Bringing The Right Gun to Your Training Class
In a 3- to 5-day class, you’ll be doing a lot of this, and you’ll appreciate the room for hands, recoil absorption and full-size controls.
Imagine a person’s complete understanding of a car came from what they have seen on TV or the internet. This indirect exposure has formed their complete opinion. That person then decides to go buy a car, never having sat in one, never having learned how it worked and never having taken a driver’s education class. That person then took it from the showroom floor onto the expressway. Do any problems come to mind? Yes, firearms and defensive training is that important.
Training With The Right Gear
Once you’ve realized the need for proper training and invested the time and money to schedule it, it’s important to optimize that investment, making the training experience a good one. During my time instructing and various discussions on my 303 Tactical Podcast, one problem seems to come up often: What is the best gun to bring to a training event?
You really want to make sure you bring the right-sized gun to your class. By “right-sized,” I mean a standard-size pistol. My reference gun will be a GLOCK 17 or in some cases even a GLOCK 19. Of course, similar-sized pistols of alternate brands will work just as well. If you are thinking, “Wait, I have a small pocket-sized .380 pistol that I plan to carry. Isn’t that good enough?” Hold that thought …
The GLOCK 43 (left) is a great carry gun, but for a comprehensive
class, the GLOCK 17 (right) is the way to go.
Weight Matters
It’s common for a comprehensive training class to last three to five days. During that time, you’re likely to shoot somewhere between 700 and 1,000 rounds. This kind of volume takes a surprising toll on the shooter.
Sometimes people feel if they have smaller hands, that they are going to want a smaller pistol. Those shooters think with the smaller grip and the smaller size, it will be easier for them to control the recoil. In most cases, the exact opposite is true. Compact guns like GLOCK 48s and 43s are by nature light in weight. Weight in a full-size gun is one of the primary factors helping to mitigate some of the felt recoil. In a five-day class, with over a thousand rounds fired, you will want all the recoil mitigation you can get. Those shooters also find the smaller grip does not provide enough surface area for them to build a proper grip, leading to a lack of control.
Smaller Size, Sub- optimal Operations
Another drawback to compact pistols is their round capacity. Many of these guns, based on the caliber, only have a 10-round magazine or even less. Not many of us have a double-digit number collection of sub-compact magazines, which is one problem. Another is spending much of your time packing the limited number of magazines you do have full of bullets. More magazine loading time might also cause you to feel like you are behind, forcing you to rush. That, in turn, may cause you to miss training evolutions or, in the worst case, lead to safety risks.
Not only do these smaller guns have a smaller size and reduced magazine capacity, but they are built proportionally. Sometimes this means things on this gun are reduced in size, including the controls you are going to use (a lot!) to operate the pistol. Smaller magazine releases and slide stops, along with a smaller surface area, are not generally what is best for a class where a lot of manipulation of your pistol is going to occur.
Wear & Tear On The Human
Probably the biggest drawback I see with the subcompact guns is the wear they cause on the shooter. You cannot go to an extended class without getting some form of a boo-boo. Whether it’s blisters, minor scrapes, or skin irritation, it is all common in an extended class. Some of these micro guns, to give the shooter more control, come with sharper edges and more aggressive texturing, which leads to even more of the above mentioned injuries and just makes your training experience less than desirable.
The Solution
You should absolutely train with your smaller gun but don’t use it for your first “full” class. Get a good foundation with a standard-sized pistol, then seek out classes that train you on working from concealment and are more suited for sub-compact guns. These classes generally have a lower round count and are more about drawing from concealment safely and effectively. This is different than a basic class, which is all about getting good repetitions and building good shooting habits. Many of the concealed carry classes require you to have some formalized training before even attending these classes, so keep that in mind.
Selecting the right pistol for your class will not only make your experience more enjoyable; it will also help optimize your time and money investment.
