You are correct re: 9mm's according to my Glock books and other research. I was generalizing and should have stated the caveat that to the best of my knowledge, all Glock 9mm have always had fully supported chambers.I'm not sure whether or not all Glocks now have supported chambers now. I'm certain that all 9mm Glocks have a fully supported chamber though, and I'm pretty sure that's been the case for all three generations. I like the loaded chamber indicator on the 3rd generation Glocks too!
As for KBs:
I'm not certain on this, but it does seem like there are other handguns that also lack fully supported chambers, such as some manufacturer's 1911s. It's not always a bad thing, but I think it could be a problem under certain circumstances.
The KBs I've heard about usually seem to be associated with things like using reloaded brass in a non-supported chamber. Imagine if you reloaded a round and the part of it that was situated over the unsupported area before was somehow exactly repositioned in that spot the next time it was chambered. If the first load was slightly excessive, or if anything was wrong with the brass which caused it to become weakened, the area may fail and cause the KB. I've heard of somewhat rare occurances involving factory new ammo that came overcharged causing the KB.
Another thing I've heard is that using non-jacketed ammunition in Glocks can cause significant fouling, and if not cleaned more rigorously might increase pressures. Combine that with a slightly overcharged reloaded round that's oriented in the worst possible position and you've got a possible KB.
A squib could obviously cause a KB in any gun if it isn't noticed.
As you said, there really have been a lot of good suggestions in this thread. Hopefully we'll find out what they decided to purchase! I'm excited to find out honestly.
I'll probably carry a Rohrbaugh R9 (9mm) when necessary.
Same here, from what I understand there are people who think it's a possible contributing factor. I doubt it would cause a KB on its own with regular cleaning and only using a few non-jacketed rounds in a session with the 9mm versions. But with an unsupported chamber and no cleaning, maybe it could... I don't have a Glock owner's manual on hand (I have an electronic copy on my other computer), but I think it does mention that you're not to use non-jacketed ammo. I don't really plan on finding out the hard way though, lol.I have not read of this being a confirmed contributor in kB's but I have read of it being theorized as a possible contributing factor, but then I am not a Glock expert.
Your list seems to favor striker-fired vs hammer-fired weapons. If you don't mind a DA/SA, the Bersa Thunder9 "UltraCompact" is a good option in the same price range as the Taurus, especially if you're a lefty.Here are the four sub-compact's I've come up with so far. Please let me know if I am missing any other sub-compact's in the $600 and under rage (must be at least .380)
Taurus pt111
Glock 26
Springfield XD subcompact 3"
Kel-Tech pf9
Tell me what your thoughts are of the above four (and the one's I'm sure I missed) It is greatly appreciated.
Have to agree with you; definately love my XD .40SC..very comfortable to CC and its grips are made well for a 12 + 1 extended mag.kmcdowel wrote:Your list seems to favor striker-fired vs hammer-fired weapons. If you don't mind a DA/SA, the Bersa Thunder9 "UltraCompact" is a good option in the same price range as the Taurus, especially if you're a lefty.Here are the four sub-compact's I've come up with so far. Please let me know if I am missing any other sub-compact's in the $600 and under rage (must be at least .380)
Taurus pt111
Glock 26
Springfield XD subcompact 3"
Kel-Tech pf9
Tell me what your thoughts are of the above four (and the one's I'm sure I missed) It is greatly appreciated.
I carry a PT111, my first gun. The ergo's are very good (it's comparable in size to the XD9SC, but the grip is a little taller so I can get my entire hand onto it--barely), and it has a manual safety if that's important to you. You can get one for less than $350, maybe less since they seem to be phasing out the PT111 in favor of a new 24/7 Subcompact line. The trigger is OK but not great. You do get what you pay for--it feels a little flimsy compared to the more-expensive pieces. Mine was completely reliable until the captive firing pin assembly broke recently, necessitating a 6-week trip to the factory (lifetime warranty). For these reasons, I've been shopping others.
Ergo's are very important to me, therefore I dislike Glocks. If you shoot the XD and Glock side-by-side, I expect you'll find considerably moremuzzle flip on the Glock. (I certainly did!) If you can deal with that goofy grip angle, you owe it to yourself to try the Steyr M-A1 before you buy a mid-size Glock. (Awesome trigger, less blocky, less muzzle flip. Only available in Compact (4") size, though, so not as concealable as the subcompacts.)
That said, definitely consider the XD if a manual safety is not a "must have" for you. The ergo's are good (though not perfect IMHO),their quality is good, and it's easy to find holsters and other accessories for them. Look at the dimensions of the XD9 SC (3") vs the Compact (4"): the length of the SC is only 3/4" less than the Compact. If you're going to use a magazine extension or "shoe" with the SC, the height difference between the SC and the Compact becomes negligible. In that case, I'd choose the Compact over the SC--better accuracy and controllability with almost no decrease in concealability.
If a multiple safeties areimportant to you, look at the M&P9 Compact, which can be configured with optional manual safety and/or magazine safety. Grip ergo's are better than the XD IMHO, but I don't like the trigger as much.
No experience with Kel-tec.
Have fun shopping!
I just bought the Taurus .45 Millenium. In my opinion a damn good gun for $330.00.
Took it to the range and I loved it. Small frame little bit of a kick. Smallest .45 I could find. Bass Pro Shop had it on sell.
Oh man I've been looking at that guy too. The 10mm Witness compact. How small is it in terms of the height of the grip? I have a Glock 17 but I'm concerned the Witness compact's grip wont be much shorter. That's the problem I see with concealing the G17 without using something like a SOB holster. Note that I'm a skinny guy, so it really couldn't be concealed on me with the standard hip holsters unless I were wearing a jacket or something.
I have a Glock G27 I carry concealed. While shopping I looked at Springfield, Smith&Wesson, H&K, Berreta, Sig, and Ruger. Quite honestly, I chose the Glock because it fit the best in my hand and the 9 rounds of .40 in a sub-compact is nice too.
That reminds me about one of the things that annoys me. It's people who complain about Kel-Tec's or talk sh*t about them. I have mentioned in public, on a number of occasions, my intentions of purchasing a PF-9 or P3AT for the purpose of a pocket gun. People would literally scoff or give me this look like, "are you crazy?" The thing is, these people were so stuck up that they'd obviously never even held one or known anyone who had. I know of quite a few legitimate writers and regular old people who carry the Kel-Tec pocket guns successfully.June "Gun Tests" did a test and comparison of the new LCP and the P3AT. Bottom line is they gave the nod to the P3AT because it was easier to control the recoil and the LCP has some minor feeding problems, but they liked them both overall.