Ideas for new carry pistol

[Quackerbacker]

So i sold my Shield 40 a little while back to help pay for a new truck i didn't want to finance. I've scraped up some cash and i'm ready to replace it. I had originally planned on just getting another shield 40 but i started looking askance at some other pistols and the Kahr CM45 caught my eye.

So now i'm kinda getting ideas. I want an auto, either dao or striker fired, in 40sw or 45acp. I wouldn't want to go much bigger than a shield/nano. I do lots of hiking in the summer and i'm often running around in shorts and a teeshirt. I had a SR40C that i absolutely loved but i left it at home too often when doing outdoor activities.

smith & wesson m&p shield 40sw 19oz 6.1"L 4.6"H 0.95"W 6+1 & 7+1
kahr cm45 45acp 19.3oz 5.79"L 4.49"H 1.1"W 5+1 (6 rd mags avail, poss takes some 1911 mags?)

I really liked the Shield. It fit my hand well and recoil was very manageable for the "snappy 40". All reports on the CM45 suggest the same, it's surprisingly mild recoiling for a sub-compact 45.

Any comments on these two? Any others i should be considering? I oogled over the Taurus pt-145 and 24/7 g2 45 compact a bit before i realized they were DA/SA pistols. I just don't shoot single action as well as dao or glock type triggers.

Read More

 

[oremike]

When I bought my 40 Shield the final test was to put the different models in my pocket and see which made the lesser imprint

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

Shield > CM45

Kahr has had a great deal of problems with their .45acp model guns. The frame flex is very severe on them and causes a great deal of frame shaving.

 

[S3v3n]

I havent had the pleasure of handleing the CM45 but I dont like my M&P Shield 40. I have the Shield 40 and the SR40c for my carry but I seam to always grab the Shield. I carry IWB and I cant even feel it with the shield.

I was looking at the Kimber Ultra Carry but then when I figured for the price I was able to buy both the Shield and the SR40 and ammo and holsters and still be under the cost of the Kimber I decided the kimber wasn't worth it.

 

[FZRider]

You might want to consider the XD-S with the 3.3 or 4" barrel. Of the two calibers you mentioned you'd have to go with .45 though.
I recently bought the 4" model in 9mm. Since barrel length doesn't really effect IWB concealability (within reason) I went with the longer barrel in the hopes of gaining a little more velocity, accuracy and range time enjoyment. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to take it to the range but I've always liked the XD line.
I like the M&P series as well and the Shield in particular. Bought one as my wife's carry in 9mm as she doesn't feel comfortable at this point carrying something without a thumb safety. I enjoy shooting it and have carried it a number of times. Don't have any experience with one in .40.
I've had numerous Kahrs in 9mm including a PM9 and MK9. I liked them both but found myself having a hard time going back and forth between the long DAO pull vs something like the Shield.
Another thing I forgot to mention...if you buy a new XD by 10/31 you can get 3 additional free mags and a double mag holder. So you end up with 5 mags for the gun. I submitted my form and had the free goodies within like 2 weeks.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Thanks for the replies, great food for thought. I hadn't heard about the issues with Kahr frames in their 45's i'll check into that. I had heard about some issues with feeding & extraction due to their tight tolerances but there are workarounds for those...

I'll look more into the XDs 45. I had kinda ruled them out because new they are a little out of my budget, but if i could get one used under $500 it might be a viable option.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

+1 for the XDS .45 or 9
I'm a big guy and they fit my hand well. They also for smaller hands such as my womans.

With your list of preferences the XDS is an ideal firearm and actually quite affordable.

Sportsmens warehouse has a deal until the end of this month, I guess Springfield will ship out three extra mags with the purchase of the pistol, which is a hell of a deal.

Or you could go the cheaper route and check out a few pawnshops, Beaverton pawn has either and XDS 9 or 45 I believe the Hillsboro shop does as well both are sister stores and could easily communicate from one to the other if you were interested in picking one up. I probably go in there once a week and they will haggle with you if you are a serious buyer, unlike some other pawn shops. That and tax season is coming up so money talks.

 

[Twodogs]

Sig P-938 great CC pistol.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Seems like a really nice pistol. I'm a lefty however, and i'm after a 40 or 45.

 

[Twodogs]

I'm also left handed ambi safety no problem also with corbon DPX ammo 1300fps from a 3" barrel it doesn't give up anything to a 40 or 45.

 

[SynapticSilence]

I've had an XD-S and now have a CM-45. The CM-45 has been perfect out of the box with over 250 rounds through it with zero problems. As to the frame shaving issue, I haven't seen it on mine. The Kahr is also lighter by far than the XD-S but somehow has less recoil, in my opinion. And you don't get your hand eaten up like you do by the over-aggressive grip texturing of the XD-S. That said, Kahrs can be extremely tight due to the extremely close tolerances they require to be so small. But Kahr customer service is great and will fix it if it has any problems. One warning. Read the instruction book. They don't like to be slingshot on the first round -- too little rearward slide travel -- so use the slide release. And reassemble it just like the book says with extreme attention to not bending the slide stop spring. There are a ton of posts with "my slide locks back every shot" that wouldn't have needed to be made if the person had just read the stupid book before they jumped in and screwed it up.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Also, Kahr has been making 45s forever. Their frame technology is as good as anybody's. The slide rides on two steel inserts in the dust over area and two steel inserts at the rear of the frame. Any shaving of the polymer is merely smoothing and irrelevant because that isn't what provides the slide its stability anyway.

 

[Quackerbacker]

I'm going to give the cm45 a try.

 

[chemist]

These things always devolve into a caliber war, no matter what.
Yes, 9mm Luger does give up "anything" to .45ACP, Mr. Twodogs, because no matter what, the cross-sectional area of one of them is only 3/5 that of the other. Period.

If you want to compare apples to oranges, go ahead launch your own thread - please. I'll stay away, I promise. But for any extreme-o +P+++ round you can posit, I'll show you one in .45ACP that's superior. You like velocity, fine, how about 1350fps at 145gr.? 1900fps at 78gr.? Or 2260fps at 68gr.? Izzat light/fast enough for ya? CheaperThanDirt sells them all.

The OP is interested in .40S&W and/or .45ACP. He has chosen momentum, cross-sectional density, and size over capacity. There are a number of highly reliable, concealable, and shootable platforms to that end. I personally can't manage the small size of the XDs, and the thought of using it in an 8-hour class makes my wrist throb. The size also makes it slower and harder to gain a combat grip.

I like the Glock 36 with Pearce +1 mag extension for the added grip length, not for the extra round it carries. Some may say it's too big to lug around, but I carry it tucked in an MTAC without issues, even for long drives. I also choose standard-pressure ammo because that's all that's required: 230gr. Fed HST is sufficient for anything this side of 300 pounds, plus it's unlikely to overpenetrate.

Your mileage may vary, but this much is for sure: your caliber choice is based on personal judgment balancing capacity, capability, and concealability. My friend with the pocket nine says for him it's "enough," and I respect his decision. What he does not say is that it's "as good as" or "gives nothing up to," because none of his subjective considerations can trump basic physics.

 

[John Gault]

Cause you're a lefty and I'm a Walther fan how about the PPS in .40.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Good discussion.

I'm going with 45 in part because i spend a lot of time in alaska.

Also i think it's the best stopper.

I'm going to give the cm45 a go because its the most compact of the 45s, its a tremendous value for the money and by all counts doesnt thump the hand any worse than the cm40.

Id love a g36 but if my sr40c got left home too often i have to be realistic about it.

If others have dissenting opinions feel free to express them. I don't get married to my opinions, or worse, become identified with them. Theres no worse detriment to good decision making.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Hey John Gault the pps is the sexiest of all the sub-compacts in my opinion. Despite some reports of reliability issues i would probably give one a go if i could justify the cost. Maybe when my shooting budget improves a bit.

 

[chemist]

Here's an Alaska-type .45 load for ya:
<broken link removed>

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Fed HST is sufficient for anything this side of 300 pounds, plus it's unlikely to over penetrate.

This sums it up for me, I can conceal a G21sf and, with 2 extra mags of the HST don't feel unprepared.

I see the choice has been made for the CM45. I hope it works for you. I have a colleague who carries one of the Kaher 9's off duty and every once in awhile he tries to qualify with it, and just shoots awful scores; he tried but didn't qual this year with it, and went with a Colt Officer's .45 for his backup gun and made the grade with that.

So anytime I hear Kahr I think, rots o'ruck. Maybe his is a P.O.S. (?)

 

[SynapticSilence]

The problem most people have is going from single action triggers to the longer stroke and reset of a double action like a Kahr. Plus Kahrs are all shorter barreled pistols in general. But Kahr by far has the smoothest DA trigger around due to its cam operated action and their barrels are high quality. My own personal experience is that, in terms of combat accuracy at normal engagement ranges, I'm as good with my Kahr as I am with any of my other pistols. That's with a lot of practice, though.