...have changed the game, for me at least.
My current self defense collection is a mish-mash of different ergonomics and trigger types; one striker fired with the characteristic "staple gun" trigger, one DA/SA and two with long DA type pulls. A Springfield XDm .45 on the nightstand, a Beretta 92FS in the vehicle, Kahr CW9 and an original LCP .380 for general carry to be specific. That LCP gets carried most when out for walks around the neighborhood and even when I should carry the Kahr in areas where more people are present the little LCP still gets the nod just for convenience. No practice or understudy pieces to any of those, my only .22 autos are a Ruger Mk III and IV. On the range
where I am calm and collected I can still operate and hit very well with each of them. Just give me a second to adjust...
Now I never cared for Glocks, don't have anything at all against them, they just didn't fit my criteria. However, some honest evaluation reveals that I look at them through the eyes of a handloader and range shooter. Hate to chase brass, far more of a precision minded than a volume reloader, volume shooting = cast bullets in my mind, etc. With any of the current collection you can burn through 100 or 200 rounds of 9mm or .380 in a very short time practicing speed and accuracy drills and even with dirt cheap 9mm ammo the cost adds up, and then you have to practice with each one separately to establish any muscle memory. It leads to less practice than is optimal and less than optimal practice when I do.
Finally getting to the subject, the introduction of the Glock 44 and LCP II .22 have really changed the game from my perspective and that's entirely due to allowing one to practice not only more cheaply with
identical guns but without having to chase brass and reload it. Same/same handguns in size, very similar weight and identical ergonomics and operating characteristics as their larger brethren. I know the Glock and Ruger trigger pulls are not identical but darn close in feel, much more so than my current four.
You can see where this going, and probably where most people are or should be already, but in the very near future I'm going to go ahead and spend the bucks to replace my entire haphazard arsenal and standardize with a Glock G19/G44 and a Ruger LCP II in .380 and .22. Maybe/probably get a G17 for the car as well.
Recent events and life in general - getting older, changing demographics of my home town, this and that - make me realize that I've only been half-ass serious about defensive carry and an opportunity presents itself to get whole-ass serious.
