Go back and ask him if he's ever actually fired a S&W M&P pistol. Has he carried one, used it for an extended period, had problems himself?Mr.d wrote:I was told by a gun smith and fellow houston police officer that S&W are junk.
I trusted his opinion.
Said to go Glock or Springfield Armory
Then ask him on what he bases his low opinion of S&W?
I've run across a number of folks who still have not reconciled their disgust with S&W's corporate decision to cow tow to Clinton Administration demands for internal locks and other such things back in the 90s and thus have a low opinion of the company itself, not necessarily the product or it's performance and reliability.
He may also be basing his low opinion on some early version problems experience by the LAPD and a few other departments that have apparently been fixed.
That said, I've shot all three - Glock (Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4), S&W M&P (9mm, 9mm compact, and .45-cal) and SA XD (9mm mid-size) - and extensively carried Glocks and S&W M&P. All three are excellent handguns, very reliable, outstanding "combat accuracy", and I would not hesitate to shoot and/or carry any of them. I would trust my life to any of the three. I have more recently gravitated toward the M&P because it fits my hands more comfortably and I shoot it ever so slightly better than Glock because of the better fit to my particular hands. I also shoot the XD well, but just never found a niche to need to own one (owned Glocks for 13 years - so I was already entrenched Glock fanboy when XD first hit the market). If I was starting over again today buying a new gun without owning any others, I'd strongly consider XD.
As for the specific comparison of G26 vs. XD9SC ... G26 is slightly smaller and borderline pocketable for me. The subcompact XDs and M&Ps are just slightly larger (talking differences measured in millimeters) and feel just slightly bulkier/heavier in the slide, thus not as pocketable. That said, I only pocket carry my baby Glock once in a blue moon (have J-frame revolver and LCP that fill that role much better).
XD does add the light mount up front which is handy if this is your one-and-only gun for the moment. Also - as has been said already for many shooters, the XD simply points more naturally and fits the shooters' hands better than a G26.
On a personal note, I much prefer any of these subcompact guns WITH the pinky extensions (Pearce extensions work great on Glock; factory work fine on other two). Also I owned a M&P9c for a while but did NOT like it quite as much as G26. Neither fits me perfectly (maybe I need to try the XDSC? ), but the Glock seemed to fit better for it's intended use (all around IWB carry gun for times when my prefered full-size M&Ps are not as concealable).
Anyway, hope all the above is helpful. Good luck on your choice. And I'll agree with previous post that best way to decide is to go rent both guns and shoot them side-by-side. These are very common guns that any quality gun range should be able to rent to you.
