Your carry pistol & range pistol equal in quality

I have handguns for a lot of different purposes, if I am shooting bowling pins I use one handgun, or bullseye another. Defensive pistol practice another, all range guns. An instructor I had, once told me to pick the pistol with the longest and hardest pull and learn to shoot that one good. The rest would be easy.
 
Well, I have a 6" S&W Model 19 that is not only easy on the eyes, it is accurate enough that it makes me look as though I might know what I'm doing with a handgun. On the other hand, I have a 2" Taurus 605 that might be accurate, but I can shoot it not much better than "minute of thug".

I guess if I got a "Dirty Harriet" shoulder holster and a loose jacket, that I could carry the Model 19 concealed.... :D
 
Guns used in self defense are often taken by authorities until a legal ruling is made. These guns often receive less than loving care until they are returned. I should have said, if returned. Cost conscience people might consider this and and carry a serviceable weapon that they are not going to loose sleep over never seeing it again or at least the same condition if it was ever needed in a self defense situation. This is the best reason to not carry the weapon you care the most for. Those special weapons I reserve for the range. I don't have any pistol that doesn't get shot on a regular basis.
 
I do not carry my favorite range handgun. I shoot it a lot, though it stays put away. Well I would carry it, but the problem is I live in Central Texas, and well it is summer. I do not want to dress around carrying a 6.5 inch Ruger New Model Black Hawk in .41 Mag with 210 grain JHP that chronograph at 1425 FPS. It is too hot, and well concealing on my body while it would be doable I chose not to. I will stick with my pocket gun, and sub compact semi auto. Though I do open carry it in the woods in hog country.

My carry guns get fired on every trip to the range. As do quite a few of my guns.
 
Guns used in self defense are often taken by authorities until a legal ruling is made. These guns often receive less than loving care until they are returned. I should have said, if returned. Cost conscience people might consider this and and carry a serviceable weapon that they are not going to loose sleep over never seeing it again or at least the same condition if it was ever needed in a self defense situation. This is the best reason to not carry the weapon you care the most for. Those special weapons I reserve for the range. I don't have any pistol that doesn't get shot on a regular basis.
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You said that more tactfully than I would've. But yeah.

Also I have guns some guns that have sentimental value; I shoot them, but don't carry them. Other guns that I take to the range are not reliable enough for carry. And one is a long-barrel .22 target pistol. (Nobody in their right mind would carry that.) Some are just too big or too heavy to conceal, like a 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk.
 
What kind of cars do you people who worry about losing a self-defense handgun to the police drive? Do you just take the "nice" $2,000 or $3,000 car in the garage out to dinner once in a while, and drive the $500 car that doesn't have quite as nice a finish to work all week????

I'm having a difficult time seeing where the cost of the most expensive self-defense handgun you could buy would matter versus your life or the life of someone you love.

If money's that tight, maybe you should back off the $100 cell phone bill and $100 cable bill for a couple of months.
 
Not just one - I spent too much on ALL of them! I could carry a different one every day for over a year before I had to carry the same one twice!! I gave up trying to rationalize the cost a LONG time ago!! :D
 
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caryy pistol vs. range pistol

i carry either a keltec p32 or ruger lc9. at the range i shoot both for practice but i shoot my springfield armory range officer for fun
 
"What kind of cars do you people who worry about losing a self-defense handgun to the police drive?"

:)

And do they carry auto insurance with $1000 or $5000 deductibles or just the bare minimum? I go with the high number because the yearly rate goes way down when you up the deductible. After many years of this, I figure I'd still be ahead if I had to pay the deductible. Same with homeowner's insurance. I asked about increasing it even more and the agent on the phone said that to go from $5k to $10k would take a special session of some committee and I'd have to submit additional info, etc. I told her to leave it at $5k for now.

Losing a $1000+ Rohrbaugh to the cops would be like paying a deductible. It's just the cost of doing business.

I might think twice about carrying and losing a 40-year-old Swiss Army P-210, but then $2500 isn't $1000 and a Rohrbaugh is a little easier to replace.

I can tell the folks who carry all their guns don't own any revolvers with 8.375" barrels and scopes on them. I've tried, it's not easy. ;)

John
 
My carry guns are also range guns. I also have other range guns that I don't carry, and they are equal in quality. None of them is real expensive, but all work 100%.
 
Carry/range pistol different, I use 22's for range. Cheaper, and I don't want to wear out my carry guns. They get shot a few times a year.
 
Some shooters praise their range pistols for quality. But carry a lesser for protection. WHY ?
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You really need to evaluate and rethink that each individual has different carry needs and preferences vs range guns.

A little while back I owned an M&P9 full size for range use and occasional carry. It was too big and heavy to really effectively conceal and carry all day long . Sure it had 17+1 capacity, but a smaller 7+1 pistol would suffice For that reason I bought a PF9, then a PT709 for pocket carry. it allowed me to carry more often and with more comfort even in formal clothing.

Of course the "lesser" gun was range tested for reliability first before carrying. My Taurus 709Slim had no failures whatsoever, the PF9 not so much.
 
My carry guns are a 642 revolver and an Elcie 9. It's too hard to conceal a 686 or 1911. The carry guns do cost less but to say lesser quality isn't quite true.
If you carry a Rossi , Taurus, Lorcin then you may be making a big mistake but if that's what you have then shoot them enough to know they work and carry them. I have a Rossi .38 that is totally reliable but I know of some that aren't. If you do end up with a cheaper gun make sure it works.
 
A few shooters have range guns that most would call SAFE QUEENS due to value. All my guns are SHOOTERS if not they GO.
 
To those who are arguing it's a matter of carry characteristics, and not cost, I have no problem with that argument.

Just do realize that a pretty good number of TFLers have expressed concern about the police confiscating an expensive weapon, or of them marking up their expensive weapon through carry (holster wear, etc), and those are the types some of us find confusing.

My take is, I want whatever gun I can conceal under current conditions, that meets my reliability standard, that I shoot best. If that is an expensive gun, then so be it. My life, and the lives of my loved ones, are worth more than any of my guns (or my truck; my motorcycle; my house; you get the idea).

The only reason I haven't routinely carried my more expensive pistols has had nothing to do with cost, and everything to do with reliability. Tight tolerances equal tight grouping, but a higher rate of issues than I find acceptable in a carry piece. These guns might get used for competition, but they don't get exempted from the carry rotation due to price. They just don't meet my standard for SD carry.

So, ironically, some of my carry pistols have greater "quality" with regard to carry, in terms of pure reliability, than some of my pricier guns have.

Generally, I find my preferred carry guns fall into the middle of the price curve of my collection; relatively plain-Jane pistols, that have been tweaked to my liking for shooting characteristics, but that have good SD pistol reliability.
 
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