17 Apr 18
Carry Pistols:
I just acquired a copy of the CZ P10C, which I plan on carrying (concealed) for the next few months, maybe longer.
The P10C is CZ’s version of the G19
It’s a nice pistol! Right size for concealed carry (for people of appropriate stature and hand-size) and very well made.
I shot a copy in January at the SHOT Show, and liked it. Price is competitive, so they’re selling well in the currently crowded market of eligible, serious pistols.
I’m right-handed and usually carry concealed pistols, frequently in Comp-Tac IWB holsters, on my right side, just to the rear of my iliac. But, what follows below applies to appendix carry as well.
“Ambidexterity” some pistol-makers regard as necessary as they aspire to be “modern and trendy.” But, important controls on the right side (outside) of the pistol as it is carried on the waist, are a bad idea!
Important controls like manual safety levers and magazine-release buttons should not be exposed to the outside.
When these two important controls face to the outside as the pistol is carried, unhappy outcomes are likely!
Of course, the CZ P10C doesn’t have a manual safety lever, but it does “feature” magazine-release buttons (in the conventional position) on both sides of the pistol.
The problem is this:
When I get knocked on my fanny and land hard on my right side, the impact may release the magazine, so that when I recover and draw my pistol, I discover to my chagrin that I’m holding a one-shooter!
Design engineers and marketing people (most of whom don’t even own a gun, much less carry one) apparently don’t think about eventualities like that!
So, I asked my gunsmith to do this to my P10C in order to get it ready for me to carry it on a daily basis:
1) With his grinder, he reduced the magazine-release button on the right side of the pistol to the point where it is
non-functional.
2) He got rid of the slide-lock lever on the right side of the pistol. I don’t use it, and I don’t want it there!
3) He rounded-off the trigger-guard, making a smooth profile and getting rid of the “hump.”
Some manufacturers are attracted to “square” trigger-guards (some even with “humps,” like the P10C), because some competitive shooters employ a grip where there support-side index finger wraps around the front of the trigger-guard.
That grip may “work” when shooting play guns and play ammunition.
But, with real guns and high-performance ammunition, the finger doesn’t stay there under recoil.
In addition, a finger wrapped-around the front of the trigger-guard pulls the front sight down and out of sight.
Thus, for serious shooting, and training for serious shooting, the “finger-wrap” technique is not recommended.
Though it does not apply to the CZ, a manual safety lever on the outside as the pistol is carried, is easily, inadvertently brushed to the “off” position, during normal activity, without the gun-carrier being aware.
Thus, not recommended!
Though I don’t like my name involved, my gunsmith is incorrigible is describing the foregoing at the “Farnam Treatment.”
My gunsmith performed all the surgery described in a single afternoon, and charged me $30.00.
Operators who carry on a daily bases need to think these things through thoroughly, even when gun-manufacturers don’t!
/John
