Glock Race Gun - How much difference is there in practice between a modern utility carry gun and a racing gun? I decided to do some very unscientific tests to see how different I am at my current skill level. Perhaps the first step is to understand the definition of each.

In my opinion, a modern utility carry gun is one that is small enough to carry, big enough to shoot, but has poor baseline performance. Personally, the range starts with the Glock 48 or Sig P365XL and goes all the way up to the Glock 17 / HK VP9 / Sig P320 sized pistols. Everyone can be different. When I use guns like the Sig P365 or Glock 43, I start noticing a drop in performance due to grip size. My hands are too big to handle a small pistol. They certainly have their place and will definitely work, but I personally find them harder to shoot. For the purposes of this article, my example carry gun is a Gen 5 Glock 19 MOS with stock trigger, Holosun 509T, and a Streamlight TLR7A light tucked into the belt at 3 o'clock.

Glock Race Gun

Glock Race Gun

So what is a racing weapon? The term comes from the racing world and is used to describe a pistol whose sole purpose is concealment, sometimes weight, and sometimes performance without regard to reliability. They are usually offset, have red dot optics, hold a lot of ammo, and have an adjustable trigger, which usually weighs 2 pounds or less. They're usually on the verge of reliability, have big magazine vents to aid in reloading, and are generally not good for anything but gaming. But they work pretty well for their purpose, that is performance. My example is a Staccato XC with a 1lb 14oz trigger, a Holosun 509T, and a Surefire 300XU-B to add weight to the gun and make it fit in my holster. The lid is Philster and there are no handles on the outside of the waist.

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My unscientific way to find the answer to my question is to do some practice with both pistols and note the difference in total time, firing time and accuracy. I have attended three training courses. The first is a classic version of Bill Drill, where you answer the alarm, pull the holster, and fire six rounds as fast as you can. In the drill version I shot, it was 8 yards from the C-zone steel target. The drill focuses on controlling high-speed draw rates and recoil while maintaining acceptable accuracy. I focused on this build and took various hits. To quote the great Ricky Bobby: "I want to hurry up."

The next exercise I'm doing for the upcoming CCW Safe project is what I call the 3-2-1 exercise. It's still focused on precision, requiring some recoil control and some small transitions. Targets are printed on a sheet of 8.5 x11 printer paper. It fires from five yards and needs to fire three rounds into the large rectangle, two rounds into the middle square, and one round into the small square in response to the signal. A small square is less than 1.5 inches, so at 5 yards you need to focus on hitting the ball. I didn't measure the split for this.

The last drill is a board at 10 yards. The shelf holds six 6-inch round plates. It requires more precision than something like Bill Drill, and you have to manage the conversion.

Both tools work 100% without any issues. So what have I learned? The first thing that jumps out is that the shooting method is the biggest factor. The apps I hide are not good, the ones I open are fine. If you look at the results, my firing time with the gun unloaded didn't differ significantly between the guns. For most people this is more of a covert Captain Open deal than an open carry, but I know for a fact that I'm now .3-.4 slower at concealed carry and the difference in fire time isn't that big . There are differences, so we'll focus on them.

Why Is The Glock 19 Pistol The Favorite Of The World's Most Elite Forces?

Bill Drill: There is a subtle and almost insignificant difference in the time allotted. The big difference here is target accuracy. The Staccato hits the ball so smoothly that most of the time I cover the ball with my hand and pull the trigger as fast as I can. Shooting the Glock at the same rate resulted in more target scatter and occasional flying off the edge of the target. This could of course be addressed with more grip practice, but in my opinion, pistols have a real edge in this type of shooting. This is as fast as I can get it.

3-2-1 Drill: The biggest thing I've noticed is that the better trigger on the XC allows me to increase the speed for tighter shots without having to worry too much about the Glock's good trigger pull. With the last small platform Glock, I had to be very focused on getting a good line of sight and pulling the trigger without moving the gun. For staccato, it's more about aiming for a point on the target and pulling the trigger. Also, the XC doesn't require recoil control for multiple firing parts, since the slider moves back and forth with essentially no vertical movement. The point remains in the window. With a Glock, the grip and trigger require more concentration and diligence.

Board Frame: Passing is easier on the XC because it stays very flat on the pass. Another example of comp and spring setup. The Glock 19 doesn't move much, but it does move more than the gun. Another obvious difference is triggers. A Glock requires a good scope, a steady grip, and a good trigger pull. With the XC, I see a white dot, press the trigger, move to the next plate, pay less attention to the process, and need more margin for minor trigger press errors.

Glock Race Gun

Conclusion: Speaking of which, I don't think the two shows would be very different for me. I think this is true. That's what I'd expect, the biggest difference between the rifle trigger and the flatness of an XC shooter. Hard to describe unless you shoot a setup like XC. Everyone I've had that shoot has pretty much the same reaction "it's like cheating". With an ultra-light trigger and almost total lack of recoil, it's a great gun to shoot easily.

Race City Cut

I can basically shoot as fast as I can with a Glock, but when you put any standard of accuracy into play it requires a lot more focus and focus on the process. There is no room for error when using racing tools. Overall, I'm happy with the results, as it shows that real-world suitcases are no different than unaffordable carry guns.

Another point is that for me, once I switched to the Glock 19/Holosun 509 combo, the gain-to-earning ratio started to go up. A Glock with dots and plates is less than $1,000. The Staccato is $4,300, with $300 dots, $140 plates and $70 magazines. Basically the XC is five times the price of the Glock. That's not to say the XC is expensive, because I don't think so. This is an amazing pistol and my favorite pistol.

My conclusion is that, as in many industries, once a certain benchmark is reached, the price of small improvements begins to rise rapidly. I think you can buy some performance, but that's the wrong way to improve unless you invest the time and effort into maximizing and understanding the equipment changes. My final thoughts on this little experiment are that competition rifles are a blast, but modern carry pistols are very powerful pistols that can be relied upon in the real world without sacrificing anything.

Justin is the Content Manager for CCW Safe. he's a lifelong shooter and competitor

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