What’s Your Weapon of Choice For Personal Use?
Today I pose a question to the readers of the site. What type of handgun do you use for personal defense and/or personal carry? Living in a gun friendly state has it’s advantages, especially the process to get a CCW permit. When it comes time to hit the road or have ready for home defense, my PDW of choice is the Springfield XD-40 Sub Compact. I bought this weapon about a year ago at a Gun Show in N.C for $450. After firing dozens of different types of handguns, I can still swear by the accuracy and performance of this particular firearm.
The Springfield XD Sub-compact 40 with one standard 9 round magazine and one factory extended grip 12 round magazine. The first time I fired the XD40 Sub I put 200 rounds through it and there were no malfunctions or fail to feeds. If you don’t like the feel of the shortened grip of sub-compact designs, the extended magazine feels like a full sized handgun in your fist, the exception being the shortened barrel; however the sight picture looks like a standard duty weapon. What you end up with is a comfortable, quick handling .40 with a great sight picture. The recoil of this weapon is amazing. It still has some snap to it, but it’s a very subtle motion, but more “delicate” than any glock handgun I have fired.
With some short barreled weapons, certain people have trouble with accuracy beyond 20 feet. I have always been one of those. This weapon caused me ZERO issues and I was able to keep a nice grouping at 25 and 33 feet. At 9 feet I could shoot as fast as I could pull the trigger with perfect center mass grouping. Not to bad for a weapons whose overall length is 6.25″!
The XD features what is called an Ultra Safety Assurance Action Trigger System that features a trigger safety lever, plus an internal firing-pin block that deactivates when the trigger reaches the striker release point. On top of that, there’s a grip safety that must be fully depressed before the trigger and slide can be moved. The whole system is a lot simpler than it sounds; the XD is pretty much a point/shoot pistol provided you grab it right. To this day I have sent over 2000 rounds down range with this sidearm. To this day I have had ZERO misfires. The weapon is the perfect small frame designs that allows an excellent concealed carry option without sacrificing stopping power or reliability. It is also the only weapon of it’s class that offers a light rail
I have 2 holsters for this handgun, but when going CCW, I have grown quite fond of the Clip Draw holster system. I have been using it for about 6 months and I am completely in love with it’s features. It has never come loose and allows a nearly invisible carry option.
So, that’s the tale of my weapon of choice. Is yours better? If so, tell us why in the comments section below. If you can make a good enough argument to convince me to try your model at the range, I’ll send you a MLE Crest decal. So let’s hear your thoughts. Are you a Glock, Taurus, or S&W person? Lets hear it.
I have a 9mm XD. I love that more then the sig.
“Living in a gun friendly state has it’s advantages, especially the process to get a CCW permit.” Evidently you’re not in California, where CCW issue is solely up to the Sheriff of each county. Depending on the political climate in that County, you may or may not get a CCW.
Enough of my rantings though. I carry my duty weapon from my civilian LE job. It’s a Sig 226 in .40 with TruGlo sights (if you’re not familiar with these, they illuminate in daylight, as well as low light conditions. Great for those of us w aging eyes). The 226 is big and carrying concealed can be a bit tricky, but this way I don’t have to mentally transition between weapons platforms depending on whether I’m on or off duty. It’s the same no matter what. During the stress of an armed encounter, you don’t want to have to think about which weapon you’re carrying.
Good Point. I would carry the sig myself. However, it’s not compatiable with my shoot style.
Gents,
I am a retired Coastie and live in a very friendly CCW state (Florida). I was looking for a small handgun with plenty of punch so I bought a Taurus Millenum 45 with 3 inch barrel,,,,,,big mistake. I have not had it fed a full load (10 rounds) through it before it would ramb. Can shoot a good group but after 3 or 4 rounds it jambs. Well anyway I am still looking. BTW, Bought the wife a Walther 22 and it is a blast at the range.
H&K USP Compact 9mm. amazing.
Great article,
I carry a Springfield XDm .40 Cal daily and love it. I thought it was going to be too large to carry but I bought a “CrossBreed Super Tuck” and I can carry the full size XDm in shorts and a t-shirt daily.
I usually have my G22 as my primary and have my G27 as my BUG while CCW. If my wife is carrying her XD .40, then I’ll switch out my G27 for my XD .40 SubCompact so that there’s some ammo/ mag compatibility should she need it. However, now that we don’t live in Iraq w/ cactus (Tucson, AZ), she’s scaled back how often she carries.
S/F
SleeperShooter
Kimber Pro-carry II in a Raven Concealment Systems holster. Only downside: it takes Raven 12-13 weeks to make your holster and mag carrier to your specs.
I also CC XD sub-comp in 9mm. No maulfunctions with hundreds of rounds of various ammo. I use a pinkie extension on my CC mag. I feel that the loaded chamber indicator is a big advantage at night when wakeing from a dead sleep. Only complaint is the width of the gun in CC situations, I would like to see a single stack model. supper accurate. I am a 1911 shooter as well and grip angle is simmular, easy transition.