Before you'll carry a pistol, how good does it need to be? I've never really put a number to it, but have been wondering just what that number would be if I were to. Does anyone else have a standard that they use to decide what's worth carrying?
As far as reliability, I'd like it to go 500 rounds without any serious cleaning and still be malfunction free. Any malfunction has to have an explanation...ammo to light for the recoil spring, magazine springs too light for the slide speed, feed lips out of spec on a magazine, or whatever else might cause a problem.
The 500 rounds is pretty arbitrary, honestly. But I think it's indicative of reliability and a number that's easy enough to reach.
For accuracy, the standards become a little less scientific because they're so dependent on my shooting ability (or lack of it), but these are some general standards that I've come up with that I'd expect from a carry gun....
-From 5 yards I want to be able to hit a 2" circle without problem
-From 7 yards a 3.5" circle
-From 25 yards I want to be able to put an entire magazine in an 8" circle
-From 50 yards I want 60% of my shots to hit an A-zone on a USPSA target and all of the shots to be in the C-zone
Additionally, I've gotta have at least seven rounds and it be magazine fed.
Any ideas? Do y'all have a standard you want your carry guns to meet?
