High Exposure

Not true. It may not be a common occurrence, but I know for a fact that the engaged safety on a S&W 4013 saved the life of a co-worker when someone took his gun, put it to his chest, pulled the trigger, and got a dead trigger instead of a bang. Not chambering a round is the stupidest thing you can do when carrying a gun. Engaging a manual safety, if the pistol if so equipped, is appropriate. Carrying an unloaded gun is borderline suicidal. You can’t compare that Israeli garbage technique to using a manual safety appropriately. The manipulation of most pistol safeties adds zero time to a draw. I also guarantee I can draw and fire my 1911 (scoring an a zone hit) as fast if not faster than you can any striker fired gun. Tell some of these Tier 1 guys still carrying 1911s or these GM Competition shooters with their 1911 and 2011 pattern guns, all with manual safeties, that they are slow. They will burn you down on a shot timer. Ultimately, I don’t know if any of this really matters in the grand scheme of things, as my personal CCW choices reflect, but they are choices to be made in the real world and should be considered when choosing a gun you are comfortable betting your life on AND when deciding what skills and TTPs you are going to train.

Keep in mind I carry a Glock AIWB daily with no additional safety features and am comfortable doing so. That being said, your idea of what protections a manual safety provides is a little off. A manual safety is not for when the gun is fully seated in the holster. The most “dangerous” moment for self inflicted damage when carrying a handgun AIWB is the final push to “click” the gun back into the holsters retention. A manual safety is for the instant the gun “clicks” out of holster retention until the moment it “clicks” back in. A manual safety is for every moment the weapon is un-holstered and not pointed at something you are willing to kill or destroy. It is for every moment you don’t have a a safe background or clear foreground. Think of how a safety is used on an AR. It’s the same for a handgun. If so equipped, the safety on any firearm stays engaged until you have an acceptable sight picture on a legitimate target and you have made a conscious decision to fire.

Follow the manufacturers’ recommended intervals for preventative maintenance. Have spare parts on hand before you need them. For me magazine and recoil springs are changed the most religiously. My carry guns are cleaned and inspected for function after they are shot. I’ll also occasionally inspect for function and lube if I haven’t shot them in a while. Training, competition, and recreational guns are wiped down and lubed after shooting and cleaned when I feel like it. Usually these go a few thousand rounds between cleaning. Everything is stripped and inspected once a year.

If it is something you are concerned with, holstering a hammer fired gun while carrying CCW can be considered “safer” even without a safety. With hammer fired guns, your thumb rides the hammer as you reholster. If anything makes the trigger move - like something in the trigger guard - you feel it instantly in the movement of the hammer and can stop and fix it before you get the loud noise. There is something called “The Striker Control Device” that they make for Glocks that simulates this safety feature. It works pretty well and is a great option if you are uncomfortable carrying a Glock AIWB. It is an expensive little piece of kit, but what price peace of mind? I have one but I’ve only used it in a class setting (some instructors will not let you attend a CCW class with an AIWB Glock without one).

I shot Ernie Langdon’s personal PX4. It was one of the smoothest double/single actions guns I have ever handled - it was addicting to shoot. If I was stuck with a double action only or a double/single action gun for CCW, I’d get a full house Langdon PX4.

Shenanigans. I have been carrying a gun daily for 20 years now. I used to conceal a G35 with a magwell and X300U all year (IWB at 4:00) - in summer with nothing more that shorts and a T shirt and I’m not a big guy. It’s all about choices in clothing, belts, and holsters. Now I primarily carry a G19 with optic and light AIWB all day, every day, and can conceal it under nothing more than t-shirt with no issues. The G19, IMO, is probably the perfect sized carry gun. I also have a G48 MOS with optic and light that I have started carrying more often. So far its been great. It may take over as the perfect carry choice for me - but realistically, there is really no appreciable difference between the G19 and the G48 in regards to how it feels to carry and how easy it is conceal. At the end of the day, bad guys carry full-size guns all the time. There is no reason, outside of a lack of experience/knowledge or plain laziness, why good guys can’t do the same thing. Stop overthinking things and make smart choices. It’s really quite simple. Carry guns should be measured against these 5 criteria. In order of most to least important: • Reliability • Caliber • Personal ability/How well you shoot it • Capacity • Overall size Find a reliable firearm from a reputable manufacturer, chambered in an effective self-defense caliber, that you shoot well enough to bet your life on, and has the max capacity you are legally allowed to carry. Then figure out how to conceal it.

Jesus. You guys need to get new friends… You are all overthinking things way too much. Anticipate your friend’s attitude and behavior towards you being armed and act accordingly. Consider the kind of party and act accordingly. Is it a rager keg party? Are you solo? Are you with a group of like minded people in a sea of strangers? Is it a quiet dinner party with significant others? Are you looking to hook up? Decide ahead of time if you are going to drink and act accordingly. Just be cool. Don’t overthink it.

Yes! The place in the Auction does the same. Holds all the oil and vinegar and HP juice in there. Makes it so much better.

I spent the last 2 weeks in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. We were paying between $4.65 - $4.99 a gallon out there.

Buy a yoga block, a utility knife, and some Velcro. Make you own cheap and customize it to your needs/body.

It’s a Sub. Yes!!! Joyce’s is awesome. Their Italian Sub with LTO SPO O&V HP is killer. The turkey and provolone Sub with LTO SP cranberry sauce isn’t too shabby either. There was a Sub shop in the main building of the Collingswood Auction that was amazing as well - not sure if it is still there or still good. God, I haven’t been there in years…

My goodness, the level of helplessness is astounding. If you can’t even figure out what range to go to on your own, wait until you have to decide on what holster to get….

100% Primary reason for the spare mags is insurance for magazine induced malfunctions. Secondary reason is increased capacity due to limitations either by law (10 round limit) or by design (the smaller frames handguns).

IMO - If you are carrying a gun, you should always have an extra mag, comms (cell phone works here) and a flashlight (cellphone does not work here) on you, minimal. A second spare mag and some kind of medical, including a TQ, is also good to have nearby (at least in a bag in your vehicle) if not on your person. Everyone has their own take on it. You do what makes you feel prepared.

Why read? I can ask here and some stranger will just tell me!

Welcome from another MonCo guy and ModMat fan. You’ll like it here. Lots of good people. Just don’t trust anyone that calls it Taylor Ham. They are clearly delusional as there is no such thing.

Why does it have a full length sweat guard for a paddle holster? That’s just going to get in the way of your draw. What a poorly designed rig.

Don’t make simple things difficult. Just rack the slide.

Nope. Rack away. If racking the slide negatively impacts the dot, you need to get a better dot. I have a mix of Trijicon and Holosun optics on a handful of Glocks with a lot of rounds though them. I have had no issues.

AOW Does not require a brace. What it requires is not having a stock. It’s an important distinction. An AOW is basically an “other firearm” that doesn’t meet the overall length requirements.

Keep your bacon out of this, And we’ll keep this out of your bacon. Go start you own bacon thread you uncultured swine.

Jack knows what’s up.

No. You need to dry fire* your ass off! 10-15 minutes a day is all you need. You can improve your administrative handling of the firearm (draw and re-holstering, loading, presentation) by a million percent without ever firing a shot simply by dedicating a few minutes a week to dry fire. Then go to the range and confirm your progress (identify any sustains and needs improvements) with live fire. To get the most out of it, you need to take notes about what is and isn’t working and what skills need low round maintenance practice and what skills are going to require ammo intensive skill building improvements. Then, when you go to the range, you need to go with a plan on what skills you are maintaining, what skills you are working on, and what skills still need to be evaluated. If you just go and shoot, you are wasting ammo/money - which is OK too, if your goal is to just have fun - I have days where I just blast away turning money into noise. But, when I want to improve a particular skill, I plan and document. * Follow all appropriate safety measures when you are dry firing - most importantly no ammo in the room, and a backstop that will stop rounds.