Something many folks do not consider. Weight matters and can play hell on a spinal column. Maybe that is one reason, I carry light. About 20 years ago, I slipped a disc really bad. Worst pain in the world. Actually so bad, I had considered suicide. Horrific pain. Lost my job, house etc. Thankfully God intervened and brought along a great surgeon. No pain since. But I do not forget and I carry light. I will accept less rounds for light weight. However when I accepted the fact that I was going to carry light, like a Pocket gun or Micro 9mm many years ago, I became determined to master it. Now 10 yrs of shooting them religiously. Thousands of rounds down range, many drills, many trips to the range. There is a flip side to everything and life is full of Compromises. I am content with a good Pocket gun or Micro 9mm. I know the limitations and I know my skill set. Life is good.
Glad you overcame it and have adjusted well.
Yeah, listening to a lot of folks, both private /CCW and cops, it seems that when a lot of them opt for a pocket-holstered weapon they accept that they won't be able to shoot it ...
or effectively use it ... as well as whatever larger weapons are being replaced by the smaller one.
Well, if smaller weapons ask more of us (more recoil, smaller grip, shorter & faster cycling slides requiring enhanced grip, etc), we probably ought to step up and make ourselves capable of delivering it. Just because we wish to compromise on size and weight, that doesn't necessarily mean we must choose to compromise on being able to use them under stress and duress.
When I first made the transition from carrying my 4" revolvers and Commander off-duty, to a J-frame, I knew that I was giving up size of the grip, weight of the weapon (to absorb recoil) and some capacity. (Going from 6 & 7rds down to 5rs.) I started carrying the smaller J-frames to official situations, too, meaning to court, meetings and training.
However, just because I was planning my activities in lower threats assessment environments, that didn't preclude me from finding myself in a high risk/deadly force force situation. That being the case, that meant I had to better prepare myself to be able to effectively "fight" with the smaller revolver (and later, smaller pistols). That meant more range time.
In subsequent years, when I again returned to desiring to carry a small revolver, I'd been appointed to our firearms training staff, which meant I had a LOT more access to range time, targets, training, drills/practice, etc ... at a LE-Only range (which opened the possibilities of the training and practice methods available). Since I was not only returning to carrying 5-shot snubs after about a 10 year sabbatical, but was also ordering and using my first Airweight (642-1), I invested a lot of time and effort in dusting off my revolver skills. I vaguely remember having used up at least a couple cases of .38Spl & .38Spl +P re-familiarizing myself with the J-frame ... and using a training inventory 640 (a .38Spl, but marked as approved for +P+ in the frame window) to burn up a case or so of some 110gr +P+ donated to our range by another agency (who had just transitioned from duty revolvers to pistols).
That reawakened my interest in the attributes and practicalities of the venerable J-frame. Especially in the Airweight lines. My collection of J's started to grow, and I was carrying one or another of them off-duty. When I was attending meetings and serving as an instructor on s statewide committee that had me attending seminars and conferences up and down the state, I was now able to dress for summer heat while pocket-holstering a 642 in my dress slacks. Nowadays it means I can sit quite comfortably in the differently framed chairs and and other seating at my private cigar club, and during long road trips.
I still make sure that at least one of the honorably retired peace officer CCW and LEOSA weapons I use for quals is one of my J's. Like I've used my S&W 3.25"/6+1rd CS45 for the pistol quals, or a G27, or one of my other smaller/lighter (but harder recoiling) pistol, to ask the most of myself when running the qual courses-of-fire. Or one of my LCP's. Sure, using one of my 9's is generally an easier task, as is using one of my 5" 1911's, but challenging myself is still of interest, if only to demonstrate to myself that I'm still in the fight against the inevitable ravages of normal aging (and prior injuries, etc).
As with many other interests, pursuits and physical activities ... when it comes to shooting, youth
really is unappreciated, and wasted, on the young.