Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I need some firearm advise, hopefully you can help me out with making a decision. I got used to shooting the M1 Garand many years ago but pistols are something I'm just getting in to.
I'm looking at purchasing a pistol for concealed carry and have narrowed it down to a few compacts: Glock 19/23 Gen4, Springfield XDm, Sig P239, H&K P30, or one of the CZ compacts.
I want to go out to the range and rent these to get a feel for how they feel in my hand. Are there any others along the same line that anyone would recommend or I should avoid?

What ammo would be best? 9mm or .40 S&W?
I've heard that because 9mm are higher speeds they can over penetrate but, I've also heard that because of the hydrostatic shock created by the fast round it would slow the round so it won't over penetrate. Really not sure if that's true.

Will a 9mm JHP give enough stopping power without over-penetrating or would the .40 S&W JHP be a better option?


I appreciate anyone's input.

I have both the Glock and Springfield Armory and can tell you bot are fine firearms. Both are good platforms, but for CC are a bit large. If you are looking for good 9mm carry options, now is probably the best time, as it appears all the Mfgr's are introing new models daily. Look at the Kimber Solo, Ruger LC9, Walther PPS (9 & 40 cal) and Sig has a new one also. With all these 9's, THIN is in, which enhances concealment.

I love my Glock and SA XD9SC, but they are clunky compared to the new breed available now. Give them a look.

I have both the Glock and Springfield Armory and can tell you bot are fine firearms. Both are good platforms, but for CC are a bit large. If you are looking for good 9mm carry options, now is probably the best time, as it appears all the Mfgr's are introing new models daily. Look at the Kimber Solo, Ruger LC9, Walther PPS (9 & 40 cal) and Sig has a new one also. With all these 9's, THIN is in, which enhances concealment.

I love my Glock and SA XD9SC, but they are clunky compared to the new breed available now. Give them a look.

I will check them out. Thanks for the advise.
Is 9mm vs. .40 more of a preference thing or is one truly better than the other?

I will check them out. Thanks for the advise.
Is 9mm vs. .40 more of a preference thing or is one truly better than the other?

Depends. Shoot them both. I tend to get a lot of "overpenetration" with .40 because I miss more and there's nothing to stop it. That's technique and practice and shooter error, though.

In theory, I believe you should be able to get a .40 cal round that outperforms 9mm for self-defense. Winchester has a lot of catalogs with penetration and bullet weight and caliber, etc, etc. All are standard materials such as cloth or glass or ballistic gelatin. Lots of numbers (a key one being the average distance from the chest to spine is about 12 inches IIRC and that seems to be the JHP penetration goal into gelatin. Maximum expansion, retained weight, 10-12 inch penetration). I'm sure there are a lot of other factors but that seemed a good one to me. But that's all tables and theory created by shooters better than I am.

For me though, I don't shoot from bench rests and have never been attacked by ballistic gelatin. I have a feeling that if I were attacked by the gelatin and I was forced to defend myself, I would have more of a chance with 9mm FMJ, 115 gr target rounds. Basically because the 180 gr JHP .40 round will have a lot more energy as it flies by the gelatin than the overpenetrating 9mm that comes out the other side. 9mm isn't more accurate than .40, I just suck with .40 due to lack of practice, technique, etc, etc. I would prefer .40 if I were better at it and shot more. I may try .45 to see if I like that (I've heard that 9mm and .45 are similiar to shoot but I don't have a lot of 45 experience). Or I may try something more exotic like 5.7x28mm. Incidentally my goal was to transition to all .40 but I can't do it comfortably yet. Here's a list of what I regularly shoot paper with.

Beretta 92FS - 9mm about 20 years old now. Love it.
Kahr PM9 - 9mm - very small, thin CCW pistol (want to shoot .40 version, less than inch thick). similar to glock but without all those tricky to operate safeties. :)
Glock 22 Gen 4 - .40 cal identical to a lot of service pistols
Glock 23 gen 3 - .40 cal casual friday version of 22.
Glock 27 gen 3 - .40 cal baby glock.
Walther PPK/S - .380 when interarms still imported them (pre-SW purchase).

I hate the Walther .380. I carry the Kahr if I carry. I am most accurate with the Berreta. The Kahr is second though close to the Glock 22. Finally the 23 then the 27. No good shooter would choose the sub-compact Kahr over the full-size Glock 22 for accuracy, but I shoot them about the same with the same level of practice. If I shot for a living, I would be able to fix that and shoot the glock 27 about the same or better than the kahr 9mm and shoot the 22 way better, but I don't so it becomes a choice of what complements my current training/skill level the best. I also can't just go to the range, rent a pistol and get "comfortable". For me, I go every few months, take the guns out and shoot them. If I want something different, I end up buying and putting a few hundred to a thousand rounds through the course of a couple weeks/months. I want to feel comfortable doing that and I think I would have to shoot the glock every few weeks to get that comfortable and then keep it up. It's not practical as a hobby so it's probably not going to happen.

Just my 0.02 and I'm not a leo.

A lot of LEOs have a Walther pistol in .380 tucked away somewhere. They are nice, flat and semi SMALL.
Smaller is better during summer months.

A liteweight S&W 5 shot .38 is also an option.

The new Ruger LCP is getting good reviews. However it is very light weight and not something you are
going to shoot regularly.

I have both the Glock 23 and SA XD sub9mm. Like them both, but favor the XD. I would agree that both of those are large (to large IMO) to carry concealed unless you plan on wearing bulky clothing. I recently got a SW Bodyguard. The size is great, but not happy otherwise. Thinking about switching to a Ruger LCP or Tarus slim.

The only problem I have with the sub-compacts is that I have large hands so I don't like the feeling of the grip not extending low enough in my hand. It makes me feel like it's going to come out of my hands.
Is this something you get use to?

A lot of LEOs have a Walther pistol in .380 tucked away somewhere. They are nice, flat and semi SMALL.


Mine likes to stovepipe. Don't even think of limp wristing the Walther. maybe my spring isn't worn enough but it also pinches the my hand when I shoot it to make it an absolute joy.

I think S&W is doing Walther warranty work.
You might check with them about your problems.
It could be as easy as a magazine with issues to
something harder to fix.
I have heard the complaints about the Pre S&W pinching
the hand. I dont know if the new ones still suffer from that
problem or not.
I have been looking at a CZ 83, but the double stack mag is
a bit wide. I would like to find one in 9x18 vs the .380, but they
cost a premium. The military version was the CZ 82, but the
suplus ones I have seen, look like they got chewed on by a beaver
in a dark alley somewhere. They are rough.

Ok I went to gun shop today and rented a few guns.
The XDM felt the best in my hand and I went with the 9mm because I could control that one the best. So I did the paperwork and walked out with a XDm 9mm 19+1
They didn't have a whole lot of holsters to choose from so I went with a cheaper Tagua IWB until I can find one that I like better.

Thanks everyone for your ideas I really appreciate the advice :thumbsup:

9 v 40 is an old argument but I think that most will agree that with modern ammunition options that 9mm is a solid round for LEO or civilian carry as much as 40 is. As far as what to carry that is something else altogether. You should try out as many (guns) as possible and used is always an option (gen 2 & 3 Glocks are fine). I would look at all the major manufacturs line-ups and try them all out: Smith, Ruger, Glock, Springfield, Taurus, H&K and anything else that looks like something you want to own and fits what you want to do with it.