New gun owner, few questions

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Skribs

Skribs

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I just bought my first gun on Wednesday, a Springfield XDM .40 3.8" (all black). I'm taking it to the range later today, but I just have a couple of general questions about being a firearm owner.

My first question is what is a good resource to use to find a gunsmith? I tried googling "gunsmith" but all I seemed to get were pawn brokers and gunsmithing supplies (I swear all search engines hate me, I never get exactly what I'm looking for). The main reason I ask is because I want to get some night sights on my gun, and am not comfortable doing the work myself. I have the hardware skills of Tim Taylor.

Second question is sort of a HP-vs-FMJ question. I plan to use hollow points for home defense, but I notice that they're a tad more expensive than the solid bullets. Would (assuming same brand/weight) the two fire similarly, in terms of felt recoil and accuracy? In other words, can I save myself some cash at the range with FMJs and still be familiar with HPs should I need to defend myself?

I think that will do for now. I'm looking forward to testing out my new gun. I've shot the same gun except with the 4.5" barrel and loved it, but haven't tried this model.
 
Try typing in your location along with "gunsmith." For instance, if I wanted to find a gunsmith, I'd type in "Gunsmith Atlanta" into google. You could also type gunsmith and your zip code into google maps and it will pull up a map with all of your local results. Most gun shops would be willing to install night sights for you for a price.

Also, FMJ vs JHP... I hear a lot of people suggest practicing with what you will be using, but that is just too expensive for me. I use the cheapest ammo I can find to practice with(about 20 cents per round) instead of using my JHPs (over $1.25 per round). I hope that if I ever have to use it, I'll be too scared to feel the difference. As long as it works good in your weapon, I'd assume it would be fine. Fire at least a couple of boxes of it to make sure.
 
Call Trijicon Customer Service Department at 1-800-338-0563 for shipping instructions and pricing information. You only need to ship them the slide.

mbogo
 
Rusty, I tried that (@ paragraph 1). The results I got are in my original post. Thanks for the advice, though. What you said about FMJ vs. JHP makes sense, and chances are at the range I'll need in self defense it won't matter if the aim is off a tad.

Mbogo, I may try that. Thanks. I was already thinking of Trijicon anyway, as they seem to be pretty popular.
 
First of all, congratulations on your first gun purchase!

I would do a google search like this "gun range near <your zipcode>" and see what comes up. Usually if you can find an indoor pistol range there is usually a gun shop attached to it with a qualified gunsmith or at least someone who can point you in the right direction.

I will go ahead and tell you that XDM's are notorious for being difficult to swap the sights out. Your best bet is to contact the night sight manufacturer directly (e.g. http://www.trijicon.com/contact.cfm if you want trijicon sights, which are excellent). They'll give you instructions to mail in your XDM's slide only and which sights you want and they will install it for you. Of course turn-around time is about 4-6 weeks right now (I talked with one of the trijicon reps a few weeks ago actually about the exact same thing for my XDM). If you are law enforcement they will expedite your order but it will still take a couple of weeks. Since your weapon will be disabled without its slide while it gets installed, it's a good excuse to get a second gun! :D

As a rule, you want to fire FMJ rounds at the range for targets--and you want HPs for home defense. Namely because you are correct, HPs are more expensive to manufacture. The difference is minor, depending if you use heavily loaded ammo (indicated with a +P on it). It won't hurt to every now and then load a few defense rounds and fire them at the range just so you can get a feel for the difference in recoil. I use Remington golden sabre 165 grain HPs for home defense and Federal's american eagle 180gr FMJ at the range (.40 S&W) I don't shoot as much as some of the more serious guys do here and they may have better advice :)

You'll also note that anyone you talk to about guns, ammo, or technique (myself included) have strong opinions about things... many based on preference. The key is to take advice with a grain of salt and test them out for yourself to find out what you are comfortable shooting with, but still capable of getting the job done.
 
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Skribs said:
Second question is sort of a HP-vs-FMJ question. I plan to use hollow points for home defense, but I notice that they're a tad more expensive than the solid bullets. Would (assuming same brand/weight) the two fire similarly, in terms of felt recoil and accuracy? In other words, can I save myself some cash at the range with FMJs and still be familiar with HPs should I need to defend myself?
Click to expand...
yes, especially at SD/HD distance. More important than the kind or brand of bullet is how accurate you are with it and how it functions in your weapon. The only way to become proficient with any handgun is to practice....as much as you can afford. Odds are, by the time you become accurate, you'll know exactly what bullets are best for you. From experience comes knowledge. Congrats on your new gun. You made a fine choice and it should serve you well
 
Just remember to run at least few boxes of your preferred HP ammo through the gun as a reliability test with follow up tests every so often, then use the "cheap" stuff for routine practice.
 
It is generally recommended that you fire enough of the ammo you plan to use to defend yourself through your firearm to know that it is reliable and hits POA. You don't have to practice with it exclusively, but I would try put a couple hundred rounds through it before I trusted it for defensive purposes.

But to answer your question, yes, as long as the bullets are approx the same weight and velocity, they should impact in roughly the same area. There are exceptions of course.

As for gunsmiths, look in the local yellow pages, or Google your city or area name followed by 'gunsmiths.' For example, for me "Missoula, MT gunsmiths." Or go to your local FFL, where you bought your gun, and ask them if they have any recommendations. As with anything else, some gunsmiths are better than others. Hanging out and asking questions at the gun store can give you an idea of who tends to do the best work with what you're looking for, and/or who has the best prices and turn around times.
 
I'd expect the store you bought the gun from could recommend a local smith. If you tell us where you are, someone in here (there are lots of us) may know someone local to you.

Enjoy your time at the range :).
 
I agree with 41mag, definitley test your HD/PD ammo for reliability in YOUR weapon. Sometimes a certain combo of ammo and a firearm dont mix for whatever reason. Also its good to see if the POI is different, although it shouldnt be, with your HP vs FMJ rounds.

Something I got the other day from my brother in law regarding bullet weight in .40:

I would also recommend .40 cal in 180 grain. Below is an e-mail excerpt I received the last time I ordered ammo for the department. The e-mail is from NAME DELETED (former German Special Forces Sniper), who is the Law Enforcment Specialist-Technical Lead for ATK(the parent company of Federal, Speer, and American Eagle)



“Your decision to go with the 180 grain 40 is already a wise one: too often, a light, fast projectile is chosen in the belief that the lighter bullet generates less recoil. Not so: the light ones in 40 cal generate a sharp “snap”, much harder to recover from than the “shove” of the slower 180. Additionally, a fast bullet will no longer perform when robbed off its speed, either by being shot out of a short barrel (Glock 27 ?) or having to punch through a barrier first. The heavyweight, already being subsonic out of the gate, is designed to perform at slow speed, and will also stay together even if defeating a tough barrier.

Our best performers, terminally, are the Federal 180 HST and the SPEER 180 Gold Dot. You also will avoid many of the problems associated with Glocks equipped with lights and loaded with hot midweight loads such as Gold Dot 165 grain.”


His dept uses glocks, but the info is still the same regarding bullet weight. Hope this info helps and gets you on your way to making informed decisions regarding ammo choices.

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the wonderful world of shooting
 
Yes congrats on the purchase. I've been looking at threads that outline topics with XD or XDm as I may purchase one in the future after I get a 1911 for carry.

I too use the cheapest ammo for range play, you know money and all like everyone else says. I've tried a few HD ammo like Speer Gold Dot and the Federal HydraShok, although they have been in 9mm caliber.
 
Welcome to the club!

As far as the felt difference in recoil between your practice and defense ammo, I'd pretty much just make sure you tried some practice ammo with the same charge.

For instance, the defense ammo I carry (.45ACP) is usually 230-grain. But not all of the practice ammo I shoot is necessarily that hot. For instance, some of the reloads that my dad cranks out are usually like 185-grain. There's a pretty substantial difference between the two in that case. But personally I wouldn't worry too much about the difference in bullet weights between your HP and practice ammo.
 
For XD site installation, might want to check out this post? (post #13)
Link included in post for XD-HS2000.com, who did my sights.
 
You could start with the yellow pages for your area - many gunsmiths are still using the old-fashioned way of listing their business. Ask at the store you bought the gun from, ask at the range you will be shooting at.

You do have a good cleaning kit and have cleaned all the shipping preservative off of it and relubed it, right? Do that before shooting it
 
Braceyourself07
Great quote "You'll also note that anyone you talk to about guns, ammo, or technique (myself included) have strong opinions about things... many based on preference. The key is to take advice with a grain of salt and test them out for yourself to find out what you are comfortable shooting with, but still capable of getting the job done."

I never heard it put that way but you nailed it!!!! Mind if I use it???

The Dove
 
I'd say AirSoft first, then .22lr, then centerfire.

Google for Brownell's Supply, Inc. They'll know a smith near you, cause they supply him. :) Airsoft lets you practice in your home, saving you hundreds of $ on ammo, range trips, etc. Could also save a life or limb, as you learn to draw, etc. Force on force training (man vs man, cowboys and Indians) with airsoft is many times more valuable training than just paper target shooting
 
Did you try using the yellow pages. You can use them online also.
As far as night sights go I changed the sights on my XD & I believe it is well worth the money to let someone else do it. The XD sights are unbelievably tight.
 
Well, I went to the range, and 2nd bullet got stuck in the barrel! It was stupid of me to use that ammo, though, as it's something we bought probably 4-6 years ago that was having problems then, and on top of that I don't think my Dad was storing it properly. The guy at the gun range helped me clear the blockage and showed me how to put the gun back together (I got it apart just fine, putting it back together was the problem, but now that I know what I was doing wrong, it's easy). Fired 170 rounds through it with recently purchased ammo of 4 different brands and it handled it all just fine.

A few things I noticed...
-The slide release was a smegging pain to use at home, it was so stiff that I had to pull the slide back to release the tension. After 1 good shot and 1 bad shot, it loosened up and I can comfortable release the slide with 1 hand now.
-My aim was really off for the most part, but I finally figured out I was limp wristing it. I got a tighter grip and had a tighter grouping. Any recommendations on fixing this?
-I also was shooting low. In order to hit where I was aiming, I would line the top of the rear sights with the bottom of the front sights. Is this to be expected? Or will getting new sights possibly fix this? I was planning on getting the night sights anyway, so I'm not disappointed if I have to replace that part.

While I was at the range, I got to talking to a couple guys in the lane next to me, and one of them let me borrow his XDM .45. He was really cool about it, too, I didn't even ask, he just handed me the loaded pistol and said "Here, try this!" I think that had less recoil than my 3.8" .40, and it shot real nice - I hit exactly what I was aiming for. Which tells me that my low-shooting problem was with the gun, and not me.

Also, I cleaned my gun after going to the range (with my next purchase I'll do it before, too, but I didn't think I'd have to) and I gotta say, the Bore Snake is amazing. I'm really glad the guy at Cabelas talked me into getting one. I think I'll probably just go to Cabelas and ask if they know a local gunsmith I can use; I will probably buy my sights there, too.
 
Sounds like a productive range trip. One thing I appreciate about the gun community is that we are a friendly, helpful bunch. I bump into guys all the time at the range who give me a tidbit of advice or let me shoot their $2500+ gun just to try it out (and force me to dream about buying one for the foreseeable future).

Yep, the action should get smoother the more you shoot. This is especially true if you get a smaller pocket pistol brand new--feels so tight like it is all wound up. After a couple hundred rounds of shooting it, the parts mesh together better.

.40 S&W is usually a little snappier than a .45 ACP even though a .45 is obviously larger than a .40. If you are unsure if your XDM 40 is sight aligned correctly, have the range officer test fire it for you. A lot of times, despite how much you feel it's "not me, it's the gun" it's usually the shooter's error even if you fire someone else's gun successfully. Much of it is subconscious (e.g. anticipating recoil and pushing the gun reflexively as you anticipate the shot--the key is not to anticipate it). Some of it could be the type of ammo you are using too. If it's a legit sight issue, the range officer or one of the gun shop guys can probably tell.

Another thing to do, too, is buy some snap caps. They are plastic cartridges that you can put in your mag and when you chamber one and fire, the gun won't... and it will be obvious if you dip the barrel down. Put them in randomly or let your buddy load the mag for you so you don't know which cartridge will be the snap cap. This also simulates a failure to fire situation which you can practice too.

Enjoy your new gun!!
 
Sounds like you had a productive time on the range. One thing to remember don't be affraid to ask questions here or on any gun forum. The new folks are here to learn and the older shooters should be willing to help out a new shooter by sharing knowledge and experience. We all have been where newbys are and the newbys one day will be where we are. Since I wasn't on the range with you it would be nearly impossible to say if the low hits were caused by the gun or the shooter. Most of the time the shooter needs a few pointers, but there are times when the gun is not set up properly (rare but does happen). As good as QC at the major manufacturers is there are a few that get by from time to time. Now to cleaning, the bore snake may be a good fast method of cleaning but I'm old fashioned and believe it is hard to beat a good thorough take down cleaning. You can buy a basic kit almost anywhere for less than $25 (usually). Take the kit and add too it as your firearms skills and aquisitions pile up. I started with one of these kits and now have a large tackle box for all the stuff I use. I also have a large tackle box devoted to parts and armorer's tools. For the night sights if you can't find anyone call Springfield, they should be able to help. Welcome to forum, the sport, and the lifestyle of gun owners.
 
I like brace's adivse about having an RO shoot some rounds. They are generally more than happy to shoot.

As for tightening up your grip, the "rule" I've been taught is 40% pressure with your strong hand, 60% pressure with your off hand. Don't squeeze too hard with your trigger hand.

I shoot low also. I flinch -anticipate the recoil. I'm working on it. It's worse when I shoot .40 vs .45 ("snappy" vs. "pushy"). I much prefer shooting .45 and only shoot .40 to keep familiar with my carry piece.

Yep, most folks at the range are going to be nice folks- and bore snakes are a good thing.
 
Black Knight, I assume by following your advice I will always triumph? Kidding aside, I did take it down and clean the other stuff. I just used the bore snake for the barrel instead of trying to brush it myself. I'm actually using an old laptop case right now to store my cleaning stuff and ear/eye protection.
 
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