So like many on this board, I've been on the hunt for a 9mm CCW. I thought I had found it when I purchased a Taurus 24/7 Compact almost a year ago.
There were a lot of things I really liked about this pistol. First the price - 350. Hard to beat. A great size for CCW, 2 different size mags, a 17 round and a 12 round. Not too thick. The Grip was excellent - felt great in the hand, and I really liked the trigger - nice and smooth throughout the pull, way better than I expected. I personally liked the external safety. Never had a failure of any sort with 650+ rounds through it.
What I didn't like: the way the barrel fit into the slide. It sure seemed loose fitting. The Heine sights - didn't like them. The kicker - for me the accuracy was off. It shot way too far to the low and right than I was comfortable with. My wife too. And we're not talking at 25 yards here, 3-7 yards. Tried adjusting the sights, practiced with it because this was my first compact and thought it might be user error, but in the end I just wasn't comfortable with it, so I sold it.
Went to a gunshow and picked up these guys:
An M&P compact in 9mm, and a Glock 26 (also 9mm for those not familiar with the Glock numbering).
First the M&P - love it. Out of the box I erased the target center at 7 yards. So much more accurate in my hands than the Taurus. A little thicker than the Taurus but well balanced. The trigger is exactly like my full size M&P .40 - nice with a clean draw to take up the slack with a definite stopping point, and a smooth follow-through snap to fire off the round. Recoil was very manageable. Really like the grip, especially with the mag with the pinky rest in, but without it wasn't a big deal. Did not have a single failure after about 250 rounds mixed loads. To me, the M&P feels better in my hands than the XD which is why I went with it. Definitely would recommend this gun.
After several rounds I handed it to my wife. Her first 5 shots were straight down the center - she couldn't hit with the Taurus either.
The Glock belongs to my wife, but I got to play with it too
. Thicker grip but not bad IMO - well balanced. Hers has night sights and they were very nice. The trigger is typical Glock, not unlike the M&P where you can consistently draw up the slack before your follow through, but it flelt lighter or plastic-ier (for lack of a better word) But I don't mind the Glock trigger. It's easy enought to get used to. Did have 2 FTFs with some winchester winclean 115 gr I had left over from an order. I remember her Glock 19 didn't like that stuff either in the first 300-400 rounds, but once broken in ran fine with it. Not sure if the winclean is loaded a tad lighter than regular WWB. No other problems with Blazer Brass, S&B, or speer gold dots. But my wife shot great with it, no different than with her G19. Very consistent groups at 7-10 yards.
Overall I like both of these better than the Taurus because of the accuracy factor and would recommend both for a CCW. I like the M&P best, but the Glock was not far behind. My wife likes her Glocks but shot well with the M&P. Both are easy to strip and maintain, and the only other difference was the Glock lacked a rail. I really wanted to like the Taurus because everything else about it was workable. If it were as accurate as the other two I would have been completely happy. Of all 3 the grip on the Taurus was the best IMO. But in the end you carry to use it, and if a lack of accuracy might prevent you from using your weapon when you need it, then it just cannot work.
There are a lot of great choices out there. I know a lot of people love the XD which personally didn't feel right in my hands - felt clunkier than the Glock IMO, and there's the PPS which I chose not to get because of what seems to be some reliability issues (again, a comfort thing...) So for what it's worth, thanks for reading.
There were a lot of things I really liked about this pistol. First the price - 350. Hard to beat. A great size for CCW, 2 different size mags, a 17 round and a 12 round. Not too thick. The Grip was excellent - felt great in the hand, and I really liked the trigger - nice and smooth throughout the pull, way better than I expected. I personally liked the external safety. Never had a failure of any sort with 650+ rounds through it.
What I didn't like: the way the barrel fit into the slide. It sure seemed loose fitting. The Heine sights - didn't like them. The kicker - for me the accuracy was off. It shot way too far to the low and right than I was comfortable with. My wife too. And we're not talking at 25 yards here, 3-7 yards. Tried adjusting the sights, practiced with it because this was my first compact and thought it might be user error, but in the end I just wasn't comfortable with it, so I sold it.
Went to a gunshow and picked up these guys:
An M&P compact in 9mm, and a Glock 26 (also 9mm for those not familiar with the Glock numbering).
First the M&P - love it. Out of the box I erased the target center at 7 yards. So much more accurate in my hands than the Taurus. A little thicker than the Taurus but well balanced. The trigger is exactly like my full size M&P .40 - nice with a clean draw to take up the slack with a definite stopping point, and a smooth follow-through snap to fire off the round. Recoil was very manageable. Really like the grip, especially with the mag with the pinky rest in, but without it wasn't a big deal. Did not have a single failure after about 250 rounds mixed loads. To me, the M&P feels better in my hands than the XD which is why I went with it. Definitely would recommend this gun.
After several rounds I handed it to my wife. Her first 5 shots were straight down the center - she couldn't hit with the Taurus either.
The Glock belongs to my wife, but I got to play with it too
. Thicker grip but not bad IMO - well balanced. Hers has night sights and they were very nice. The trigger is typical Glock, not unlike the M&P where you can consistently draw up the slack before your follow through, but it flelt lighter or plastic-ier (for lack of a better word) But I don't mind the Glock trigger. It's easy enought to get used to. Did have 2 FTFs with some winchester winclean 115 gr I had left over from an order. I remember her Glock 19 didn't like that stuff either in the first 300-400 rounds, but once broken in ran fine with it. Not sure if the winclean is loaded a tad lighter than regular WWB. No other problems with Blazer Brass, S&B, or speer gold dots. But my wife shot great with it, no different than with her G19. Very consistent groups at 7-10 yards.Overall I like both of these better than the Taurus because of the accuracy factor and would recommend both for a CCW. I like the M&P best, but the Glock was not far behind. My wife likes her Glocks but shot well with the M&P. Both are easy to strip and maintain, and the only other difference was the Glock lacked a rail. I really wanted to like the Taurus because everything else about it was workable. If it were as accurate as the other two I would have been completely happy. Of all 3 the grip on the Taurus was the best IMO. But in the end you carry to use it, and if a lack of accuracy might prevent you from using your weapon when you need it, then it just cannot work.
There are a lot of great choices out there. I know a lot of people love the XD which personally didn't feel right in my hands - felt clunkier than the Glock IMO, and there's the PPS which I chose not to get because of what seems to be some reliability issues (again, a comfort thing...) So for what it's worth, thanks for reading.
