Concealed Weapon/Personal Defense Ease of Use

[Xringshooter]

I watched a video last night that dealt with personal defense and training with a weapon. I thought it was pretty good and I can see the reasoning behind what they were espousing. In the bonus section the instructor talked about choice of weapons. He showed a bunch from mouse guns to large frame SA and DA revolvers to large frame autos and DAO autos to medium/small frame DA revolvers.

The underlying message that I got was that if you are going to carry a firearm for protection is to: Practice, practice, practice for one, and make the firearm as simple to operate as possible, meaning that the more functions (manual safety, decocker, etc. that are on the firearm, the more that you have to think about getting right in the heat of the battle (so to speak). With possibly just several seconds to prepare and present the firearm if you have to, they said that you shouldn't have to go through a laundry list of things to do to before you can use the weapon.

He in fact showed the firearm that he said that he carries when needed, it looked very much like a shrouded hammer, J frame sized revolver (was not a close up, could have been Smith, Taurus, etc). His reason - he can draw, present the weapon, and pull the trigger. The gun will go Bang! Nothing to think about, don't have to worry about any safety's to flip up or down, don't have to worry about whether or not a round is in the chamber, no worry about the grip safety not being depressed enough, etc, etc, etc.

This is what brought about my dilemma. I am looking for another (smaller) CCW firearm in 45 cal (I like the big bullet hole it produces). The Taurus PT145/745 is nice and small with a nice price tag. The XD45 compact has had good reviews. The Glock folks will chime in (and I will consider one although I don't care so much for the feel of the grip). But if you take into consideration what the guy said then it would make sense to get a small frame revolver or a semi that is DAO like the XD or Glock (or similar).

THAR SHE BLOWS, HAVE AT IT.

As I said in the other thread, I like this forum because of the opinions of the others. We are a diverse group and the more input the better the decision can be made. Thanks.

[bubba23]

Not much to argue with. Comfort and confidence are the name of the game; it's not about name brands and calibers.

[billamj]

I would suggest that while he was correct to a large extent if you are more familiar with another type of weapon, to the point where the requisite functions to make it fire occur automatically to you, then you would be best served using that type of weapon. I have converted to 45 myself in the past year and a half, though I still do love my 9s, but my advice to you would be to try the XD Compact, the Taurus and the whatever else you would feel comfortable with. After all it is still up to you which one you will be more apt to carry.

[Coustain]

That was the main reason why I went with the Taurus 651. Shrouded hammer to stop snags, nothing to fumble with in order to fire the weapon, and .357 for the big bang. I do really want a .45 for myself eventgually though, don't know if it would be for CCW or not though.

[jtkratzer]

I have the XD45 compact and love it. If you've got a proper grip on the gun and you pull the trigger, it will fire. There isn't a manual safety to disengage. Also, the XD is not a double action. When you rack the slide or close the slide into battery with a round in the chamber, the striker is cocked. When you pull the trigger, part of the pull is to disengage the firing pin safety, not to cock the firearm. It's not necessarily a single action in that the trigger only releases the striker, but the trigger has no effect on cocking it either. It is the same trigger pull for each round. Every time the trigger is pulled, the striker safety block is disengaged and then the striker is released.

If you're within comfortable driving distance, you're welcome to try my XD sometime. State College isn't that far. I have family that lives near Lewisburg and I'm up there from time to time. My cousin's boyfriend works in a bike shop somewhere in Lewisburg, don't know which one.

I chose something other than a .357 magnum because of 2 things, the capacity of an auto, I can carry 14 rounds of .45 acp with one magazine, and secondly, firing a .357 magnum, even standard pressure, indoors will more than likely rupture an ear drum. You also face serious risk of shooting completely through walls, but I guess that's a risk with all firearms. I suppose a slower moving bullet has less of a chance of doing that though.

[Ghost001]

From the Glock side of the house I would recommend the 37, 38 or 39. It is .45 GAP. Ammo is a little more expensive but it would give you (IMHO) that perfect grip and feel. It's .45 so you aren't losing anything. It's one of the more simple weapons to use. I would also recommend the 36. It's the slim frame, single stack 45. I like the feel of it and haven't heard any downsides to it.

[dgg9]

But if you take into consideration what the guy said then it would make sense to get a small frame revolver or a semi that is DAO like the XD or Glock (or similar).

Small revolver in .44 Special maybe? (Charter Arms Bulldog). There are revolvers in .45ACP, but then you deal with moon clips, etc.

[jtkratzer]

From the Glock side of the house I would recommend the 37, 38 or 39. It is .45 GAP. Ammo is a little more expensive but it would give you (IMHO) that perfect grip and feel. It's .45 so you aren't losing anything. It's one of the more simple weapons to use. I would also recommend the 36. It's the slim frame, single stack 45. I like the feel of it and haven't heard any downsides to it.

I wouldn't recommend the .45 GAP over 9mm, or 45 ACP. Ammo is much more readily available for those two calibers and for .45 ACP, prices are high enough without sacrificing availability or interchangeability with other handguns/carbines that are chambered for .45 auto. An exponentially higher number of guns are available in .45 auto.

I personally see the .45 GAP as an attempt to solve a problem that only exists in the mind of the seller. The attempt was to get the performance of the .45 ACP cartridge in the frame of a 9mm/.40 s&w more than likely to ease production...you make one frame and slide and just change the barrels and magazines.

Cost, the lack of availability, and then general consensus that .45 ACP does the job better than a hack job of manipulating chamber pressures, etc. will see this round out the door. .357 sig has had a hard enough time getting accepted and it's an attempt to solve a great problem, getting .357 magnum ballistics in a semi auto package.

I have nothing personal against the round, I just don't think there is a realistic need for it.

The difference between the frames of the 9mm/.357 sig/.40 s&w are only marginally smaller than that of the XD45s. The grips aren't noticeably different. I know the Glocks in .45 acp were pretty chunky.

Another feather in the hat of the XD is the grip safety...it's not that big of a deal, but it requires one more thing to happen to discharge and lowers the risk of an accidental/negligent discharge when holstering.

[Skuggi]

Gonna have to say XD Compact here lol. I've seriously become a fanatic of this pistol. I cant stand the way glocks feel in my hands. I like the S&W feels for the sigma/MP line, but hate the triggers. But I have the XD Service model in 45ACP. After shooting it it was a dream. The grip safety isn't that picky either, You don't have to death grip it, just grip it and it's off.

No external safeties, Highly Reliable from the tests, Mine had no problem after about 400rnds at the group shoot of constant action almost. It has more of a push for the recoil than a jerk that I had with my old sigma .40 which allows me to get back on target quicker, also the trigger reset is very nice and defined.

[jtkratzer]

Threads just seem to trail off and die quite often on this forum...