Some more thoughts on the Glock 19
Those of you that follow my posts know that my luck with automatics is pretty terrible. I had been though quite a few and had quite a few failures. This led me to the Ruger SP-101 as a EDC that I have been (and still am) quite happy with. I recently purchased a Gen 4 Glock 19 to fill a few roles that I felt the SP-101 did not fill as well as I would like. Mainly I wanted something with a bit higher capacity for travelling to higher threat level areas. I also wanted something to shoot in rifle/pistol competitions as well as something for night stand duty. When I first got the G19 I planned on carrying it for a bit just to get the feel for it. I didn’t purchase it to replace my EDC, I just wanted something fill in for it if I felt the situation warranted it. But then something strange began to happen. I really liked carrying the G19…
There’s a couple of different reasons why I think I really like carrying the G19 now as opposed to when I first tried it a few years back. First I think is holster and belt choice. When I first tried the G19 “back in the day” I didn’t have a gun belt and I had not found a holster that really worked for me that I thought was comfortable. For me, the flat back holster like the M-Tac and the CBST are the only way to go. I’ve tried many other holsters (even high end stuff like the Pure Kustoms) and for me nothing beats the comfort of the flat back style. It also helps to spread the weight very evenly over a wide area which increases comfort as well.
Part of reason I love my SP-101 and generally tended to shy away from even sub compact autos were that I thought they were “hard to conceal”. Now, let me qualify that. As most of you know I refuse to wear baggy clothing to facilitate concealing a handgun. In the past 3 years I went from 240 pounds to 180 pounds at about 9 percent body fat. I hit the gym 4 times a week, run 4 times a week and eat right. Not trying to sound cocky but I didn’t bust my behind for three years to get in great shape so that I could wear clothes that are too big for me. A wheel gun conceals VERY well on me without having to make any changes to my wardrobe. But then I noticed something about the G19… It concealed pretty well too!
I don’t think the reason that the G19 conceals better now has anything to do with the gun or my clothes. If anything it should conceal worse because I wear more fitted clothes as opposed to the size to big stuff I used to wear when I was 60 pounds heavier. What changed is my perception. When I first tried a G19 I was pretty new to CCW. And I think like most people new to CCW I stressed constantly over any little tiny bit of “printing”. Being able to see ANYTHING under my shirt was totally unacceptable. In my few years of carrying I have relaxed a bit. I understand now that not everyone in public is constantly staring at my right hip to see if I am carrying a gun. That thread that was posted a few weeks back about the studies done about what people notice while in public illustrate this really well. So, yes… when I reach across my body with my right arm or twist my torso at extreme angles the handle shows a little bit. Does it scream “OMG GUN!!!!!” Nope. Does it look like a gun? To me yes but that’s only because I know what it is. I highly highly highly doubt that any normal passerby would even notice that there is something there much less think it was a gun.
I have to admit…. While I know statistically that the majority of civilian self defense shootings are resolved with less than 5 rounds there is something comforting about having 15+1 on tap and another 15 just a reload away. It’s not that I felt poorly armed with my SP-101, it’s that I feel slightly better armed with my G19. I was trying to think of a way to explain it and this is the best I could come up with. I always felt that my 101 would be perfectly adequate for 95 percent of the situations I could possibly find myself in where a handgun would be sufficient. I feel that the G19 is adequate for 99 percent of situations. Is it work lugging around the G19 instead of the 101 for a 4 percent increase? Yes. Mainly because it’s not that much harder to carry. Am I saying that a wheel gun is not adequate protection? Not at all. Only that when I have a choice between carrying more fire power or less firepower and there is no specific reason ( like needing more concealment) to carry less firepower, I see no reason not to opt to carry more.
So…what am I saying? I think I am saying that the G19 is quickly becoming my EDC and my SP-101 is getting moved to deep concealment duty. There’s really nothing I dislike about the G19. It’s a massive amount of fire power in a pretty small package. It’s easy to carry. It’s easy to shoot. It’s stone cold reliable. Overall it’s a great carry gun.
