[alfred10]

With the price of ammo was thinking about training on a Glock 19. I carry a 21 and a 23. Will I be at a loss for doing this?

[1-2man]

I shoot the 17 & 19 a lot more than my carry 21/23/35 but still shoot all of the calibers as much as possible. Not a true break down per se, but I would estimate it 60% 9mm, 40% .40 & 45 per month.

[PattonT]

I feel the complete opposite. If I were to train with a firearm that was quiter and had less recoil then I will produce slower follow up shots and be surprised by my carry weapon in a bad situation. Now I think any pistol training is better than none, but I also think the more rounds I put through my everyday carry weapon the more confident I am.

[lyodbraun]

I shoot my carry weapon,Glock 30SF, more than my other guns including my new Range Gun which is a G34, but here lately I been stocking up on 9mm so I can shoot it more when going to the range... but no matter what I shoot I still shoot my G30 the best...

[Bruce M]

My guess is that some can improve their skills more than adequately by shooting a smaller caliber. Apparently over the years some have even been taught fairly effectively by using a .22 rifle and/or .22 pistol.

That said I would guess that when the goal is to reduce the size of the average group by 1/2 inch at 25 yards or to reduce the time between shots by a fraction of a second practice with the bigger caliber is more important than when the goal is to reduce the size of the groups from nine inches to five inches at twelve yards. But that is just a guess.

[barth]

A few hours ago I fired 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP.
Shot 1 Glock, 1 Sig Sauer and 2 Heckler & Koch pistols.
Try to cycle through all my carry guns regularly.

But I favor the HK45C and always shoot that gun.
And have been shooting more 45 ACP than anything else.

Strangely I actually do the opposite.
Train mostly with a 45.
And carry five days a week a Glock G27 40-9mm.
The 45 is my weekend gun.

Never pretended to be mainstream.

[remington79]

I'm going to get a G19 to practice with. Right now I use my wife's 19 for GSSF but I carry a G30. I figure you can practice drawing and firing and work on your form more with 9mm being so cheap. I figure I will shoot the 9 more but make it a point to still fire the 30 to stay used to how that pistol shoots. The nice thing is the controls and triggers are the same.

[Raleigh Glocker]

Train with whatever you will shoot most, and carry whatever you will carry most. If they are the same pistol, great. If not, no big deal as long as you do some of your training with your carry piece using your carry ammo.

It is easy to get lulled into the fantasy that real world engagements go down like an IDPA match. Things like fractions of a second between follow up shots aren't going to matter as much as where you put them, for example. The fundamentals are the same whether you're shooting a G19 or a G23.

Unless you're switching from a 380 to a 44 magnum, you won't be surprised by any recoil differences between your training pistol and your carry pistol if you're actually using it to defend yourself. Under stress, you probably won't notice anything about recoil, noise, how many shots you took, etc. That part of your brain is out of the "fight or flight" loop.

[SJ 40]

I think it better to dance with the one you brung but that's just me and my girl. SJ 40

[Weste]

Back in the dark ages we practiced with 38 Special and carried .357 Mag duty loads. We saw the error of our ways and began practicing with equivalent power ammo, although we mostly used ball ammo for practice and qualification, using our duty ammo once a year to rotate our ammo. I think this is still a good practice.

[Inebriated]

I only shoot 9mm these days. I can't really afford to feed my .45's, so until I get my reloading setup ready, I'll continue to shoot/carry 9mm, because I'm just getting practice.

I do shoot my Glock 21 better than any other gun, though.

[PattonT]

I'm going against what I said earlier, I can't feel a difference between shooting a G19 compared to a G23.

[uplinker]

I carry a 23 but shoot more 9mm, but then again I also shoot USPSA with a 34 so I tend to train with it more. I take a couple of the 40 cal Glocks to the range one out of three trips. 50/50 ball and defensive. Seems to work for me.

[BigOdin]

I carry a G23 and practice with a G19 mostly. My trigger control has improved quite a bit and I can see the difference in accuracy when I shoot the G23. My issued G23 has over 4500 rounds through it in 12 months. My G19 has about twice that!

[Gallium]

I shoot 9mm to work out the kinks in how I get to my gun while running to cover, fixing feed issues, malfunction drills/etc. None of that stuff needs 45GAP JHPs or .357SIG JHPs.

[TomAiello]

Originally Posted by PattonT

I feel the complete opposite. If I were to train with a firearm that was quiter and had less recoil then I will produce slower follow up shots and be surprised by my carry weapon in a bad situation.

Do you train with your carry ammo? Isn't that expensive?

I carry Winchester Ranger 127 +p+ in my G19. It has noticeably more noise, recoil and muzzle blast than the cheap FMJ I use for training/practice.

The difference between the cheap training ammo I use in my G19 and the carry ammo for it is at least as much as the difference between the cheap training ammo and either my G21 or G23 carry ammo.

[PattonT]

I have tested a lot of my SD ammo but I mostly shoot medium-full power 180gr FMJ reloads. The velocity and pressure should be the same as my SD ammo. I have reloaded some Speer GD but they aren't for SD.

[ADK_40GLKr]

g27 for carry.
G27/26 LWD conversion for practice

Later added a G17 for IDPA.

Originally INTENDED to practice with 9 and carry .40 but...

Each pistol FEELS different.

So I've been doing a bunch of shooting .40 with the 27 and am feeling much more comfortable with it.

I will try to achieve the next level in IDPA with the 17 first, and then go back and follow up with the 27.

Sometimes I just shoot what I feel like at the time!

Did that answer your question?

[Kentucky Shooter]

I dont think it can hurt a thing as long as you mix in a little training with your 21-- i have both the 19 and 21. They feel similar enough-we are not talking a radical difference here as if you were switching between 2 totally different platforms.

[Bruce M]

Hey I just noticed who started this thread! Welcome back.

[banger]

In my opinion, all practice is good, regardless of the caliber.

In fact, rarely am I able to tell the difference in recoil except when going to the extremes, (.22 lr or .44 mag.), or fire side by side.

However, this is probably the result of a misspent youth on numerous firing ranges.

[BuckyP]

Not necessarily train, but I compete with 9mm and downloaded .40, but carry a G30. Should be noted that I carry the G30 because the 19/23 feels very awkward in my hand and pinches me, so it wasn't a caliber choice as much as a comfort / shoot-ability (to me) choice.

Originally Posted by banger

In my opinion, all practice is good, regardless of the caliber.

This. Shoot enough, and the transition between calibers (even platforms) is negligible IMO.

[9mmdude]

I have been training more with my .40's than I used too. I carry a 9mm.

[Arc Angel]

I (alternately) carry both a G-19, and a G-21. I shoot the 21 better; but, over time, I've learned to shoot the smaller compact frame Model 19 almost as well. So, I'm going to have to say that there is a certain crossover value. An old gunman once told me to learn to shoot any firearm I pick up; and to never get overly used to just one gun.

Sometimes I carry one of my beautiful old S&W revolvers. After years of participating in PPC matches I shoot double-action very effectively; but I usually carry semiautomatic pistols. Why? Because I'm not Jerry Miculek. I have less front sight disruption, as well as a higher rate and quantity of fire!

In my opinion you should teach yourself to easily switch back and forth between 9mm, and 45 ACP pistols. You've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

[SGT278ACR]

My house gun is a G22 with Hornady Critical Defense .40S&W ammo. But when I go to the range I only shoot 50 rounds of .40 then change it to 9mm with a LWD 40-9 barrel for the rest of the range session. My carry is a G26 with Hornady Critical Defense also. Have practiced with that ammo before, but usually at the range just shoot whatever FMJ 115gr that Wal-Mart has in stock. Usually Federal Champion. Sometimes TulAmmo.