Hello from Wisconsin

[mongoose33]

I finally decided I wanted a handgun for...a variety of purposes. Never owned one before. You can probably guess some of the reasons.

I've always enjoyed shooting, but for a variety of reasons have never done much of it. I own a Winchester .32 Special lever-action rifle (I've shot it *once*), which I keep just because (too expensive to shoot it regularly).

I've shot shotguns, 30-06, the Winchester.32 sp, and plinking rifles, but not much of that recently (i.e., for many years). And about 10 years ago, I shot a few handguns as part of a police academy exercise.

Anyway, I decided to go to a range/gun shop to see what's what. I talked to a very helpful employee (W.) who explained quite a bit about semi-automatic handguns, and he pointed me toward the XDs, one of which he was carrying.

They had a demo 4" XD Service model, 9mm, which I took into the range. W. explained the gun to me, how to shoot it, how to hold it. Remember, I've never shot one, and knew little about them.

I shot 56 rounds with the XD, and if I don't mind saying, I was shocked at how well I did with it. The second 3 rounds were all in the black at about 7 yards, two-handed grip.

Well, I thought, that was nice. I tried some rapid fire, some longer shots (50 feet), and so on, and shot up the rest of the rounds. Pretty reasonable groupings for a guy who has never shot a semi, and hasn't shot a handgun in....well, a *very* long time. Last 8 rounds were shot at a body-shaped target at 50+ feet. All in the torso.

So I left after deciding I wanted one of those XD 9mm. Can't buy one there (I would have on princple, when people help you like that, you have to reward them with some purchase loyalty), but it's across the state line from here and he can't sell 'em to me.

I went home and researched the XD in comparison to the Glock, which is really what I started out wanting.

I was really amazed at what I read about the XDs. Reliable. Durable. Can shoot 1000's of rounds w/o being cleaned (not that that's a good idea but indicative of the weapon's quality). And I like the way it looks.

Tomorrow, my local gun shop is taking delivery for me of an XD 4" service model 9mm.

Why that choice? First, 9mm is cheapest to shoot, and I'd like to be able to afford to do that. What I've read about stopping power is that with the right ammo, and the right shot placement, a 9mm will do ok.

Second, I dithered a lot over whether I wanted the compact or the service model. I like the smaller size of the compact for obvious reasons, but also like the 16-round capacity of the service model.

I know--now--that I could have bought what is a sort of grip extender that would allow the use of the 16-round mag in the compact if I wanted to, but that's water under the bridge.

And finally, I shot so darned well with the service model that, well, it seemed like that's what I should get.

I've got a lot to learn about all this, from proper shooting technique to disassembly/cleaning to learning safe habits (I've read a lot about that and take it very seriously), and it'll be fun. I like learning about new things and there are all sorts of interesting new things to learn about all of this.

And XD talk has been a nice resource. I look forward to learning more from those who post here.

[Allstop]

Congratulations on your new purchase. I love my XD9 service. Welcome from Minnesota.

[gkelley3]

Welcome to the forum from Florida!

[kdhs10]

Welcome from Florida.

[rockerz71]

Welcome from Atlanta

[m9fan]

Welcome from Texas!

[profesor]

Welcome....

[slugger6]

Welcome from Ohio.

[MasLakas]

Welcome to the forum from UT and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[RangerM9]

Welcome from WI. you'll love the gun

where in the state are you?