The Comparative Standards were proposed to compare equipment – guns by type and format, carry gear, even ammunition – and as a personal skills check. The idea that gear should ‘fit’ the user is a reason for the test and helps us analyze the context of carry guns and gear within a user’s skill set. So far, colleague Claude Werner has examined the concept in detail and has worked autos and revolvers, going further than I.

I’ve compared like guns – service sized 9mm guns and compact guns – but all in 9mm. I wondered how the 45s would compare. They’re supposed to be harder to shoot quickly but is the practical difference there? I wondered if the modern striker-fired auto would be greatly different on the test when compared to a single-action hammer fired gun.

Let’s move to opposing ends of the scale; a high-end 1911 format pistol configured with an “Officer’s” (compact) frame and short-service size slide & barrel against a service-size striker-fired 45 Auto.

At the top, we have the Nighthawk Custom T3 Stainless 45 ACP. I’ve had this gun around for a while. It’s a stunning rendition of the Browning-design featuring the “officer frame with a commander size slide.” To enhance handling, the base of the frame is fitted with the Nighthawk T3 magwell, an attenuated ‘speed chute’ to ensure feeding of a fresh magazine as well as rounding out the gripping surface of the pistol. At the top, the standard 4 ¼” barrel in an appropriate length slide with a standard M1911 recoil spring, short spring guide and spring plug held by a barrel bushing. Gracing the serrated top of the slide is the Heinie Slant Pro Straight Eight tritium rear sight with a matching tritium-equipped front sight. A full-steel pistol, it weighs in at just under 34 ½ ounces and came with a pair of 7-round capacity “Officer’s” sized magazines.

I selected the Simply Rugged Holsters DEFCON-3 Holster – a pancake holster with improvements – to run the gun from. The reinforced holster mouth keeps the rig open to receive the pistol and three belt slots not just give you options when carrying on the trouser belt, but allows the use of Rob Leahy’s “Chesty Puller Straps” to turn the DEFCON into a chest field rig.

The DEFCON-3 rides close and high, like pancake holsters tend to do. Concealable, comfortable, secure and quick – it’s a grand old design, nicely updated.

The standard service-size striker fired gun is the used trade-in Glock 21 SF. The sole change in the gun is the addition of TruGlo TFX sights. Low-riding sights, they use tritium and fiber-optic rods for the ‘best of both worlds’ in terms of adverse light function. The front TFX sight has the TFO element surrounded by a white ring – a “Focus Lock” ring. This draws the eye up front where the visual focus belongs.

The holster I selected was the Comp-Tac Minotaur Gladiator OWB holster. No longer on the Comp-Tac website, the rig features a leather back and kydex holster shell and snaps onto the belt.

The ammo for the Nighthawk T3 was Hornady Critical Defense. For the Glock 21SF, I selected Ruger ARX. Firing a 118-grain bullet, I expected less recoil but frankly noticed no difference during the test; I was too concerned with controlling the trigger and not making errors.

My analysis of the standards is starting to settle around certain aspects of it: the average time for a single hit from 25 yards, the time from the singles from low ready at 15 yards, the ten-yard stage of the Wizard Drill, the failure-to-stop drill, and the reload. The remainder of the strings are straight forward (though I can mess them up just fine).

I also consider the penalties. Any hit outside of the maximum scoring zone adds time to the aggregated times from each string. Aside from wrecking the “time + penalties,” it makes me consider that the penalty on the range could be a miss on the street. An accumulation of penalties is a problem.

Remarkably, the results were close. The aggregated times with penalties for the Nighthawk was a full second less than the Glock 21SF, but both times fell within the range of times collected from Glock 19s, S&W M&P9 M2.0 Compacts (3.6” and four-inch) – as well as the service-grade results from the Springfield XD-S Mod.2 9mm.

Both “passed” the Wizard Drill components, each can give a center hit from guard at fifteen yards in less than a second. They worked liked the 9mm guns did.

Just as the so-called ‘stopping power’ results of conventional service caliber handguns on the street are nearly identical, so was result from the timed exams.

As always, shooting a premium custom-class 1911 is a joy. I worked hard to keep from nudging that wonderfully short, light trigger. As for the Glock 21SF, it did like it always does, turning in a solid performance.

So, is the 9mm better than the 45 and is the modern striker-fired gun better than the hammer-fired gun? Not noticeably. They’re just guns and either will do the job – if you will.

- - Rich Grassi