First OC Experiences

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I am new to this forum and just bought a Springfield .40 XD Sub-compact. I found this website the day I bought the pistol and have OC'ed every day since. I just wanted to say that it is so liberating and I have had nothing but positive experiences thus far.

I have not seem many people who OC in this county (Manistee) and my buddy and I are out to normalize the practice. Everyone has told us that we will be harrassed by LEO's, but we are ready for that.

I have had some people look at me funny and even with disdain, but I do not consider that to be negative.

Places I have OC'ed:

Downtown Manistee with a buddy (also OC'ed) for about 30-45 minutes, just walking down the river walk and on the sidewalks by the shops. One girls said to her mom, "Wow, they look dangerous. They have guns."

House of Flavors in Manistee at dinner with my wife and our two daughters (2 and 1 year(s) old) andour friend and her daughter (1 year old). Just got some looks from folks, no comments or questions.

Village of Bear Lake. All around the neighborhood where I live. I plan to make this a daily routine each evening (when I am home).

Frankfortat the A&W restaurant during dinner with my wife and our youngest daughter. Got a comment from a guy standing in line behind me, "Nice gun." I told him what it was and that was the end of the conversation. I was hoping he would ask more questions so that I could give him a brochure that I printed off from this website, but nothing came of it.

So far so good. I look forward to many more positive experiences and will be OC'ing every chance I get. I feel so comfortable and natural about it, I like it!!

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Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Welcome to OCDO!

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Welcome SS I carry the 9mm service model. I love this gun. Some have critisized my choice to go with the 9mm, but with 16+1, and HP's, I'm fairly confident in it's ability to take down a BG if need be!

Welcome and enjoy your liberation!

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Welcome to the board Springfield Smitty.


FatboyCykes wrote:

Welcome SS I carry the 9mm service model. I love this gun. Some have critisized my choice to go with the 9mm, but with 16+1, and HP's, I'm fairly confident in it's ability to take down a BG if need be!

Welcome and enjoy your liberation!

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I was talking to a friend about this the other day (I like 9mm myself). I told him, "Which would you rather be hit by, 9mm, or .45?". His response: "The question is, "would you rather be hit by 9 rounds of .45, or 17 rounds of 9mm?"

Of course that's not exactly a accurate comparison these days, but I still got a chuckle out of it.

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Welcome to the group Springfield Smitty. Hope to meet you at a picnic sometime, keep a watch in the events thread.

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FatboyCykes wrote:

Welcome SS I carry the 9mm service model. I love this gun. Some have critisized my choice to go with the 9mm, but with 16+1, and HP's, I'm fairly confident in it's ability to take down a BG if need be!

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Don't pay any attention when someone says a real man wouldn't be caught dead witha 9 mm. I know for a fact that any man with a 9mm will most likely be caught dead! :lol:

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Welcome to the group! Feel free to post any open carry experiences you have on the "open carry experience" thread.

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If you could, get the people in Wellston used to it for me that would be great. I'm up there every year in the fall fishing for Salmon.

Welcome!

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I used to Pastor a church in Wellston. I do plan to go back to the area in the next few weeks and visit some of my former church folks, one of which is a former corrections officer and has invited my wife and I to bring my 12 guage and new pistol out to her house for some target practice.

I'll make some stops by the Wellston Inn (the only place worth eating in that town, lol), Lumberjack's,Crystal Lake, the hardware store to see Barb, and the Whitetail gas station (think that's what it was called). Any other suggestions?

It's gonna be great to see how all of the folks react to seeing "The Pastor" carrying

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FatboyCykes wrote:

Welcome SS I carry the 9mm service model. I love this gun. Some have critisized my choice to go with the 9mm, but with 16+1, and HP's, I'm fairly confident in it's ability to take down a BG if need be!

Welcome and enjoy your liberation!

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I was trying to decide on the 9mm and the .40 as well. Same price, more rounds in the 9mm, and less expensive ammo. What made me go with the .40 was the velocity of the round. I understand that the 9mm has more velocity, so therefore is more likely to go through and continue than the .40. With my daughters in the house and innocents around me most of the time I like the idea of my round staying in it's intended target.

I also heard a story when I first began in law enforcement about a shootout in our citya year or so before I joined in which three (3) officers with 9mm pistols were in a shootout with a BG and were firing from 20 feet away at the front windshield of his car and the rounds were just going off of the windshield. An officer with a .40 fired three shots, all of which penetrated the windshield and disabled the offender. From that point forward the Dalton Police Department (GA) decided to go with the .40 for all officers. I am not sure how much truth there is to this story, but it was the reason everyone told me they standardized the service weapons for DPD.

BTW, they use Sig. I wanted one, but too expensive for me right now.

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"Can't understand those people carrying 40's when they could be carrying 45's!"

Just gettin your goat Welcome to OC SS hope you stay in touch& hope to see you at an event or two. Remember Wash! Rinse! Repeat!, and always Exercise your Rights

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I'd be ecstatic if I knew my pastor carried, open or otherwise. Lol, picture of him preaching from the pulpit with a pistol on his hip

Doesn't that story contradict your concerns with velocity and penetration though?

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Springfield Smitty wrote:

BTW, they use Sig. I wanted one, but too expensive for me right now.

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Always buy used. That's how I afforded my Sig.

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FatboyCykes wrote:

I'd be ecstatic if I knew my pastor carried, open or otherwise. Lol, picture of him preaching from the pulpit with a pistol on his hip

Doesn't that story contradict your concerns with velocity and penetration though?

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My beliefs do not require me to sacrifice my life for the sake of another who's intentions are less than admirable....

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conservative85 wrote:

"Can't understand those people carrying 40's when they could be carrying 45's!"

Just gettin your goat Welcome to OC SS hope you stay in touch& hope to see you at an event or two. Remember Wash! Rinse! Repeat!, and always Exercise your Rights

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The PD administration decided that the .40 was the desired caliber to accomodate both accuracy and stopping power...

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Welcome to OCDO Smitty. Please add Michigan to your location.

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Springfield Smitty wrote:

I was trying to decide on the 9mm and the .40 as well. Same price, more rounds in the 9mm, and less expensive ammo. What made me go with the .40 was the velocity of the round. I understand that the 9mm has more velocity, so therefore is more likely to go through and continue than the .40. With my daughters in the house and innocents around me most of the time I like the idea of my round staying in it's intended target.

Carrying a .40 S&W myself, I think you made a good choice. For me, 9mm was never an option. It was a toss up between .40 S&W and .45 ACP. I went with the .40 because the trajectory tends to be a little more accurate than a .45 at longer distances and it's easier to group shots with a subcompact .40 than it is with a subcompact .45. Add to this that the stopping power is not altogether different, that I can cram 5 more bullets into the magazine, and that I have the option of changing the barrel to fire .357 SIG from the same pistol... and there you have it.

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I also heard a story when I first began in law enforcement about a shootout in our citya year or so before I joined in which three (3) officers with 9mm pistols were in a shootout with a BG and were firing from 20 feet away at the front windshield of his car and the rounds were just going off of the windshield. An officer with a .40 fired three shots, all of which penetrated the windshield and disabled the offender. From that point forward the Dalton Police Department (GA) decided to go with the .40 for all officers. I am not sure how much truth there is to this story, but it was the reason everyone told me they standardized the service weapons for DPD.

I've heard this same story repeated umpteen different ways. I'm sure there is some truth behind it somewhere, but it think it's more urban legend than anything. I think a 9mm would have to hit a windshield at just the right angle in order for it to ricochet... perhaps it happened somewhere and the story morphed into a smear campaign to promote higher caliber rounds? I don't know. What I do know though is that the FBI decided to upgrade their agent's service pistols from 9mm, to 10mm, and then to .40 S&W after the 1986 Miami shootout in which 2 agents died and 5 were wounded by 2 gunman. The first round to hit one of the gunman was a 9mm... it stopped an inch from his heart, allowing him to continue the firefight for another 4 minutes and take the lives of 2 agents.

9mm has it's place... but I think it's wise to choose something a little bit stronger for personal protection.

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Springfield Smitty wrote:

FatboyCykes wrote:

I'd be ecstatic if I knew my pastor carried, open or otherwise. Lol, picture of him preaching from the pulpit with a pistol on his hip

Doesn't that story contradict your concerns with velocity and penetration though?

Click to expand...

My beliefs do not require me to sacrifice my life for the sake of another who's intentions are less than admirable....

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On that note, I always tell people, "God does not call on me to lay down my life for evil."

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Springfield Smitty wrote:

I'll make some stops by the Wellston Inn (the only place worth eating in that town, lol), Lumberjack's,Crystal Lake, the hardware store to see Barb, and the Whitetail gas station (think that's what it was called). Any other suggestions?

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Yeah the last time we stopped and at at the Buckstop (the bar) and it took them over an hour to make our food (2 burgers!!!). :cuss:

So I'll have to stop at the Wellston Inn since we are boycotting the Buckstop.