Would/Do You Carry A "Pretty" Gun?

[hoss1969]

Sorry codefour but my ccw gun clears the holster weekly to or ever other week for range time( draw n shoot re-holster.) Plus it gets pulled out every night and put in every day, so im sorry but your wrong on that. Also concealed carry people shoot and practice more than Police do. In 30-45 days I shoot more than a LEO does in a year to ensure that should I ever have to shoot I can hit what I need to.

Before you get all I'm anti law enforcement, be advised My family is and has a long history in law enforcement with one lost in the line of duty. I understand better than most the truth,lies along with the good and ugly of what can be behind the badge.

 

[AustinTX]

I would carry whatever gun I felt was optimal for my needs, "pretty" or not. That gun happens to be the Walther PPS, which most (myself included) wouldn't regard as pretty. But aesthetic considerations played absolutely no role in my decision to choose it as my primary CCW. If I thought a more expensive and attractive gun better fit my needs, I'd buy one and carry it.

As far as mass-produced and widely available small guns like the P938, I don't really understand the point of owning them if not to carry them. It's not like you're contemplating carrying a flawless and unfired 1903 Pocket Hammerless or something.

 

[HisSoldier]

If you buy a gun as a safe queen, or as a carry gun, or as a hammer, what's that to me? The worst use of the three would be as a hammer, guns make lousy hammers, but you paid for it, why would it matter to me?

Gun collecting is as legitimate a reason for a gun purchase as any other. I have two safe queens, beautiful guns. It would really bother me to see even a tiny scratch on either of them. I can relate to people who value a certain rare gun too much to shoot it and throw away much of it's value.

My carry gun is one of those throw away plastic guns I don't care about. I don't show it off, and I pray it is never drawn in anger. I wouldn't even notice if it got a big scratch on it. Having a choice there is no way I'd carry a fine handgun, reliability being the same.

 

[AustinTX]

As others have said, a gun is simply a tool. Tools are meant to perform a function. I have the same "issue" with folks that buy safe queens that I have with mid-life crisis guys who buy a Ferrari (or some other exotic car) to leave it in their garage and drool on it, talk about it, post pictures of it, etc...all while it stays mostly in the garage. They're meant to be driven.

I think it's kind of bizarre/amusing that folks like you worry about the motivations of other people who don't share your one-dimensional and one-size-fits-all conception of the purpose of a gun enough to gin up this facile, self-justifying armchair psychology to "explain" those motivations. It's interesting that this insecurity is, as far as I can tell, entirely unidirectional: I've definitely never seen someone who does some degree of collecting worry about why the "a gun is only ever a tool!" types hold the view they do.

 

[AustinTX]

If you buy a gun as a safe queen, or as a carry gun, or as a hammer, what's that to me? The worst use of the three would be as a hammer, guns make lousy hammers, but you paid for it, why would it matter to me?

Gun collecting is as legitimate a reason for a gun purchase as any other. I have two safe queens, beautiful guns. It would really bother me to see even a tiny scratch on either of them. I can relate to people who value a certain rare gun too much to shoot it and throw away much of it's value.

Nailed it.

 

[RJay]

I would never, never carry a "pretty gun" ! However, a nice handsome gun, such as a Colt Gold Cup with MOP grips, why , that's OK. However, my oldest thought so also, and he is now the proud processor of it, a custom case and custom holster. On well, I'm getting older and giving my guns guns away { to family and no I will not adopt you }, I told him if he ever sold it I would haunt him and his forever.

 

[Sheikyourbootie]

I buy guns to shoot.

 

[LockedBreech]

HisSoldier and AustinTX inspired me to clarify my position with their posts.

I don't own or abide safe queens.

I don't abide them.

That does not mean folks who have safe queens use guns "less legitimately" than me or use guns in a "dumb" way.

Guns can be works of art. Just because I don't collect them as such doesn't negate that.

 

[jimbob86]

The wear received by a carry gun is perceived, by me, as illustrative of a bond that exists between the gun and its operator. That bond is the highest trust that a human and an inanimate object can share.

WORD.



I see all these pretty, polished guns in like new holsters .... and they are tagged "EDC" ....... I'm callin' shenanigans.

My Carry gun was shiny, maybe "pretty" (subjective thing) when it was new.... after 6 years, it's worn and scratched, and my holsters for it are sweat-stained and have lost most of their blueing on the metal parts ..... but the gun knows the holster like the holster knows the gun .... just like my hip knows it ..... like my hand knows the grip, my thumb the safety, and my eye the front sight ..... the blueing from the gun has bled into the leather in places......

......... but pretty is as pretty does: I'm more proficient, confident, and comfortable with it than when it as new ..... "New" as in "new to me" is a bug, not a feature.

 

[Skans]

No, I don't carry a pretty gun - well, not most of the time. I will occasionally carry my Boberg XR9-S. But, most of the time I carry my Ruger LC9 - ugly as a Glock and works about as well too!

I've dropped my LC9 several times - it happens. Whereas I don't give it much thought more than picking the LC9 up and putting it back in the holster, I might cry if that happens to my Boberg.

 

[Colt46]

Good enough for me

My idea of the prettiest gun ever is either the Colt SAA or the S&W M-15
I'd carry both if I could.

 

[barefoot]

If I (and this only pertains to ME) were to OC a "pretty" gun - say a nice 1911 or a revolver, it would be an affectation: if Texas were to pass OC, I would certainly have nice leather holsters for my old-school revolvers, Sigs and 1911s to wear as "hip jewelry" ... on occasion.
The Glocks I carry are neither "pretty" nor "ugly" and are not to be seen except in defense of life. And my Glocks in IWB Kydex would still get the lion's share of carry duty.

 

[orionengnr]

I don't own anything I won't carry....and indeed, I have sold several that I was overly concerned with putting a ding in. One was a Hamilton Bowen S&W M-25, and another was a Guncrafter Industries .50GI 1911. Couldn't bear the thought of putting a scratch on them, so I sold them.

I think that your error is believing that these are some how mutually exclusive.

Yep...exactly.
Do not mis-construe the above paragraph to say that I want or need to beat-up anything I carry. I paid good money for every one of them, and would like to keep them as close to perfect as possible.

Similarly, I paid a fair amount for the bike I ride every day. It's a 2008 (bought late 2009), and has 32k miles, but many people think it's new. I wash it, wax it, perform the maintenance on it and baby it...and I am proud of the way it looks. It was the same when I drove Corvettes.

Some people think that every scratch or ding tells a story. I agree. A story of abuse and ineptitude.

If you had a new Mercedes, and put a dent or scratch on it, would you leave it there as a point of pride? Or would you have it fixed and erase that memory? Pretty sure I know the answer to that question....and yet, some people view their guns differently. Or claim to....

My body has enough scars to tell those stories. Most of those were due to my stupidity as well.

I can try to romanticize the stories, but I'd rather be without most/all of those scars.

 

[AK103K]

Ive carried a couple of pretty guns over the years. Unfortunately, they didnt stay pretty long. Such is life I guess.

This old Colt started out as a pretty "Colt blue", was carried every waking minute in a couple of "good" horsehide holsters, and didnt last a year before it was badly rusted. Had it hard chromed, and switched to a kydex holster, and it lasted another 10+ years of being carried the same way. Looks like this now.....

I do find it interesting though, that when people post their carry guns, they usually look like they were brand new. How do you carry them and they still look like that?

 

[HKFanNC]

I bought all my guns to shoot, even if I don't carry them all. I find my HK45 a bit too big for me to carry.

I bought my P7 to carry and shoot as well. That was the plan until I got it home and cleaned it up. Realized it was virtually unfired. I still carried it a few times and put 100 rds through it before its final cleaning. It is now my one and only safe queen.

 

[mavracer]

I have many pretty guns that I do carry, but EDC are mundane.

 

[AustinTX]

HisSoldier and AustinTX inspired me to clarify my position with their posts.

I don't own or abide safe queens.

I don't abide them.

That does not mean folks who have safe queens use guns "less legitimately" than me or use guns in a "dumb" way.

Guns can be works of art. Just because I don't collect them as such doesn't negate that.

I knew where you were coming from, LB.

 

[hartcreek]

It first off has to be functional for me but that said one of my daily CCWs is an Ivar Johnson in .38 S&W nickle plated with a pearl grip......obviously built for some dandy back in 1905.........

 

[Spats McGee]

Would I? Probably. Do I? No.

Beauty and functionality ar not mutually exclusive. However, in my price range, it's rare to find both in one gun. It's like the old retail sales saying about "good, fast, and cheap..... pick any two."

I also happen to like the matte, utilitarian finishes & some honest wear on a gun.

 

[silvermane_1]

pretty/beauty is in the eye of the beholder.