Thanks to R and M for their comments, you get a follow up. I appreciate you guys so I wanted to dig a little deeper. As always, this is my take and may not reflect your experiences.
I ordered an NDZ aluminum XXL backstrap and some Talon Grips Pro textured tape. I installed this on a Macro grip module with a manual safety and then set out to compare it with some guns I might choose instead of the Fuse.
First, we have to recognize that I have carried a full-size gun as a habit for 30 years. Yes, I have had to carry smaller guns on occasion to conceal them and I have chosen to carry smaller guns on a few occasions because…well, I wanted to. Since I started running optics, I tend to default to a Glock 19 instead of a Glock 17 because my 17s have Aimpoint ACROs on them. The ACRO is a bunch of square corners in just the wrong spot. For 20 years prior to going Glock, I carried a full-size 1911.
To compare the performance of the guns, I chose two guns that are of similar weight, though heavier. One is larger but the same width and the other is smaller but thicker. Both comparative guns had irons sights.
The first comparisons were 5 rounds at 10 yards , firing the first shot on the timer beep and each subsequent round of the challenger gun as fast as possible to get the hit. I wanted to shoot the Fuse at the same speed as the larger guns and see what the results were. I often do demos for work where I need to match a speed between shots like this, so it is not something unusual for me to run relatively consistent splits this way.
The first gun up was an STI Trojan lightweight, aluminum frame 9mm. Loaded with 11 rounds with a steel backstrap, it weighs 39.7 ounces, compared to 34.3 ounces of the Fuse with 18 rounds on board.
I wanted to compare the gun that I would generally choose if I wanted a manual safety 9mm that was thinner in the waistband. To compare it to the Fuse, I used Justin Dyal’s 5 Yard Roundup.
I shot the challengers cold, even the M&P 2.0 Compact that I have not shot in several years. For the Fuse, I ran some practice drills before doing it for score. The gun requires more focus for me to shoot at or near the same level. It needs more support hand grip pressure and I have to exercise more patience when shooting with one hand.
For me, the pictures with the guns held in my hand, tell the tale. I can get more of my support hand on the larger guns and makes them significantly easier to shoot. The hand-filling grip and the slight weight increase mean a lot to my performance. I can shoot slightly larger guns cold, better than I can shoot the Fuse with the XXL backstrap warmed up.
I believe that if the 365 series is your choice and you practice with it sufficiently, there is nothing that needs doing that you cannot do. I do believe it will need more maintenance than a full-size gun but that is relatively inexpensive compared to the ammunition fired to get to those maintenance intervals. Additionally, the ability to size up and down for your needs and have the same manual of arms and kinesthetic feel is very valuable and not to be overlooked.
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