Report by Dick Jones | Contributing Editor
I teach the North Carolina Concealed Carry certification course. I enjoy teaching the classes and I’m overjoyed that so many people who take my classes are new gunowners. These folks see the value of firearms ownership as a way to take a pro-active part in defending themselves against crime. They are refreshing to teach because their minds are open and they’re willing to accept new methods and equipment.
The dilemma in choosing a concealed carry gun is a tough one. A concealed carry gun must be effective and comfortable to carry and yet, the two are directly contradictory to each other. Most experts agree that the minimum reliable stopper is 9mm or .38 Special. The subcompact .380 guns are wonderful to carry, yet most agree they’re underpowered. Having said this, I’d rather have a .25 ACP in my pocket than a can of pepper spray or a stun gun.
In spite of what’s currently available in semi-autos, I am old school and I carry a .38 snubbie every day. I know a lot of highly experienced law enforcement officers who do the same thing, even those who swear by their strikerfired duty guns. With the revolver, there are never worries about reliability or having to tap/rack on a dud round, and that compensates me for the bulky cylinder and small capacity.
I admit, the thin frames and magazine capacities of the tiny nines beckon me and every time I see one I think could be a winner, I get excited. There’s a whole generation of new pistols for concealed carry and I’m impressed with the thought and engineering that’s gone into some of them. Springfield Armory’s line of XD pistols has been a smashing success. The features of these striker-fired guns make them unique in that they are ambidextrous and they feature a grip safety, a valuable asset in a striker-fired gun that allows a lighter, shorter stroke trigger with a similar or greater level of safety.
This year, when I visited the Smith and Wesson booth at SHOT Show, I was taken with the new S&W Shield. Frankly, I’d seen the ads and I wasn’t really excited. When Bill Booth, of Blue Heron Communications, put one in my hand, my first reaction was admiration for the sights. They are the same good sights as those on an M&P duty pistol, easy to see and substantial.
The second positive reaction I got was when I dry fired the gun to try the trigger. I am very sensitive about triggers. I come from a competition rifle background and triggers are very important in that kind of shooting. It took me a while to adjust to strikerfired pistol triggers, but the large M&P pistols have good triggers and the S&W Shield has a trigger that feels just like the bigger M&P guns.
Both of these guns have advantages. Both are compact enough for comfortable concealed, everyday carry and both remind me of the Noisy Cricket, the tiny little gun Will Smith used in the first “Men in Black” movie. The Noisy Cricket was a tiny little gun that could destroy half a city block and kicked Smith’s character into a pile of garbage cans. Neither of these guns have that kind of power but they aren’t pipsqueaks, either. Neither put me into the garbage cans, but they do have considerable recoil.
S&W M&P 9mm Shield When I shot the Shield the first time, I was not disappointed. I found the quality sights and repeatable trigger to be enough of an asset to allow me a very good test group. I accuracy-test concealed carry guns at ten yards, a very long distance for exercising deadly force if you’re a civilian. I shoot standing, two-handed in a fairly fast cadence, not race gun speed, but much faster than the most deliberate fire. My first group with the Shield generated a seven-shot group that was about one inch left of center and measured less than two inches: impressive for a tiny, concealed carry gun.
The Shield becomes even more impressive when you consider that it’s available in .40 S&W. In .40 this is a very compact and powerful gun and probably about the best combination of power, size, capacity, and accuracy to be found. While the 9mm Shield is fairly manageable, especially with the longer gripped, larger magazine, the .40 definitely gets into the Noisy Cricket category.
This is a very good gun. It’s reliable, accurate, and powerful. It’s a little heavier than the true pocket guns in .380, but it has a very slim profile. In 9mm it’s a powerful compact package with excellent magazine capacity; in .40 S&W it’s probably the most potent for its size and magazine capacity of any carry gun available.
Springfield XDs .45 Made in Croatia and parented by the first Croatian pistol manufactured, the PHP, the XD series of pistols have become viable contenders for the civilian as well as police and military markets. Like other XD series guns, the XDs is well finished for a utility gun. The controls are similarly placed with the takedown lever and slide release on the left side and an ambidextrous magazine release. The sights are really good with a driftable two dot rear and a Hi-Vis front. The trigger is undistinguishable in pull from the larger XD pistols, which is to say it is very good. There is a fairly short initial travel and a distinct second stage that breaks consistently and cleanly.
The standard magazine holds five rounds and there’s an available extended seven-round magazine. While the sevenround magazine is handy for range use, it increases the profile of the gun considerably. With one in the chamber, 6 rounds is reasonable in a concealed carry handgun. If you can’t do it with six, you should practice more or have a good civil liability lawyer. Striker fired, with no manual safety, the XDs relies on a blade in the trigger and a grip safety to prevent accidental discharge. Carrying a round in the chamber is, in my opinion, a prerequisite for using a semi-auto for concealed carry and with a holster that protects the trigger, I’d feel perfectly safe carrying this gun with a round chambered.
At 21.5 ounces, the XDs is not a lightweight. With a loaded magazine, it approaches the empty weight of some service level pistols. While it occupies about the same profile as a J frame S&W, it weighs more empty and considerably more loaded. What this pistol has going for it is that it’s a .45. It is thinner in profile than a small revolver and it carries a lot more punch. That punch also translates itself into recoil. In a recent range session where I fired 300 rounds with the XDs and a couple of other compact .45s, I managed to escape without having a sore hand the next day, but this is not a gun for the faint hearted.
Operation of the XDs is both simple and convenient. The magazine is fairly easy to load, the slide operates well and may be easier to manipulate than some of the larger XD series guns with slides that taper towards the top. The controls are where they should be, making the gun easy to adapt to. With a good trigger and good sights, I expected it to perform well and I wasn’t disappointed. At ten yards, two hands, with a magazine change, I managed a 2.5 inch, ten shot group that was centered in the target. In slow deliberate fire, I can manage a ragged hole with an occasional, flyer just outside the cluster. Recoil recovery is slower than larger or less powerful guns, but it was reasonable and the good sights and trigger aided greatly. I fired this with the five shot magazines because I see the seven shot magazine as too large for everyday concealment.
Am I going to tell you which is the best of these two guns? No, because they fit different profiles. The Shield is a smaller, easier gun to conceal. It weighs less, it’s not as wide and feels svelter and it costs well over $200 more at retail price. The XDs is a powerhouse and I like the grip safety. It is also totally ambidextrous.
Both are very good guns. Both are very potent. Both deliver more felt recoil than my Super Redhawk in .44 Mag. Don’t buy one without looking at the other. After all, it’s your money.
