Personal Standardization...1911, Glock, S&WM&P

[adh]

First off, let me appologize in case this comes off as a sort of a ramble. Too many thoughts swimming around sometimes doesn't come out making a good coherent thought/inquiry.

Second, being married, having a full time 8-5, and 2 kids (and all the associate activities), unfortunately do not have the time to practice and master different platforms in caliber or design. In essence, I am looking for input on where my $$$ and time are going to be best spent.

Caliber:
I have always been of the thought that I SHOULD have a .45 and a 9mm. In a gay mall ninja SHTF sort of way, the thought being if you can't get .45 you could get 9mm.
Recently, I've been thinking that is not necessarily so. Even though in some instances (e.g. if you had to use ball ammo in a defensive capacity) .45 is going to be superior to 9mm (IMO), but 9mm is easier to control, it's more plentiful than .45, there are plenty of good carry loads available today, and in the SHTF situation I think it would be the most likely pistol round I would possibly encounter anyway. FOR ME, .40 S&W, 10mm, .357 sig, and the host of others just are not options.

1911/Glock/S&WM&P
I, like many others, really admire and like the 1911, but to get what I want out of one, I can get multiple Glocks &/or S&WM&Ps. I sold off one of my 1911s to do just that. I had a G19, got some work done on it by Boresight Solutions (bad ass job by the way Ben...see my post elsewhere), and really liked it. Decided that I'd prefer a full size G17 over the 19 and now I have two of those (a Gen II and a Gen III) with some more work from Boresight solutions to come. I still have a retro-ish custom 1911 that I had built many years ago that I thought I would just hold on to for the rest of my life (nothing really sentimental just figured I'd never be able to get out of it what I put in it). So I was pretty much decided to standardize on the Glock 9mm with a primary focus on the full size G17 and keeping the G19 for a more discreet carry piece, and the 1911 would always be there to shoot .45 ACP if I ever wanted to or needed to.

So today I was at Academy Sports and Outdoors. I decided to swing by the gun counter and decided to check out a full size M&P in .45ACP as I had never handled one out before and have heard so many good things about them. It was suprisingly light (with the trigger lock in place with an empty mag) and felt AWESOME in my hand. I start thinking Maybe I should try to sell off my remaining 1911 and get one or more S&WM&P .45s.

G17s for my standard 9mm and S&WM&Ps for my standard .45

I think I already know the best answer without input from others, but would welcome the discussion.

Ideally sell off the Glocks and the remaining 1911 and get a host of the single platform (i.e. the S&WM&P) so body mechanics and muscle memory are the same regardless of caliber (I'd assume the 9mm full size is comparable to the .45 but likely a bit smaller) I wonder if its basically pointless to start over, but at 36 I've got many years ahead of me and think I should do what is going to be best in the long run. Only advantage to the Glock that I can see is its proliferation, parts, accessories, etc. The thing that seemed great about the S&WM&P was that althought the sights weren't the best, it's probably the closest to an out of the box weapon with no modifications weapon that will give me most of what I want out of a pistol.

I want to say that this line of thinking really got stuck in my head because of the likes of board members USMC03, rob_s (the only two that I can think of off the top of my head), and others.

I don't even want to ask this question elsewhere on the board as to whether or not I should sell off my M14.......

[John_Wayne777]

Ideally sell off the Glocks and the remaining 1911 and get a host of the single platform (i.e. the S&WM&P) so body mechanics and muscle memory are the same regardless of caliber (I'd assume the 9mm full size is comparable to the .45 but likely a bit smaller) I wonder if its basically pointless to start over, but at 36 I've got many years ahead of me and think I should do what is going to be best in the long run. Only advantage to the Glock that I can see is its proliferation, parts, accessories, etc. The thing that seemed great about the S&WM&P was that althought the sights weren't the best, it's probably the closest to an out of the box weapon with no modifications weapon that will give me most of what I want out of a pistol.

I want to say that this line of thinking really got stuck in my head because of the likes of board members USMC03, rob_s (the only two that I can think of off the top of my head), and others.

I don't even want to ask this question elsewhere on the board as to whether or not I should sell off my M14.......

As for what you "should" do, that's something only you can decide.

Personally I've settled on the M&P as my main carry platform. I have it in multiple flavors, from the compact up through the .45....although I've never carried the .45. I greatly prefer the M&P in 9mm. If I needed to, I could carry it with no problem as I already have all the holsters and carry gear I need to do so.

There are significant advantages to standardizing on a particular weapon/family of weapons for serious social purposes, in my opinion. Maximizing your investment in carry gear and support provisions (spare parts, tools, armorer knowledge, etc.) makes sense, as does maximizing the benefit of training time on a given platform. If someone can run a G17 well, odds are that they will feel right at home with a G19 or a G26, etc.

Now all of that being said...in my personal experience some different weapons are alike enough that those with a lot of time on one platform are often very much at home on another. The Beretta 92 and 3rd Generation S&W pistols would be an example. Because the controls are very similar I've never had an issue transitioning between those two weapon platforms.

The same is true for me with Glocks and M&P's. M&P's are my primary go-to guns, but I still have the G17, G19, and G26 and I still use them for carry sometimes. (Well, I recently let go of the G26 to better arm a friend of mine who was carrying a Ruger LCP as his primary...but I'll be getting another one soon) While I don't really like Glocks much, greatly preferring the M&P, I find that I can run a Glock quite well. The 9mm Glocks are reliable and generally very easy to support, and they're pretty concealable to boot. There were occasions when I left the M&P at home and packed the G17 or G19 simply because my Raven Phantom for the M&P was set up for belt carry and I didn't feel like changing it out for IWB...so I just slapped on the Glock in my Phantom for the Glocks that was already set up for IWB and went on about my day. Before I bought my 9C I frequently carried my G26 into "non-permissive" environments.

While I don't view the M&P and the Glocks as being completely interchangeable in my little arsenal, they are close enough that I regard the Glocks as backups to my M&P family. I've almost always had a 9mm Glock or two around, even though I really dislike Glocks, simply because of what they are. I always plan to keep at least a couple on hand just in case.

If Glocks work for you and you have some money in carry gear, spare mags, and spare parts for the Glock I wouldn't be so quick to get rid of them. Still pursue the M&P if you want to, but the 9mm Glocks are pretty good handguns and it can't hurt to keep them around. If after you have some significant experience with the M&P family you find that you no longer have ANY use for the Glocks, sell them off. Until then I'd encourage keeping at least one around JIC.

[telecustom]

I've actually done exactly what you are discussing. I have transitioned to all G19s. That way all of my kits have common rifles and pistols. Standardizing pistols greatly eased the procurement of ammo and support equipment.

[RogerinTPA]

I echo what John Wayne said. At one point, I had a collection of various pistols, G23, Beretta PX4, S&W 669, 6906, then came the M&P line. My first was the full size .45. I was so impressed with the egronomics, low bore axis, and shootability, I started selling off and trading in my other pistols for the M&Ps, .40, 9mm, and the 9c compact, to standardize them. I'd wanna keep the G19, if only for the wife and as a back up. Both of you should go have a range day and rent the M&Ps you wanna try out. Don't be surprised if she wants her own in a compact.

[noops]

I went through the same evolution. I had glocks, sigs, HK's, 1911's. I got tired of all the crap. Too many different parts, mags, holsters, and all the other gear. I recently went all Sig Sauer. I have 2 p228's and 1 non-rail p229 so that I have largely interchangeable parts, grips, mags, holsters. I'm also a Certified Sig Armorer, so I went with what I train and know. I do still have an HK USPc, but I just haven't gotten rid of it yet. The only non-sig I want is a MP compact (anyone wanna trade?). But I hear ya.

[maximus83]

I have also whittled down my collection and standardized on the M&P platform. But to make a distinction, to "standardize" on a platform just means that I use that particular platform exclusively as my carry and/or self-defense pistol. So, I avoid using a "mix and match" approach of working with many different platforms for carry and self-defense.

But standardizing on a platform for self-defense, in my case, does NOT mean that I get rid of all variety in my collection. For instance, I have always enjoyed 1911's and CZ's, and I will never get rid of those entirely, even if I'm not using them for carry or self-defense.

Guess what I'm saying is, standardizing on a single platform is probably a good thing from a training or tactical perspective. But in terms of your pistol collection: "variety is the spice of life."

[FF750]

Guess what I'm saying is, standardizing on a single platform is probably a good thing from a training or tactical perspective. But in terms of your pistol collection: "variety is the spice of life."

Amen to that. I'm planning on standardizing on the M&P platform myself but by no means am I going to have that as the only type of pistol in my collection. I'm still planning on adding a 1911 and CZ for variety

[variablebinary]

I dumped a lot and got more Glocks.

I'll add another 1911 and a Stamped 226, but beyond that, I'm done with pistols that arent Glocks

[trio]

i also did this...

i now own 6 semi auto pistols

3 G17s

1 G19

1 G26

1 G34


I do have 2 J-Frames for really deep pocket carry....

[8200rpm]

I dumped a lot and got more Glocks.

I'll add another 1911 and a Stamped 226, but beyond that, I'm done with pistols that arent Glocks

Glock was the gun that I tried VERY hard NOT to like even though I didn't mind shooting them. I finally gave up this summer and decided to go nearly all Glock.

P226 (West German)
G19 (general purpose)
G35 w/ TLR-1 (nightstand duty)
G34 (to be acquired for USPSA)

As for 1911's and the .45 ACP in general... They're interesting, but I don't want to go down that road again. Blasphemy I know, but I can live without either. I certainly don't need $2000 tied up in a semi-custom, safe queen.

Last couple of years I unloaded: Series 1 Kimber, P220, P220R, P229, CZ 75, S&W 625, S&W 686, and S&W 3953. I don't miss any of them.