Sometimes a Revolver Makes More Sense

Last week, an old friend told me he wanted to make the plunge and get a handgun for home defense and possible carry. Talked through it a bit, and he is dead-freaking set on a hi cap 9mm.

So I took him to the range with a Glock 17 (Dev - Glock's full sized 9mm) and a Glock 19 (Dev - Glock's compact 9mm). At 5 yards, he consistently put the first shot way below the 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper we used as a target. After about an hour of coaching him through the concept of squeezing (not jerking) the trigger, he was doing a reasonable job of staying on paper, but often would still throw the first shot very very low.

Then I loaded up my beloved GP100 with some 38 Special rounds and had him shoot it. At 5 yards, he put every shot inside the 3 inch bullseye. Reloaded and did it again. No muss no fuss, everything went exactly where he wanted it to go.

Afterwards, I asked him which handgun he liked most. Said he loves the Glock 19 because it's cool and holds lots of bullets. Said that's what he's gonna get.

All I can do is groan and shake my head.

It does confirm for me though a theory I've been mulling for a while, that Glock and other striker-fired triggers are tougher to fire correctly than most people acknowledge. I think they're more difficult to master than either a double action or single action trigger.

WELL, most striker-fired guns have triggers that border on open sucks. Some might be a bit better than others, but none of them seem to be serious triggers for a shooter.

Truly, truly nothing matchs a 1911. Nothing. Even a bad 1911 trigger is often better than other stuff. Also true is that a lot of revolver DA is hard to shoot well. I have fired S&W's that have been worked on by a smith and are still within the proper weight yet shoot SO smoothly. One problem is that a lot of alleged smiths just cut off some of the spring from the hammer to "lighten" the pull. That simply isn't a good way to do things. But it's hard to find guys who actually know what they are doing - and will do it this decade.

Good point, and another reason why I want to give the 1911 another chance.

Well, if you want an out-of-the-box 1911 that is nice, consider the Range Officer by Springfield.

If you get a 1911 and want to mess with the trigger, talk to some of us about what all you need to do. Like any weapon, it is possible to mess up a 1911 trigger.