I am very singularly focused. I can multi-task, but when learning I focus on the basics and then move on. When I got my Glock all I wanted to do was learn to shoot it. I wanted to know it inside and out and know as best I could how to work it in the worst case senerio. I started shooting other guns as fun, but never really asked any questions about the guns set up. I have focused mostly on personal defense stories and ideas…ie situational awareness, other techniques like knife fighting and hand to hand stuff, but not so much on rifles or additional parts, accessories for pistols. For example I know some about night sights and flashlights etc, but I have never really researched them or given them any thought.
Last night I read on my personal FB page that this guy(you all know him) sent his gun off to Bowie Tactical for some work. I asked him what he had done and he listed off several things. These are carry guns not tricked out for fun or even compititon, althought I think he does use some in matches. Reading his update made me realize another gap in my knowledge.
Anyway, do you guys modify your carry guns?
I have done very little to my gun. Mostly because I don’t even know what one would do or why.
On my Smith & Wesson M & P, I changed the sights to Heinie and had the APEX trigger installed, but that is it. I did notice a huge difference in the trigger and the sights. Oh and I had the right side slide lock level removed. My grip is very high and sometimes my thumbs would hit that button causing the slide not to lock back when it was out-o-bullets.
The gun runs fine. Great actually. My shots are accurate, I have no trouble with the grip even in wet conditions, and I haven’t had a jam or malfunction in months, which why I haven’t questioned it, but I also thought the factory sights on my Glock were dandy until I shot with better ones.
I know what works for me is what works for me and that is what matters. I am not looking to make changes to my gun per se. I am just looking to expand my knowledge on what is out there and why you chose to or not to do certain things with your carry gun.
I carry a S&W 638 j-frame. I only changed 2 things on it. I put some wood grips on it, because the factory rubber ones would sometimes catch in my pocket, where I carry, and I put some orange sight paint on the front sight.
I considered putting laser grips on the snubbie, but that would not have solved the binding in the pocket issue for me. Also, i personally feel that a laser sight makes you lazy, and will eventually deteriorate your sight acquisition skills.
This is not a condemnation of laser sights, I think they are a boon to the firearms industry, and for some people are a great solution. *I* just don’t want them on *my* firearm.
Ultimately, you should modify your personal carry piece as much or as little as works well for you.
It is your *personal* carry weapon, after all.
Excellent. Thanks for the comment.
Don’t go messing with what works. Sights are usually the only thing I will change out. M&P’s and Glocks work the way they came, they aren’t 1911’s that need to be tweaked. Changing things just makes more things to break.
Okie dokie. Sounds good.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Well said! 🙂
I know. Just curious that’s all…lol
Along with night-sights, I put the NY-1 trigger spring in my carry Glocks per Massad Ayoob recommendations…
Ok. Thanks.
Clearly on any issued service pistol one can rule out anything that wasn’t there when you received it. As to POW aka personally owned weapons I limit and modifications or improvements to a good set of tritium night sights and sometimes very light trigger work. Such trigger work as a rule is a very routine clean up of burrs or high spots. If any replacement springs are used then they are not to reduce trigger pull but rather to improve ignition. I’m a keep it simple kind of fellow with my pistol’s and revolver’s, hunting rifles gets a cleaned up trigger and lapped in bolt.
Thank you, thank you!
I like the question. You can screw around all you want on a race gun. Keep it stock, simple and reliable for a carry gun. Come to think of it, simple isn’t a bad suggestion for an IDPA or a house gun either. I added night sights for low light. I also took a night shooting class. To improve the grip, I put on small grips and a flat back strap. A slight mag well bevel came with the flat back. The only thing I did inside is find out which recoil spring the gun likes best when it gets really dirty. That spring was a pound stiffer than stock. It will run on anything when it is clean.
Thank you.
I want to take a night shooting class. Haven’t done much night shooting at all.
I have a Springfield 1911 my dad gave me (his reasoning was “I have three more of them”) it’s had the sights replaced with night sights and a trigger job to smooth it out.
The only other change that has been done is it now has a set of my rough grips on it rather than the factory checkered ones.
I like your day’s reasoning.
Thanks for the comment.
I’ve altered both my Glock (which I don’t have anymore) and my Para.
The first thing I do with any gun is the trigger – I like it fairly light and crisp (which I know some people hate) – I find that the factory triggers tend to be “icky”. But I could just be a trigger princess after working at the shop and never *having* to shoot a stock trigger.
I also put a magazine well on both of them. The mag wells add a little size to the gun, but you don’t have to be as exact with your reloads. As long as you get the magazine in the well, it will help guide it into the gun. I was talked into this mod by one of my instructors who told me that no matter how much I practice with my reloads, once the fine motor coordination goes or if I get the adrenaline shakes, I’ll still be able to reload easily.
I also put ambi safeties on the Para, so I could shoot with either hand and still be able to activate (or deactivate) the safety.
Excellent info thank you!
The Shield has an “icky” trigger when I dry fire it.
Gunsite instructor convinced me to change the sights on my glock to heinie 8’s and go to the 3.5 lb connector. I took the glock armorer class and played with a NY trigger as I’ve broken 3 of the trigger springs, but I don’t really like that. Probably go back to the standard spring and just change it regularly. Otherwise it’s stock.
I’ve considered having the grip on one sawn down to G19 length, but never have.
Thank you. Very helpful.
Why would one put a flashlight on a gun? Yeah, you can see things better….perhaps…..but it could/would affect one’s night vision. Also, why tell the other guy where you are?
I have heard and seen a lot on that issue. Both for an against.
I do not have enough experience to really have an opinion, but for me right now, I prefer to carry a flashlights separate and use some of the techniques suggested.
I’ve seen information for and against this as well. As I only have one gun (so far) and it’s a Springfield XD .45 with a 4 inch barrel and it’s my concealed carry and home defense gun I don’t plan on putting a flashlight on mine. However when I do get one that will be for home use only I think I may put a flashlight on it simply because I am horrible at keeping my flashlights in the place they are supposed to be. If it is mounted I won’t have that problem. Just my personal opinion because of my personal weakness at home organization.
Guns are like motor cycles….you can add stuff that looks good, but does nothing to make it work better. In many cases, I’ve seen guns modified that actually work worse than original. Common mistakes: changing springs without understanding what the springs do and screwing up the “timing” of the gun.
On most “modern” guns you can change parts without gunsmithing them…but on 1911s everything should be fitted by somebody who knows what they’re doing.
I hate the stock trigger on the M&P pistols- I can’t feel the reset…so if I had one, I’d have to change it.
What I do these days is try to order the gun the way I want it—saves money and time. I do have a few used guns I got really cheap, and as a part wears out, I’ll upgrade it.
Most guns need better grips as one grip really doesn’t fit everybody…but some are difficult to change. As I get older, I am going to the Hi Viz sights on all my guns…easy to see in day or dark.
Any change you make…test fire the gun before your depend on it to save your life.
Look at changes that fit YOU, not some guy who thinks he knows everything.
Yes, yes, I run the fun for at least 500 rounds without a malfunction before I carry it. And I do more than just point and shoot. Good advice!
My thoughts:
The key requirements for a defensive handgun are 1) you have it with you, and 2) you and the gun together have to be reliable, meaning the gun goes bang every time you pull the trigger and you can hit what you’re aiming at, provided you do your part.
Capacity next, maybe caliber after that, “accuracy” way down the list.
Service-type pistols and revolvers that come from reputable manufacturers generally meet key requirements right out of the box. If you really have to make a lot of changes to make the pistol suitable for defensive work, then perhaps the pistol…or your own training… is deficient to start with.
Any changes contemplated should have some evidence behind them that they will actually improve the pistol and your ability to meet both the key requirements.
For example, extended magazine release levers or buttons might make magazine changes “easier” but also make inadvertent magazine releases easier as well. Maybe it’s a better strategy to have an ultra-reliable, high capacity pistol to start with so you don’t have to change mags in the middle of a fight due to running out of ammo or pistol malfunction. Yes yes being able to change mags under stress is important and should be practiced, but does an extended lever make you a better fighter, or just make practice (or competition) easier?
I think there are very few changes that actually enhance a pistol’s defensive. capability. Grip mods that allow a gun to fit the user’s hand, smoothing (not making lighter) the trigger action, maybe a very few sight changes.
My 2 cents.
Thanks Eric. Always appreciate your .02.
Normally I’d answer a question like this, but the anti-mod purists are out in force and I really don’t feel like being ridiculed.
If you want to know what I’ve done to my carry gun, send me an email.
No, don’t even think for one moment that you can’t or shouldn’t modify your handgun to better suit your needs. I minimize any modifications due to the level of experience and training I have as well as my law enforcement career. If a modification makes the handgun work better for you or easier for you to shoot it effectively than go for it and do what you want to with it. You’ll be shooting the handgun often enough to know how reliable it is, probably far more than most other’s. The bottom line is do your own thing because you can.
Oh, I don’t think that at all. These guns are my property; I can paint them pink if I want to. But if the current attitude is “Don’t ever modify your carry gun, you’re an idiot if you do,” then I’m certainly not going to volunteer what mods I’ve made to mine.
I tend to keep most of my mods on handguns fairly simple, but I don’t hold it against anyone who disagrees — after all, on my 1911, I deactivated the Series 80 Trigger-Pull-Screwer-Up, I mean, “firing pin safety”, added a S&A magwell (I hate the factory plastic mainspring housing and I use Pachmeyr slam pads, so it adds zero size to the effective size of the gun), and took a jeweler’s file to the top of the portside grip panel so the checkering doesn’t eat my thumb. Swapped the firing pin for a Wilson Bulletproof. Eventually, I want to swap sights and have the slide blackened (it’s an all-stainless gun, & I started reading gun magazines in the 80’s {chckle}).
My K-frame revolvers don’t wear factory grips, ever. Prefer wood boot grips, but the gun in the traveling holster-planner (“The Good Book”) has a set of Pahmeyrs. Swapped springs in my P64 to reduce the 30 lbs (no kidding – I couldn’t use a trigger pull gauge, I used a strain gauge) DA trigger pull & added Hogue wrap-arounds to eat some of the recoil. Nightstand Beretta 96D has a bolt-on light rail & Hogue grips, but I haven’t gotten around to installing the rail yet. Other handguns are bone-stock.
On the other hand, if you want to take a Glock 17; chop, melt, and stipple it, paint it paisley, add ghost ring sights & a mag funnel, and install a NY1 spring with a 3.5 connector — if you feel comfy with it, DO IT!
In the end, it is only going to be YOU and your gun in that dark alley — the better you feel about your gun, the better you are likely to shoot it. Just watch out for mods that reduce reliability, or significantly increase error probability (for instance, a 2.5lbs trigger is probably a bad idea).
My Glocks usually get 3.5lb triggers just to get the “stock” creep out of them, and my 1911s and Browning Hi-powers get ambi safeties because I’m left-handed and like to carry Condition One. That’s about it, though. Unless the gun needs a repair, I typically eave it as the factory engineers intended it to be.
I didn’t know you were a lefty…cool! Thanks for the info.
For the most part, my guns are pretty simple….or not.
I ordered my Nighthawk just the way I wanted it, nothing needed to be changed. In most cases, the only things I’ve changed on my 1911s have been the grip panels, and in some cases the guide rods, no real use for the full length jobs. In the past I’ve actually taken the add-on mag wells off of a couple of them as they interfere with getting a stuck magazine out of the gun.
Both of my current carry 1911s have the Heinie sights of the straight 8 variety.
My HK45 has had very few mods.
Removed decocker function with factory parts to make it run SAO like a 1911, added a factory 8lbs trigger return spring for a more tactile reset, and removed the trench in the trigger guard, I don’t know how Bowie does it so clean, my home job didn’t turn out bad, but Bowie makes it look NICE!
It’s currently wearing a 10-8 rear sight but as soon as Trijicon releases the HD sights for the Hk line that’s what’s going on the gun.
My HKP30S…
I had Bowie remove that retarded trench out of the trigger guard, install a very minimal over travel stop, and yeah he cut the slide out for the red dot, installed back up irons and refinished the slide. I have a wicked eye dominance issue and the red-dot eliminates that. I was really floored when I got to really run the dot in some competition, what a difference that made. I’m still picking up the dot a little slower on the initial shot, but I just need to knuckle down and do more dry practice.
The Glock I have going to him is getting pretty much the same job with the exception of Glocks in stock format are too slippery for me. My hands get way too slick with sweat and I don’t like the slip on grip sleeves so texturing is in order. The trigger will get smoothed out to remove that Glock bounce, and yes this gun will probably get cut for a red dot as well.
Why the Glock? The wife carries either a G19 or G26 and we want to be able to share mags. This means that we’ll both be carrying G17 mags as reloads…and I’ll finally be able to use those 33rd mags we have loaded up in the glove box (totally legal in our state, sorry Buckeyes) so that’s that. That gun won’t be ready for some time as he hasn’t even received it yet so in the mean time I’ll continue with the HK P30S for general carry.
In terms of acceptable mods…it’s all a matter of preference.
I think most guns can use an action job, it’s typically quicker than firing 2000 rounds through the gun and can be less costly than waiting for the parts to break in nice.
Sights are a no brainer. That’s an incredibly personal thing and many don’t like the factory sights.
Grip surfaces. Stock is for everyone, if you want your smoother or rougher it’s going to need to be changed. If you carry with the gun against your skin, you probably want a smoother grip surface. If you have hands like me, you want it more grippy, but be willing to carry with a T-shirt and additional cover garment unless you like having a cheese grater next to your side (the Bowie Tactical and other providers texture jobs are not that abrasive) that rubs you raw during the course of the day.
Well, why didn’t you just say that on FB:)
Thanks JD, very helpful as always.
Cooper had it pretty well said about “Sights you can see and a trigger you can manage” or words to that effect. All of our XD’s have night sights and SureFire X-300’s, but are otherwise stock, since the XD triggers are (surprisingly, at least to me initially) good.
My Smith Highway Patrolman has Tedd Adamovich’s “Blu Magnum CLint Smith” grips and I’m going to have the sharp outer edges of the rear sight de-fanged where it has a tendency to snag clothing and skin. All of my N-frames have different grips (again, Blu Magnums) which not only improve function but add to “purty-ness”
I added a laser to my LCP since I couldn’t see damn sights.
On my M&P9
APEX duty trigger
10-8 fiber optic sights (red front, black rear)
Crimson trace laser grip
Crimson Trace light guard
And some of my White Dog Holsters and mag pouches.
M&P Shield
Red fiber optic front sight and blacked out rear
Crimson Trace laserguard
At some point I will work on the trigger (not lighter)
And for both lots of ammo and range/IDPA time!
Lol, I just sent you a message asking this question about the Shield:)