XDM-45 Compact 3.8

[The Annoyed Man]

Interesting. Have you practiced drawing from that retention holster yet? All of my current holsters are open top, because I figure being concealed, I'm going to have enough to worry about getting clothes out of the way and drawing smoothly.

If we had Open Carry in Texas I would definitely want a retention holster of some type....but for now it just seems like an extra step when you draw that would worry me.

I have not practiced with the holster yet.......I know, I know....bad form......but I have carried a retention holster before (my Miami Classic shoulder holster rig using a snapping retention strap), so it doesn't seem unfamiliar to me. I took a chance that I would not need to "qweeksdraw" last night. Also, since the retention strap is still quite tight when snapped closed, the snap pops right off without that much effort on my part. The only reason I bought that particular holster with that retention strap though is because that is what Galco had that would fit my gun, and i didn't want to wait two months to start carrying it. Plus, this holster makes a good alternative for when I am going to get hot, sweaty, and dirty. It was relatively inexpensive as good leather holsters go, and it was available. Most manufacturers still aren't making a holster specifically designed for this model of pistol, and those that do aren't offering a left handed version.

I carried my new gun for the first time today. I had been waiting for holsters.

I have one just like this on order for it:

customholster.jpg

This one looks nice. Who did you end up working with? What is the leather on the reinforcement piece?

I dealt directly with Eric, who is a very nice guy by the way, and you just can't beat his prices for a nice custom holster. The cost of this one, spare mag carrier included, was $135.00. That piece of leather trim is full quill ostrich, and I selected it because it matches a pair of Lucchese boots I have in full quill ostrich hide. Who knew I could be so vain?

[BritOnTour]

I dealt directly with Eric, who is a very nice guy by the way, and you just can't beat his prices for a nice custom holster. The cost of this one, spare mag carrier included, was $135.00. That piece of leather trim is full quill ostrich, and I selected it because it matches a pair of Lucchese boots I have in full quill ostrich hide. Who knew I could be so vain?

I hear you! Eric really is just a nice guy who loves to make custom holsters for people. In the process of having mine made, we had a couple of phone calls that started off with questions about the holster, but ended up chatting about a lot of other topics completely unrelated to guns.

I don't have anything made of ostrich, but I did have my holster made to match my Dr Marten boots!! I guess Eric's orders must have increased demand recently. While 5 to 7 weeks still isn't too bad for custom work, the 3 weeks he took to make mine was outstanding.

I am currently discussing a belt and mag holster too.

[74novaman]

Interesting. Have you practiced drawing from that retention holster yet? All of my current holsters are open top, because I figure being concealed, I'm going to have enough to worry about getting clothes out of the way and drawing smoothly.

If we had Open Carry in Texas I would definitely want a retention holster of some type....but for now it just seems like an extra step when you draw that would worry me.

I have not practiced with the holster yet.......I know, I know....bad form......but I have carried a retention holster before (my Miami Classic shoulder holster rig using a snapping retention strap), so it doesn't seem unfamiliar to me. I took a chance that I would not need to "qweeksdraw" last night. Also, since the retention strap is still quite tight when snapped closed, the snap pops right off without that much effort on my part. The only reason I bought that particular holster with that retention strap though is because that is what Galco had that would fit my gun, and i didn't want to wait two months to start carrying it.

Makes sense. And if you have experience with a retention holster, you'd probably have been fine. I have no experience using a retention holster, so that's why I asked.

And I do have to give you a little ribbing....you know some people consider the XD line to be more like Glocks than 1911s right?

[The Annoyed Man]

And I do have to give you a little ribbing....you know some people consider the XD line to be more like Glocks than 1911s right?

Other people consider the XD line an attempt to make Glocks more 1911-like by giving them a rational grip angle and smaller grip size.......and getting rid of the ugly.

[74novaman]

And I do have to give you a little ribbing....you know some people consider the XD line to be more like Glocks than 1911s right?

Other people consider the XD line an attempt to make Glocks more 1911-like by giving them a rational grip angle and smaller grip size.......and getting rid of the ugly.

Stepped right into that one!

So now that you've gotten the chance to carry it, will this be replacing your Kahrs as a "usual carry"?

[The Annoyed Man]

So now that you've gotten the chance to carry it, will this be replacing your Kahrs as a "usual carry"?

Probably not as EDC, but it will likely replace my M&P45 in my carry rotation simply because its compact size makes it easier to carry, and I will therefore probably carry it more often than I do the M&P. Love that M&P, but it is a BIG gun. But the CW45 is just such a handy size that it is a great carry gun, and the PM9 beats pretty much everything for pocket carry.

[The Annoyed Man]

BTW, I'm headed over the Winchester Gallery right now to meet my son and a friend of his....if anyone's headed that way. I'll have the new XDm with me. I plan to be there right at 2pm.

[74novaman]

BTW, I'm headed over the Winchester Gallery right now to meet my son and a friend of his....if anyone's headed that way. I'll have the new XDm with me. I plan to be there right at 2pm.

I'm not a big fan of larger cities, but sometimes I wish I lived closer to SA, Austin, Dallas, etc so I could get to the range with forum members more often. The one time I've been able to meet up with some folks it was a lot of fun.

[The Annoyed Man]

I had the weirdest experience there at Winchester Gallery today......

My son and I were sharing lane 7. Lane 8 has some other couple, a guy and his girlfriend. And then lane 9 was my son's friend and her husband, and beyond them was a guy shooting by himself in lane 10. I had shot 225 rounds and was pretty tired, and so I had packed up and was getting ready to leave. The guy shooting in lane 10 leaves ahead of me, and on his way out the door, he stops to comment to the boyfriend from lane 8 about the boyfriend's tattoo and big biceps. He taps the guy on his arm and says "Nice guns!" That guy responds with "I get it from my mom. I'm built like her."



So after Mr. Weird exits, I look at the boyfriend and say, "That was weird." He looks at me, grins, and says, "Yeah.....I'm built just like my mom." Now, all this time, his girlfriend has been popping away with a little .22. She is, let's say, extremely stately in the upper carriage, and she is stuffed into a tiny pink top meant for a midget and cutoff short shorts, doing her best "I'm 30 but trying to look like a 18 year old cheerleader." She realizes that he and I are talking and she turns a little towards us to hear the conversation with a sort of "what's going on?" look on her face. Boyfriend turns to her, gestures at me with his thumb, and SHOUTS "HE'S CHECKING OUT YOUR CABOOSE! (that's not the word he used)"



I gesture nooooooo no no no no with my hands, shake my head, and start edging away. He shouts "WE WANT TO SEE YOUR 'STATELY UPPER CARRIAGE'!" (sanitized for forum rules) and she turns around, grabs a double handful, gives 'em a shake, and says "THESE?"

I'm about to have seizure, and my son and his friends are so busy shooting .45s with their backs turned toward us that they're not hearing a word of this.

Then he shouts "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU SHOOT 'IN YOUR BIRTHDAY SUIT'!" (Again, these are not his exact words, but they have been sanitized for forum rules.) ........to which she shouts back over her shoulder while looking down range and popping off at her target, "I NEVER SHOOT IN MY BIRTHDAY SUIT!"



I conceded defeat, deserted the field and staggered out to the front desk, a pitifully tattered and smoking ruin of my former self.

I think I'll stick to my pistol club from now on, where normal boring people hang out and shoot.

[snatchel]

I conceded defeat, deserted the field and staggered out to the front desk, a pitifully tattered and smoking ruin of my former self.

WHAAAAT? Man I knew I should have headed up to your area today to go shoot. This stuff never happens to me. And TAM, smoking ruin of your former self? C'mon. Ana says your a handsome ol' man :)

The closest I can come to that was at a range in San Diego. A BF and his GF were shooting in the bay next to me, and I could tell that they were both new shooters. The GF was getting angrier and angrier at the BF, walks over to me, and asks me how to swing and load the cylinder of her brand spanking new (she bought it there, that day, not ten minutes before I got there) SP101. Why she bought this, I have no idea.

Either way, I showed her how to load the cylinder and then proceeded to watch her fire off the first round of whatever .357 she was shooting, see the gun actually fly out of her hand, and watched as she proceed to throw a fit. She was also... attractive, and "extremely stately in the upper carriage."

Keep in mind, I was single in those days. I saw a moment of weakness in the BF's game, and the strategic military man I was, evaluated my chances of mission success, and plotted to flank. Let me tell you, flank I did. I offer my help, which is graciously accepted by GF, and the BF is immediately aware of what is happening. I have a smirk on my face. I'm on a mission. The adrenaline is pumping, and I am NOT going anywhere without 100% success.

So there I am, sitting around and throwing whatever game I could muster on this girl.... thinking that I have really scored big. BF walks to the chairs to sit and watch. I laugh inwardly at his expense. After half an hour, she is packing up her range bag and I am waiting to see what is going to happen. She smiles big, I offer to take her to dinner. She declines and her BF proceeds to explain to me that she is a lesbian, and therefore, not interested///BUT he is her roomate, 100% homosexual, and 150% interested in grabbing a bite to eat later if I wanted.

I stand there staring awkwardly at both of them, completely speechless. My manliness, confidence, and suave go directly out the window. I don't want to be rude, but this guy and I aren't even playing in the same ballpark.

The girl rescues me after about 3 moments of extremely awkward silence and says that she works at the downtown Hooters, and if I was still hungry, I could bring him along too.

That was like 5 years ago, and the guy, Rome, and the girl, Kiana, are still very good friends of mine. For the record. after a few more range sessions they are both Extremely good shooters :)