Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
Hi guys!
So yesterday at the Wilkes-Barre Rifle and Pistol Club's 2009 IDPA Independence Match, I won one of the S.O. drawings for a gun! (Hey, there's a first time for everything!) So I'm holding a certificate for a brand new xDM 9mm!
Cool!
But here's my conundrum: I've been thinking about getting into the 9mm end of the sport for a long time, as I've always shot only .45 1911 and my .44 629. I'm classed in CDP, ESP, SSR, and ESR -- with those two guns. I have had the long-term plan of breaking into SSP sooner or later and have been kind of eyeing the M&P Pro. It seems like EVERYONE and their brother who shoot IDPA shoot the M&P -- I watched Dave Olhasso take CDP Division Champion with an M&P at last year's Nationals -- and I personally know and shoot with one of the more well-known M&P gunsmiths (Burwell) who has tweaked a great many of the M&Ps I see fielded around here.
On the other hand, I know several shooters (some SSP Masters, in fact) who have experienced persistent trouble with their M&Ps. (Extraction problems mostly.) And, from their stories, S&W has had the guns back, in some cases several times, and has eventually become very stand-offish about remedying the situation. I'll chalk this up to "everyone makes a lemon sometimes" and probably would take my chances.
Also, the most accurate insanely fast shooter I've ever seen, told me after Nationals last year that he was putting away his Glocks to concentrate on the M&P. I noticed yesterday that he's back to the Glocks. I didn't get to ask why, but his dalliance with S&W doesn't appear to have lasted an entire year.
AAAAAaanyway, now I'm getting an xDM 9! That's really COOL. I'm grateful, and pleased. But, I don't know how it fits in my plans. First, of course, an xD doesn't play in SSP. So that's off the table. Second, I really don't know anything much about xDs. I see them at matches some, but my idea of an ESP gun is a 9mm or .40 1911, and I'm kind of skeptical that an xD is a faster/better choice for that. The only xD I've shot was a .45, and it was VERY accurate and pointed well for me, but that was a while back, and like I said, I don't see many of the Class or Division winners shooting them, so I've not been paying a lot of attention to them.
"On the third hand" I remember that the xDM 9 was REALLY popular when it was introduced and the press made a huge deal out of it. And Springfield seems to have tried to make it the very best competition gun as could be on the xD platform. So I'm sure it won't SUCK.
SO, what to do?
Keep the XDM and shoot it in ESP and just enjoy a well-built and perfectly fine weapon that's probably just as competitive as I'm able to be?
Sell it NIB, unfired, and get the M&P Pro? Not sure how I'll make out on that deal. I'll probably lose a bit of money in transfer fees and such -- not sure if the retail prices are equivalent, either.
Or, the "left field" option, sell it and get a CZ SP-01 or Phantom, or Witness Match, or the like which I could run in either SSP or ESP? (I've always kind of wanted to get a CZ as they are adored by their fans and I'm sure are quite fine pistols.)
Please don't say, "Get whichever you want." If I knew which I really wanted to shoot and which I could do best with, I'd have already made up my mind.
Please don't say "Get a Glock." Nothing against them, I've shot plenty, just not my thing.
I really do appreciate any experienced, well-considered advice, from fellow competitors. (Yeah, that means USPSA types, too! ) What should I do and why?
THANKS!
-Sam
So yesterday at the Wilkes-Barre Rifle and Pistol Club's 2009 IDPA Independence Match, I won one of the S.O. drawings for a gun! (Hey, there's a first time for everything!) So I'm holding a certificate for a brand new xDM 9mm!
Cool!
But here's my conundrum: I've been thinking about getting into the 9mm end of the sport for a long time, as I've always shot only .45 1911 and my .44 629. I'm classed in CDP, ESP, SSR, and ESR -- with those two guns. I have had the long-term plan of breaking into SSP sooner or later and have been kind of eyeing the M&P Pro. It seems like EVERYONE and their brother who shoot IDPA shoot the M&P -- I watched Dave Olhasso take CDP Division Champion with an M&P at last year's Nationals -- and I personally know and shoot with one of the more well-known M&P gunsmiths (Burwell) who has tweaked a great many of the M&Ps I see fielded around here.
On the other hand, I know several shooters (some SSP Masters, in fact) who have experienced persistent trouble with their M&Ps. (Extraction problems mostly.) And, from their stories, S&W has had the guns back, in some cases several times, and has eventually become very stand-offish about remedying the situation. I'll chalk this up to "everyone makes a lemon sometimes" and probably would take my chances.
Also, the most accurate insanely fast shooter I've ever seen, told me after Nationals last year that he was putting away his Glocks to concentrate on the M&P. I noticed yesterday that he's back to the Glocks. I didn't get to ask why, but his dalliance with S&W doesn't appear to have lasted an entire year.
AAAAAaanyway, now I'm getting an xDM 9! That's really COOL. I'm grateful, and pleased. But, I don't know how it fits in my plans. First, of course, an xD doesn't play in SSP. So that's off the table. Second, I really don't know anything much about xDs. I see them at matches some, but my idea of an ESP gun is a 9mm or .40 1911, and I'm kind of skeptical that an xD is a faster/better choice for that. The only xD I've shot was a .45, and it was VERY accurate and pointed well for me, but that was a while back, and like I said, I don't see many of the Class or Division winners shooting them, so I've not been paying a lot of attention to them.
"On the third hand" I remember that the xDM 9 was REALLY popular when it was introduced and the press made a huge deal out of it. And Springfield seems to have tried to make it the very best competition gun as could be on the xD platform. So I'm sure it won't SUCK.
SO, what to do?
Keep the XDM and shoot it in ESP and just enjoy a well-built and perfectly fine weapon that's probably just as competitive as I'm able to be?
Sell it NIB, unfired, and get the M&P Pro? Not sure how I'll make out on that deal. I'll probably lose a bit of money in transfer fees and such -- not sure if the retail prices are equivalent, either.
Or, the "left field" option, sell it and get a CZ SP-01 or Phantom, or Witness Match, or the like which I could run in either SSP or ESP? (I've always kind of wanted to get a CZ as they are adored by their fans and I'm sure are quite fine pistols.)
Please don't say, "Get whichever you want." If I knew which I really wanted to shoot and which I could do best with, I'd have already made up my mind.
Please don't say "Get a Glock." Nothing against them, I've shot plenty, just not my thing.
I really do appreciate any experienced, well-considered advice, from fellow competitors. (Yeah, that means USPSA types, too! ) What should I do and why?
THANKS!
-Sam