Concealed Carry Philosophy, Part IV

I hope through this series someone doesn't get the idea they need a lot of carry guns because you don't, I have a few because it is a hobby with me and something I have been collecting over 30 years. I also have no intent to 'show off ' but hopefully someone who is still trying to get the feel for concealed carry or even a seasoned pro might just get an idea and want to try it.
Yesterday I said I don't really feel the desire to have the latest and greatest carry piece, well that is pretty much true however this one is fairly new, I have not carried it much but I like it's design and it fits well with my 'Carry Philosophy' in that it is compact, something that can be carried all the time without feeling the need to have 13 rounds in the magazine and will work as intended (or at least so far as I have tested it)
This is the Springfield XDS it has a 3.3" barrel, is chambered for the 45ACP it is lightweight and very thin due to a single stack magazine. It carries 6 rounds (one in chamber and 5 in magazine) and unless you are a bleeding heart liberal what's not to love about the 45 ACP.  There are many good pocket size guns among which are 22, 32, 380 and even a few 9mm's but a 45 got my attention and I wanted to try it. You will not find a more compact semi auto 45 in fact you will have to look hard to find a 9mm this small. Springfield does make a 9mm this exact size now and a 40 cal is coming as well and they will carry a couple more rounds.
I like that it does not have a manual safety as such (one less function to worry with) there is a grip safety which means you have to be holding the gun to fire much like a 1911 and the trigger is like a Glock which is pre-set striker-fired which allows for good control of shots when practice shooting. I have only fired about 50 or 60 rounds through it but it functioned flawless with everything from FMJ to hollow points and defense loads and even some reloads and cast bullets.

XDS with extended mag.

Being 3 dot the sights are easy to acquire for target practice and recoil did not seem too harsh to me and is a blast to shoot. Springfield does make an extended mag (shown at right) which I think holds 2 more rounds but I don't care for it and probably won't buy one as it takes away from its concealability which is my focus here.
Overall it seems a fine carry gun.
The 9mm version holds 7+1 rounds which I think would make it a good option as well with a little less recoil and a little cheaper to shoot if that was a concern. 

Concealed Carry Philosophy, Part I here
Concealed Carry Philosophy, Part II here
Concealed Carry Philosophy, Part III here

Diamonds in the Rough

I like gun shows, I have not been able to attend the last few here but none the less I do like them. A while back I ran across a beat up old 1911 that had been modified back in the 70's I guess as a competition pistol, best I could tell.
I love 1911's but this was ugly (to me anyway) it had a scope rail mounted on top so the factory sights were gone and some ugly coating on it looked to me like truck bed liner paint, rough as guts. It had some weird grips, like I said ugly. The coating was so thick it covered any markings so I had no clue as the make, in fact it was hard to tell it was even a 1911.  The man was asking $325 and I got him to take $275. I think he had made some trade for it and did not really want it.

I went home and proceeded to strip it down. With great difficulty I removed the rail on top and stripped the evil coating off the frame and slide. as I stripped the slide to my surprise I found a rampant Colt marking. Turns out it is a 70 series gun
I cleaned it up and spot welded the tapped holes in the slide where the rail was mounted, sanded it and polished it smooth. I installed some low profile 3 dot sights, and Bianchi grips I had laying around and then cold blued it.
After I took it to the range I found out it failed to eject a lot and jammed quite often. I came home and ordered a kit from Midway USA which had all new springs, firing pin and extractor. A few weeks late I returned to the range and it functioned flawlessly. I was smiling. It still has some nicks and scratches here and there but it is a shooter for sure. I have since then put many rounds through it with no problems whatsoever, You never know what you will find at a gun show. I had found a gem.
Happy 100th Birthday to John Browning's 1911.