Wear n' tear; beater guns

[Grizzlie]

I have a Glock 26.4, which is a nice gun. It does what it's supposed to do. I have no issues with dings and scratches (battle scars, if you will) nor with shooting it in the elements or getting it dirty/muddy. In short, I have no problems beating it

I have a P09. Great gun: shoots great, feels great, all that jazz. Costs considerably less than the Glock and yet I'm hesitant to use it as intensively.

I want a P10. Looks great, has great reviews; I'm interested in it with it being a compact and is comparable to the Glock 19...but deep down inside I'm also hesitant to 'use and abuse' it (also costs considerably less than the G19.4)

It can't only be me? Or are you for equality and all your guns get equal abuse (or love...)?

[Earl Keese]

My Glocks have been treated worse because they're so ugly to begin with. My P10 won't be babied either.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

Once I've carried a gun for a time and added the character marks I drive it like I stole it.

[Vinny]

Whenever I have garbage rounds that my other guns choke on; I feed it to my Glock 17 G4. It just snorts and grunts but it's never missed a feeding. Not the most accurate but it loves to wallow in the mud. And I'm not too fussy about cleaning the greasy little piggy either, but I know it will always save my bacon.
LOL 

[cntrydawwwg]

My guns are tools. I use them, clean when dirty, or get wet. None of them get special treatment.

[M1A4ME]

I bought my plastic guns so I wouldn't scratch up my Colt 1911's.  Took me a few brands/models to find CZ's and end up with something that matched the Colts for reliability and accuracy.  My P07 and a modified CZ 75 Compact are regular carry guns.  Shopping, driving are hard on the P07.  The Compact gets carried for yard work, dog walks, garage work, crawling around in the dirt/grass/gravel/concrete (garage).  The P07 gets carried kayaking/fishing.

I don't throw them in the dirt/mud/gravel just because I could.  I clean/inspect/lubricate them when they've been abused by carry conditions.

I don't neglect anything (not for cleaning/inspecting/lubing but I have guns I never pick up, talk to, or shoot - why waste time on something that doesn't shoot good groups when you have guns that do shoot nice groups??)

There are marks in the finish on both of my regular carry guns.  I can't carry/hunt with one and not mark it up (for some reason).  But I don't abuse them on purpose.

[Indy_Tim]

I tried to have a 1911 beater gun once.  It was a Remington R1S (full size stainless) and it was supposed to be the gun I'd carry anywhere without worry about scratches.  Turns out that it was a great shooter and looked pretty good in the end.  So I sold it.  The closest thing to a beater 1911 right now is a Kimber Compact that had a crappy finish.  Even that one is tough to crawl on concrete with.

When I'm heading for the junkyard or working at a buddies garage that would have me crawling around on concrete, I'm typically carrying my 9mm or .40 P07s now days.  I don't consider those beaters though, but I'm also not too worried about scraping them up a bit.  Those two are some solid shooters and I trust the dang things.  I'll bet that if I did call them a beater gun, I'd probably start caring more about the finish than I do when I just think of them as tools.

[sboone]

My WASR 10/63 UF gets used and abused, I call it the WASTR, feel in need of a mag dump? Get the WASTR
Raining? Snowing? Muddy? Get the WASTR
Throw it in a mortar ammo can with some ammo and rathole for a rainy day emergency? Get the WASTR

[Ron M.]

That's what my stainless 357 mag and 44 Special revolvers are for. One of them gets carried on my belt whenever I'm out in the woods. When one of them gets really scuffed up I just hit it with a Scotchbrite and replace the grips if needed.

[Tyerone]

I tried to have a 1911 beater gun once.  It was a Remington R1S (full size stainless) and it was supposed to be the gun I'd carry anywhere without worry about scratches.  Turns out that it was a great shooter and looked pretty good in the end.  So I sold it.  The closest thing to a beater 1911 right now is a Kimber Compact that had a crappy finish.  Even that one is tough to crawl on concrete with.

When I'm heading for the junkyard or working at a buddies garage that would have me crawling around on concrete, I'm typically carrying my 9mm or .40 P07s now days.  I don't consider those beaters though, but I'm also not too worried about scraping them up a bit.  Those two are some solid shooters and I trust the dang things.  I'll bet that if I did call them a beater gun, I'd probably start caring more about the finish than I do when I just think of them as tools.

The R1S is a keeper!  So you sold it.

[Indy_Tim]

I tried to have a 1911 beater gun once.  It was a Remington R1S (full size stainless) and it was supposed to be the gun I'd carry anywhere without worry about scratches.  Turns out that it was a great shooter and looked pretty good in the end.  So I sold it.  The closest thing to a beater 1911 right now is a Kimber Compact that had a crappy finish.  Even that one is tough to crawl on concrete with.

When I'm heading for the junkyard or working at a buddies garage that would have me crawling around on concrete, I'm typically carrying my 9mm or .40 P07s now days.  I don't consider those beaters though, but I'm also not too worried about scraping them up a bit.  Those two are some solid shooters and I trust the dang things.  I'll bet that if I did call them a beater gun, I'd probably start caring more about the finish than I do when I just think of them as tools.

The R1S is a keeper!  So you sold it.

It was a great gun but I was in the process of replacing my lower end 1911s with Dan Wesson 1911s when a friend made me an offer on it.  I do miss the no-worry about finish nature of that gun, but do really like the better accuracy of the DWs.

[Tyerone]

With the "s" after DW, all is good.  You can't just have ONE 1911 (or CZ, or...) can you?
 

[whynot]

You can't just have ONE 1911 (or CZ, or...) can you?

... and the SIGNESS comes to mind.....

I don?t own any glocks but a beat up 19 or smaller Glock might be good to have in the stock pile.......

[GBUS]

Guess my P07 fills this role as I feel safer bouncing around with the polymer DA/SA gun then I do with my light trigger VP9 striker gun.

[Vinny]

Guess my P07 fills this role as I feel safer bouncing around with the polymer DA/SA gun then I do with my light trigger VP9 striker gun.

+1
Although my VP-9 was an excellent and reliable pistol with 3500+ rounds without any FTF whatsoever; the 4-1/4 lb. trigger was the exact reason I traded it toward a second P-07.
My P-07's have proven to be equally reliable, better SA trigger, and 1st round DA IMO safer.

My G17 Gen 4 MOS is my ONLY remaining striker. Why??? Because it eats anything and always goes bang, has a DPP RDS mounted, the trigger is...uhh....safer, and I don't carry it. But my new P-09 might replace it.