Quote:
Originally Posted by cabmando
I've been going back and forth between 9mm and .45 for quite some time. I think I've locked on on a 9mm for the magazine capacity and the RIP rounds. A 45 with a double stack just feels heavy.
Glock has an extended 32 round mag but that just seems excessive. Glock and Springfield offer a 19 round which seems about right. I put a Springfield Xd in my hand today and it fit nicely. It's a full size 9 not a compact. I like the feel of the full size pistol better in my hand. A lot of guys talk about Glock having a tendency to jamb, definite negative if true. I like a grip and trigger safety and want something with a rail to add a laser. My nephew has a Glock 9 with a grip laser that's pretty sweet but it feels short in my hand.
Budget for just the weapon is $600 or less. What say the brain trust?
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I went with 9mm mostly for ease of access to spoon food. Also cost, size, convenience were other pluses.
I started out with the Springfield Armory (SA) XDm 9 which has the 19 round mag. It's got grip and trigger safeties and is a great gun. I downsized to a compact which only held 10-13 rounds if I remember correctly. The SA XDm series has grip and trigger safeties, and 3 different sized palm pads for the grip so you can adjust the grip to be more comfortable for you.
I then went to a S&W M&P Shield 9 which is much improved (to carry) over the other two. It's got a thumb safety and the different sized palm pads for the grip to make the gun better to hold.
I think you can't really go wrong with a Glock, SA XD or XDm or S&W M&P. They are like comparing Nikon and Canon or maybe Camaro, Mustang and Challenger. They are all practically the same and the reason that they are constantly argued over is because the only way to pick a winner is subjectively - "I prefer X on the 123 over the Y on the 567 so the 123 is the better spoon."
If you can, check them all out. You can get 9mm full size double stack in all of them. You can get compact double stack in all of them. You can get compact single stack in all of them. I suspect you can also get them all in 45, 40, and probably another cal or 2 as well.
I can tell you that many, many years ago, I was at a range with a Glock and and XD, both 9mm. I shot them back to back and switched back and forth about 3-4 times trying to figure out which I liked better. It was a tough call. They were so similar. In the end, I picked the XD because I thought there was something that I liked better, but I honestly couldn't tell you what it was. It was just a feeling.
I prefer the single stack M&P.
What's really crazy is that I carried a full size 1911 .45 a couple of times (out of curiosity) and it was surprisingly easy to carry, despite the weight.