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Thank you for all the welcomes and good advice so far. Just for the record, i believe the 1911 is one of the absolute greatest weapon designs ever, my only qualm was the exterior hammer and i used the 1911 as an example - not a personal affront against that weapon.

The S&W M+P .40 compact has been a long time contender for me and have been considering it for 2 months. Handled it at the gun show and fired the .40 cal rounds at the gun range with a different pistol. The downside to renting guns where i live (dallas) is that i can't find anyone renting this newer model pistol. DFW Gun range doesn't have it, nor does elm fork and my knowledge of other ranges in the area is somewhat limited so i'll probably have to call around to see what people have.

The glock models and M+P line by smith are both very good i think, but i am still looking to find out if anyone has any other suggestions by a different manufacturer? I've done some searching online and would simply like to put together a list of things to look at and hopefully buy at the next gun show.

Well the title says it all, i just sent off my CHL application last week and now i need some suggestions on what would make a "good" carry weapon. I own a glock 17 and am very keen on the idea of a hammer contained within the slide of a weapon (as opposed to the 1911 with an exterior hammer) because I am paranoid about the hammer getting snagged on clothing or setting off a round accidentally. I also like the .40 S&W calibre because I hear it has slightly better ballistics than 9mm but can garnish more rounds in a weapon than .45 ACP while maintaining comfortable recoil. Apart from the interior hammer and .40 S&W, my budget is about $6-700 and am insistent upon a new weapon simply because i prefer to know what every single bullet that has been fired out of a weapon i own has hit. Semi-automatic is the final thing i am looking for in a carry weapon.

I do not wholly know if my paranoia about having the exterior hammer of a weapon snag or be forced down is something that has ever really taken place so i would also like to know if this is even possible or me just being nervous about that concept of not having all the mechanics of a weapon contained within its shell.

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