If you are looking for a handgun for concealed carry, but one that also handles like a full-size pistol, the 19 is a great gun. The half-inch smaller frame makes concealing it just that little bit easier, without affecting the way it handles.

I imagine these are the same people who, in that situation, will fire off their whole magazine in two seconds, and maybe hit once. It makes no sense to design your self-defense strategy around how many times you are going to miss. The main difference on the Gen 5 is that it features more rounded edges on the front, making it easier to holster and magazine changing is also easier with a thumb cut out at the lower front of the Pistol Grip. There is also the addition of an ambidextrous Slide Release, which is great news for Left Handed fans of this platform. These differences will affect which you prefer, but only if you are particularly large or small. For most of us, though the difference in size can be felt, neither gun is too big or too small.

£44.95

I also have built Govt/1911 pistols that competed on the National level in IpSC, with my favorite match pistol digesting an estimated 30,000 rds of .45 ACP, with no major problems. A PROPERLY built 1911/Govt type pistol can be as reliable as any other mechanical object. But, any 1911/Govt pistol, out of the box, without professional tuning, can be an unreliable disaster. When it comes to reliability with the 1911 platform, the devil is in the details. Rail Framed Design is suitable for Tactical Flashlight & Laser Sight Attachment. Disassembly is just like the genuine real steel version.

For this reason, I’m tempted to suggest that the people who feel a difference between the two guns in this regard are simply imagining it. ReliabilityAs a former IpSC competitor, I spent over a decade competing with truly PRACTICAL pistols. I made it into B class, and shot the Canadian IpSC National Championships twice with a customised DETONICS Combat Master. The Detonics Combat Master was my choice as THE BEST PRACTICAL PISTOL available at the time. I have owned three of these little jewels, as well as a few custom built clones using a Randall LeMay SS frame and a Detonics CM slide. I spent over a decade as a competitor in IpSC, and also as a licensed gunsmith specialising in building PRACTICAL pistols. I worked on and competed with mostly 1911/Govt types. During that time, with experience on around 300 1911/Govt pistols, and many tens of thousands of .45 ACP loads fired, I have LITERALLY seen EVERY SINGLE PART of a 1911 pistol break or fall off. I personally prefer the Gen 3 G19, which has the features I like, and a well earned reputatin for simplicity and reliability. But my carry pistol was an older G19, without the finger grooves or rail. Simpker = better?