Put money down on my first handgun

[swift535]

Figured its finally time to stop just shooting my dad's handguns, so I just put some cash down on a 4" XD9. Lowest price I could get locally was $500, which I don't think's too bad. Bud's has them from $460, but that's before FFL fees anyways. Looked at the M&P but didn't like the trigger as much. Ditto for the Glocks I handled, and the Glocks also felt squirmy in my hands. Other guns I looked at were FN P9, Beretta Px4, Beretta / Stoeger Cougar and the P95. For the money, and ergonomics in my hand and trigger feel, the XD was the best overall to me personally although I'll probably end up picking up a Cougar and/or an M&P eventually.

Mostly for the range, although if its comfortable enough I may carry it. If not, I'll just have to pick up another in a few months . Anyone have any recommendations for good I/OWB holsters? Also, was planning on just stocking up on the cheapest 9mm I could find for the range, any particular brands that XD's are known for not feeding reliably?

 

[Black Majik]

Congratulations on your first gun. You must be quite excited. Don Hume offers nice casual leather holsters. But holsters can easily exceed $100+ from the Custom Makers of Milt Sparks, Alessi, Del Fatti etc..

If you'd like to go Kydex for your polymer gun (all different ways of saying plastic), I'd highly recommend Comptac. Excellent customer service and product.

I'd stick with factory loaded ammo over reloads. Akerican Eagle, Winchester white box, Remington, Speer Lawman are all good quality ammo.

Happy shootin'!

 

[CWL]

Congrats on your first investment! It won't be your last!

If you aren't going to buy by the case, then Walmart white box is probably the best deal around.

 

[usp_fan]

XD's are neat pistols and the 9mm is easy to come by. Congrats on your purchase. Be careful--this is how addictions start.

 

[JDGray]

Your gun will most likely come with a plastic holster, and mag carrier, try them out to see if you like. Congrats on the new gun

 

[lee n. field]

good I/OWB holsters?

One of these will work nicely.

 

[chupacabrah]

I have an IWB canute from UBG holsters.com. i like it pretty good, and it's not quite as pricey as some others.

I want an XD

 

[J Lambs]

I don't have one for my XDsc, but I use Comp-Tac Infidel for my Kahr and I love it. If you want Kydex, I would highly recommend the Comp-Tac.

 

[swift535]

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to it. I've shot my dad's guns my whole life, but he only has 2 autoloaders (a RR 1911 & a S&W 41 .22) and personally I don't enjoy revolvers as much at the range. So I used all that as an excuse and told myself that after 2 months of not smoking I'd put the money I'd saved towards a handgun

I think I'm going to go ahead and get my CCW this summer, and my shirts aren't extra long so I figured an IWB would conceal better. Thanks for the input about Comp-tac & others, after a few weeks I'll need to order a stiff belt and maybe take a chance on one of the holsters mentioned.

 

[Anna's Dad]

I think I'll start smoking so I can quit and then justify the purchase of another gun. I'm sure that makes sense...maybe I'll just buy another gun.

Congrats on the XD. Sounds like you really did your homework and chose the one that fits you best. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.

 

[pyle]

Congratulations! I remember when I got my first serious SD gun - it was a GREAT DAY! I wore it everywhere - tried to wear it to bed but my wife threatened to sleep on the couch. She had to draw the line somewhere I guess.

Sort of funny side note: Even though I had never been in any "legal trouble" - I remember being really nervous about my first background check. Since I had never had one - I was worried they might confuse me with someone else or something.........

 

[BrianB]

Congrats, Swift.

I really like my XD. Only trouble with ammo was with some cheap Blazer stuff. Lots of failure to eject errors.

With American Eagle, Federal, Remington, Winchester...eats 'em just fine.

Enjoy your new pistol.

 

[aquapong]

How exactly does "squirmy" feel?

 

[possum]

congrats, i am sure that you will love it. i have 2 xd's and i couldn't be happier.

 

[swift535]

my hands get sweaty sometimes when I shoot, and I just didn't feel comfortable with my grip on the p95 or the glock for the same reasons

 

[jad0110]

How exactly does "squirmy" feel?

In addition to the Glock's grip not fitting right, as the OP indicates, he may also be noticing a sort of "vibration" or "resonance" that I and some others feel through the polymer grip-frame when we shooting such handguns. I find it fairly distracting, so I moved away from polymer pistols. Others don't notice it a bit or are not bothered by it.

Different folks, different strokes.

swift535,

Welcome to the wonderful world of firearms! I hope you realize that your XD9 won't be your last. You will always find "gaps" and "holes" to fill. One day you'll wake up and think that even though 9mm is the cheapest centerfire caliber, you'll want to shoot still cheaper ammo, so you'll buy something in 22LR. Then you might want something smaller/easier to conceal then the XD. Then the 1911 or wheelgun bug may bite (or both ). And we aren't even talking about long arms yet!

 

[swift535]

Thanks jad, don't doubt it I've shot most of my life, its just that until the last 2 years or so, I had no reason to own my own guns. Before, I was either living at home or in a dorm room or apartment that didn't allow guns.

I have a (in pieces, barrel band broke) Winchester 1400 12ga and Ruger 10/22 of my own. Ruger I got last Christmas from my dad, and have probably around 10k rounds through. I'm back home for the summer right now (better pay here than where I go to school) and in our relatively small gun cabinet are 10 or 12 guns. Mix of handguns, shotguns, and rifles.

While I'm back for the summer, I have my own place at school, and can easily see myself expanding my collection of guns

 

[Fishman777]

Congratualtions...

XDs are excellent pistols, you did well.

 

[Defensory]

Excellent choice, swift!

 

[airforceteacher]

Congrats. Bought my first on Monday - Sig SP2022.

 

[swift535]

took it to the range yesterday for the first time. First 5-10 shots were completely horrible, took me quite a while to get used to the sights. Only shot about 50 rounds (split 100 rounds with my dad). definitely need some more practice yet but my trip today was basically to see if it preferred WWB or Remington UMC or whatever, and they both fed fine so I'm just going to buy what's cheaper for the range.

Mix of WWB & UMC @ 10 yards. Last mag was pretty much all inside the 9 ring. I'm far from any kind of marksman lol but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to shoot out the X at 10 yards with a bit more practice / discipline.

 

[LongRider]

Congrats on your XD you can not have made a better choice, except maybe the Cougar IMO but than I carry an XD .45 compact so I may be a bit biased. Does appear you have a good eye for quality firearms. The Stoeger Cougar is on my to get list as soon as my favorite dealer gets one in stock. That too is an outstanding gun at about half of what a comparable gun cost, in fact it is half of what the identical Beretta Cougar used to cost. What their PX Storm is based on. I carry my XD in a K&D Maverick Holster. As you appear to appreciate quality my guess is that you will love a K&D Holster. There is a bit of a wait but it is well worth it. That is part of the price of any quality custom made holster. Kevin will do all he can to assure that he makes you get the best possible holster for you. Check them out and give them a call you will be glad you did.

 

[aka108]

Start saving for the next one.