Hello all. ((This could get long, so bear with me...))
This is my 2nd post. I've never really owned a gun before (including my inherited 12 ga shotgun, still at my grandmother's house), nor had I ever shot one until Father's Day weekend this year. I had always wanted a handgun of my own though, and waited patiently until the time was right (long story). My girlfriend took me shooting at a semi-local range where you could rent different guns and try them out. I knew I wanted a 9mm, and something sort of smaller because I had been considering the CCW permit. I tried a Glock and the XD-9. Someone at the range let me use his Beretta for a few rounds as well. I had done research online and read so many wonderful things about the XDs. And of course the Glocks have this reputation of indestructability. Anyway, after shooting about 50 rounds through each, my choice was extremely easy. I am a new owner of an XD-9 sub-compact. My girlfriend bought it for me for a Father's Day present. The XD felt so much better in my hands. It was lighter, and handled better, too. The Glock felt sort of top-heavy and bulky. I shot better, faster, and even more confident w/ the XD. But I must say, that I got all my shots at least ON the paper target. Not too bad for my first-time ever shooting.
Of course, I had some questions about the groupings I got, but that's a different thread somewhere around here....
Anyway, the REAL reason for this post is to clarify my thoughts on choosing ammunition (both target/range and SD) for my new gun. I've read maybe 75% of the posts in the Ammo Can last night and have come to my own conclusion, which I am putting before you all, as my teachers and experts, so you can either tell me I'm on the right track, totally wrong, clueless, etc., and also for any other newbies out there who have the same questions I do at this time about ammo.
From what I've read, there is NO tried and true, perfect brand/grain/type of ammo across the board for everyone. For most of the posts I've read, it seems there will always be a certain percentage of you who have used a particular brand/grain/type of ammo without ANY problems after like 1000+ rounds, and the other percentage of you who have used the same brand/grain/type with a few (or a lot) FTF/FTE issues and then chose not to use that brand again. So, I figured I'd have to try a few different brands/grains/types of ammo until I found something that worked consistently in my gun.
After concluding that, I decided to call Springfield's Customer Service to see what they said. I ended up calling three times. The first two times I heard each person flipping through their copy of the "Phoneside Book of Answers" only to come up w/ a (seemingly to me) "textbook" answer, which left me wanting. I got smart on the third call (finally) and asked to speak with someone who actually works there AND owns an XD. THAT person told me that Springfield does NOT recommend Wolf or Sellier+Bellot at all for any XD. Also, they do not recommend steel (casings I guess?) or loose/bulk rounds, and only new, commercially produced ammo (no reloads). They also say 124 grain seems to do the best in their tests, as does 147 grain, although they gave me a grain range of anything from 110 to 230. Also, which I wasn't aware of until I was told, all their guns are hand-made, so each has its own unique tolerance level of all the different ammo out there. I pictured these guns being "punched out" by machines for some reason (duh). Now it makes sense why some people have problems w/ certain ammo while others do not: EVERY gun is different.
So, I conclude that the bottom line is this: Everyone must try a variety of brands/grains/types of ammo in their own guns, to see what their gun likes best, because every gun is unique, as is everyone's way of handling and operating said gun is unique.
Gee, and I've been reading these posts to get THE definitive answer. Silly me. Sorry this got a bit long and wordy. I hope I didn't put you all to sleep. You don't need to respond with any lengthy reply. Just a "yes" or "no" to my concluded bottom line will do. Thanks for listening to this newbie go on and on....
