2 of the same gun?

[other dave]

Makes perfect sense to me!

 

[DocIndy]

One for the left hand and one for the right?

 

[Amishman44]

I took a firearms training course over the weekend and the instructor said something that I had never really thought about, but make sense.

He highly recommended that you have TWO of whatever gun you carry. One exclusively for practice and one exclusively for carry. His reasoning is that you need to practice a lot to be good with your CCW and that wears out parts of your gun. Therefore you should not carry the gun you practice with as it would be more likely to have a broken part (ex. sheared off extractor)

So...obviously, it costs money to have two of the same gun. But I am wondering how many of you out there actually DO have two of the same gun for exclusive carry/practice use.

Understandable thinking...however, I would rather carry the gun I practice with and carry a BUG as well. My current EDC is a Glock 36 (no BUG available), but prior to that, I carried a Glock 23 for years...and, occasionally, a G-27 on the ankle.

I sort of have 2 of the same gun. I carry a Glock 19, and also have a Glock 32 that is .357Sig. I also have 40S&W and 9mm conversion barrels for it, so I do have a nearly identical gun to my carry piece. I don't necessarily do it for practice / carry as much as just commonality in controls so I don't have to constantly be retraining my brain how to run the gun.

I think its a good concept to consider, but I'm personally not sold on it for a few reasons:

1) Unless you shoot A TON of rounds each year (like 10's of thousands) you probably aren't going to wear out your gun.
2) Having put several thousand rounds through my G19, I know it functions and I know I can depend on it. If I never shot it I might not be as confident in it.

The flip side of that could be that having a practice gun that you shoot most of the time, but still put a few hundred rounds a year through your carry gun could be a nice balance.

I have a Glock 23 and a Glock 19...both Gen II's, which I absolutely love! I picked up a Storm Lake 9mm conversion barrel and, for a while, had two of the 'same' gun...inter-changable everything except barrels.

Then I got my G-36...

 

[IndyGlockMan]

Works for me.
I've been on the hunt for a couple more glock 19's (when budget allows) to have around the house/car/etc...
Wouldn't mind having 3 or 4 of them.
the G19 is definitely my go to/high confidence gun.

 

[Jackson]

I have 3 copies of my carry gun. Several years ago I was shooting enough to wear one out and a trigger component broke. I then bought a second. An ammo related issue damaged the second. I sent both of those to Glock for repair and bought a third. I mainly use the third as a receiver to support a 22 conversion now. I am a firm believer in having a spare if you shoot a lot.

I don't practice with my carry magazines either. I run them enough to be confident in their functionality, but mags get damgaed, dirty, and worn out in practice. I have dedicated practice mags for that.

I also think it's a good idea to have two identical holsters. I've broken holsters in trining classes. And a Blue gun copy of your pistol is a good idea if you do a lot of training beyond just standing and punching paper.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I Have two of several types of guns. One of the best reasons is for training classes. It would suck to have a CZ or 1911 break during a training class and end the day.

 

[bwframe]

...There are several reasons to have multiples of the same gun, but in my opinion, not putting rounds through your carry gun isn't one of them. I'd much rather have a tried and true workhorse in my holster...

Agreed lots of reasons that a second gun might be needed. Think about it, Police confiscate your handgun...

 

[VERT]

I have 3 copies of my carry gun. Several years ago I was shooting enough to wear one out and a trigger component broke. I then bought a second. An ammo related issue damaged the second. I sent both of those to Glock for repair and bought a third. I mainly use the third as a receiver to support a 22 conversion now. I am a firm believer in having a spare if you shoot a lot.

I don't practice with my carry magazines either. I run them enough to be confident in their functionality, but mags get damgaed, dirty, and worn out in practice. I have dedicated practice mags for that.

I also think it's a good idea to have two identical holsters. I've broken holsters in trining classes. And a Blue gun copy of your pistol is a good idea if you do a lot of training beyond just standing and punching paper.

Yeah carry mags are different from range mags. Then every so often I replace the carry mag with a new one. Training classes I now take an extra gun and holster. I don't worry so much that they are identical though.

 

[Birds Away]

That's an understatement. You are the poster child of owning multiples of the same basic gun.

Man, that must be a very ugly poster.

 

[Birds Away]

I don't practice with my carry magazines either. I run them enough to be confident in their functionality, but mags get damgaed, dirty, and worn out in practice. I have dedicated practice mags for that.

Hmm, I hadn't considered this but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Birds Away]

This is from a while ago and the lineup has changed somewhat. But, I still have nine of the same basic model/design with slight variations.

 

[Foxfire]

Sig P226 in 9mm, one with rail the other without.

 

[Hookeye]

Taurus Instructors recommend having at least a half dozen of the same gun

 

[cedartop]

Taurus Instructors recommend having at least a half dozen of the same gun

 

[Leo]

I think people drastically underestimate how much modern pistols can take. I hit 20,000 rounds in my carry M&P9 somewhere between the second and third year I had it.

There are several reasons to have multiples of the same gun, but in my opinion, not putting rounds through your carry gun isn't one of them. I'd much rather have a tried and true workhorse in my holster than a barely fired pristine pistol still sporting the copper factory lube.

+1 You nailed it. I do not have any long term relationships with poly pistols, but my metal ones have survived multiple thousands over multiple years, some even multiple decades. And I am not OCD about cleaning, just reasonable cleaning and reasonable lube. If a 1911 gets dirty enough to run slow, I'll stop shooting it and clean it.

 

[cedartop]

I took a firearms training course over the weekend and the instructor said something that I had never really thought about, but make sense.

He highly recommended that you have TWO of whatever gun you carry. One exclusively for practice and one exclusively for carry. His reasoning is that you need to practice a lot to be good with your CCW and that wears out parts of your gun. Therefore you should not carry the gun you practice with as it would be more likely to have a broken part (ex. sheared off extractor)

So...obviously, it costs money to have two of the same gun. But I am wondering how many of you out there actually DO have two of the same gun for exclusive carry/practice use.

You could say I have been to a few different instructors, and many of them have this same recommendation.

 

[Leo]

I do not have two of anything, all my 1911's are different, some are stainless, some are blued, some are two tone, some combat sights, some target. . Same with my S&W revolvers, some stainless, some blued, some long barrels, some short, I like diversity

 

[Arthur Dent]

Here's an obvious reason to have two of the same gun: It would look pretty ghetto to be dual wielding two different guns.

 

[VERT]

Here's an obvious reason to have two of the same gun: It would look pretty ghetto to be dual wielding two different guns.

Only guns that can be dual wielded are Walthers, Glocks and M&Ps. Maybe 1911s if you wear a fedora

 

[Jackson]

Only guns that can be dual wielded are Walthers, Glocks and M&Ps. Maybe 1911s if you wear a fedora

Bruce Willis makes dual 1911's look pretty good in Last Man Standing. I think the only guns that can be properly dual wielded are single stacks. They are the only ones that can be reliably reloaded at the same time with two mags in one hand (like Bruce in the movie).