Every time I see ‘insert gun name’ Nation post come across my feed, I’m almost always mentally breaking down the build in my mind, passing silent judgment. Who am I to judge? I’m nobody, but that doesn’t stop me from doing it. Every time I see a handgun with one of those rubber grip sleeves I assume this person wants to tinker and ‘improve’ every part of their gun regardless of actual performance increases.
Is that a wrong assumption? Sometimes, probably, but let’s be real, the greater gun culture is one that tinkers. Modern guns are easy to accessorize and upgrade. I remember looking at match-grade barrels early on in my shooting career, assuming that would fix all my accuracy problems.
The need to tinker is real, and a lot of tinkering can lead to real improvements. An optic and a flashlight are handy to have on nearly any gun. However, is there a point where we tinker without purpose?
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If we are tinkering without purpose, what are we trying to achieve?
Tinker With Purpose
Who doesn’t want to tinker when they get a new gun? How many people buy Glocks and replace the trigger on the first day? It’s what we do, and the industry supports us, and we support them to the tune of a lot of money.
With that said, where does the purpose of the gun lie? Do you own the gun to shoot the gun, or do you own the gun to tinker with it?
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How many of those ‘upgrades’ are worth it? Would the 50 to 100 dollars you spent on a new trigger make you a better shooter than the equivalent amount of money spent on ammo and range time?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It’s unlikely that a new handgun trigger is going to make you a better shooter.
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Most basic triggers are fine for the vast majority of shooters. Sure, it’s not silky smooth, but it’s also not bad enough that it causes your grip to shift and your sight picture to be disrupted. It takes a fairly high-level shooter to extract the benefits of a better trigger.
That doesn’t mean that swapping the trigger is always a bad idea. There are times when it is actually worth the cost.
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When It’s Worth the Cost
I’m digging into triggers not to pick on triggers, but to emphasize when to tinker.
If you’re swapping the trigger because it rubs your finger and creates discomfort when shooting high-round-count days, then yeah, it makes sense. Maybe the gun is great, but your fingers are short, and you have a hard time reaching the trigger. Then a flat-faced trigger might be a great upgrade. That’s tinkering with a purpose.
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If we are getting into rifles and precision shooting at range, then we’re entering into an entirely different conversation where you can easily tinker with purpose. When you take on a demanding task, you receive more feedback to identify areas for improvement.
What To Tinker With?
Outside of a red dot, I don’t do any tinkering with a stock gun. Not at first. I have a process that I follow. The first step is to shoot the thing.
Let me use one of my favorite new guns as an example. The S&W Bodyguard 2.0 was the first pocket .380 I didn’t loathe.
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I like almost everything about the gun, and I know that because I’ve shot a pile of ammo through it. The Bodyguard 2.0 disagrees with my giant hands. It disagrees with them so much that it takes a chunk of flesh with every shot. I’m the victim of slide bite.
That’s a problem.
What can I do to tinker with it? Well, a company called Citizen Response makes a Beavertail Backstrap for the BG 2.0. It’s a 20-dollar part that eliminates slide bite. It takes no effort to install, and I’ve gained significant benefits from my gun.
That’s how I tinker. I aim for it to serve a purpose.
My process looks like this:
Shoot the gun.
Identify Weaknesses
Identify Ways To Fix The Problem
From there, I weigh the importance of the fix against the cost and its impact on the gun as a whole. If the math be mathing, I tinker.
Should You Swap Everything?
I’d encourage everyone to tinker with purpose. That doesn’t mean every upgrade has to provide an objective improvement to the gun’s mechanical aspects. It could just make the gun better for you.
Shoot the damn thing.
Figure out what you don’t like.
Find a solution that’s worth paying for, then tinker.
Or don’t.
This is also America. If you want to slap anime girl grips on your 1911 and a TAC-SAC on your rifle, do what you want. If you just want to slap garbage on your gun don’t let anyone stop, especially me.
However, if you want to take it a little more seriously, tinker with a purpose.
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