The Scars Make It Real

New column up at Shooting Illustrated Online...

I have a PC9111 Professional model that I carried as my regular CCW blaster for years. It’s seen tens of thousands of rounds, been to several classes, was carried and sweated on, drawn and reholstered, bumped off door jambs in gun shops—and it looks it. The Birdsong Black T finish is worn shiny on the edges and the beavertail grip safety. The 20-lpi checkering on the frontstrap has a ding where someone wearing a heavy ring fired it. It’s not battered by any means, but it’s rather obviously been around the block a few times.

I’ve had people actually react in horror at its appearance, though. The Pro is an expensive pistol and hard to come by. Back when I purchased mine, the waiting list was long, and I only lucked into it when someone traded it in used at the shop where I was then working.

I started carrying it because it was designed to be carried—literally. The Professional model was developed at the behest of the FBI to be carried by SWAT-qualified agents. Having people become aghast at the marks of honest wear on a pistol like that seems as unusual to me as hearing “Don’t hit nails with that nice hammer! You’ll get scuff marks on the hammer head!”