Stop Building Your Gun for Instagram

I love a good-looking gun.

I’m probably the last person who should ever tell somebody that aesthetics don’t matter. I’ve had guns Cerakoted. I’ve changed triggers. I’ve swapped grips. I’ve added magwells, optics, extended controls, porting, and plenty of other things that absolutely make a gun look cooler.

So this isn’t me telling you to leave every gun stock.

It’s me saying something a little different:

Stop building your gun for Instagram and start building it for what you actually do with it.

Because somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us started building guns backwards.

We Pick the Parts Before We Pick the Purpose

You buy a new pistol.

Before you’ve even put 500 rounds through it, you already have a list.

New trigger.

New optic.

Magwell.

Extended magazine release.

Extended slide stop.

Stipple job.

Porting.

Maybe a new recoil system.

Definitely some kind of Cerakote because black is apparently unacceptable now.

And listen—I get it.

Modifying guns is part of the hobby.

There’s something satisfying about taking a factory pistol and making it yours. I've done it plenty of times, and I'll continue doing it.

But the question I’ve started asking myself more often is:

What problem am I actually trying to solve?

That question changes everything.

A Modification Should Have a Job

One of the biggest things competition has taught me is that something being cool doesn't automatically make it useful.

The timer has a funny way of exposing that.

Something can look incredible sitting on the bench and provide almost no benefit once you're actually shooting.

Meanwhile, some of the least exciting modifications can make a noticeable difference.

A good optic that you can find quickly.

Controls you can actually reach.

A grip that lets you consistently establish the same purchase.

A magwell that makes your reloads easier.

Reliable magazines.

Those aren't necessarily the things that are going to get the most attention in a photo.

But they're the things you're actually going to notice when you use the gun.

That's the difference between accessorizing a gun and building a gun.

Your Build Should Match Your Life

There isn't one correct pistol setup because we're not all doing the same thing.

A concealed-carry gun shouldn't necessarily be built like a competition gun.

A competition gun doesn't have to be built like a duty pistol.

And the gun that spends most of its life at the range can prioritize things that might make absolutely no sense on something you carry every day.

Take magwells.

I love a good magwell.

For competition, especially when you're trying to reload quickly under pressure, a well-designed magwell can absolutely make sense.

But if you're building the smallest possible concealed-carry setup?

Maybe adding something that increases the footprint of the gun isn't accomplishing the goal.

Same thing with aggressive grip texture.

More traction sounds better.

Until you carry it against your body all day.

Or, in my case, you actually spend time running a very aggressive grip and realize that while you appreciate what it does mechanically, you don't necessarily enjoy shooting it for extended periods.

That's something you don't learn from a product photo.

You learn it by using the gun.

More Aggressive Isn't Always Better

This is one I've personally changed my opinion on.

For a long time, I think many of us looked at modifications almost like a spec sheet.

More aggressive stippling?

Better.

Lighter trigger?

Better.

Bigger magwell?

Better.

More porting?

Better.

Bigger optic?

Better.

Except that's not how any of this works.

There is a point where an improvement in one area creates a compromise somewhere else.

A giant optic may provide an incredible window, but maybe you don't want that setup on your everyday carry gun.

An extremely light trigger might feel phenomenal at the range, but it doesn't automatically make sense for every application.

An aggressively textured grip might lock your hands into the gun, but it might also be miserable against your skin.

And a giant magwell might make reloads easier while making the gun more difficult to conceal.

Everything is a tradeoff.

The goal isn't to build the gun with the most features.

It's to build the gun with the right features.

Shoot the Gun First

This might be the biggest change I've made in the way I look at builds.

Before deciding what a gun needs, shoot it.

Actually shoot it.

Not two magazines.

Put some rounds through it.

Run drills.

Draw it.

Reload it.

Shoot it quickly.

Shoot it slowly.

If you're going to carry it, carry it.

If you're going to compete with it, compete with it.

Because sometimes the thing you were convinced needed to be changed turns out to be perfectly fine.

And sometimes you discover a completely different problem.

Maybe the factory trigger isn't actually bothering you.

Maybe what you really need is a better optic.

Maybe you don't need a grip modification—you just need to work on your grip.

Maybe the controls actually do need to change because your hands can't comfortably reach them.

That last one matters to me personally.

I have smaller hands, so things like the placement and size of controls can make a legitimate difference in how efficiently I run a pistol.

That's a modification solving an actual problem.

Not checking a box.

Spend Money Where It Actually Matters

This is also where a place like Brownells makes a lot of sense.

One of the reasons I like Brownells is that you don't have to approach a build as buying some giant pre-determined package of upgrades.

You can identify what the gun actually needs and address that specific area.

Need better sights?

Brownells carries everything from traditional handgun sights to fiber-optic, night-sight and optic-compatible setups from brands like Ameriglo, XS Sights and others.

Need to change the way the gun interfaces with your hands?

There are grip components and supporting parts.

Need the proper equipment to work on your own gun instead of attacking it with whatever happens to be sitting in the toolbox?

They also carry dedicated handgun tools, including sight pushers and platform-specific tools.

That's how I'd rather approach a build:

Identify the problem. Find the part. Fix the problem.

Not:

Open Instagram. Find somebody else's gun. Buy everything attached to it.

And if you're picking something up from Brownells, you can support MacBroz by using code BOP10 where applicable.

The Best Build Might Be Boring

Here's the part nobody wants to admit.

The perfect setup for you might not be particularly exciting.

Maybe it's a mostly stock pistol with a quality optic.

Maybe you added a better set of sights and nothing else.

Maybe you needed an extended control because of your hand size.

Maybe it's a completely ridiculous custom build because customizing guns is half the reason you enjoy owning them.

That's fine too.

Fun is a legitimate purpose.

If you're building a range toy because you want it to look insane, build it.

If you're creating a custom gun because you enjoy the process, do it.

I'm not pretending every gun modification has to shave two-tenths off a stage time or serve some tactical purpose.

Just be honest about why you're doing it.

The problem isn't building a cool gun.

The problem is convincing ourselves that every cool part is automatically an upgrade.

Build Your Gun

Some of the coolest pistols I've owned haven't necessarily been my favorites to shoot.

And some guns that don't look particularly special have surprised me once I started running them.

That's why I'm becoming much more interested in building guns around experience instead of expectations.

Shoot it.

Figure out what you like.

Figure out what you don't.

Change something.

Shoot it again.

Eventually, you end up with something much more valuable than a gun that photographs well.

You end up with a gun that actually fits you.

And if it happens to look good on Instagram too?

Even better.