Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Gotten lazy or spoiled.

My normal warm weather carry for several years has been my G19 and cold weather carry has been a Kimber pro carry II.This last summer I have been carring my XDS 9.It is cooling down here now so I decided to carry my 19 the last couple of days and its not as comfortable as I remember it.Just for reference I use a double thick leather belt and TTgunleather MS VMII style holster for all three.This morning I Strapped on the XDS And its like its not there.I shoot the 19 well and like the capacity,I shoot the Kimber well and like the heavy round for heavy cloths season.But the xds is much more comfortable to carry.I shoot IDPA with the 19 and Kimber durring there respective seasons to keep in practice,not sure I want to play the game with the little guy.
sorry about the rambling just thinking out load.

Clint Smith once remarked that a concealable handgun worth fighting with isn't meant to be comfortable - it is meant to be comforting. Carry the G19, you'll get used to it again as you always did and shooting IDPA with it is a great idea.

I've always just carried one gun year round since 1980...a Colt Commander. There are a few occasions that I carry something else like a .41 Magnum revolver when in the back country or a Kahr P380 when the Commander just won't fit but other than that it's the Commander.

As to shooting IDPA with the XSD9, why not.... Look at it as just practice instead of competition. Try to just defeat the scenario instead of some other shooter.

Bob

For general CCW, carrying a high quality 9mm that is available with 7 and 9 round magazines isn't exactly slumming it. Don't beat yourself up about it.

I also agree with RJM about using your XDS for IDPA. That will let you know what you can do with it and also can assist you in the decision-making process.

RJM
You make a good point,I turned 60 this year and Im getting my competitive nature more under control.For the last couple seasons Ive been shooting carry guns only instead of highly tuned comp.guns.I did have to get used to not being in the top 5 every week and take some your slipping razzing.but its nice giving them a run for the money with stock carry guns.

I have a Springfield XD9 and a Kahr PM9, both of which were bought years ago and are extremely accurate and dependable sub-compacts. Have carried both frequently over the years, as well as a couple different full size and Commander 1911's. From time to time, they all may shift from CCW to BU truck gun, or home defense gun. For several months lately, I've been carrying my S&W 642 with CT grips. It's so comfortable.
EVERYTHING runs JHP's in an urban environment.

Which gun or caliber depends on environment and the job. Sometimes the job is in the point that needs to be made.

I have to agree with Cheyenne, you don't need to feel underdressed with a high quality 9mm.

A Glock 30 and a Ruger LCP fill my needs quite nicely. What one won't do, the other one will. When in doubt, carry both.

It's true: Nobody in a gunfight wished he had a smaller gun and fewer bullets.

And, while we all agree with that statement, most of us don't carry G17's or full-size 1911's with 50 extra rounds on our belts--especially when wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Instead, we carry sub-compacts.

I don't worry about it. My chances of needing a gun, any gun, are remote. If I do need a gun, it's almost certainly going to be an up close self-defense encounter--a situation where I am protecting myself/family from an attack/mugging. Sure, a bigger gun and more bullets would be "better," but if I only have a sub-compact with 7 rounds, are my chances of survival reduced by any measurable amount? I tend to think not. My "draw and shoot" skills at 12 ft and in are about the same whatever the gun in my hand. Considering the fact that most people at those distances never use their sights during a self-defense situation (they point shoot), if I turned out to be a non-sight user, the longer sight radius wouldn't help me.

The bigger gun makes the most difference in your decision to get involved in defending others and/or trying to stop the mass shooter. If you're sitting in the seating area at a fast food joint and guy walks in and starts shooting, you might want to stop him; that might require you making a 40-60+ foot shot. Or maybe you're at one end of the mall and hear gun shots from the other end--if you plan to run to the sound of gunfire, a bigger gun will likely make a difference.

However, much of what guides my daily decision of which gun to carry is my environment. I live in small town America. In my county we get about one shooting per year and 99.999% of the time it's either bad guy against bad guy (like a drug deal gone bad), or it's a home invasion (homeowner shooting intruder). Fortunately we have virtually no street crime where a bad guy mugs a stranger, or violently assaults a stranger for kicks.

So, yeah, I'd say carry whatever you want. You're at least carrying a gun, and you're a practiced hand with whatever you carry. Even with "only" a compact or sub-compact, you're light years ahead of the vast majority of the public.