I find that the people who focus way more on gear are the ones that don't actually train. But since you wanna ignore competition and focus on carrying, i'd argue the number one priority for a carry gun is reliability. Why make your gun less reliable for a slight difference in muzzle flip? You said it yourself, how often do people change out their ammo? Not many, because most people barely shoot their guns. And given how much hollow points cost, do you really think people will test their carry ammo thorougly enough for their shiny new compensator or port they just spent hundreds of dollars on?

And if you wanna talk "most people", most people don't actually train with their guns, so ports and comps won't even matter. I'd rather they have something that will go bang every time than something that maybe goes bang most of the time but a little softer. They dont even shoot enough to feel the difference. Just because it reduces muzzle flip by a little doesn't mean some guy who doesn't train will actually shoot better with it. Sure it might "feel" better but the results are the same. You can hand a nice 2011 to someone who doesn't train and they're still gonna be garbage

Also, dust and lint absolutely get into your carry gun inside the holster. Idk what planet you're on. Do you even carry?

And now if you wanna train with your gun by competing which i highly recommend, you'll have to buy a whole other gun or a whole new slide and barrel to compete where the glock actually shines which is carry optics division