Hi friends! This is my first post and I hope it is a good one...
I have recently been bitten by the firearm bug. I don't know how it happened. I don't currently own a gun and didn't experience any brushes with danger, but now I find myself obsessed with gun ownership and have been researching my arse off trying to decide on a couple sweet pieces.
I will try and not make this another gun A vs gun B fanboi debate as I'm sure the fine folks of this forum have been down that road enough. Hopefully I can formulate my questions in such a way as to alleviate the majority of potential wasteful discussion.
First a little background information regarding my firearm experiences and desired firearm characteristics. I have shot a friend's Glock 17 (I think first gen.) and enjoyed it. I also rented a 1911 S&W and XDM 3.8 9mm compact with the small mag in place. The 1911 felt smooth and secure in my hand. The compact XDM did not for obvious reasons. Also, I managed to pinch the base of my hand really good when slamming a mag in. I think my hands are just too big for compact autoloaders (I'm about 6'3" and 215).
I went to a local gun store and handled a Sig 226 which felt REALLY nice in my hand. I have held another Sig with a Hogue grip which also felt amazing. I think the XD's feel better in the hand than the Glocks, but the Glocks don't bother me all that much and when I have the proper grip, they align nicely with the target.
This may sound weird but my first and foremost want in a gun is magazine capacity. Since I have bigger hands I don't have to worry about fat grips. The caliber I am interested in at this point is the 9mm and the .45. With those two criteria in place my research has led me to the Glock, the Springfield, and the FN. All three of those makers seem to have healthy standard magazine capacity and have higher than average quality ratings. I should mention that while I don't have a preference per se for plastic guns, I don't mind them either. I appreciate their light weight and modern looks and don't have the nostalgic sentiment towards all metal guns like some of the more seasoned collectors would have.
Safety is a big concern for me. I have changed my gun choice many times researching stories about the big, bad KB! I was really dead-set on purchasing an FN Five Seven because they seemed cutting edge as well as had some exceptional performance figures regarding tissue damage and armor penetration (using non-FN, high performance commercial ammo). But after reading a few stories of KB's and the relative scarcity of these guns on the market, my interest waned. Since my primary goal is self/home-defense with my gun, I think I can achieve my goal more safely with higher caliber weapons instead of expensive aftermarket 5.7 ammo.
The reason I tried out the XDM 3.8 compact is because I LOVED the 19 rd mag/grip extension for home defense, with a smaller mag/grip with 13 rounds for easy concealment. The 19 round mag/grip felt great in my hand while the smaller mag seemed doable. Once I got to the range though the gun seemed to jump around in my hands more than I liked and I already mentioned the mag bite I received (probably from being a noob but still..). Another thing that kind of derailed my momentum towards the XDM was all the internet comments about a bad trigger and the gun shop attendants (where I rented the gun) commenting on how unusually often they have to send their Springfield rentals back to the factory for repairs compared to Glocks.
It appears after digesting all the Glock Kabooms out there the consensus is that most problems were limited to the .40 and .45 calibers with the .40 being the most problematic. It appears that Glock's part of the responsibility has been met by improvements/recalls in the offending models. Since I won't be considering the high-pressure .40 model, I only need to worry about the .45. I watched the hugely popular Glock 21 torture test and was impressed with how much abuse that Glock took. Would I be correct in saying that Glock 21's have been improved enough over the years that they should have no propensity to blow compared to any other gun?
The FN .45, while not as popular or widespread as the other two brands, has been steadily gaining rave reviews from shooters all around. It is rather big but seems to feel very good in the hand and is deadly accurate. I love the massive mag capacity! The problem that has been circling around the web on these guns are the nasty habit of failing to feed/load certain types of ammo. If my memory serves, Winchester was one of the jammers. Safety AND reliability is my first concerns with my choices so if this is a persistent problem, I think my decision would be easy regarding this gun. Does anybody know more details on this ammo compatibility problem?
So to summarize, I think I'm looking to buy two guns at this point: a 9mm and a .45. I don't mind the look of the Glock but some of the stories have me worried (is the .45 still partially unsupported?). I like the XD's but are the high-maintenance comments justified? I really like the upandcomer FN. 45 and 9mm but the .45's ammo compatibility issues sound weird.
Sorry for the long post if it pained you and thanks for listening. I am open to all suggestions regarding weapons that are $1k or lower and have higher than average magazine capacity as well as strong safety and reliability records. I need to make up my mind because my head is spinning and my craving for a fine firearm isn't waning.
I have recently been bitten by the firearm bug. I don't know how it happened. I don't currently own a gun and didn't experience any brushes with danger, but now I find myself obsessed with gun ownership and have been researching my arse off trying to decide on a couple sweet pieces.
I will try and not make this another gun A vs gun B fanboi debate as I'm sure the fine folks of this forum have been down that road enough. Hopefully I can formulate my questions in such a way as to alleviate the majority of potential wasteful discussion.
First a little background information regarding my firearm experiences and desired firearm characteristics. I have shot a friend's Glock 17 (I think first gen.) and enjoyed it. I also rented a 1911 S&W and XDM 3.8 9mm compact with the small mag in place. The 1911 felt smooth and secure in my hand. The compact XDM did not for obvious reasons. Also, I managed to pinch the base of my hand really good when slamming a mag in. I think my hands are just too big for compact autoloaders (I'm about 6'3" and 215).
I went to a local gun store and handled a Sig 226 which felt REALLY nice in my hand. I have held another Sig with a Hogue grip which also felt amazing. I think the XD's feel better in the hand than the Glocks, but the Glocks don't bother me all that much and when I have the proper grip, they align nicely with the target.
This may sound weird but my first and foremost want in a gun is magazine capacity. Since I have bigger hands I don't have to worry about fat grips. The caliber I am interested in at this point is the 9mm and the .45. With those two criteria in place my research has led me to the Glock, the Springfield, and the FN. All three of those makers seem to have healthy standard magazine capacity and have higher than average quality ratings. I should mention that while I don't have a preference per se for plastic guns, I don't mind them either. I appreciate their light weight and modern looks and don't have the nostalgic sentiment towards all metal guns like some of the more seasoned collectors would have.
Safety is a big concern for me. I have changed my gun choice many times researching stories about the big, bad KB! I was really dead-set on purchasing an FN Five Seven because they seemed cutting edge as well as had some exceptional performance figures regarding tissue damage and armor penetration (using non-FN, high performance commercial ammo). But after reading a few stories of KB's and the relative scarcity of these guns on the market, my interest waned. Since my primary goal is self/home-defense with my gun, I think I can achieve my goal more safely with higher caliber weapons instead of expensive aftermarket 5.7 ammo.
The reason I tried out the XDM 3.8 compact is because I LOVED the 19 rd mag/grip extension for home defense, with a smaller mag/grip with 13 rounds for easy concealment. The 19 round mag/grip felt great in my hand while the smaller mag seemed doable. Once I got to the range though the gun seemed to jump around in my hands more than I liked and I already mentioned the mag bite I received (probably from being a noob but still..). Another thing that kind of derailed my momentum towards the XDM was all the internet comments about a bad trigger and the gun shop attendants (where I rented the gun) commenting on how unusually often they have to send their Springfield rentals back to the factory for repairs compared to Glocks.
It appears after digesting all the Glock Kabooms out there the consensus is that most problems were limited to the .40 and .45 calibers with the .40 being the most problematic. It appears that Glock's part of the responsibility has been met by improvements/recalls in the offending models. Since I won't be considering the high-pressure .40 model, I only need to worry about the .45. I watched the hugely popular Glock 21 torture test and was impressed with how much abuse that Glock took. Would I be correct in saying that Glock 21's have been improved enough over the years that they should have no propensity to blow compared to any other gun?
The FN .45, while not as popular or widespread as the other two brands, has been steadily gaining rave reviews from shooters all around. It is rather big but seems to feel very good in the hand and is deadly accurate. I love the massive mag capacity! The problem that has been circling around the web on these guns are the nasty habit of failing to feed/load certain types of ammo. If my memory serves, Winchester was one of the jammers. Safety AND reliability is my first concerns with my choices so if this is a persistent problem, I think my decision would be easy regarding this gun. Does anybody know more details on this ammo compatibility problem?
So to summarize, I think I'm looking to buy two guns at this point: a 9mm and a .45. I don't mind the look of the Glock but some of the stories have me worried (is the .45 still partially unsupported?). I like the XD's but are the high-maintenance comments justified? I really like the upandcomer FN. 45 and 9mm but the .45's ammo compatibility issues sound weird.
Sorry for the long post if it pained you and thanks for listening. I am open to all suggestions regarding weapons that are $1k or lower and have higher than average magazine capacity as well as strong safety and reliability records. I need to make up my mind because my head is spinning and my craving for a fine firearm isn't waning.
