If you train frequently (and I don't just mean going to the range, I mean taking instructor run courses), I think you can work with most firearms to defend yourself. Some are a bit easier than others. Very few people operate at such a high level that the little differences will really matter.
I notice. That's the point. I put >40k through Glock 9mm then pick up something else and shoot as well or better almost right away. I know the >40k in the Glock has helped make that possible (i.e. general skills learned), but I should shoot the platform with >40k better than the one I just picked up IMO. That's also the point.
I look at the question this way: there's not a thing ergonomically efficient about a baseball bat or a golf club. Neither is optimized for the human hand at all; they're basically round handles with maybe some sort of grip enhancer. Yet people learn to use then and even achieve greatness with them.
But, not all the greats use the same bat. And, many, many more fail in that goal alltogether.
So... let's see if we have this straight. You went with a Glock and even with more than 40K of rounds thru it you admit that you can shoot better with other guns with far less trigger time on them. In fact almost from the moment you pick them up it seems from your story.
Yet despite all the evidence that your body is more in tune with these other platforms you insist on building up and continuing with your Glock commitment?
All I can say is that you've drank so deeply from the Glockade jug that you should be wearing SCUBA gear in order to breath.
If a carpenter picks up a hammer which has a too big, too small or oddly bent handle he doesn't try to keep using it to drive nails despite missing and bending them if there is a better hammer around which works better. The gun is a TOOL. Simple as that.
If you find you can do better with a different brand of tool and that performance matters to you then you'd be crazy to avoid switching simply because of some reputation or expectation for the first tool which never worked out for you.
Umm, yes. Much comment in this poll would support the "you need more practice" or "you need more/better training". Many simply think training/practice can COMPLETELY overcome gun ergos and fit. Hands are different in size, shape, joint flex points, sympathetic action of fingers, etc. The "train/practice more/better" camp says none of this matters. I was in that camp. Over time, I end up with lots of mags, gear, parts and accessories for the Glock 9mm. Then, I'm invested, so I want it to work even more. But, the evidence to the contrary builds up the more different platforms I try.
While I see the "train with it until you are good with it" stance of this discussion it is not where I stand. If you go to a range and rent a firearm, any firearm, and test it out but can't shoot very well with it. You aren't going to look down at the gun and say "Well I should buy it to practice with it until I get better." If you are shooting a rental/loaner/gun other than yours and are terrible it is not going to be much incentive to get your own.
Now on the other hand if you can shoot a rental etc that is accurate you will have a good impression with that firearm and will WANT to practice with it. With the amount of weapons available to everyone, we can afford to be picky and buy what we like. You need a weapon that works with you, not something you have to work at to like.
Starting out, if all the current poly guns existed I don't know I'd have gone Glock. And, yes, I know that says a lot. However, each of the main current poly offerings has things I don't like (e.g. XD grip safety and pinned extractor; S&W rubber insert, pinned extractor and extra parts for mag disconnect (disabled or not); CZ and Sig poly guns are unimpressive IMO; Caracals are still (maybe) up-n-coming, Steyr has not caught on here, etc.). The utilitarian simplicity of the Glock design has always appealed to me and it helped when I was tooling up that the gun, parts, mags and accessories are cheaper than most. And, Glock is "SSP" class in gaming.
I do find it a tad odd that the 19 gives you trouble but the larger Glocks do not. Part of it could be you're so fixated on your trouble with the 19 that every time you go to shoot it you tense up, throwing your shots.
It's the Glock 17, 19 and 26. And, I can't possibly fixate consistenly over 15+ years and >40k rounds. Yes, I know it's me. The gun does what I tell it. The point is I (meaning me, not the gun) don't throw shots the same with other guns. That is speaking more loudly to me more as time goes by.
Thanks all for the comments.
