duty carry- 21 sf or 40 cal. 35?

[carolina flatfoot]

Hey folk, if you guys could chose on carrying the glock 35 -40 cal. or the 21 SF for duty carry. I thought of the 40 cal because it would allow me to eventually compete with it, hard the do ipsc with a 45 isn't it? I think the 45 Winchester Ranger SXT 230 grain. is a great round for putting holes in bad guys, but I do like the feel of the Tactical/Practicals(34&35). Any wise words, I am reloading and have endless supply to 45 brass and will have to buy 40,cal. but how sweet the tact/pract are. thks1

[leam]

Here are my thoughts, though I have much less experience than most folks. First FIT IS KING! Whichever one fits your particular hand shape and shooting will let you more accurately put holes in paper and bad guys. It is very much a matter of what happens to fit you best; that "feel" will bring you back to the gun and encourage you to practice.

Between calibers, both are good. I'd have a hard time choosing but I don't have to. I have some brass in both and I shoot a 1911 in .45 and a SIG in .40. So far I think my first Glock will be a .40 but if someone handed me a .45 I'd not complain at all. If you need to get rid of that brass, it shouldn't be a problem. Lots of IDPA CDP and Bullseye shooters around. I might even take some off your hands.

Don't get caught up in what you "should" do; shoulds are for everyone else. Find what makes sense FOR YOU and then jump in with both feet.

Leam

[Joe4d]

well I had to look up the numbers, (Note to Glock guys, non Glock guys have no idea what the 34's 27's 19's mean) Even looking at the specs I dont see what is short about the "short frame" maybe I am missing something. But looking at the spec sheet I say the 35 40 caliber all the way.

1 The 35 is more versatile for USPSA, steel, bowling pins, what have you, 2 extra inch of sight radius ( I like my officials hitting what they shoot at) 3. It's 2 oz lighter, 4 in stock form it has 2 more rounds. I think the terminal performance is a wash.

[LPatterson]

For duty carry I would pick the 21SF with a 30SF in an ankle holster for backup. At the end of the duty day, the object is to go home safely. I would not make a choice based on what else I might like to do with a duty weapon. I see nothing wrong with using the 21 as a Limited/Limited 10 gun, in fact I bought one just for that reason before the ban before USPSA thought up Production & Limited 10.

[Chuck Anderson]

The 21SF would make a very good Lim 10 gun but that is about it. The 35 you can use for anything. I had a 21 SF for a while. It is a very nice gun. I've also used the 35 a lot. Same thing. For me it comes down to what fits my hand. I carry the 22/23 because when I shoot the 21 my wedding ring falls right on top of one of my knuckles and cuts through.

Also if you do go with the .45 and have a choice in ammo, take a hard look at that Win SXT. We used to carry it until we did testing and found that it didn't go through auto glass at all. We switched over to the Federal HST and have had really good luck with it, including shooting into vehicles.

[redwoods]

I just purchased some G22's and some G21sf's for our police dept. We went with .40 and .45 for the shootability. We can carry what we want, so I go with the STI Tactical in .40, but, we went with 40's for those with smaller hands and not as good shooting skills.

If you get a chance, hold both the 35 and 21 to see which one feels better for you. The 45 is a better round for stopping bad guys, but if you can't shoot it as well as a .40, get the .40.

Whichever one you choose, make sure you shoot it in uspsa so you will become proficient with it. When I became a police officer, I was surprised at how many cops suck at shooting.

Randy

[Harmon]

i like the idea of a 45 for a carry gun.

from what ive seen, hollow point bullets dont ALWAYS expand, so hit them with a LARGE hollow point and hope it does.

i like the hydra shock but have grown fond of the remington 185 JHP +p

a low technology dependable (and affordable) round that still packs a nasty punch.(219 power factor in my gun)

FWIW i carry a Glock 21

Harmon

[Cuz]

For duty carry I would pick the 21SF with a 30SF in an ankle holster for backup. At the end of the duty day, the object is to go home safely. I would not make a choice based on what else I might like to do with a duty weapon. I see nothing wrong with using the 21 as a Limited/Limited 10 gun, in fact I bought one just for that reason before the ban before USPSA thought up Production & Limited 10.

I'm with LPatterson on this one. Pick the "best" gun for duty first. Then, "play" with it in whatever division it fits into and consider that as practice. With only the choices you offered I'd go with the G21SF. I would think the G35 would be a bit long for duty carry. Is there any reason you don't go with a G22? That may be your best bet for everything.

-Cuz

[shooting for M]

Looks like two good choices. I think my choice would be the 35. The grip angle of the 21 SF is closer to the other stuff I shoot, but if I could carry a 35 on duty I'd trade my STI for another 35 set up for USPSA in a heartbeat. I'm not a big fan of the rail on the SF, it's pretty sharp and not really nessecary unless I'm missing something.

As for ammo differences, I don't think .40 is underpowered at all, our duty ammo runs about a 200 PF out of my STI. You do get a bit more capacity in the .40, but 15 rounds in a 21 should be enough to get to your rifle, which I hope you have.

The best advice I have heard so far is to shoot 'em both and see what you like better, maybe throw a 22 in the mix. About the 22 vs. 35, I really like the 35 better for duty carry, maybe a bit big for plain clothes, but for uniform, why not? They're not much different weight wise and the extra sight radius isn't going to hurt. We in law enforcement are 100% always reacting i.e. behind the curve anyway so why not take whatever advantage we can.

Getting a mini whatever to go with it would be a good thng as well, I wish we could carry back-ups.

My $.02

Jason

[Thomas a44592]

I have carried a 22- a 22C- a 23- a 21 and now a 21sf. I use to own a 35 as well. In a glock with full power ammo I like the .45 a lot better than the .40. The recoil impulse is much softer and the gun tracks much better. I have seen several fellow officers swich from a .40 after they shot a 21 and our dept you can carry either but all those that work the road carry 21 or 21sfs with weapon mounted lights which also helps with recoil and tracking. The shooter is more important than the gun- someone who knows how to shoot will outshoot someone who does not regardless of the firearm. I would just try both and see what you like. I like the 21sf because it points (not as high) better for me than a 21 does.

[itento]

I'm a firearms instructor for our SO and we do a lot of the LEOs in our area. The number one factor in general poor performance is lack of training (how to shoot accurately) and lack of practice. I have two carry weapons, an XD in a Level II Serpa I carry high on my duty belt (makes entrance and exit from vehicles much easier) and a G35 I have in a Level III Serpa (a little more secure to guard against snatching in a crowd). I shoot the G35 in competition IPSC and IDPA and can easily qual with a 100. The XD is fairly new to me and I'm not quite as good with it yet. Also, when I went through the FBI Firearms Instructor course, we fired about 3000 rounds. With the the G35, I changed out the barrel with a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel and shot white box target rounds at a conciderable cost savings. My advice is buy what you will practice with. A well placed .40 will stop much better than a poorly placed ( or missed) .45. My motivation is watching the COP shows and seeing 3 squad cars surrounding a suspect car and shooting 50 some odd rounds and never hitting the bad guy. Shoot often, shoot often, shoot often and if your having problems, ask someone for advice.

Edited June 16, 2008 by itento

[jbullgpd]

I think everyone has said it, it needs to fit you. If you can handle the bigger 21/21SF and hit what you are aiming at then I would recomend it. I have carried a 22, 35, and 21. Having been in a shooting with a .40 and also attending several autopsies from shootings I recomend the .45. Just my opinion but I personally like the results on the .45 better. We had what I would consider 8 out of the 12 hits on this guy good center mass hits with our .40 Speer Gold Dot 180 gr. Guy is walking, talking, and of course sueing us (We won the suit thank god). The autopsies I saw were with .45's, hint hint (Threat stopped). In the end whatever you get, practice, practice, practice and be safe.

[David Sinko]

I have an older 21 and a newer 35 and I have found that even with my small hands I can still shoot the fatter 21 better than I do my 35. I find this very disturbing since I put a lot of time, effort and money into the .40 only to find that I always shoot the 21 better in Production and L-10. I would just stick with the 21 since the .45 ACP is much better on the street. I have found that the performance of the .40 out on the street is very disappointing and I would never choose to carry one if I could carry a .45 instead. But even with the .45 you still need to pick your ammo carefully. The only time I had trouble with the 21 was when I watered down the ammo for Production.

Dave Sinko