[Desert Dog]

Just curious whether anyone is using a carry comp as their CCW piece? While I am (admittedly) not a big fan of carry comps, I would be interested in hearing member experiences and reasons why you choose to comp your carry gun. Anyone have one and find it didn't work for you?

DD

 

[eerw]

I'll admit I have a carry comp. It is a two-port full profile comp on an SV frame in 38 super. The overall length is about an 1/8 inch longer than my 5" gun. I occasionally carry it, but not exclusively. It gets a bit heavy with 18-20 rounds. I have shot it at night and in complete darkness, with the right load it really isn't any brighter than a normal gun... My surefire is much brighter than the muzzleblast, so I am not that concerned about night blindness from the flash. My only criticism is shooting from retention..but with care and right training, I can get by.

The main reason I have one..I think it's cool. Why not. I shoot a comp gun faster that I do an uncomped gun and I don't find it any less reliable. In other words it runs and runs. Do I gain that much more, not really. So that's why its one of many set up for carry. I am having another built in a single stack and that will have a matching gun without a comp. Like I said..I think they're cool and why not...

 

[Bruce]

DD, there is a guy locally that carries one, in .45, and do so because he has some very serious wrist / hand problems due to an accident many years ago. He claims it helps greatly in felt recoil, and makes it so he can shoot more. He carries it becaue he can train with it, I assume.

Never owned one myself, excepting the SW 627.

 

[h4444]

I have a Springfield Ultra Compact that is ported and haven't had any problems with it. As expected though, shooting at the local indoor range is somewhat loud, but the gun handles well, the muzzleblast doesn't bother me and I'm able to reacquire my sights quickly.

 

[M. Hall]

I have a Glock 20c that has a Bar-Sto barrel that has been
hyper-ported by Leading Edge Tool, and Pete Carber at Custom
Arms Co. is building me a Colt Delta Elite with a single-large
port that doesn't alter the size o' the piece. I carry my
Glock a lot, especially when rolling-up a jumper, mainly
because it holds a fair amount of hot 10mm Pro-Load, it's
reliable and I've mounted an M-3 Insight Tech light on it.
If I was forced to pull the trigger, it would most likely be
one-handed, thus the benefit of porting.

 

[Peter Zahn]

DD,

Interestingly, John Hollister over at gunspot.com said his department went to comped Glocks and are pleased with them. Theres a nice thread on the subject under Glock. He dispelled a lot of the myths I had about comped guns. very informative.

 

[cdt42701]

I own a S & W 29-2 that was sent to "school" at Magna-port's Custom Shop. It is round butted, snag-free sights, crane-locked, magna-ported and trigger stopped with 3lb single and 7lb double trigger. With 250 gr. Kopperkotes @ 900 it does beautifully for six rounds. I like more firepower and less weight but the results on poppers to 25 yards is AWSOME! I ocassionally carry in a left hand horizonal rig in the small of the back slightly to right. Double taps at 15 yds are about 2 inches apart! As a Jefferson Co PD said one night at the range- "That thing has a personality all it's own!"

 

[Desert Dog]

Now that I have been hearing about Ned's new carry comp project, and I happened across this old thread, I thought I would bring it BTT for our new members and anyone else that might care to comment. Your thoughts on carry comp guns?


DD

 

[Ned Christiansen]

I think they're fine-- for anything but carrying. Not that big a deal, if a guy wants to carry one he should, but I never cared for one myself just on account of the noise increase / blast hazard being too high a price to pay for a slight increase (slight because it is, after all, by definition a smallish comp) in shooting speed.

Comparing Second Chance times, between Pin Gun and Stock Gun categories, and remember many of these comp guns are big honkers, heavyish guns with big comps with big ports, you will find that broadly speaking, Pin Gun times run well less than 1/2 second faster than Stock Gun times, and that's for five pins. I'd have to look again when I get a chance but it is well under 1/2 second (I'm thinking more like an average of .2 actually). Of course this varies widely due to many factors, but I know my own times were generally .1 to .2 different.

As long as you're shooting with arms extended you're OK, but if you fire from retention or with the thing right under your chin like in a struggle for the gun, you're both gettin' a contact wound....

 

[JonG]

How about in Commander length, such as 38 Super or 9x23? BTW, if so, who makes barrels in that length?

 

[Desert Dog]

Commander and OM sized comp guns have been done by several pistolsmiths. Terry Tussey is someone who has done a fair amount of that sort of work. While not my cup of tea, he uses a Caspian slide cut for the Hybrid style barrel. He calls his version a "Stealth Comp", as the only visable signs of the comp, are the port holes along the top of the slide. Here is what it looks like:

Terry Tussey Stealth Comp
photo from http://www.tusseycustom.com

Not sure I would ever have an interest in an OM with a comp. However, the Commander comp guns that have the same size envelope as GMs are of interest -- especially for the higher pressure rounds, like the 9x23 or 10mm.


DD

 

[Ned Christiansen]

About a year after the Hybrid barrels came out, I did one much like that only in 5" for a suburban Chicago police chief. He is still carrying it on duty... he is aware of the disadvantages of course. He is an extreme upper-level shooter so I don't argue it with him!

 

[SCL]

Comp Guns for Carry

I'll echo Ned's comments. Its not that big a deal as long as you are aware of the muzzle blast issues. You can slightly modify your "up close and personal" shooting techniques (i.e. speed rock et. al) to get hits on target and not scorch your eyebrows in the process.

If you really think that you may actually be involved in a life-or-death wrestling match over your pistol, then opt out for a carry comp. However muzzle blast should be the least of your concerns since the perp is trying to take your pistol for one reason only - to do a double-tap in your center of mass. For most CCW folks, you would have avoided this situation anyway by situational awreness, de-escalation, running away, etc. If you are a cop and have to effect arrest, then the odds of a wrestling match increase significantly...which is probably why few agencies authorized comp/ported duty weapons IMHO. If the odds of you getting into violent struggle are small, and a more rapid hit capability are important to you, then the comp may be an option.

Bottom line - don't believe everything you read in gun rags about carry comp guns. Be conscious of the muzzleblast issues and determine if it will impact the scenarios in which you will likely use your weapon, and then train accordingly. With the proper loads and techniques they can be used to fulfill self-defense scenarios for the CCW crowd. If you are an LEO (particularly patrol or SWAT) then I would shy away from them.

Scott

 

[agtman]

Scott's analysis of the "to comp or not to comp" issue was excellent. The problem for uniformed LEOs is well-outlined.

For civilian CCW, the gun-grab scenario, while possible, is really less of an issue. If you're properly concealing the weapon, no one should know it's on you until you present it.

Still, the choice of a comp-ed gun is highly personal, and in considering one you have to think thru the kinds of possible defensive scenarios you're likely to encounter in your situation.

 

[Ned Christiansen]

Speaking of gun grabs I suppose you could say a comp gun was a great way to repulse a gun grab...... trigger a shot and watch all aforementioned grabbing of said gun come to a screeching, I mean a screeching, halt!

 

[BBBBill]

Hmmm.... Perp grabs comped pistola by slide. You trigger shot. Hot gasses exit comp cooking hand of perp. Feasible? A test using a piece of meat layed over a carry comp to view the potential "injuries" would be interesting.

 

[Dave Sample]

Carry Comps

What a Great Idea! A great gaping hole on the end of your bullet launcher that emits huge quanities of smoke and fire right up in front of your front sight so you can see it at night and nothing else? Why didn't I think of this?I shot one that Chuck Rogers built some years ago and was very impressed with the lack of muzzle rise and the sweet way it shot. I did not think I would want one ,though. I don't think it would be bad to carry one because the odds of your getting in a gunfight at night are slim and none. The odds of your hitting anything are even less. After that first big ball of fire you can't see anything anyway. I just returned one to a Merc pal that some smith took a long time building and then made the sights too short to use. A Fire Breathin Dragon that was totally useless until we put some taller sights on it. It was an 80 Series Colt Commander full of evil mojo that I deemed totally worthless. Stainless Steel, you see. I don't know who did the work and I am very happy about that. I wouldn't waste 5 minutes on that kind of 1911. I had Don W put the sights on. I don't work on this kind of stuff. Never did and don't now. He did a very nice job, by the way.

 

[M. Hall]

The Delta Elite that I had Pete Carber at Custom Arms Co.
Is my daily carry now, and it shines fantastically. My wife
and 15 year old daughter shot it a coupla weeks ago with
full power Texas Ammunition Co.'s 10mm Express with
very little recoil. I've done my share of night shooting,
and yes it's a tad brighter than regular muzzle flash, but'
I can still make out my front sight for doubles....The
job Pete did on the gun is incredible by the way...you
can't even see the seam where the comp ends and the
slide begins! I have quite a bit of ammo through it now,
without a single hiccup and it locks up like a vault.
Maybe it's just me, but I've yet to see a negative aspect
of the carry-comp, except dissasembly.