THe G19 is a very reliable firearm. I knew a fellow who was in harms way overseas alot in the 90’s and he carried a 17 and 19. Many times he was forced to use crappy foreign surplus ammo of dubious quality, and the gun never failed to function.
I don’t care for the way it fits my hand, plus I’m a revolver and 1911 fan.
Tell us some more about this .357 you inherited... :)
I’m always interested in reading comments about guns and what people like to carry and shoot. I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments from everyone here.
I came at the carry issue from perhaps a slightly different perspective. If I had to use a handgun in self defense, I wanted the first shot to be as devastating as reasonably possible. I decided that meant a .45.
I started out carrying a Taurus PT-145 in a belly band. That worked fine, but I was unhappy about how accurate I was. My #2 son who has shot IPSA matches for 20 years didn’t have any problem with the gun, but compared to him, I really stunk. Embarrassingly so.
My #3 son has carried a 1911 Kimber for a long time. He demonstrated that he really didn’t have a problem concealing a big 1911...even with jeans and a T-shirt. So...when I ran across a bargain used Para Ordnance Nite-Tac, I bought it. I was much more satisfied with my accuracy with this gun, but Lord it’s heavy with 15 rounds in it...about 54 ounces if I remember correctly. A nylon shoulder holster worked pretty well, but I ended up being happier with my own Rube Goldberg rig...a wide polypropylene belt, Blackhawk holster and double nylon magazine carrier supported by wide strong Lowe’s work suspenders. You wouldn’t notice all this when I’m wearing a loose shirt or jacket.
The downside of the double stack Para for me turned out to be the lack of a Crimson Trace laser that would fit. Since the premises here are an estrogen free zone, I talked this issue over with my handsome Bengal tomcat. We decide that I had to have a single stack 1911 and maybe one with a lighter frame. I fell for a S&W Scandium framed Gunsite edition 1911PD and added Crimson Trace laser grips. A HS classmate who is a gunsmith worked on the springs and didn’t have to do any honing to get a 3.5 pound trigger. I love this gun.
The fact that the Luddites at the IDPA won’t let me use the laser sight should tell you something. I suspect that you have much finer control putting that red dot on a target than is possible for most with a sight picture. The three who have shot my S&W were surprised that they were more accurate with the S&W than their own guns. I highly recommend laser sights. They are expensive, but I think you will be very pleased with the result.
While the discussion here has been about automatics, I’m surprised no one has mentioned super light titanium or Scandium framed .38s. The sheriff here doesn’t wear a uniform all the time and carries a titanium Taurus under a sport coat. You do have to be careful with +P ammo...a light grip can get you torn skin.
I shoot these .45s quite a bit with 2 of my sons. Reloading with semi-wad cutters gets the cost down to 11 cents/round which beats the hell out of Walmart white box Winchesters at 32 cents/round.
No matter what automatic you shoot, I think this Todd Jarrett lesson will help you. It sure helped me.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4584332856867071363