Hello everyone,
I'm a new gun owner and new new to the forum. I just purchased an XDM .40 caliber, with a 4.5 inch barrel. (Please don't judge me as to why I bought such a larger caliber as a first-time gun owner. I believe that recoil is something anyone can get used to, and I would have bought one down the line anyway.) In any case, I've been doing a lot of research regarding all aspects of firearm safety and technique(s) insofar as proper handling. Now, I am a left-handed shooter with a right-hannded gun. I can operate the slide, load/unload just fine; dealing with type 1 and type 2 malfunctions will not be a problem either. However, a type 3 double feed malfunction concerns me, and I didn't think about it in the store. As a result, I may have shot myself in the foot (no pun intended) and should have probably gone with the Smith and Wesson M&P 40 that was shown to me because it has an ambidextrous slide lock, and the magazine release can be switched to the left side, thus making it a fully ambidextrous gun.
My question then is, how do left handed shooters deal with a double feed on right-handed guns, such as the XDM? The reason I ask is, as I understand it, a double feed is a time-sensetive malfunction, in that due to its nature, the gun can go off at any moment, therefore this malfunction (and in a self-defense situation, all malfunctions) have to be dealt with as quickly as possible. I need to be able to engage the slide lock before hitting the magazine release to rip out the magazine. In self-defense situation where seconds count, I'm not going to care about locking the slide, but in all other situations, I do not want to damage the extractor.
The only thing I can think of is to train myself to be able to manipulate the slide and slide lock with the gun being gripped with my right hand. I also need to train myself to shoot [both two and one-handed] with my right hand. So realigning with a type 3 with the right is just one more thing I should add.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
~Ralf
I'm a new gun owner and new new to the forum. I just purchased an XDM .40 caliber, with a 4.5 inch barrel. (Please don't judge me as to why I bought such a larger caliber as a first-time gun owner. I believe that recoil is something anyone can get used to, and I would have bought one down the line anyway.) In any case, I've been doing a lot of research regarding all aspects of firearm safety and technique(s) insofar as proper handling. Now, I am a left-handed shooter with a right-hannded gun. I can operate the slide, load/unload just fine; dealing with type 1 and type 2 malfunctions will not be a problem either. However, a type 3 double feed malfunction concerns me, and I didn't think about it in the store. As a result, I may have shot myself in the foot (no pun intended) and should have probably gone with the Smith and Wesson M&P 40 that was shown to me because it has an ambidextrous slide lock, and the magazine release can be switched to the left side, thus making it a fully ambidextrous gun.
My question then is, how do left handed shooters deal with a double feed on right-handed guns, such as the XDM? The reason I ask is, as I understand it, a double feed is a time-sensetive malfunction, in that due to its nature, the gun can go off at any moment, therefore this malfunction (and in a self-defense situation, all malfunctions) have to be dealt with as quickly as possible. I need to be able to engage the slide lock before hitting the magazine release to rip out the magazine. In self-defense situation where seconds count, I'm not going to care about locking the slide, but in all other situations, I do not want to damage the extractor.
The only thing I can think of is to train myself to be able to manipulate the slide and slide lock with the gun being gripped with my right hand. I also need to train myself to shoot [both two and one-handed] with my right hand. So realigning with a type 3 with the right is just one more thing I should add.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
~Ralf