Maintain Your Carry Pistol

I recently took what is becoming my primary carry pistol (a SIG P365) to the SSD Short Range Match. I periodically use my carry pistols in matches to ensure that they function correctly, that they have maintained zero, and remind myself how carry ammo feels when fired. I had not shot this pistol in a while because we’ve had bad luck with weather cancelling several of the Short Range matches and I have been concentrating on improving my performance in Steel Challenge.

I have been carrying the SIG P365 as my primary every day carry pistol in the very humid south-central Texas summer heat. I always wipe down the pistol to remove perspiration when I take it out of the holster; however, I do not unload it. Instead, I immediately place a trigger guard holster or cover over the trigger guard (I’ll abbreviate it TGH). See more on this topic below.

When I arrived at the match, I proceeded to unload the P365 (all local matches that I am aware of require cold ranges). I was unpleasantly surprised when I discovered that the pistol required considerable force to retract the slide to the rear. As mentioned above, since I do not load/unload the pistol in my normal carry routine I had not noticed that some rust had started to appear inside the pistol slide rails.

A quick lubrication solved the problem and the pistol functioned perfectly during the match. A lesson learned. Even though I was not shooting the pistol, I still needed to periodically check the pistol and ensure that no hidden corrosion was present.

I mentioned that I normally do not unload my EDC pistols when I remove them from the holster for the evening. Administratively loading and unloading your pistol requires periodically rotating your ammunition in the magazine to prevent bullet set-back.

If I am unholstering my EDC for the evening, I attach the TGH and then place the pistol on the nightstand. All members of my household are responsible adults so having a loaded pistol on the nightstand is no issue. Your circumstances may be different. If children were present, I would not keep a loaded pistol accessible on my nightstand.

If I am holstering the pistol for carry, I remove the TGH and place the pistol in the holster. Using the TGH is a deliberate act that encourages you to pay closer attention to what you are doing and you are less likely to inadvertently touch the trigger.

A Sampling of Trigger Guard Holsters

I added a glow-in-the-dark paracord lanyard to one of my TGHs (you can buy the paracord online). The glowing paracord enables me to determine the pistol’s location in the dark and it retains enough glow that it is visible throughout the night. In the event that something wakes me and I must grab my pistol, the TGH prevents me from inadvertently touching the trigger. The glowing paracord tells me exactly where the pistol is located and where to grab the cord if I do need to expose the trigger. 

Glow in the Dark Paracord

When placing the TGH on the pistol, always come straight up from the bottom of the trigger guard—never from front to back. Although a properly designed TGH does not touch the trigger, coming straight up when placing it on the pistol makes inadvertently pulling the trigger when placing the TGH almost impossible. When removing the TGH, simply pull straight down. These techniques for placing and removing the TGH also ensure that your hand does not stray in front of the pistol’s muzzle.

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