A little bit of background on me first:
I am a relatively young guy that has been into guns for what feels like my entire life. I take 2-3 training classes per year with most of them being from less known instructors. So far my arsenal consists of a Glock 26, Glock 17, Kahr PM9, Remington 870 Police Magnum, and BCM AR15.
I would like to purchase an HK45 compact in the near future. I have shot it several times before and really like the gun. However, I’m not sure if I want to be switching back and forth between pistol platforms. I train with the shotgun and AR15 occasionally but I’m not too worried about those two as they are not part of my daily concealed carry duties. The Kahr PM9 I carry occasionally due to its size advantage and feel as if it’s sort of similar to Glocks in that it has no safety and has a consistent trigger pull and is striker fired. However, the HK45C would be my first hammer fired gun that may potentially have a DA/SA varying trigger pull(not sure which variant I want yet). Do you guys think this it is a wise idea to go for the HK45 compact? I know the answers will vary greatly depending on the individual. But with a decent amount of training (2-3 classes per year and range sessions once a week) is it possible to maintain a good level of proficiency with the HK45C?
As a side note, I also train with a Ruger Mark III and a 10/22 for when I’m a little bit low on cash.
The less switching you do the more proficient you will become.
Low on cash? Dry fire. That is, if platform proficiency is your biggest concern. Of course, shooting .22 pistols at random crap is fun, but that’s what it sould be considered: entertainment, not training.
HK45- nice gun. Great ergonomics. It’s very smart to have an exposed hammer in a concealed carry pistol, as you can ride the hammer when holstering, which helps avoid self-inflicted gunshots when holstering.
When I switched over to a P30 from Glocks, I exclusively shot the P30. No reason to maintain proficiency on a platform you aren’t using. When I went back to a G19, I shot it exclusively. It takes a little bit of time to reclaim skill when swapping platforms, and doing so frequently robs training time and skill from your primary.
Get the HK45 with the LEM trigger, now you have the same trigger pull at all times just like your Glock.
When transitioning between different pistols for carry I just do 10-15 dry fires from the holster before I load up and head out (hell I do this most days even when not switching pistols).
Seems to me that you have all of your needs covered. I shoot Glocks also an just sold off a PM40 that I found in a drawer and realized I hadn’t shot it since the last off duty quals. I never had any problems switching to it due to the similarity.
That said, as long as your current guns work I see no reason to buy a different platform. If you just have the “I want a new gun” itch that I get every few months I would look for a older G19.
I am currently fighting the new gun itch and am fighting it by putting a new rail on my AR. I also want to put together a dedicated training gun to keep rounds off my duty gun. I already have a training only glock RTF2 that quenched a new gun itch last year.
Unless you consider reasonable proficiency being the best possible with it giving reasonable parameters then you can do some switching. If you want to squeeze every last bit out of a particular platform then its better to have dedication to it.
Personally I would try to restrict training to the one you will rely on and go about others more as a novelty (probably a better word to use but I am drawing a blank).