Today’s firearm consumer has been trained (by manufacturers no less) that your handgun must “fit” your hand in order to shoot properly. Pure bunk, aka pure crap. The Colt Single Action Army pistol introduced in 1873 and still produced today has the exact same pistol grip. Millions of shooters adapted to the pistol; the pistol did not adapt to the individual shooter. Wild Bill, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Annie Oakley are just a few whom made a name for themselves using the Colt. Annie Oakely was 5′ tall on a good day. Wild Bill and Wyatt Earp were over 6′ feet tall. One had teeny hands, one medium, one XL. All same grips. All experts with the Colt SAA. Yes Alex we know Wild Bill primarily carried the 1851 Navy; not the point. 1911 introduced around, gee, 1911 is produced today (nigh to 120 years later) and still has the same pistol grip. Millions of shooters adapted to the 1911. The 1911 did not adapt to them. Beretta M9 served our military for 35 years or so. Same pistol grip used by millions of shooters whom adapted to the pistol. Numerous top tier gunslingers and gunriters actually assembled an eclectic group of pistols with different grips and discovered “grip size” and fit has nigh to no impact on “shootability”, speed, or accuracy. Keep in mind we are speaking of the same size/type of handguns across the manufacturer’s spectrum; ie, full size vs full size, compact vs compact, etc.

Regardless of pistol fit or grip a weak grip or weak shooter will never be able to optimize a pistol’s potential regardless of grip size, yet a shooter with a firm and strong grip will be able to bounce up and down the spectrum with nary a difference in performance.

In other words rather than worry so much about whether a pistol “fits” or not you should first work to enhance your grip strength. Rubber ball’s are fine but to optimize grip strength check out “Captains of Crush” grippers; and oh hey, you ain’t that strong so start with the “novice 60lb” or  “warm-up conditioning 80lb”.

Modular backstraps suck. Supposedly to fit your hand.. so what happens when you are wearing gloves? Change the backstrap? Weak handed drills; change the backstrap? Cold outside. Hands shrink. Gonna change backstrap? 110 degrees outside. Hands swell. Gonna change your backstrap? Exercise, hiking, stress; an increased heart rate will swell your hands. Gonna change the backstrap.. again? Ever had a backstrap fall off, Break off? Bend? This is so far out of hand the military has now demanded a pistol with changeable backstraps so we can “fit” each soldier individually. Let alone how farsical this is think of the supply logistics of this absurd policy. We actually have to keep an inventory of tens of thousands of replacement backstraps at supply depots and in theatre to replace lost/broken backstraps at the tune of gamillions.

What prompted this diatribe? A customer actually was buying a sub-compact 10mm pistol (G29) and stated he would have to return it cause it does not “fit his hand”. You can call this gent uninformed or simply a dumbass if you prefer but a SUB COMPACT PISTOL IS NOT SUPPOSED TO FIT YOUR HAND! It was designed and built for concealability and the smallest possible size, sub meaning “underneath or lower (smaller) than”. Means it is underneath or lower (smaller) than a COMPACT pistol which is underneath or lower (smaller) than a full sized pistol. All of which means it has a smaller magazine and round count, the smallest grip possible, and the grip itself is nothing more than a thingy to wrap three fingers around. It ain’t supposed to “fit” anything except your pocket.

Worse yet this is the type of individual you simply cannot talk to.. a “know it all” whom of course is far superior in intellect, status, wealth, experience.. or simply a dumbass.

Of course there is a BUT. There are a very small percentage of shooters with big fat mongoloid hands whom have the slide tear their skin up between the thumb and forefinger on pistols without a beavertail type grip (aka Glock). There are numerous slap on beavertail adaptors to alleviate this very small minority of oversized mongoloids (like me) without resorting to the 5 backstrap hoopla.

Is awesome. We got some . We spend it on stuff we don’t need but want and is cool. Supports the economy. After 10 years jumping out of planes and helicopters and jets from C-123’s to Blackhawk’s and beyond got out.. flat broke and beat to chit. Worked our asses off, took a couple right turns in the road, had some luck, and got some dough. Can buy and carry pretty much anything we want from planes, trains, and automobiles. Goody for us. Found out along the way that if you can buy the best, do so. Trying to save money on this cheap version then trade for the next version then upgrade again.. hell you could have saved money by buying the best upfront. Don’t misconstrue what I am saying however; a $440 Glock Gen 3 G17 does not shoot any straighter or better for the average shooter than a $5000 Nighthawk Custom.. it’s just that some of us want that $5K NC. Makes us happy. If you cannot afford it nobody is calling you a dumbass – but just move along. We don’t want to hear your bitching either. In fact read the next post about Abraham Lincoln. It was written for you!

The most misquoted President in history. Held up high as an example by liberals and democrats whom have routinely for decades quoted parts and pieces of his speeches to further their own goals and agenda. All out of context. The real Abraham Lincoln?

Let’s translate.. Quit bitching, quit being resentful, go out, work your ass off and acquire your own “stuff”. Then protect it from those whom refuse to do same, those whom feel entitled, those whom are professional victims.

But shoot what you want, what you are comfortable with; you know the one that actually makes a hole appear where you aim. The one that makes you happy. Do so with the realization the Glock 9mm is the best defensive weapon in the world. And since this is random thoughts what is with this PC defensive crap? I can cite a dozen instances lickety split where the pistol is the obvious offensive choice over an M4.

Facts: The 9mm the .45 ACP have the exact same killing and debilitating effects in real life shootings. Non negotiable. Fact. Proven. Not theory. Percentile wise each are indistinguishable from each other using current manufacture quality hollow point bullets. Puhleeze send Alex back to his chatroom. You are not in Syria. You are not shooting FMJ.
The 9mm has less recoil enabling you to get on target faster, holds more rounds, more concealable, more reliable, lasts longer, better ammunition availability, parts availability, ad infinitum yada yada.

Yep, you gotta get a Gen 7 cause the barrel is more accurate and it will make you a better shooter! No it will not. Nor will a match barrel in a Glock G19 or G17 out perform an OEM Gen 3 barrel for that matter. Simply too much going on but let’s talk trigger “pull” alone. The only realistic way you are going to see any difference in barrel accuracy is with the firearm rested and or supported and with an awesome single action trigger enabling the firearm sights for all practical purposes to be immobile when the primer ignites. Which not only was this pistol specifically NOT designed for but we specifically never address as we are tactical shooters with the mindset we train to use lethal force to stop opponents. Meaning kill them and or at the least knock them down so they are no longer a viable threat to us. Meaning you ain’t a bullseye shooter and neither is the Glock.

Now you know we have trigger time and some experience, so here’s some cheap advice and insight based on what we see each week. Sunday AM we stand in line at Ben Avery to be the first shooting group. Within an hour over 100 shooters are on line, week in, week out. Not one pistol shooter drops his magazines on the ground and does any type of actual real life my god I’m in a firefight reload. As each mags ammo is expended the magazine is carefully removed and placed on the table whilst another is sought and is carefully inserted in the magazine well. Erstwhile, Rockegroup’s magazines are bouncing off the concrete, being stepped and stomped on, and kicked out on the range in the sand. Oh yeah; did I mention? They are Glock plastic magazines bouncing hither and yon. 72 of them by the time we are done, all on the ground. Pick em up, take em to the shop, reload em, back in the bucket. No mag malfunctions, never bothered cleaning em either. How’s those steel mags holding up? Let me enter a funny story here.. so one of the drills we do is a malfunction drill; tap, rack, and roll. We insert a fresh full mag, fire one round, pretend there is a malfunction and tap, rack, and roll. So you fire one and eject one, then fire, then tap rack and roll which ejects another live round at which point we fire the subsequent round and repeat till dry. It is a drill which expends every other round.. so an old know it all coot walks over and says “you know you wouldn’t have so many malfunctions if you didn’t drop all your magazines on the ground!”. Funny or sad? He reckons he is a Gunslinger but does not know of nor practice a malfunction drill. One more true story out of thousands which is germane to our topic. Marine goes to Iraq, firefight, insurgent down and crawling, Marine is alone, runs dry, does mag change the way he was taught which is remove magazine, open mag pouch, insert expended magazine in ammo pouch, remove full magazine, enter into carbine, release catch, reacquire target and resume fighting. Which takes a lifetime of seconds in a life or death situation. Marine while doing his mag change the way he was taught thousands of times which takes forever seconds was shot by the “down” insurgent through the guts into the spine. Lived. Is paralyzed. Forever. He is the first to declare unequivocally if he had dumped the mag and done a “speed” reload he would still be good to go. You will fight the way you train; so why are you not dumping magazines? By the by the military at the time (all branches) never told any of us magazines were expendable.. we all did the same.

Our range has target slots at 5, 10, 15, and 25 yards for pistol shooting. And where do you all set up? First time shooters set up at 25 yards (whom knows why), experienced repeat shooters set up at 10 or 15 yards, and Rockegroup sets up at 5 yards. Why 5 yards? cause they won’t let us set up at 2 yards. Alex is going apeshit now.. see I told you they were frauds they wanna shoot at 2 yards arggghhh! What are you training for? Ask anyone up and down the line and you will hear self defense 99% of the time. If so you should be training at contact distance cause odds are that’s where your fight will be. How many of you training at 15 yards (45) feet have any room in your home that long? FBI statistics show more than 90% of civilian gunfights occur at contact distance. Keep training at 45 feet. Good for you. Yes we train at all distances but 90% of our training revolves around reality. So 5 yards. 15 feet. Cause we can’t put targets at 2 yards. Let’s really twist Alex up now! We also train at 200 yards with our pistols admittedly cause it is fun. Put a silhouette at 200 yards and I guarantee a hit within 3 rounds. Standing up. With a G17. As Kerry say’s “for the most part”.

Ok, we are the first to admit we do not follow our own advice (but we do have a reason). Compensated pistols should not be used in the tactical self defense arena, yet all of our carry and practice firearms are Glock 17 and 45 compensated pistols. Compensated Glock’s expel surprisingly voluminous amounts of gases and debris thru the barrel and slide ports. In a contact distance fight your pistol may not be extended at all and as it discharges while held close to the body these gasses may/will head straight for the eyeballs which will seriously impede your ability to stay in the fight. In addition any Glock Compensated pistol will become shockingly filthy at an indescribable rate in comparison to a non comp Glock. The average shooter gains nothing worthwhile overall when going to a compensated pistol; but for a serious voluminous round count shooter whom wants to put out an inordinate amount of ordnance to stop a CQB threat the compensated pistol will allow several more rounds per split second (yeah Alex split second). So it works for us, and we train to use the compensated pistol at contact and take measures to alleviate expelled gas issues.

You go ahead. I’ll just kill you with my pistol. Whom came up with that happy crappy and regurgitated it in print? Why am I going to fight my way to a long gun? Again you are not in Afghanistan cleaning the crappers cause you got an Article 15 and need to fight to the team room for your “long gun”. Let’s talk home defense. An M4? AR? Shotgun? Fer what? A civilian legal AR platform has a 16 inch barrel which makes you a whack job for using it when you hear a bump in the night. Think contact distance fight. I hope YOU have an AR so I can kick your ass with my G17. All day. I am more maneuverable, have easier light access, can use one hand independent of the other without sacrificing lethality (oh yeah, we practice one handed too Alex), and am proficient. Shotgun? “Yeah when they hear me rack the slide it will send shivers up and down their spine and they will crap their pants and run”; or when they hear you lumbering around to get that 52 inch long thingy and you “rack the slide” they just shoot you. Duh.

Every pistol must have night sights. Statistically the first thing a shooter replaces on their pistol are factory sights for night sights. A multi-million dollar industry revolves soley around night sights so they gotta be a must have! Well, not so fast.. let’s think about this. For the 5th time we are not in Afghanistan! Name one situation where you can legally, morally, or ethically engage a target as an LEO or civilian and not KNOW what you are shooting. Night sights allow an enhanced view of your sights in dark environments. They do not illuminate, define, nor identify whatever you are pointing at and afraid of. That’s why you have a Surefire under the G17 right? And when you turn it on and identify the target the night sights are useless right? Now you are using the front post and rear sight window silhouetted in the light, not night sights. That said our pistols do have night sights on them specifically Trijicon HD Orange. I personally find them invaluable on the weekends as I get up before my significant other; as I go into the closet the night sights allow me to find my pants at a glance (since my G17 is belted and holstered on them) slip them on, and depart the AO without her knowing I am up since no lights were turned on. Priceless.