intent on Saturday morning was to go to the gun show, sell off a couple pistols I don't ever shoot, try and buy the CZP07. I found, of course, a G19 Gen 5 and held it before finding anyone with a CZP07.
I'm not big into the whole "feels right" concept in handguns. Barring some nightmare scenario a thousand rounds or so of shooting and drilling should make any handgun "feel right". Now I did make an exception - no safeties that went in the opposite direction of a 1911. The thing is, and I hated it as I held it, the G19 "felt right." Still I did not want a G19 so I continued to look around.
The CZP07: I wanted to absolutely love this gun when I held it. This is really the gun I intended to buy when I went. In fact the dealer made a cash offer on the pistols I had taken for trade and I took it with the caveat that he gives me $50 off if I come back and buy a pistol from him - regrettably he did not have a generation 5 and I had already decided if I went with the Glock I was going with the current production. No particular reason other than I did not find the cost difference to be meaningful and the differences were minimal to me - really did not care either way on the finger grooves and I'm right handed. The CP07 came across as top heavy and was not as stable in my hand as the Glock which seemed to sit lower. Again not something that practice would not have overcome but, comparing in my mind side by side, I went with the Glock in the end.
I then went around to the major dealers and asked for effectively a G19 with a hammer or the closest thing they could come up. One told me I could find it in HK but I would have to double the price. I told him that was not the concern and he tried but every HK was noticeably wider than the Glock. Numerous Sigs were tried, some off the wall things, a Beretta Cougar (safety went in the wrong direction), a couple striker fired pistols the dealers insisted I would fall in love with... a lot of different firearms that were "close" and some that were not.
It was a three hour exercise in futility. I hung my head in shame and bought the gun that made sense and not one that I really wanted to buy solely because it is a tool and not a toy
In the end it occurred to me that while the Glock was likely not the top on everyone's "top 5" list for compact concealed carry it was likely on nearly everyone's list somewhere. Its the benchmark in the category for a reason (again I did not give a fair chance to other striker fired pistols in my search and I know that).
It shoots fine
It will carry fine (holster is on the way)
It will conceal fine
Its fine...
Oddly I've never been less thrilled with the purchase of a new firearm. Even my G26 when I bought it many years ago I bought after shooting one on the range and being overly impressed with how quickly I was able to make good hits with it. In the end i sold it because by the time you had a grip extension on it you might as well have had a G19.
I'm not sure I've ever bought one that fills its role so well either. I can't figure out if I am happy with my purchase or disappointed. It does what I expected through a couple hundred rounds in putting shots on target (though I did not have pay conscience attention to my grip at first).
I had set out to replace my P938 as my primary carry gun and the benchmark I had chosen to base my other thoughts on was the G19. Surely with this is a benchmark I could find something I liked. Now in fairness to a good number of companies out there I had determined that if I was going to go with a striker fired pistol it was going to be a Glock.
My first and closest choice based on reading on the internet was the CZP07. effectively a hammer fired G19. Very similar dimensions though slightly heavier. My intent on Saturday morning was to go to the gun show, sell off a couple pistols I don't ever shoot, try and buy the CZP07. I found, of course, a G19 Gen 5 and held it before finding anyone with a CZP07.
I'm not big into the whole "feels right" concept in handguns. Barring some nightmare scenario a thousand rounds or so of shooting and drilling should make any handgun "feel right". Now I did make an exception - no safeties that went in the opposite direction of a 1911. The thing is, and I hated it as I held it, the G19 "felt right." Still I did not want a G19 so I continued to look around.
The CZP07: I wanted to absolutely love this gun when I held it. This is really the gun I intended to buy when I went. In fact the dealer made a cash offer on the pistols I had taken for trade and I took it with the caveat that he gives me $50 off if I come back and buy a pistol from him - regrettably he did not have a generation 5 and I had already decided if I went with the Glock I was going with the current production. No particular reason other than I did not find the cost difference to be meaningful and the differences were minimal to me - really did not care either way on the finger grooves and I'm right handed. The CP07 came across as top heavy and was not as stable in my hand as the Glock which seemed to sit lower. Again not something that practice would not have overcome but, comparing in my mind side by side, I went with the Glock in the end.
I then went around to the major dealers and asked for effectively a G19 with a hammer or the closest thing they could come up. One told me I could find it in HK but I would have to double the price. I told him that was not the concern and he tried but every HK was noticeably wider than the Glock. Numerous Sigs were tried, some off the wall things, a Beretta Cougar (safety went in the wrong direction), a couple striker fired pistols the dealers insisted I would fall in love with... a lot of different firearms that were "close" and some that were not.
It was a three hour exercise in futility. I hung my head in shame and bought the gun that made sense and not one that I really wanted to buy solely because it is a tool and not a toy
In the end it occurred to me that while the Glock was likely not the top on everyone's "top 5" list for compact concealed carry it was likely on nearly everyone's list somewhere. Its the benchmark in the category for a reason (again I did not give a fair chance to other striker fired pistols in my search and I know that).
It shoots fine
It will carry fine (holster is on the way)
It will conceal fine
Its fine...
Oddly I've never been less thrilled with the purchase of a new firearm. Even my G26 when I bought it many years ago I bought after shooting one on the range and being overly impressed with how quickly I was able to make good hits with it. In the end i sold it because by the time you had a grip extension on it you might as well have had a G19.
I'm not sure I've ever bought one that fills its role so well either. I can't figure out if I am happy with my purchase or disappointed. It does what I expected through a couple hundred rounds in putting shots on target (though I did not have pay conscience attention to my grip at first).
