.40 .45 or 9mm

[severous01]

my uncle has a colt 1911, a XDm 9mm and several other pistols. my dad has a .22 pistol, .38, .357m and a few others of different caliber.

the 1911 was awesome, accurate and had a good feel but was extremely long. rounds are expensive as well unless you make your own, which uncle can do. the xdm 9mm was awesome in hand, it was the 4" version and was perfect for my hands. the .357 magnum was way too much, and was way too big and clunky feeling in hand (revolver....they're out of the question). .22 was good but no stopping power. .38 was good as well, but felt light and small in hand, and i wasnt very accurate with it due to it's small feel.

so i guess i'll be buyin an XDm of some caliber and like mentioned above, it will be based on price of rounds.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by severous01

so i guess i'll be buyin an XDm of some caliber and like mentioned above, it will be based on price of rounds.

If inexpensive ammo is a factor, then you should go with a 9mm. Right now you can pick up 50 rounds of Federal 9mm FMJ at Walmart for about $10, good for target shooting. For home/self defense you'll want specific JHP ammo that will be considerably more, but you won't use it too much. I'd recommend putting several rounds of whatever ammo you plan to keep in the gun through it to make sure it feeds/cycles properly, although with an XD/XDm it's not a concern (they will eat anything). Still, it's a good idea to run some rounds through anyway, just to be sure.

Good luck and happy shooting!

Cheers! M2

[Palmer812]

My daily concealed carry is a .40 (Glock 27). It is the same size as the 9mm Glock 26 and is only 1 round less. Target ammo is almost as cheap as 9mm (usually about $2 more per 50 rounds) but I get carry ammo for free so that helps. I have handguns from .22 all the way up to 500 S&W Magnum and love them all. Here is some gun porn.
DSCI0170-1.jpg

[Midnight Drifter]

Originally Posted by Palmer812

My daily concealed carry is a .40 (Glock 27)

Nice. I've got a S&W .38 air lite SC that I occasionally concealed carry when I'm charting... unfamiliar territories. Wonder what the size difference is.

Lucky you, by the way. You don't have to risk going to jail when you carry where you are. Carrying licenses (concealed or open) for personal defense are practically impossible to obtain here in the Soprano State, unless you're a State Trooper or a big-shot politician, (even cops can't carry when they're not on duty) and since unauthorized carrying warrants the same amount of jail time upon conviction whether you're open or concealed, it's much better to just hide the damn thing and hope you never end up getting patted down by a cop.

Oh well, it's not like I do it often... only when I'm going to seedy areas that I don't know well. Like Newark or Camden. Usually I just try to stay out of those areas, period... minimizes my chances of being shot at. (or arrested)

Oh, the joys of living in a state where you have to practically be a criminal to to protect yourself from criminals. Can't wait to move to Georgia so I don't feel so naked.

[Nexus1155]

Ended up going with a spikes upper that aimsurplus.com had for a great deal...