It was my first pistol purchase 19 years ago, lol.. It only comes out for a quick trip to the gun range two or three times a year. @ Strikerx80 - I had a chance to shoot the Smith & Wesson full size 9mm at the range and I liked the feel and balance of it, but you really need to try before you buy.
XD has a double safety. One on the grip like a .45 and trigger safety like a Glock. I've always felt perfectly fine carrying it with a chambered round in public without fear of it going off. The grip safety isn't really a factor for anything as you are holding the gun the safety is disengaged. There is also an indicator behind the extractor that tells you if a round is chambered. The gun will absolutely not fire unless you make it. Mine is the all black 4 inch 9mm version. I have also owned the 357 sig, but swapped out to the 9mm as the sig ammo is too scarce and costly just for shooting around. I think I paid $440 out the door after taxes for gun, and 2 high cap 15 round mags. I also have a 35 round mag for poops and giggles as well.
yes i think i finally have decided and am going to get the 4" XD 9. Springfield is definintly a top manufacturer like Smith and Wesson, Sig Sauer, Glock, and Beretta.
Hey I'm from NH too! My best advice would be for you to go and actually handle these firearms. They are all good in their own way. I Have all the handguns suggested here but the Sig. The XD is NOT manufactured by Springfield. They import them from Croatia and their original name was the HS200 I believe. That doesn't mean their are bad at all, they are very good firearms. The trigger in the Ruger and the S&W are better than the Glock in my opinion and better than the XD, especially the Ruger. But different people look for different things on triggers so it is up to you to decide. For me the best trigger on my arsenal is on my Sig Sauer STX 1911, but this is an all metal gun and I guess that's what I like. If safety is your concern, I would go with the Ruger, they have lots of safety features and I actually carry a Ruger SR9c every day. Good luck and enjoy your new gun! Edit: Forgot to mention that I own the .40 caliber version of these guns, but owning both a Ruger SR9 and SR40 I can tell you that there is little to no difference between both since the internals are identical other than the barrel and thickness of the slide. There is however a big diifference between the triggers on the SR9 and the SR9c with the SR9c trigger being way better. (IMHO)
OH FUN! maybe get this in the future!! http://shop.nhgunshop.com/catalog_detail.php?product_id=64630 or maybe this for cheap fun. .22LR ammo cheap! http://shop.nhgunshop.com/catalog_detail.php?product_id=70006
I own a M&P 9mm full frame and I love the gun it's easy to clean the grip is nice and the trigger is fairly decent for factory although I think the glock 17 has a nicer trigger. I've fired one Ruger 9mm before but not the one pictured I would say see if you can test both the S&W and the Glock out then make your decision but you can't go wrong with either.
nice revolver? http://shop.nhgunshop.com/catalog_detail.php?product_id=453 http://shop.nhgunshop.com/catalog_detail.php?product_id=463
No offence to anyone that has one but 44 mags. are for people with insecurity issues the .357 mag is probably the best handgun round ever invented but this is my opinion and not fact. BTW I'm a .357 owner as well so I'm bias. Maybe I should take a picture of my arsenal and put it in the other gun thread on here but I feel inferior to some of the guru's arsenals.
Unless I missed something, this will be your first handgun purchase? If so, don't get anything as big as that Raging Bull... while it's a heck of a gun, it's a bit much to learn to shoot with imo. The .44 Magnum kicks big time, while it may not be a .500 S&W or even a .454 Casull, it's still hard hitting and hard kicking. The beauty of the .357 magnum is that you can fire .38 Special through it and familiarize yourself with the gun as well as saving allot on ammo costs if you shoot frequently. The .38 rounds have so little recoil that it's very safe for almost anyone to shoot, even kids. When you want something more powerful, drop the .357 rounds in and feel confident in your "1 shot/1 kill" capability.
yeah im not getting a .44 mag lol. i AM getting the XD. just getting ahead of myself... i hear once you buy a gun you have to get more lol. the .357 mag would be my choice for revolver, when/if i want a different gun. that or a .22LR for cheap fun. honestly i am a skinny framed guy. i probably would never get a .45 auto or .44 mag revolver. maybe a .40 i hear they have a little more punch than the 9mm. With all that said i dont wanna break the bank shooting so a 9mm is best all around IMO. hopefully soon im going to head to a range with a buddy and test the 4" XD9. 2013 i hear a range is going to be built very near to me. i really can see myself shooting around 400 rounds per month
It's more of a placebo effect than anything a buddy of mine got one because of the "higher" stopping power over the 9mm. I love watching him cringe when he buys ammo. The 9mm is a great gun if your going to get a second gun for yourself as either a fun gun or a show piece I would say a nice revolver (because they are a lot of fun to shoot) or a 1911 (because who doesn't want a 1911). BTW you will be very pleased with the XD they are great guns just remember guns are like tattoos you get one and all you can think about afterwards is what your next one is going to be.
yeah 9mm will be my first gun. 1911's are really nice and flashy guns. but i would probably want a totally different type gun and get a revolver. 100 rounds of federal champion 9mm for 20 bucks, pretty reasonable.
More safeties does not make a gun better. There is a reason why many people do not want to buy internal locking S&W revolvers, and there is a reason why many people deactivate magazine safeties on Hi-Powers, old S&W automatics and other pistols where it is easy to do so. When you carry it, you need to be comfortable having a round in the chamber. Some people feel more at ease with a DA as you can leave a round in the chamber with the hammer down/safety off, as opposed to a trigger safety like a Glock where there is no traditional hammer.
as far as revolvers go is it really necessary to have anything past 4" barrel. 4" seems the best to me. hate the look of those snub nose revolvers. and since i am not going to carry my firearms 4" seems like a good length.
On higher power rounds the longer the barrel the less "kick" you get. Example my mom carries a .38 special S&W featherweight (i think that's what they call it) 2" barrel and it kicks harder than my 6" .357 mag so barrel length makes a big difference but 4" is a good length.
4" is fine. The difference from a 2"-3" barrel and a 4" barrel is really not all that significant. The longer barrel does stabilizes the bullet for better accuracy. But other factors enter into the equation also, like twist rate of the rifling, the type of load you're using, and the weight of bullet. It's a long list of factors. But with the proper training, barrel length really doesn't matter because it's 99% shooter and 1% gun. Actually that's quite the opposite. With a longer barrel, you're getting more muzzle velocity out of your bullet, which equals more energy headed down range, with in turn generates more muzzle flip and felt recoil.
