Hey all...it's been awhile. Haven't posted much, but still lurk on a daily basis. Anyway, I've been looking for a concealed carry handgun, I finally managed to get the one I wanted.



I then ordered one of these from N8 Squared Tactical.





Oil tanned leather front, soft suede back, 3mm of neoprene sandwich between the two, and dense herringbone elastic. The suede backing is to make it comfortable on the skin and the neoprene is to protect the leather and your firearm from body sweat.

looks like that should be my next pistol

The awesome XDs. It's a fantastic gun!

Very cool, nice pistol!

I'm not familiar with that holster. How do you like it? Is it comfortable? Does it conceal well?

Haven't gotten the holster yet...should be here Monday or Tuesday. From all the reviews I've read and/or seen, it's labelled as the most comfortable IWB holster made...not one negative comment either. I figured I'd give it a try.

Cool. Give us a little review when you can!

Will do.

when you get the holster post how you like it I've been looking for a new one

Unfortunately I haven't had any time this past week to do any shooting...but I'm going out this weekend to break my XDs in. As for the N8 Squared Tactical holster, it's extremely comfortable. I let the gun sit in the holster for the past week to help mold the dense herringbone to the shape, and it's worked pretty good. The gun is a nice snug fit, and even though it collapses a bit when you draw the gun, I don't have to go to any extremes to re-holster it. The soft suede feels good against the skin, and also has a mild grip effect to it, so that it doesn't tug my jeans or shorts down. The best part is the neoprene between the leather and suede. The padding makes it comfortable, the only thing I really notice is the weight of the gun on my hip. Overall, I'm extremely happy with the holster, but I'm going I'm also going to shop around and get another one to compare with...probably a leather one.

OK, time for the long overdue shooting review...Unfortunately due to work and weather I haven't managed to get out for any shooting until today (Saturday).

1. The two main contributing factors for why I bought the XDS for concealed carry. 1-It's a .45 ACP. 2-It's one of the few carry guns that I can get two full fingers on the grip...my pinkie finger just hangs out under the magazine or off to the side.

2. I used 3 different types of factory ammo and 1 type of my reloads: WWB 230gr FMJ, WWB 230gr JHP, and Blazer 230gr FMJ (aluminum alloy cases) for factory ammo. My reloads: Sierra 230gr FMJ, Win Cases, CCI LPP, and 5gr of HP38. 50 rounds of each was fired, with no issues at all. Everything I feed her went through flawlessly.

3. Accuracy wise, I'm not much of a pistol shooter...I've always preferred rifles...so I'm still trying to work on my technique and improve. With that said, I hit what I was aiming at. The fiber optic front side really pops in contrast with the 2 white dots on the rear sight, but I'm thinking of changing up the rear dove tail sight with night sights for easier target acquisition.

4. The recoil was very manageable for such a small gun and large caliber. I had no problem shooting 1 or 2 handed. The only problem I ran into was the aggressive grip pattern...after about 50 rounds my hand started to get slightly sore, probably more from the vibration from the recoil than the recoil itself. That was quickly relieved by putting on a pair of shooting gloves. My next purchase for this gun is some kind of grip over mold, I've seen that Hogue makes one. Speaking of shooting gloves, there was plenty of room to get a gloved finger through the trigger guard and magazine changes were just a easy and fluid using a gloved or ungloved hand.

5. My only real complaint...if you want to call it that...is the magazine's capacity. The XDS comes with 2 five round magazines. Just as you start getting into a groove the slide locks back and you have to reload. That's easily resolved by getting the extended 7 round magazines, but I'd only use those for plinking or range shooting and stick with the 5 rounders for easier concealed carry.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the XDS. This is only my 3rd handgun that I've ever owned, and the 7th handgun I've ever shot....but I really, really, really, really, really...get the point yet...like it. My 1911 used to be my favorite gun to shoot...not anymore, the XDS easily replaces it as my new favorite shooter out of all my guns...to include my 10/22.

Nice review!

As far as the grip, all XD(m) series grips do that to me as well. Here is a suggestion: http://shop.powderriverprecision.net/pr ... egoryId=17 They are rubber textured grips that stick on. General Nonsense put them on his XDS and loves it. All of my XD pistols have them as well. Really makes the gun more ergonomic.