“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised”
Chinua Achebe
Serious vs Silly!
The glossiest ads in gun-rags these days are devoted to promoting glitzy pistols with “features” that degrade their usefulness as serious personal defensive weapons.
Of course, many acquire pistols for non-serious purposes. I get it!
Yet for Operators, such compromises of sincerity represent non-starters.
Three such pointless compromises stand out:
1) Barrel porting/venting
2) Slots cut through the slide forward of the ejection port.
3) Bulky “magazine funnels” at the base of the grip.
Barrel-porting at a pistol’s muzzle is added ostensibly to counterbalance muzzle-rise associated with discharge. Manufacturers of such port-equipped pistols naively assume you’ll only shoot with your pistol extended at arm’s length!
However, during close-range/contact encounters, when the pistol is fired as it is being held close to the shooter’s body, hot gasses will be expelled from the port directly into the shooter’s torso, causing burns, sometimes gas-cuts.
Such “porting” are thus ill-advised for serious pistols, and is thus not allowed at any of my Defensive Pistol Courses.
Cutting through-and-through slots (or other shapes) into a pistol’s slide forward of the ejection port (exposing the barrel underneath) is done supposedly to reduce weight. The downside is that these holes become entry-points for grit and mud!
Out “in the field,” most modern pistols will continue to run, despite “field conditions” and continuous lack of maintenance. Yet, fairly inviting grit, dust, and even mud into the interior of your serious pistol seems like a pretty silly idea to me!
Serious pistols, which we Operators faithfully carry (concealed), day-in and day-out, need to be powerful enough to stop lethal aggression, but still compact, smooth, slick, and fast!
Adding needless bulk, as well as sharp corners, edges, and maladroit snags to a serious pistol is thus contraindicated.
An “extended” this, or “enlarged” that, adds unnecessary bulk and will snag on clothing at inopportune moments. An exaggerated magazine funnel, for example, is of dubious usefulness and adds needless weight and bulk, while compromising concealment.
I advise my students at the end of their training segment, “It is my sincerest wish that
you’ve all wasted your money and never have to use any of the lethal skills you’ve learned and practiced here”
We Operators carry (concealed) lethal weapons in the genuine hope they will never see the light of day!
Yet, when facing sanguinary death at the hands of violent felons, we want every advantage working in our favor. Carrying compromised pistols, designed and intended for non-serious purposes, would appear not to be in our best interests!
“Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval”
Thomas Monson
/John
