Been in a situation with your collection that you didn't expect? End up with a collection vastly different from the direction you started in? Share the tale! Here's mine:
I hate poly guns. I mean on a personal level -- I've said it before and I'll say it again: I prefer the feel of my Colt 1911 and BHP over a poly gun any day of the week. On top of that, I'm a rifle guy normally. The only reason I ended up with a poly gun was because I started doing tactical pistol shoots at a local range and my dad gave me his Glock 19 to use on indefinite loan. I hated it. I hated the grip size, I hated the angle of the grip, I hated the texture... (note, the quality of the Glock is excellent, but that wasn't the issue). But I was stuck with it or I'd have to buy a new gun to replace it.
One day I decided I was going to get back into pin shoots. I looked at a 1911 to nail the pins, but I ended up catching the .357sig fever, figuring it'd be a good pin round and would be good for self defense. I was looking into a new carry firearm as well (because I didn't trust my PF-9) and wanted to either get 1 versatile firearm, or invest in 2 different ones. A 1911 would be nice for pin shoots, but wouldn't be a good CCW firearm for me, so I hit on the S&W M&P line. Good rep. Could get it in .40 and just get a .357sig barrel. Inexpensive. But... plastic. I liked it at the range... shot very well.. was comfortable... Decisions, decisions...
Well, I was working a gun show, demoing my software -- which gave me a lot of time to wander around the other tables. I kept running into the crew at one large table and chatted away with them. They offered me an M&P40 Fullsize or an M&P45 Compact at very, very, very good deals each. Not only did he have only 1 of 3 40 Fullsizes at the show, he had the only 45 Compact there.
I decided on the compact because I could do tactical shoots, pin shoots and ccw it. As soon as I walked back to my table to wait for the background check to go through, I felt remorse. Knowing I could get a .357 sig barrel AND a 9mm barrel for the M&P40 Fullsize made it a wonderful pin, tactical, Open Carry, SHTF versatile firearm. So I did the only reasonable thing I could do and walked right back to the table to have them put the second firearm on the same background check because I was going to get both.
I suddenly went from 1 tactical poly gun to 2.
OK, so it cost me the same as a basic Colt Govt 1911 but I had 2 excellent pistols to fill every possible need. Well, until summer time came and after carrying my PF-9, the M&P45c was just more difficult to carry CCW comfortably for me. I wanted something smaller but as reliable when I was in shorts and t-shirt, or that I could toss into the small console in my car, etc. After doing research, the M&P Shield 40 seemed to fit the bill (especially since you can shoot 9mm in it, if you do a barrel/mag swap). So i got one. Somehow I ended up with 3 tactical poly guns.
Before, if you asked me what I'd have multiples of, my answer would have been "None. I don't copy or overlap." But I love the M&P series -- especially since I found Talon Grip to solve my issue of hating the texture/slickness of the grips.
But here's the weirdest part for me:
I own a BHP and a Colt 1911 now. I love them both. In fact, they're what I use at the range 90% of the time because nothing else is as much fun, comfortable and accurate (I always shoot left with every poly gun I've ever shot, so it's definitely me) to me as them. Despite that, I did a mental checklist of what order I'd ever get rid of first if I needed to (for bills, to get a different firearm, whatever reason) and this was my list with 1 being the one I would keep if I could only have 1 and ending with the last being "anyone wanna make me an offer?"
Ruger MK III. it's the only pistol my Fiance will shoot (she's new to the sport and she's getting comfortable with .22s first). As it is the only way I can share my hobby with her, it would technically be #1. Plus I feel everyone should own a .22 because it's only pocket change to practice with. So even if my GF would shoot my other stuff, it'd still be very high on the list -- especially since it's an excellent gun
Let's pretend it's not on the list though.
*M&P Shield -- If I had to pick 1 CCW firearm, it'd be this. Good enough for most Fullsize work too. If they make a Shield in .45, It'd MAYBE replace my 40. If they made it in .357, it'd be tempting too.
*M&P40 Fullsize - I CAN CCW it if needed, in a Comp-Tac CTAC holster, and with a .357sig and 9mm barrel I have a huge range of options for defensive ammo, during SHTF, or just looking for the cheapest ammo available. Has the most capacity and is easy to shoot. Might consider swapping for the M&P40 Compact since I could use the same mags and would only lose a little barrel.
Browning Hi-Power -- My favorite pistol. Fits my hand perfectly, with Pachmyer rubber grips. I'm the most accurate with it out of all my pistols and is just pure awesome fun. But weight and being 9mm prevent it from being higher. One note though: I'd get rid of it sooner in order to get a newer model (mine is a 1990 with the old target sights that are very high), but that's not really part of the list's purpose.
Colt gov't 1911 - Only 7 rounds and being as heavy as it is just makes it a far less practical for me. I love my 1911 but...
M&P45c - awesome .45. My dad is a huge 1911 fan and he was amazed with this gun as it doesn't feel like it's a .45. It got his approval. Shame he blew up my M&P45c with one of his bad reloads and I had to replace it. But.. But.. it's not a Colt 1911. And that makes it cheaper to replace
PF-9 - finish wore off within days where part of the slide touched my skin in an old holster I had, plus it had lots of Failures to feed when using +P. Relegated to being the pistol used to fight my way to a real pistol to fight my way to my rifle in the house
So my top 2 on the list are poly guns. They have asterisks beside them as the final position would depend on whether I'd be focused on a daily carry or a versatile firearm and would probably come down to the amount of money offered between them. The edge would be to keep the Shield. And my favorite toy, the BHP, beats out the 1911 -- though that was damn tough to decide on too.
I hate poly guns. I mean on a personal level -- I've said it before and I'll say it again: I prefer the feel of my Colt 1911 and BHP over a poly gun any day of the week. On top of that, I'm a rifle guy normally. The only reason I ended up with a poly gun was because I started doing tactical pistol shoots at a local range and my dad gave me his Glock 19 to use on indefinite loan. I hated it. I hated the grip size, I hated the angle of the grip, I hated the texture... (note, the quality of the Glock is excellent, but that wasn't the issue). But I was stuck with it or I'd have to buy a new gun to replace it.
One day I decided I was going to get back into pin shoots. I looked at a 1911 to nail the pins, but I ended up catching the .357sig fever, figuring it'd be a good pin round and would be good for self defense. I was looking into a new carry firearm as well (because I didn't trust my PF-9) and wanted to either get 1 versatile firearm, or invest in 2 different ones. A 1911 would be nice for pin shoots, but wouldn't be a good CCW firearm for me, so I hit on the S&W M&P line. Good rep. Could get it in .40 and just get a .357sig barrel. Inexpensive. But... plastic. I liked it at the range... shot very well.. was comfortable... Decisions, decisions...
Well, I was working a gun show, demoing my software -- which gave me a lot of time to wander around the other tables. I kept running into the crew at one large table and chatted away with them. They offered me an M&P40 Fullsize or an M&P45 Compact at very, very, very good deals each. Not only did he have only 1 of 3 40 Fullsizes at the show, he had the only 45 Compact there.
I decided on the compact because I could do tactical shoots, pin shoots and ccw it. As soon as I walked back to my table to wait for the background check to go through, I felt remorse. Knowing I could get a .357 sig barrel AND a 9mm barrel for the M&P40 Fullsize made it a wonderful pin, tactical, Open Carry, SHTF versatile firearm. So I did the only reasonable thing I could do and walked right back to the table to have them put the second firearm on the same background check because I was going to get both.
I suddenly went from 1 tactical poly gun to 2.
OK, so it cost me the same as a basic Colt Govt 1911 but I had 2 excellent pistols to fill every possible need. Well, until summer time came and after carrying my PF-9, the M&P45c was just more difficult to carry CCW comfortably for me. I wanted something smaller but as reliable when I was in shorts and t-shirt, or that I could toss into the small console in my car, etc. After doing research, the M&P Shield 40 seemed to fit the bill (especially since you can shoot 9mm in it, if you do a barrel/mag swap). So i got one. Somehow I ended up with 3 tactical poly guns.
Before, if you asked me what I'd have multiples of, my answer would have been "None. I don't copy or overlap." But I love the M&P series -- especially since I found Talon Grip to solve my issue of hating the texture/slickness of the grips.
But here's the weirdest part for me:
I own a BHP and a Colt 1911 now. I love them both. In fact, they're what I use at the range 90% of the time because nothing else is as much fun, comfortable and accurate (I always shoot left with every poly gun I've ever shot, so it's definitely me) to me as them. Despite that, I did a mental checklist of what order I'd ever get rid of first if I needed to (for bills, to get a different firearm, whatever reason) and this was my list with 1 being the one I would keep if I could only have 1 and ending with the last being "anyone wanna make me an offer?"
Ruger MK III. it's the only pistol my Fiance will shoot (she's new to the sport and she's getting comfortable with .22s first). As it is the only way I can share my hobby with her, it would technically be #1. Plus I feel everyone should own a .22 because it's only pocket change to practice with. So even if my GF would shoot my other stuff, it'd still be very high on the list -- especially since it's an excellent gun
Let's pretend it's not on the list though.*M&P Shield -- If I had to pick 1 CCW firearm, it'd be this. Good enough for most Fullsize work too. If they make a Shield in .45, It'd MAYBE replace my 40. If they made it in .357, it'd be tempting too.
*M&P40 Fullsize - I CAN CCW it if needed, in a Comp-Tac CTAC holster, and with a .357sig and 9mm barrel I have a huge range of options for defensive ammo, during SHTF, or just looking for the cheapest ammo available. Has the most capacity and is easy to shoot. Might consider swapping for the M&P40 Compact since I could use the same mags and would only lose a little barrel.
Browning Hi-Power -- My favorite pistol. Fits my hand perfectly, with Pachmyer rubber grips. I'm the most accurate with it out of all my pistols and is just pure awesome fun. But weight and being 9mm prevent it from being higher. One note though: I'd get rid of it sooner in order to get a newer model (mine is a 1990 with the old target sights that are very high), but that's not really part of the list's purpose.
Colt gov't 1911 - Only 7 rounds and being as heavy as it is just makes it a far less practical for me. I love my 1911 but...
M&P45c - awesome .45. My dad is a huge 1911 fan and he was amazed with this gun as it doesn't feel like it's a .45. It got his approval. Shame he blew up my M&P45c with one of his bad reloads and I had to replace it. But.. But.. it's not a Colt 1911. And that makes it cheaper to replace
PF-9 - finish wore off within days where part of the slide touched my skin in an old holster I had, plus it had lots of Failures to feed when using +P. Relegated to being the pistol used to fight my way to a real pistol to fight my way to my rifle in the house
So my top 2 on the list are poly guns. They have asterisks beside them as the final position would depend on whether I'd be focused on a daily carry or a versatile firearm and would probably come down to the amount of money offered between them. The edge would be to keep the Shield. And my favorite toy, the BHP, beats out the 1911 -- though that was damn tough to decide on too.
