For CC I chose a Springfield XDM 3.8 in .40 S&W.
The reasons for this were fairly simple for me. As much as I wanted to take the advice of fellow shooters and CCW folks and buy a Glock, the Glock is just not comfortable in my hand.
By that I mean, when you do the drill of closing your eyes, bringing the gun up in front of your face, and open your eyes to find your NPA (natural point of aim), the front sight of the Glock is pointing up over the trees.
I've shot a lot of USPSA competition over the years, all with 1911 type guns. I am used to the grip angle of the 1911 platform and the Springfield XDM line was designed to match it. When I do the NPA drill with the XDM, the sights are lined up right in front of my eyes when I open them.
As far as the actual gun I purchased, my review is as follows.......
My gun prefers 180 gr. bullets over lighter weights such as 155 and 165. The exception being the 165 gr. Hornady Critical Defense round. This round and the Hornady TAP LE 180 gr. HP round put all 10 shots into the "A-zone" of a USPSA target at 20 yards. The reason I went with the 180 gr bullet is that the recoil is softer.
The worst performing load in this particular gun was the Speer 165 gr Gold Dot LE round. The groups were about 8" at 15 yards and the recoil was really snappy.
All groups were shot from sandbags.
As far as the gun itself is concerned, it ain't no 1911 finely tuned single action trigger, but I like it a tad better than a Glock trigger. The reset is just a bit shorter than a Glock, and as I stated before, the grip angle is way better. Sights are the fixed, 3 white dot variety
The gun comes with 2 magazines. One that holds 11 rounds that fits flush with the bottom of the gun for CC, and a 16 rounder with a removeable sleeve at the bottom that butts tight up against the grip and acts as a grip extender. The gun comes with a really nice hard case, a kydex belt holster, a double mag pouch,, gun lock, interchangeable grip inserts to help make the gun fit your hand, a couple more magazine sleeves for when you purchase a few more hi-cap mags and a magazine loading tool.
